Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 18:1
And he spake a parable unto them [to this end,] that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Luk 18:1-8. The Duty of Urgent Prayer. The Unjust Judge.
1. that men ought always to pray ] Rather, that they ought always to pray, since the true reading adds abrov s. It is only here and in Luk 18:9 that the explanation or point of a parable is given before the parable itself. Both parables are peculiar to St Luke. The duty inculcated is rather urgent prayer (as in Luk 11:5-13) than that spirit of unflagging prayer which is elsewhere enforced, Luk 21:36; 1Th 5:17; Eph 6:18. “Prayer is the soid ’ s sincere desire Uttered, or unexpressed.”
and not to faint
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Luk 9:51 to Luk 18:31 . Rejected by the Samaritans. A lesson of Tolerance.
This section forms a great episode in St Luke, which may be called the departure for the final conflict, and is identical with the journey (probably to the Feast of the Dedication, Joh 10:22) which is partially Luk 9:51-56. And it came to pass, when the time was come that he touched upon in Mat 18:1 to Mat 20:16 and Mar 10:1-31. It contains many incidents recorded by this Evangelist alone, and though the recorded identifications of time and place are vague, yet they all point (Luk 9:51, Luk 13:22, Luk 17:11, Luk 10:38) to a slow, solemn, and public progress from Galilee to Jerusalem, of which the events themselves are often grouped by subjective considerations. So little certain is the order of the separate incidents, that one writer (Rev. W. Stewart) has made an ingenious attempt to shew that it is determined by the alphabetic arrangement of the leading Greek verbs ( , Luk 10:25-42; , Luk 11:1-5; Luk 11:8-13, &c.). Canon Westcott arranges the order thus: The Rejection of the Jews foreshewn; preparation, Luk 9:43 toLuk 11:13; Lessons of Warning, Luk 11:14 toLuk 13:9; Lessons of Progress, Luk 13:10 toLuk 14:24; Lessons of Discipleship, Luk 14:25 xvii. 10; the Coming End, Luk 17:10 toLuk 18:30.
The order of events after ‘the Galilaean spring’ of our Lord’s ministry on the plain of Gennesareth seems to have been this: After the period of flight among the heathen or in countries which were only semi-Jewish, of which almost the sole recorded incident is the healing of the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman (Mat 15:21-28 ). He returned to Peraea and fed the four thousand. He then sailed back to Gennesareth, but left it in deep sorrow on being met by the Pharisees with insolent demands for a sign from heaven. Turning His back once more on Galilee, He again travelled northwards; healed a blind man at Bethsaida Julias; received St Peter’s great confession on the way to Caesarea Philippi; was transfigured; healed the demoniac boy; rebuked the ambition of the disciples by the example of the little child; returned for a brief rest in Capernaum, during which occurred the incident of the Temple Tax; then journeyed to the Feast of Tabernacles, during which occurred the incidents so fully narrated by St John (Joh 7:1 to Joh 10:21). The events and teachings in this great section of St Luke seem to belong mainly, if not entirely, to the two months between the hasty return of Jesus to Galilee and His arrival in Jerusalem, two months afterwards, at the Feast of Dedication; a period respecting which St Luke must have had access to special sources of information.
For fuller discussion of the question I must refer to my Life of Christ, ii. 89-150.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
A parable – See the notes at Mat 13:3.
To this end – To show this.
Always – At all times. That is, we must not neglect regular stated seasons of prayer; we must seize on occasions of remarkable providences as afflictions or signal blessings to seek God in prayer; we must always maintain a spirit of prayer, or be in a proper frame to lift up our hearts to God for his blessing, and we must not grow weary though our prayer seems not to be answered.
Not to faint – Not to grow weary or give over. The parable is designed to teach us that, though our prayers should long appear to be unanswered, we should persevere, and not grow weary in supplication to God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Luk 18:1-8
Men ought always to pray, and not to faint
The strange weapon-All-prayer
While Christian was in the Palace Beautiful, they showed him all the remarkable objects in the armory, from the ox-goad of Shamgar to the sword of the Spirit.
And amongst the arms he saw, and with some of which he was arrayed as be left the place, was a single weapon with a strange, new name–All-prayer. When I was a child, I used to wonder much what this could have been–its shape, its use. I imagine I know something more about it in these later years. At any rate, I think Bunyan found his name for it in one of the New Testament Epistles: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit Eph 6:18). It so happens, also, that we have two parables of our Lord given us in the eighteenth chapter of Luke to one end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. One of these parables teaches the lesson of importunity, the other teaches the lesson of sincerity. And it does not need that we draw from this collocation the subtle suggestion that want of importunity and want of sincerity are what weaken the weapon of all-prayer, and render faint the heart of the Christian who wields it. We know that we do not pray always, and that we do not always pray.
I. Let us take up this matter of IMPORTUNITY in the outset. At first sight it gives perplexity to some students of the Bible. We must notice that Christ does not identify His Father, the Hearer of Prayer, with this judge in the parable in any sense whatsoever. The very point of the illustration turns upon his superiority. God is just, and this man was unjust. This petitioner was a lonely widow and a stranger; God was dealing with His own elect. The woman came uninvited; Christians are pressed with invitations to ask, and knock, and seek. The unjust judge never agreed to listen to the widow; God has promised, over and over again, that it shall be granted to those that ask. The judge may have had relations with this womans adversary which would complicate, and, in some way, commit him to an unnecessary quarrel in her behalf, if his office should be exercised in defence; God is in open and declared conflict, on His own account, with our adversary, and rejoices to defeat his machinations, and avenge His own chosen speedily.
Hence, the whole teaching of the story is directed towards our encouragement thus: If we would persist with a wicked judge that regarded nobody, God nor man, then surely we would press our prayers with God. What is the duty then? Simply, go on praying.
II. Let us move on to consider, in the second place, this matter of SINCERITY in prayer, suggested by the other parable. To men of the world it must be a subject of real wonder and surprise, to use no more disrespectful terms, why so many petitions offered by the people of God prove fruitless. To all this, Christians ought to be able to reply that prayer follows laws and respects intelligent conditions, just as every other part of Gods plan of redemption does. We are accustomed to say to each other that God always hears prayer. No, He does not. The wisest man that was ever inspired says distinctly, He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. And in the New Testament the apostle explains the whole anomaly of failure thus: Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss. For one thing, self-conceit destroys all sincerity in prayer. For another thing, spits against others destroys all sincerity in prayer. Listen to the Pharisees preposterous comparison of himself in the matter of money and merit with the publican almost out of sight there in the corner. Inconsistencies in life also destroy sincerity in prayer. Purity from evil is a prime condition of success. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
The duty of persevering in prayer
I. OUR DUTY. That which is here inculcated implies that we pray–
1. Statedly.
2. Occasionally. There are many particular occasions which require us to pray.
(1) Prosperity, that God may counteract its evil tendency (Pro 30:9).
(2) Adversity, that we may be supported under it (Jam 5:13).
(3) Times of public distress or danger, to avert the calamity (2Ch 7:14).
3. Habitually. We should maintain a spiritual frame of mind. To pray thus is our duty; We ought, etc.
(1) It is a duty we owe to God. He, our Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer, has commanded it.
(2) We owe it also to our neighbour. The edification of Christs mystical body depends, not only on the union of every part with the head, but on the whole being fitly framed together, and on every joint supplying its proper nourishment (Eph 4:16 : Col 2:19). But if we be remiss in prayer, we shall be incapable of administering that benefit, which other members have a right to expect from us.
(3) We owe it to ourselves. A spirit of supplication is as necessary to the soul, as food to the body. Nor can we feel any regard for our souls, if we do not cultivate it.
II. THE DIFFICULTIES THAT ATTEND IT. When we set ourselves to the performance of it, we shall find difficulties–
1. Before we begin to pray. Worldly business may indispose our minds for this employment. Family cares may distract and dissipate our thoughts. Lassitude of body may unfit us for the necessary exertions. We may be disabled by an invincible hardness of heart. A want of utterance may also operate as a heavy discouragement.
2. While we are engaged in prayer. The world is never more troublesome than at such seasons. The flesh also, with its vilest imaginations will solicit our attention. Nor will Satan be backward to interrupt our devotions.
3. After we have concluded prayer. When we have prayed, we should expect an answer. But worldliness may again induce a forgetfulness of God. Impatience to receive the desired blessings may deject us. Ignorance of the method in which God answers prayer may cause us to disquiet ourselves with many ungrounded apprehensions. Unbelief may rob us of the benefits we might have received (Jam 1:6-7). Whatever obstructs Gods answers to prayer, disqualifies us for the future discharge of that duty. (Theological Sketch-book.)
The nature and duty of prayer
I. THE NATURE OF PRAYER.
1. An expression of our sense of Gods infinite superiority.
2. An expression of our dependence upon God.
3. A declaration of our obligation to God.
4. A declaration of our faith in Gods ability to grant us anything our circumstances may require. There are several things necessary to constitute true prayer, and which form its constituent parts.
(1) Faith is one essential.
(2) Sincerity is another ingredient in true prayer.
(3) Humility.
II. We notice THE DUTY OF PRAYER. Prayer is a duty, if we consider it–
1. As a Divine injunction.
2. It appears a duty, if we consider God as a prayer-hearing God.
3. It is a duty, if we consider the beneficial effects of prayer.
(1) Prayer brings great benefits to ourselves. It brings us into closer communion with Christ.
(2) Prayer is a powerful antidote to, and one of the most effectual safeguards against, worldly-mindedness.
(3) By prayer we get divinely enlightened.
(4) Prayer brings with it advancement in personal holiness.
(5) Prayer is a powerful stimulant to every Christian grace. He who lives in the habitual exercise of sincere and earnest prayer cannot remain in a lukewarm, inactive, lethargic state. (Essex Remembrancer.)
Men ought always to pray
Why?
1. Because the King wills it. Because it is an edict of eternal wisdom and truth, the command of absolute righteousness and justice, the direction of infinite goodness and love.
2. Because it is an instinct and faculty of our nature, part and parcel of our mental manhood; and as the all-wise Creator has endowed us with the power, and not only the power, but the tendency to pray, we cannot and do not fulfil His will, or rightly use our capabilities, unless we pray.
3. Because it is a privilege, a precious privilege conferred. The maker of the machine can mend and manage it; and He who created us–body, mind, and spirit–invites us to bring our bodily needs, hunger, thirst, aches, pains, and infirmities; our mental cares, griefs, doubts, perplexities, and depressions; our spiritual wants, fears, forebodings, sins, and weakness–to Him in prayer.
4. Because our state and condition is one of perpetual peril, and weakness, and need. The sin on our conscience condemns us, and we cannot undo it. We all get the heartache, and we cannot cure it. We can neither condone our offences, nor lighten our conscience, nor carry our sorrows, nor hush our complainings, nor dry our tears!
5. Because in the infinite love and mercy of God to poor sinners a new and living way hath been opened for us into the presence of God, so that not only doth the sinner gain a hearing, but he has an infinite guarantee that his prayers shall prosper, and his petitions shall be fulfilled.
6. Because our needs, our perils, our personal insufficiency, are always with us; because the throne of prayer is always accessible, and the Hearer of prayer is always willing; and because the power and privilege of prayer has a direct connection with the whole sphere of our daily life, and the whole circle of our daily needs.
7. Because no really earnest and reliant prayers can possibly be in vain. We are apt to faint in our petitionings if the gift we seek is long delayed. (J. J.Wray.)
Prayer
The ought of Christ outweighs all the objections of infidelity, and is stronger than the adverse conclusions of a material science.
1. Prayer should be constant. Can we, indeed, says Augustine, without ceasing bend the knee, bow the body, or lift up the hands? If the attitude and the language of prayer were essential to its being truly offered, the command of Christ would seem to be exaggerated. But understand it as the souls attitude to God, and it is no exaggeration. That soul, says Dr. Donne, which is ever turned toward God, prays sometimes when it does not know that it prays. The testimony of the Christian father accords with this. After admitting that formal, oral prayer must have its pauses and intermissions, Augustine says, There is another interior prayer without intermission, and that is the longing of the heart. Whatever else thou mayest be doing, if thou longest after the Sabbath of God, thou dost not intermit to pray. Thus the whole life becomes, what Origen conceived the life of the Christian should be, one great connected prayer. The importance of constancy in it arises from the place it holds in mans spiritual life. Prayer is to the soul what the nerves of the body are to the mind–its medium of communication with a world that else were unperceived and unrealized.
2. Prayer should be earnest. There is danger of our prayer degenerating into a dead form, or perfunctory service–worse than no praying at all. The simple remedy is to deepen the desire or sense of need which prompts to prayer, and is the essence of prayer. If thou wishest not to intermit to pray, says one of the Christian fathers, see that thou do not intermit to desire. The coldness of love is the silence of the heart; the fervency of love is the cry of the heart. This warmth of desire is the product of a clear persuasion of the value of prayer as a means of help and strength.
3. Another quality of true prayer is, patient confidence in God. Shall not God avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them. There are two sure and solid grounds of confidence. One is found in Gods righteous character, by which He is constrained to rectify wrong and establish the right; and the other is found in His positive love for the suppliant.
4. One other quarry should mark true prayer, namely, humility. (A. H.Currier.)
The necessity of praying always, and not fainting
Our Lord Jesus Christ, has kindly intimated to all that have business at the court of heaven the necessity of so managing themselves that they still hang on there, and not faint, whatever entertainment they meet with during the dependence of their process.
I. The first thing to be considered, is, OUR LORDS KIND INTIMATION OF THIS WAY OF HIS FATHERS COURT.
1. I shall show the import of Christs making this intimation to petitioners at His Fathers court.
(1) The darkness that is naturally on the minds of poor sinners, with respect to heavens management about them. We may say, as Jer 5:4, Surely these are poor, they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God.
(2) Christs good-will to the sinners business going right there Exo 28:29).
(3) That our Lord sees sinners are in hazard of fainting from the entertainment they may meet with during the dependence of their process Heb 12:3).
(4) That they that shall hang on, and not faint, shall certainly come speed at length.
2. The weight and moment of this intimation. This will appear, if it is considered in a fourfold light.
(1) Jesus Christ, who makes it, has experienced it in His own case. Now, if this was the manner with the great Petitioner, how can we expect it should fare otherwise with us?
(2) He is the great Prophet of heaven, whose office it is to reveal the manner of the court to poor sinners.
(3) He is the only Intercessor there, the Fathers Secretary, the Solicitor for poor sinners there.
II. The second thing to be considered, is, THE WAY OF THE COURT OF HEAVEN, IN TRYSTING PETITIONERS WITH SOME HARDSHIPS, DURING THE DEPENDENCE OF THEIR PROCESS. Here I shall give you–
1. A swatch of that way; and–
2. Some reasons of that way, whereby to account for it in a suitableness to the Divine perfections.
1. (1) Oft-times there is deep silence from the throne (Mat 15:23).
(2) Oft-times they get a very angry-like answer. The woman of Canaan got a couple of them, one on the back of another: But He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It is not meet to take the childrens bread, and to cast it to dogs (Mat 15:24; Mat 15:26).
(3) Disappointed expectations are a piece of very ordinary entertainment there: We looked for peace, but no good came: and for a time of health, and behold trouble (Jer 8:15).
(4) Many a time, looking for an answer, Providence drives a course apparently just contrary to the granting of their petition; so is fulfilled that Psa 65:5, By terrible things in righteousness wilt Thou answer us, O God of our salvation.
(5) Oft-times the Lord, instead of easing the petitioner, lays new burdens on him: We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble (Jer 8:15). Instead of curing the old wound,there are new ones given.
2. (1) This way is taken with petitioners in the court of heaven; for thereby God is glorified, and His attributes more illustrated than otherwise they would be. In this view of it, Paul welcomes it in his own case, though it was hard to sense: And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me 2Co 12:9).
(2) Hereby the state of petitioners is tried, and a plain difference constituted between hypocrites and the sincere: He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (Mat 24:13).
(3) Hereby the graces of believing petitioners are tried, both as to the reality and strength of them; particularly their faith and patience (1Pe 1:6-7).
(4) Hereby believers are humbled, and taught that they hold of free grace. The exalting of grace is the great design of the whole contrivance of the gospel.
(5) This way is taken for honour of the word: Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name (Psa 138:2).
(6) It is taken to make them long to be home.
III. The third thing to be considered, is, THE DUTY OF THE PETITIONERS TO HANG ON, AND NOT TO FAINT, WHATEVER THEY MEET WITH. We may view it in these things following.
1. They must never lift their process from the court of heaven: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life (Joh 6:67-68).
2. They must never give over praying, but pray always. And Satan sometimes plies distressed souls to give up with it, as what they may see they will do no good with, for that God will not hear them. But that is a deceit of hell which ye must never yield to.
3. They must carry all their incident needs in new petitions to the same throne of grace, where the former petition may have been long lying, and still unanswered; and so pursue all together. The latter must not drive out the former, nor the former keep back the latter. It is one of the ways how the Lord keeps His people hanging about His hand without fainting, by sending them several loads above their burden; which loads He takes off soon at their request; and so makes them go under their burden the more easily. These short incident processes, that get a speedy answer, confirm their faith and hope in waiting on for the answer of the main.
4. They must continue in the faith of the promise, never quit the gripe of it; but trust and believe that it shall certainly be accomplished, though the wheels of providence should seem to drive out over it and in over it Rom 4:19-20).
Consider–
1. If ye faint and give over, your suit is lost, ye have given up with it.
2. He is well worth the waiting on.
(1) Though He is infinitely above us, He has waited long on us.
(2) The longer you are called to wait for a mercy, ye will readily find it the more valuable when it comes.
(3) His time will be found the due time (Gal 6:9); the best chosen time for the mercys coming; witness the time of Isaacs birth.
(4) Ye shall be sure of some blessed of fallings, while ye wait on (Psa 27:14).
3. They have waited long, that have lost all, by not having patience to wait a little longer (Exo 32:1-35.; 1Sa 13:8; 1Sa 13:10). Therefore let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing Jam 1:4); for in due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not Gal 6:9). (T. Boston, D. D.)
Petitioners at the court of heaven encouraged; or, the happy issue of praying always, and not fainting
I. First, I SHALL SHOW WHAT IS THAT TREATMENT PETITIONERS MAY MEET WITH AT THE COURT OF HEAVEN, UNDER WHICH THEY WILL BE IN HAZARD OF FAINTING. I mentioned several particulars at another occasion; I offer now only three things in general.
1. The weight and pressure of their heavy case itself, whatever it is, may be long continued, notwithstanding all their addresses for help.
2. There may be no appearance of relief (Psa 74:9).
3. They may get incident weights laid on them, as a load above their burden (Psa 69:26). These are like drops poured into a full cup, ready to cause it run over; like smart touches on a broken leg, inclining one readily to faint.
II. The second thing to be spoke to, is, WHY PETITIONERS ARE IN HAZARD OF FAINTING FROM SUCH TREATMENT AT THE COURT OF HEAVEN.
1. Natural weakness. All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field (Isa 40:6). On this very view the Lord pitiesHis children (Psa 103:13-14).
2. Conscience of guilt: My wounds stink, and are corrupt; because of my foolishness (Psa 38:5-6). Guilt is a mother of fears, and fears cause fainting.
3. Unacquaintedness with the methods of sovereignty: Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great waters, and Thy footsteps are not known Psa 77:19).
4. A strong bias to unbelief and walking by sense, quite contrary to our duty and interest (2Co 5:7). We are apt to be impressed more with what we see and feel in Providence, than what we hear from the Word.
III. The third thing to be considered is, WHEREFORE THE LORD GIVES SUCH TREATMENT TO ANY OF HIS PETITIONERS. Negatively.
1. It is not for mere will and pleasure. Satan will be ready to suggest this, and pose the party with such questions as these, For what use is all this delay?
2. It is not because He has no pity on you, nor concern for you under your burden.
3. It is not to signify to you that you should give it over, and trouble Him no more with your petition; as the hasty unbelieving heart is ready to take it, and to give over duty because there is no sensible appearance of success: I said I will not make mention of Him nor speak any more in His Jer 20:9).
4. Lastly, It is not because He is resolved not to hear you at any rate, cry as long as ye will. But positively, in general, it is for holy, wise, becoming ends; it is necessary for His glory and your case.
But particularly–
1. It is for the honour of the man Christ. It contributes to it–
(1) In that thereby the petitioners are conformed to His image, in the suffering part thereof.
(2) Thereby He gets the more employment as the great Intercessor, and is more earnestly applied to than otherwise He would be. Longsome pleas give the advocates much ado; and longsome processes at the court of heaven bring much business to the Mediator, and so much honour.
(3) It affords Him the most signal occasion of displaying His power in combating with and baffling the old serpent, next to that He had on the 2Co 12:9).
2. To magnify the promise.
3. To keep up the mercy, till that time come, that, all things considered, will be the absolutely best time for bestowing it (Joh 11:14-15).
IV. The fourth thing to be spoke to is, WHAT IS THE IMPORT OF THIS INTIMATION MADE FOR THIS END? It imports–
1. That sinners are ready to take delays at the court of heaven for denials.
2. That importunity and resolute hanging on, and repeated addresses for the supply of the same need, are very welcome and acceptable to Christ and His Father. There is no fear of excess here; the oftener ye come, the more resolute ye are in your hanging on, the more welcome.
3. That the faith of being heard at length, is necessary to keep one hanging on without fainting (Psa 27:13).
4. That the hearing to be got at length at the court of heaven is well worth the waiting on, be it ever so long. It will more than counterbalance all the fatigue of the process, that is kept longest in dependence.
V. The fifth thing in the method is, THE CERTAINTY OF SUCH PETITIONERS BEING HEARD AT LENGTH.
1. They are doubtless Gods own children, elect believers, whatever they think of themselves (Luk 17:7).
2. The nature, name, and promise of God, joins to insure it. He is good and gracious in His nature (Exo 34:6-9).
3. Such prayers are the product of His own Spirit in them, and therefore He cannot miss to be heard (Jam 5:16).
4. Our Lord Jesus has given His word on it, and so has impawned His honour they shall be heard: I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.
VI. Sixthly, How THEY SHALL BE HEARD TO THEIR HEARTS CONTENT.
1. They shall at length see that their prayers have been accepted. I do not say they shall at length be accepted, but they shall see they have been so.
2. They shall get an answer of their petitions to their hearts satisfaction Mat 15:28). The needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever (Psa 9:18).
3. They shall be fully satisfied as to the long delay, and the whole steps of the procedure, however perplexing they were before (Rev 15:3).
4. They shall get it with increase according to the time they waited on, and the hardships they sustained during the dependence of the process. The fruit of the promise, the longer it is a-ripening, the more bulky it is.
5. Lastly, their spiritual enemies that flew thick and strong about them in the time of the darkness, shall be scattered at the appearance of this light 1Sa 2:5).
VII. Seventhly, How IT SHALL BE SPEEDILY, NOTWITHSTANDING THE LONG DELAY.
1. It shall be speedily in respect of the weight and value of it when it comes: so that the believer looking on the return of his petition, with an eye of faith perceiving the worth of it, may wonder it is come upon so short onwaiting (2Co 4:17).
2. It shall come in the most seasonable nick of time it can come in Gal 6:9), when it may come to the best advantage for the honour of God and their good: and that which comes in the best season, comes speedily. To everything there is a season; so fools haste is no speed.
3. It shall come as soon as they are prepared for it (Psa 10:17).
4. It shall not tarry one moment beyond the due and appointed time Hab 2:3).
5. Lastly, it will be surprising, as a glaring light to one brought out of a dungeon, though he was expecting it. (T. Boston, D. D.)
The necessity of prayer
I. With regard to the necessity of prayer, THE GERM OF THIS AS OF OTHER REVEALED DOCTRINES, IS TO BE FOUND IN OUR NATURE, and affords one illustration of the truth of that profound exclamation, O testimony of a soul, by nature Christian! Of moral truth there is an inward engraving, a light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. The virtues, says a modern writer, were like plants half developed in some gloomy shade, till Christ poured His sunshine upon them, and made them flourish with luxuriance. It is important, then, to ground the necessity of prayer on the dictates of nature as well as on the teaching of Revelation, thereby resting it on a double authority, each of which lends support to the other. For anything to be original in our nature, it must possess certain properties; in looking back to the beginning of our race it will present itself without any external origin, and it will continue to exist under conditions most diverse and at all times. We examine, then, the history of the past, we take up the book which contains the first records of our race in order to discover whether this communing with God existed from the first–to see what the first human souls did. All the elements of prayer were present in Adams intercourse with his Maker; man, rational and dependent; God, Almighty, Omniscient, and Good; and–communications between the two. We trace the instinct of prayer continuing in fallen man, else it might have been supposed that it was a part of his supernatural equipment, and had no foundation in his natural life. In Adams sons this instinct survived; Cain and Abel offered sacrifices, and sacrifices are the outward expression of prayer; there was an ascent of the mind to God, a real ascent at least in one case, for by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. In an unfallen state, the instinct of the soul was to turn to the Author of its life, with joy and thankfulness; in a fallen state, the instinct of the soul is to turn to Him through its need of pardon and its sense of weakness; but in both states there is the instinct to turn to Him, though the leading reasons for doing so may be different. Looking back, then, into the past by the light of the only record which can safely guide us, we find the practice of prayer from the first without any external command or origin, and therefore it preserves one mark of an instinct of nature. But an instinct to be acknowledged must not only be able to claim antiquity on its side but also universality. That which is a genuine part of human nature will always be a part of human nature. If that which marked human life in its earlier stages, disappears in times of advanced civilization and culture, it may be doubted whether it was a pure instinct of our nature, and be attributed either on the one side to an original revelation or on the other to a defective or barbarous condition. It must, however, be admitted that in matters of religion, the mark of antiquity in an instinct has a special value; we can see in it natural religion before it has been tampered with. If we want to learn the habits of an animal, we must see it in its native freedom, and not only after it has been trained and domesticated. The instinct of prayer, however, does not lack the second property, universality; we find it both in the highest and lowest states of civilization, in places and races widely sundered both in position and circumstance. If we examine the practices of barbarous nations; if we turn to the ancient religions of the East; if we look at Greece and Rome in the plenitude of their intellectual power, we find that in some form or shape the necessity of prayer and homage to a superior Power is admitted, and in no nation is the instinct entirely obliterated. In the root of human nature there is a sense of dependency, and a sense of guilt; natural religion is based on these two, the correlatives of which are prayer and atonement–the actions respectively proper to the frail, and to the sinful. It is useless to speak of the instinct of prayer as of something imported into our nature: that which is simply imported does not make its home so fixed and sure, that no lapse of time or change of circumstances has the power to dislodge it. I have dwelt at some length on the instinctive character of prayer, because on it I first ground its obligation; we ought to pray out of deference to an instinct with which God has endowed us, for by our higher intuitions and instincts He expresses His will, and to neglect to act in accordance with them, is to disobey His voice within us. Moreover, this instinct of prayer is an imperious one; it is one which will assert itself, even when it has been set aside, and its presence denied. There are moments in life when men are superior to their own principles, and human systems fail to silence the deep cry of the heart; when men pray who have denied the power of prayer. That men ought always to pray, then, is the teaching of nature, and prayer as a matter of natural religion is an express duty.
II. We pass now from the sphere of the natural to the super-natural, from nature to grace, TO FIND ANOTHER BASIS FOR THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER.
Prayer meets us with a two-fold claim in the domain of revealed religion; it is necessary as a means of grace, it is necessary also as a fulfilment of an express command of God; these are two sides, the one objective, the other subjective, of the same truth. It will be observed, that the necessity of prayer viewed in this connection is derived from the prior necessity of grace. Every man is held to pray in order to obtain spiritual goods, which are not given, except from heaven; wherefore they are not able to be procured in any other way but by being thus sought for. In the New Testament, that grace is a necessity for the supernatural life is an elemental truth. Grace is to that life what the water is to the life of the fish, or the air to our natural life–something absolutely indispensable. Being justified freely by His grace. By grace ye are saved. By the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. Grow in grace. He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it. In following the operations of grace from the commencement of the spiritual life to its end, five effects have been enumerated–it heals the soul, it produces a good will, it enables the good which was willed to be brought about in action, it makes perseverance in good possible, it leads to glory. Thus grace is, from first to last, the invisible nourishment of the souls life, and prayer is the means in mans own power of gaining grace; it is through prayer that the different effects of grace are wrought in us. We ask God for spiritual healing–Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee. O cleanse Thou me from my secret faults. We need Divine help for resisting temptations–When Christ was baptized and prayed, the heavens were opened, showing that after Baptism prayer is necessary to man in two ways, to overcome the inward proneness to evil, and the outward enticements of the world and the devil. Temptations to be resisted with sanctifying effect must be resisted in the power of prayer; slight temptations may perhaps be vanquished by natural effort, or overthrown by an opposite vice, but such victories are not registered in heaven. Again, in order to advance in the spiritual life, in the development of virtues, prayer is a necessity–the apostles prayed, Lord, increase our faith. The increase of the interior life simply consists in the growth of different virtues and graces, and these virtues are formed by the combined action of grace and free-will; these are the two factors, the raw material so to speak, from which the fabric is manufactured. A continual supply of grace is needed for the increase of each virtue, and therefore prayer is needed, not only in general, but also with definite reference to the support of the virtue which we have to exercise, or in which we are most conscious of defect. He says prayer and grace are of the same necessity; grace is necessary for salvation, hence it ought to follow that prayer also is necessary; but why should prayer be ordained in relation to eternity, unless it he for the sake of obtaining grace? There are, however, two limits to the power of prayer which we must not forget in its relation to grace. Prayer is itself dependent on grace in the spiritual life, and an act of prayer for grace is a correspondence with a grace which has been already given. The Spirit, St. Paul says, also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. Grace, St. Chrysostom asserts, precedes our prayers always. The good thought or desire is a touch from another world; the angels of God descended as well as ascended on Bethels Stair. The beginnings of life, whether natural or supernatural, are from God; but the continuation and increase of life depend also on human co-operation. Again, prayer as a means of grace must not take the place of Sacraments. The revelation which proclaims the necessity of the one, also asserts the obligation of the other. Prayer is the respiration of the soul; Sacraments, its medicine and food; both alike necessary, though the one constantly, the other occasionally.
III. The obligation to pray is NOT, however, TO BE VIEWED SIMPLY IN REFERENCE TO OUR OWN BENEFIT. Prayer is also an act of religion, an act of obedience to a Divine precept which we should be bound to perform, even if no grace came to us from its performance. This objective view of the necessity of prayer is one less familiar, but hardly less important. Now from this doctrine flow two results. The omission and neglect of prayer involve not only a loss of grace, but constitute a distinct sin; it is a sin against religion, and against charity. Religion is a moral virtue, whose province it is to show due honour and reverence to Almighty God; to cease to pray therefore, is to fail to exercise a moral virtue, and that the highest. What justice is towards the creature, religion is towards God–that by which we seek to give Him His due. To neglect prayer, is also to sin against charity. Charity presents three objects–God, ourselves, others–all of whom are to be loved: but when prayer is omitted we fail in the exercise of the love of God, for we desire to hold converse with those whom we love; the love of our neighbour we fail in also, for he needs our prayers; and the love of our soul we fail in, by the neglect of a duty upon which our spiritual life depends. It remains for us to notice when this precept of prayer is binding, so that the omission of it becomes a sin. When Christ says, men ought always to pray, it is evident that He does not mean that no other duty should be fulfilled; but that at all times, whatever we are doing, the spirit of prayer should be preserved.
IV. We have now to view THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER AS A TRANSFORMING INFLUENCE. Those who do not admit that prayer has power with God, yet acknowledge that it has power with us, and allow that it possesses a reflex influence on those who use it. The soul by communing with God becomes like God, receives from His perfections supplies of light, of power, and love according to its needs. The subjective effects of prayer are as manifold as the Divine perfections. It is said that constant intercourse between creatures causes them to resemble one another, not only in disposition and habits, but even in features. Old painters always made St. John like unto his Master in face. They instinctively imagined, that closeness of communion between the beloved disciple and his Lord had occasioned a likeness in features and expression. The first basis of its obligation will remind us that we must not regard our nature as entirely corrupt, and its voice as always misleading, but that in it, fallen as it is, there are vestiges of its original greatness, and intuitions and instincts which are to us an inward revelation of the mind and will of God. The second reason for the necessity of prayer, will explain perhaps the cause of weakness in the hour of temptation–our lack of grace. Further, we must be careful to regard prayer not only as a means of grace but as a duty, and thus fulfil it without reference to our own delight or profit in the act. If, again, we complain of our earthliness and worldliness, and the difficulty which we have in fetching our motives of action from a higher sphere, may it not be that we have failed to realize the importance of prayer in its subjective effect upon character, and have thought to gain a ray of heavenly brightness without the habitual communing with God upon the Mount? (W. H. Hutchings, M. A.)
Necessity of prayer
Prayer is natural to men. The knowledge of our own weakness is soon forced upon us, but with this conviction there comes another, the sense of dependence on One–great, loving, and wise. Out of these springs the necessity of prayer, which is the language of the frail to the mighty–the confession of need, and the instinct of trust. Every known religion attests this irresistible impulse to pray. Men, indeed, will be found to deny, or to undervalue the evidence of this instinct of prayer; but there are times which wring prayer from prayerless lips; times of danger, when all classes find prayer the most appropriate and natural utterance of their lips; times of heartfear, when the whole spirit sends up from the depths of confusion and darkness an exceeding bitter cry, wherein terror and doubt mingle with the unquenchable instinct of prayer; times when, perhaps, death is approaching, and the dark, unexplored confines of the other world begin to loom vast and vague upon an awakening conscience, and the firm citadel of stoutly maintained unbelief is swept away, and prayer rushes forth in such a despairing shriek as burst from the lips of Thistlewood–O God, if there be a God, save my soul, if I have a soul! It is not the approach of danger or the feeling of fear only which calls forth prayer. The irresistible disposition is experienced under the influence of feelings widely different from fear. The contemplation of the universe, and the incomprehensible Being who embraces all things, so wrought upon the mind of Rousseau that, in the restlessness of his transports, he would exclaim, O great Being! O great Being! The majesty and splendour of nature, brightening and kindling under the beams of the sun, rising upon the rocky heights of Jura, and circling the sky with flame, filled the soul of Voltaire with such awe that he uncovered his head, and, kneeling, he cried, I believe–I believe in Thee! O mighty God, I believe! If the language of prayer is thus natural to all men, and forced at times from reluctant lips, it is natural, with an inexpressible sweetness, to hearts accustomed to communion with God. The cultivated instinct becomes a rich enjoyment, and an unutterable relief. The high duty becomes the highest privilege. (Bishop Boyd Carpenter.)
Times unfavourable to prayer
There are times when prayer is natural to the most careless; but there are also times when all things tend to deaden the spirit of prayer in the most thoughtful and prayerful of Gods children. Such times are times of great and extensive activity, when pleasure is busy, and even enjoyments are full of toil. In the ceaseless industry of business and gaiety, amusement becomes hard work. Hard work brings weariness, and weariness is followed by an indisposition for any exertion of the spirit. Such, too, are times of a widespread feeling of uneasiness, when a vague apprehension seems to have seized hold upon the minds of all classes, and a strange sense of insecurity begets an unreasoning and universally felt fear. Such are times of noisy religionism and demonstrative piety, when the minds of men are galvanized into an unnatural activity through the spirit of an unwholesome rivalry; when convictions are degraded into opinions, and toil dwindles into talk, and organized Christian effort is strangled in discussion; when an impracticable tenacity of trifles and a stupendous disregard of principles throws the appearance of vitality over a degenerate and dead pietism. In such times the lulling influences of a strained activity, an undefined terror; and a selfasserting, heart-distracting zealotism steal over the spirits of the most watchful of Christs servants, and often diminish insensibly their vigilance and earnestness in prayer. A convergence of such times into one period Christ described, and on the description He founded His warning that men ought always to pray. (Bishop Boyd Carpenter.)
Patient prayer
One day, returning home from a morning meeting of the Holiness Convention, I came across a little boy standing at a house door, and crying bitterly. I tried to comfort him, but he only cried the more. Just then his mother came out, and when I inquired what was wrong with him, I found he was crying because his mother would not give him his breakfast before the right time. Similarly, we, as Gods children, often make bitter repinings, and have hard thoughts about the Lord, because He does not answer our prayers at the time, and in the way that we expect. His ways are not as our ways, nor is His time always our time; but that in some way or other, and in the right way, and at His own time–not a moment too soon, not a moment too late–He will perform that which is good for us and to His glory. (J. G. Forbes.)
Constant exercise in prayer
When a pump is frequently used, but little pains are necessary to obtain water; the water pours out at the first stroke, because it is high; but if the pump has not been used for a long time the water gets low, and when you want it you must pump a long while, and the water comes only after great efforts. It is so with prayer. If we are instant in prayer, every little circumstance awakens the disposition to pray, and desire and words are always ready. But if we neglect prayer it is difficult for us to pray.
Shall we pray, or shall we not?
A distinguished man of science, an Englishman, was reported in the newspapers the other day to have said to an assembly in the American capital, I am not a praying man. He was not bemoaning himself, or making confession of sin, or even uttering regret. If he did not speak boastfully, he certainly spoke without any sense of shame, and apparently with some degree of superiority over the commonplace and lag-behind people who still think it right to pray. Another distinguished man, an Englishman likewise, not a man of science, but a man of profound thought, was asked on his deathbed how he felt, and his reply was, I can pray, and thats a great thing. In his judgment prayer was the highest service to which a whole man can give himself; not something to be left to the ignorant and feeble, but to be risen to, and aspired after by the greatest intellect and the most illumined mind. Which of the two was right? Which of them possessed the truest conception of the whole duty and privilege of man?
I. Let us see WHAT MAY, JUSTIFIABLY OR UNJUSTIFIABLY, INDUCE A MAN TO TAKE THE POSITION INVOLVED IN THE AVOWAL, I am not a praying man.
1. He may take this position who is conscious of no want which scientific study and material good cannot satisfy. But what shall we say of such a man as this? Is he a true type of our common humanity, or of our most educated humanity? Or, rather, is he not less than a man–only part of a man? The intellect is not the soul, and intellectual pleasure cannot satisfy the soul, or, if there be some souls which profess to be satisfied with it, it only proves how untrue souls may be to their own highest capacities.
2. He may take this position who is separated from mankind by the non-possession of anything of the nature of a religious faculty. An old Greek said, You may find peoples without cities, without arts, without theatres; but you can find no people without an altar and a God. An Englishman, not a believer in Christianity, said that upon accurate search, religion and faith appear the only ultimate differences of man–those which distinguish him from a brute.
3. He who has ascertained that God cannot, consistently with His own laws, or will not, for some other reason, hear prayer, may take the position implied in the saying, I am not a praying man. But where is such a man to be found? To know that God cannot answer prayer consistently with His own laws, implies a knowledge which is properly Divine.
4. He who would justify his position must be conscious that he has no sins to be forgiven. And if any one should aver that his conscience acquits him, we should say (1Jn 1:8; 1Jn 1:10).
5. The man who would justify himself in saying, I am not a praying man, must have already attained all moral excellence, or be conscious of power to attain it by his unaided efforts. In this matter we discern the blindness that has fallen on men. They can see very clearly the power that is needed to produce physical results, but not that which is needed to produce moral. And in this they only prove how much sense has acquired dominion over them.
II. THE REASONS FOR NOT PRAYING WHICH MEN, IF HONEST ABOUT THEMSELVES, WOULD AVOW.
1. Prayer is distasteful to them. They have no heart for it. This is a sure sign of being spiritually out of health. Seek the aid of the Healer of souls.
2. They feel that prayer is inconsistent with their habits of life. Then change those habits. Wash you, make you clean. (J. Kennedy, D. D.)
Hindrances to prayer
1. There Is the objection that, God having infinite wisdom to determine what is best, and almighty power to accomplish His decree, there is nothing for His creatures to do but submit with reverence and trust. If prayer cannot change His mind, it is useless, and, moreover, an impertinence; if it could, it would be a loss, since it would involve a sacrifice of greater wisdom to less–a result which can only be conceived of as a punishment. The answer to this is, that God in giving human beings a real freedom, a power to choose whether certain events shall be one way or the other, has really, so far as we can see, for wise purposes, limited His own. In short, there is a margin of greater or less good, of manageable error, of permissible evil, which God can set apart for our freedom to exercise itself in, without the world escaping His control. The premise, therefore, from which this objection starts, that whatever is, is best, is not true in the large sense of those words. Whatever is best under all the circumstances, under the circumstances of our crime, negligence, or error, but not the best that might have been had we reached forth our hand to take what lay within our power. It may be better if we do not pray, that we should miss some blessings God has in reserve for those who seek Him in love and trust, but this is not the best that might have been. It is the will of God in relation to our negligence; but our trust and importunity would have called into action a higher and more generous law of His loving nature.
2. The next objection is that of the imagination filled and overpowered by the thought of the vastness of the material universe. Do you suppose, men ask, that a petty, individual life, a worm crawling on the surface of one of His smallest planets, can be an object of particular consideration and interest to the Almighty Creator? Why not? Is the Almighty Ruler compelled to distinguish between imperial and provincial cares like an earthly monarch? Because He is here with some suffering infant, taking its inarticulate moan into His mighty and pitiful heart, is He less in the planet Neptune, or is His power withdrawn from the glowing masses of future worlds? There is no egotism in thinking that man–any man–is more important in the Divine regard than a mass of matter, however long it has lain under the Creators eye, and however much it may impose upon our imagination.
3. Practical hindrances to prayer are found where the speculative barriers we have been considering do not exist. Mental indolence is one of the greatest of these hindrances, and mental indolence is a much more prevalent and serious fault than bodily indolence. No one can really pray without using his understanding, engaging his affections, and making an effort of will. Prayer is work, and hard work. We must go to the Saviour, and ask His aid. Lord, teach us to pray. (E. W. Shalders, B. A.)
Belief in prayer the outcome of need realized
As to the so-called scientific challenge to prove the efficacy of prayer by the result of simultaneous petition. A God that should fail to hear, receive, attend to one single prayer, the feeblest or worst, I cannot believe in; but a God that would grant every request of every man or every company of men, would be an evil God–that is no God, but a demon. That God should hang in the thought-atmosphere, like a windmill, waiting till men enough should combine and send out prayer in sufficient force to turn His outspread arms, is an idea too absurd. God waits to be gracious, not to be tempted. But if God is so good as you represent Him, and if He knows all that we need, and better far than we do ourselves, why should it be necessary to ask Him for anything? I answer, What if He knows prayer to be the thing we need first and most? What if the main object in Gods idea of prayer be the supplying of our great, our endless need–the need of Himself? What if the good of all our smaller and lower needs lies in this, that they help to drive us to God? Hunger may drive the runaway child home, and he may or may not be fed at once, but he needs his mother more than his dinner. Communion with God is the one need of the soul beyond all other need; prayer is the beginning of that communion, and some need is the motive of that prayer. Our wants are for the sake of our coming into communion with God, our eternal need. In regard, however, to the high necessities of our nature, it is in order that He may be able to give that God requires us to ask–requires by driving us to it–by shutting us up to prayer. For how can He give into the soul of a man what it needs, while that soul cannot receive it? The ripeness for receiving is the asking. The blossom-cup of the soul, to be filled with the heavenly dews, is its prayer. When the soul is hungry for the light, for the truth–when its hunger has waked its higher energies, thoroughly roused the will, and brought the soul into its highest condition, that of action, its only fitness for receiving the things of God, that action is prayer. Then God can give; then He can be as He would towards the man: for the glory of God is to give Himself. We thank thee, Lord Christ, for by Thy pain alone do we rise towards the knowledge of this glory of Thy Father and our Father. (G. Macdonald, LL. D.)
The adaptability of nature to prayer
A waterfall is a scientific object only in a very rude way. But when every drop of its waters has been manipulated and controlled by the human will till the mills of a Lowell or a Lawrence display from every spindle and shuttle the presence of human intelligence and power, then the untamed river begins to sparkle with the brilliancy of science, and to murmur its praises from every ripple. That is, the more mind-power is mingled with matter-power, the more scientific is the compound result. The uniformity of the waterfall is far less scientific, than the diversity of the waterwheel. Automatic mechanisms, machines that adjust themselves to change, throwing themselves out of gear at the least obstacle or breakage, ringing a bell as a signal of distress, increasing or diminishing combustion, changing position, as in the case of a lathe to meet all the convolutions of a gun-stock, have a far higher scientific character than a carpenters drawing-knife, or a housewifes spinning-wheel, which display less of diversity and more of uniformity. It was once supposed that the solar system is so balanced that the loss of a grain of weight, or the slightest change of motion, would dislocate and destroy the whole system. It was a higher science, not a lower, that has since taught us that exact uniformity is by no means necessary to the stability of the system, but that oscillation and change are fully provided for in the original plan. The principle holds good that the modifications of a mind power introduced into a material mechanism advance its scientific rank, and increase rather than diminish the proof of the presence of law and order in its working. I was riding, a few years since, about one of the rural cities of the State of New York with one of the most distinguished preachers at the metropolis. We were speaking of the curious fallacies involved in Tyndalls famous prayer-gauge conundrum. Just then we drove up to the city water-works. I told him that if he would go in with me I thought we could find a good illustration of the manner in which God may answer prayer without interfering with any of the laws of nature. The point, let us remember, is, that the power of an intelligent will can be so introduced among the forces of matter as to have perfect uniformity in the working of those forces, while diversity appears in their results. The building we entered was furnished with a Holley engine. As we stood by the steam gauge we observed constant and considerable changes in the amount of steam produced. As there was no cause apparent in or about the engine itself, we asked for an explanation. That, said the engineer, is done by the people in the city. As they open their faucets to draw the water the draft upon our fires is increased. As they close them, it is diminished. The smallest child can change the movements of our engine according to his will. It was the design of the maker to adjust his engine so that it should respond perfectly to the needs of the people, be they great or small. Just then the bell rung, the furnace-drafts flew open, the steam rose rapidly in the gauge, the engineer flew to his post, the ponderous machinery accelerated its movement. We heard a general alarm of fire. How is that? we asked. That, he said, was the opening of some great fire-plug. And how about the bell? What did that ring for? That, he said, was to put us on the alert. You saw that the firemen began to throw on coal at once. A thousand things have to be looked after when there is a great fire. It wont do to leave the engine to itself at such times. In a moment there came a lull. The great pumps moved more deliberately. In another minute a roar of steam told us the safety-valve had opened, and soon the great engine had returned to its ordinary, sleepy motion. Wonderful, said my friend; the whole thing seems alive. I almost thought it would start and run to the fire itself. I think this one of the grandest triumphs of science, said the engineer, as he bade me good-bye. The illustration is a good one, but others of the same sort are at our hand on every side. The uniformity of nature is, in fact, one of its lesser attributes. Its great glory is in its wonderful adaptability. Its greatest glory is its unlimited capacity to receive mind-forces, and to mingle them with its matter-forces in perfect harmony, and in infinite variety of combination. If human science has been able to do so much to overcome the eventless uniformity of nature in its wildness and crudeness, shall we deny to the Divine omniscience the power to effect the slightest modifications necessary in answering the prayers of His children? Nay, shall we deny to Him the power so to adjust the original mechanism of the universe that prayer with its appropriate action may directly modify that mechanism, as the childs thirst and his little hand can open a faucet and change the action of the great water-works miles away. Or, is it at all unscientific to believe that other intelligent agents may, in answer to prayer, be caused to fly swiftly, as the little bell aroused the engineer. Or can science offer any valid objection if we say that God Himself holds the forces of nature in His own hand; waiting, for high moral reasons, to be inquired of by the house of Israel to do these things for them ? (Prof. J. P. Gulliver.)
Prayer answered after death
Let me tell you that if any of you should die with your prayers unanswered, you need not conclude that God has disappointed you. I have heard that a certain godly father bad the unhappiness to be the parent of some five or six most graceless sons. All of them as they grew up imbibed infidel sentiments, and led a libidinous life. The father who had been constantly praying for them, and was a pattern of every virtue, hoped at least that in his death he might be able to say a word that should move their hearts. He gathered them to his bedside, but his unhappiness in dying was extreme, for be lost the light of Gods countenance, and was beset with doubts and fears, and the last black thought that haunted him was, Instead of my death being a testimony for God, which will win my dear sons, I die in such darkness and gloom that I fear I shall confirm them in their infidelity, and lead them to think that there is nothing in Christianity at all. The effect was the reverse. The sons came round the grave at the funeral, and when they returned to the house, the eldest son thus addressed his brothers:–My brothers, throughout his lifetime, our father often spoke to us about religion, and we have always despised it, but what a sermon his deathbed has been to us! for if he who served God so well and lived so near to God found it so hard a thing to die, what kind of death may we expect ours to be who have lived without God and without hope? The same feeling possessed them all, and thus the fathers death had strangely answered the prayers of his life through the grace of God. You cannot tell but what, when you are in glory, you should look down from the windows of heaven and receive a double heaven in beholding your dear sons and daughters converted by the words you left behind. I do not say this to make you cease pleading for their immediate conversion, but to encourage you. Never give up prayer, never be tempted to cease from it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Prayer is manly
Men ought to pray. Let none misunderstand us when we lay stress on the word men. Of course, Christ does not mean one sex merely; He immediately afterwards speaks of a certain widow. His reference is to the human race at large. We are assured by Paul that in Him there is neither male nor female. Nevertheless, we eagerly take advantage of the word thus used by our Saviour that we may affirm and maintain the manliness of prayer. The assertion is far from unnecessary, and every one who is acquainted with public opinion will, we think, agree with us. Is there not a notion abroad that prayer is a somewhat feeble, sentimental, effeminate pursuit? Are we not often reminded by travellers on the continent of the fact that churches and cathedrals are chiefly filled by women? Sandy Mackaye, in Alton Locke, describes a certain congregation as made up of babies and bonnets, and we know what the inference is. Dr. J. Martineau felicitously speaks of those who regard it a fond superstition and womanly weakness to ask God anything. Dont we all recollect the account given of Tom Brown when, on arriving at school, he was pelted, chaffed, and ridiculed, because he kneeled beside his bed? Perhaps the last-named incident is more significant than any or the whole of the preceding ones, since there is nothing about which boys are so ambitious as to seem manly. The occurrence is, therefore, a feather which, as it flies, shows the way of the wind. The idea that prayer is unworthy of us as men is utterly unreasonable and untrue. Is it not manly to do right? No one disputes it. We get our word virtue from the Latin vir, a man; to be moral is to be manly. By parity of argument, to do right generally must be manly; prayer is right, God would not will it were it not; therefore it is manly. (T. R. Stevenson.)
Universal prayer
Remember, you can pray for any need–for lengthened life, as Hezekiah did; for help, as Daniel did; for light, as Bartimeus did; for mercy, as David did; for rain, as Elijah did; for a son, as Hannah did; for grace, as Paul did. You can pray, too, anywhere; in the deep, like Jonah; on the sea or the house-top, like Peter; on your bed, like Hezekiah; in the mountain, like Jesus; in the wilderness, like Hagar; in the street, like Jairus; in a cave, like David; on the cross, like the dying thief. You can pray, too, anyhow; short, like Peter and the publican; long, like Moses at the consecration of the Tabernacle, or Solomon at the dedication of the Temple. You can pray in silence, as Hannah did in the Temple; in your secret thoughts, as Nehemiah did before Darius; or aloud, like the Syro-Phenician woman; in tears, like Magdalen; in groans, or songs, as David did. You can pray any time. In the morning, like David; at noon, like Daniel; at midnight, like Silas; in childhood, like Samuel; in youth, like Timothy; in manhood, like the centurion; in age, like Simeon; in sickness, like Job; or in death, like Jacob and the dying Christ. And all of them were heard by the Hearer of prayer. I pray you, learn to pray! Link yourselves to the throne of God. Prayer will stand you in good stead every day of your mortal life! will make you joyful in the hour of death; and by the power of prayer you shall scale the mount of God! Pray! (J. D. Wray.)
Perseverance in prayer: or, strike again
Gods seasons are not at your heel: If the first stroke of the flint doth not bring forth the fire, you must strike again. That is to say, God will hear prayer, but He may not answer it at the time which we in our own minds have appointed; He will reveal Himself to our seeking hearts, but not just when and where we have settled in our own expectations. Hence the need of perseverence and importunity in supplication. In the days of flint and steel and brimstone matches we had to strike and strike again, dozens of times, before we could get a spark to live in the tinder; and we were thankful enough if we succeeded at last. Shall we not be as persevering and hopeful as to heavenly things? We have more certainty of success in this business than we had with our flint and steel, for we have Gods promise at our back. Never let us despair. Gods time for mercy will come; yea, it has come, if our time for believing has arrived. Ask in faith, nothing wavering; but never cease from petitioning because the king delays to reply. Strike the steel again. Make the sparks fly and have your tinder ready: you will get a light before long.
Answers to prayer
In reply to the question, What place has prayer for temporal blessings in your system of natural law in the spiritual world? Professor Drummond, as reported, said, in one of his talks at Lakeview:–A large, splendidly equipped steamship sailed out from Liverpool for New York. Among the passengers were a little boy and girl, who were playing about the deck, when the boy lost his ball overboard. He immediately ran to the captain and shouted, Stop the ship; my ball is overboard! The captain smiled pleasantly, but said, Oh no, my boy; I cannot stop the ship, with all these people, just to get a rubber ball. The boy went away grumbling, and confided to the little girl that it was his opinion the captain didnt stop the ship because he couldnt. He believed the ship was wound up some way in Liverpool, and she just had to run, day and night, until she ran down. A day or so afterward the children were playing on deck again, when the little girl dropped her doll down into the engine-room, and she supposed it, too, had gone overboard. She said, Ill run and ask the captain to stop the ship and get my dolly. Its no use, said the boy; he cannot do anything. Ive tried him. But the little girl ran on to the captain with her story and appeal. The captain came and peeked down into the engine-room, and, seeing the doll, said, Just wait here a minute. And, while the ship went right on, he ran down the stairway and brought up the little girls doll, to her delight, and to the boys amazement. The next day the cry rang out, Man overboard! and immediately the bell rang in the engine-room, by orders from the lever in the hands of the captain; the great ship stood still until boats were lowered and the life rescued. Then she steamed on until she reached her wharf in New York. As soon as the ship was tied up the captain went up town and bought the boy a better ball than the one he had lost. Now, said the professor, each of the three prayers was answered. The little girl received her request without stopping the ship; the little boy by a little waiting received his also; and yet for sufficient reason the ship was stopped by a part of the machinery itself, not an afterthought, but something put into the ship when it was made.
Hours spent in prayer
One is bowed down with shame to read of the long hours spent day by day in prayer by many holy men whose lives are given to us. Nor is it less humiliating to know of the extraordinary delight experienced by some good men in these long hours of prayer. It is related of St. Francis de Sales that in a days retreat, in which he continued most of the day in prayer, he was so overwhelmed with the joy of this communion with God that he exclaimed, Withdraw Thyself, O Lord, for I am not able to bear the greatness of Thy sweetness! and the saintly Fletcher, of Madeley, on one occasion prayed for less delight in prayer, fearing it would become more of an indulgence than of a duty.
There was in a city a Judge which feared not God, neither regarded man
The unjust judge and the importunate widow
1. There are points of resemblance between Gods people and this widow. In Satan, have not we also an adversary to be avenged on? Are not we also poor and needy? She had known happy days; and so also had man. By death she had lost her husband; and by sin we have lost our God. Poor and friendless, she had no means of avenging, of righting herself; no more have we–we were without help when Christ died for the ungodly. The sons of Zeruiah, cried David, are too many for me; and so are sin and its corruptions, the world and its temptations, the devil and his wiles, for us.
2. There are likewise some points of resemblance between God and this unjust judge. Long had he stood by and, without one effort on her behalf, seen this poor woman spurned and oppressed; and long also God seemed to stand by when His people were ground to the dust in Egypt; in old Pagan and in more modern Popish times, when their cruel enemies shed the blood of His saints like water, and, immured in dungeons, bleeding on scaffolds, hiding in the caves of our mountains, His elect cried to Him day and night, and the Church, helpless as a widow, implored Him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary! And this is true also of His dealings with individual believers. How long in their corruption are the messengers of Satan left to buffet them? Weary of the struggle with some besetting sin, and hating it as a slave his cruel tyrant, they cry, How long, O Lord, how long? how often, all but despairing, are they ready to exclaim with Paul, Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
3. But there are important points of disparity between this judge and our God: and in these I find assurance of final victory, and the highest encouragements to instant, constant, urgent prayer. A bad man, with a heart cold as ice and hard as iron, was he moved by importunity to redress the wrongs of one for whom he felt no regard, whose happiness or misery was nothing to him?–how much more will God be importuned to grant our prayers! Just, and more than just, He is merciful and gracious, long-suffering and slow to wrath, abundant in goodness and in truth. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
The importunate widow
I. First, then, consider our LORDS DESIGN IN THIS PARABLE–Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
1. Our Lord meant by saying men ought always to pray, that they ought to be always in the spirit of prayer, always ready to pray. Like the old knights, always in warfare, not always on their steeds dashing forward with their lances in rest to unhorse an adversary, but always wearing their weapons where they could readily reach them, and always ready to encounter wounds or death for the sake of the cause which they championed. Those grim warriors often slept in their armour; so even when we sleep, we are still to be in the spirit of prayer, so that if perchance we wake in the night we may still be with God.
2. Our Lord may also have meant, that the whole life of the Christian should be a life of devotion to God. Men ought always to pray. It means that when they are using the lapstone, or the chisel, when the hands are on the plough-handles, or on the spade, when they are measuring out the goods, when they are dealing in stocks, whatever they are doing, they are to turn all these things into a part of the sacred pursuit of Gods glory. Their common garments are to be vestments, their meals are to be sacraments, their ordinary actions are to be sacrifices, and they themselves a royal priesthood, a peculiar people zealous for good works.
3. A third meaning which I think our Lord intended to convey to us was this: men ought always to pray, that is, they should persevere in prayer.
4. I cannot leave this part of the subject without observing that our Lord would have us learn that men should be more frequent in prayer. Prayerfulness will scarcely be kept up long unless you set apart times and seasons for prayer.
5. Our Lord means, to sum up the whole, that believers should exercise a universality of supplication–we ought to pray at all times.
II. In enforcing this precept, our Lord gives us a parable in which there are TWO ACTORS, the characteristics of the two actors being such as to add strength to His precept. In the first verse of the parable there is a judge. Now, herein is the great advantage to us in prayer. Brethren, if this poor woman prevailed with a judge whose office is stern, unbending, untender, how much more ought you and I to be instant in prayer and hopeful of success when we have to supplicate a Father! We must, however, pass on now to notice the other actor in the scene–the widow; and here everything tells again the same way, to induce the Church of God to be importunate. She was apparently a perfect stranger to the judge. She appeared before him as an individual in whom he took no interest. He had possibly never seen her before; who she was and what she wanted was no concern to him. But when the Church appears before God she comes as Christs own bride, she appears before the Father as one whom He has loved with an everlasting love. And shall He not avenge His own elect, His own chosen, His own people? Shall not their prayers prevail with Him, when a strangers importunity won a suit of an unwilling judge?
III. The third and last point: THE POWER WHICH, ACCORDING TO THIS PARABLE, TRIUMPHED.
1. This power was not the womans eloquence, I pray thee avenge me of mine adversary. These words are very few. Just eight words. Verbiage is generally nothing better in prayer than a miserable fig-leaf with which to cover the nakedness of an unawakened soul.
2. Another thing is quite certain, namely, that the woman did not prevail through the merits of her case. He does not say, She has a good case, and I ought to listen to it. No, he was too bad a man to be moved by such a motive–but she worries me, that is all, I will attend to it. So in our suit–in the suit of a sinner with God, it is not the merit of his case that can ever prevail with God. If thou art to win, anothers merit must stand instead of thine, and on thy part it must not be merit but misery; it must not be thy righteousness but thy importunity that is to prevail with God. However unworthy you may be, continue in prayer. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Parable of the importunate widow
I. Consider THE PARABLE ITSELF.
II. Inquire, WHAT IS MEANT BY IMPORTUNITY IN PRAYER.
1. Attention.
2. Ardour.
3. Frequency.
4. Regularity.
III. Let us next consider WHY IMPORTUNITY IS SAID TO PREVAIL WITH GOD.
1. Because it consists in the exercise of pious and amiable feelings.
2. Because the frequent exercise of such feelings has a tendency to form pious and virtuous habits; and such habits are qualifications for higher society and purer happiness than this world affords.
3. Because the frequent excitement of such feelings fits us for receiving the blessings we ask.
IV. We may shortly observe, from what our Saviour has said in the seventh and eighth verses, that HE SEEMS TO INSINUATE THAT SOMETHING LIKE A STATE OF PERSECUTION WILL TAKE PLACE ABOUT THE TIME OF HIS SECOND COMING. For why should the elect be represented as crying to God day and night, unless they were in a suffering state?
1. We may conclude that many will despond and cease to believe that God will interfere in their favour.
2. It also necessarily follows that, after the second coming of Jesus, God will avenge His elect, and that suddenly and completely. (J. Thomson, D. D.)
Pray without ceasing
How can the conduct of this selfish tyrant to a helper sufferer be any illustration of a just and merciful Gods dealing with His own elect? One thing, at least, is certain, that in this, and, by parity of reasoning, in all like cases, it does not follow, because two things are compared in one point, that they must be alike in every other. The only points of contact are the mutual relation of the parties as petitioner and sovereign, the withholding of the thing requested and its subsequent bestowal. In all the rest there is, there can be no resemblance; there is perfect contrariety. Why, then, was this unsuitable image chosen even for the sake of illustration? Why was not the Hearer of Prayer represented by a creature bearing more of His own image? Because this would not have answered our Lords purpose, but would only have taught feebly by comparison what is now taught mightily by contrast. The ground of confidence here furnished is not the similitude of God to man, but their infinite disparity. If even such a character, governed by such motives, may be rationally expected to take a certain course, however alien from his native disposition and his habits, there can be no risk in counting on a like result where all these adverse circumstances favour it. The three main points of the antithesis are these–the character, the practice, and the motive of the judge–his moral character, his official practice, and his motive for acting upon this occasion in a manner contrary to both. His official practice is intimated by the word unjust applied to him near the conclusion of the parable. The interior source of this exterior conduct is then described in other terms. He feared not God. He neither reverenced Him as a sovereign, nor dreaded Him as an avenger. Among the motives which may act upon this principle, not the least potent is the fear of man. This may include the dread of his displeasure, the desire of his applause, and an instinctive shrinking even from his scorn. Shame, fear, ambition, all may contribute to produce an outward goodness having no real counterpart within. This is particularly true of public and official acts. They can consent to risk their souls, but not to jeopard their respectability. There would thus seem to be three grounds for expecting justice and fidelity in human society, and especially in public trusts. The first and highest is the fear of God, including all religious motives–then the fear of man or a regard to public sentiment–and last, the force of habit, the authority of precedent, a disposition to do that which has been done before, because it has been done before. These three impulsive forces do not utterly exclude each other. They may co-exist in due subordination. The same is true of a regard to settled usage, or even to personal habit, when correctly formed. Indeed, these latter motives never have so powerful an influence for good, as when they act in due subordination to the fear of God. It is only when this is wanting, and they undertake to fill its place, that they become unlawful or objectionable. And even then, although they cannot make good the deficiency in Gods sight, they may make it good in mans. Although the root of the matter is not in them a short-lived verdure may be brought out and maintained by artificial means. The want of any one of these impulsive forces may detract from the completeness of the ultimate effect. How much more the absence of them all! In other words, how utterly unjust must that judge be who neither fears God nor regards man. If this widow has not the means of appealing to his avarice, how clear it seems that his refusal to avenge her is a final one, and that continued importunity can only waste time and provoke him to new insult. I dwell on these particulars to show that, in their aggregate, they are intended to convey the idea of a hopeless case. She hopes against hope. An indomitable instinct triumphs over reason. She persists in her entreaties. The conclusion which we have already reached is, that the widow in the parable did right, acted a reasonable part, in hoping against hope, and still persisting in her suit when everything combined to prove it hopeless. She would have had no right to sacrifice the comfort and tranquillity, much less the life or the salvation of her children to her own despondency or weariness of effort. But let us suppose that he had been an upright, conscientious, faithful judge, whose execution of his office was delayed by some mistake or want of information. How much less excusable would she have then been in relinquishing her rights or those of others in despair! Suppose that, instead of knowing that the judge was in principle and habit unjust, she had known him, by experience, to be just and merciful, as well as eminently wise. Suppose that she had been protected by him, and her wrongs redressed in many ether cases. How easy must it then have been to trust! How doubly mad and wicked to despair! There seems to be room for only one more supposition. Exclude all chance of intellectual or moral wrong. Enlarge the attributes before supposed, until they reach infinity or absolute perfection. What, then, would be left as the foundation or the pretext of a doubt? The bare fact of delay? If she was wise in hoping against hope, what must we be in despairing against evidence? If she was right in trusting to the selfish love of ease in such a man, how wrong must we be in distrusting the benevolence, the faithfulness, the truth of such a God! Every point of dissimilitude between the cases does but serve to make our own still worse and less excusable, by bringing into shocking contrast mens dependence on the worst of their own species, with their want of confidence in God. (J. A. Alexander.)
Times adverse to prayer
There is a rude sense of right in most mens breasts; and the appeal of outraged helplessness is not often made in vain. But this judge was in his very nature incapable of understanding or feeling the force of such an appeal: he was an unjust judge. Again, even in cases where man have no natural and conscientious sympathy with righteousness, the instinct of retribution frequently arouses a fear of God, which impels them to acts of justice; but in the case of the unjust judge there seemed no avenue for the approach of such a feeling: he feared not God. Nor was he moved by that which, as a last motive, is powerful in the most debased natures, the regard for the opinion of other men. He was of that cold, hardened, and unaccommodating character that he neither feared God nor regarded man. What did our Master intend by thus sketching the judge? The unjust judge is not the portrait of what God is, but of what, owing to circumstances of trial, and misrepresentations of unreasonable and wicked men, the suffering, waiting people of Christ will be almost tempted to think Him. All about them they hear a language which haunts them with hideous dread; the voice of the enemy and the blasphemer are heard whispering, Is there knowledge in the Most High? He will never regard it; or deepening into the hoarse utterance of half wish, half fear–There is no God! Harassed by doubts, wounded and terrified by the oft-reiterated assaults and assertions of her enemies, driven to despair at the seeming unbroken stillness of the unanswering heavens, the Church of Christ is as the lone helpless widow, powerless and povertystricken. But she is mighty. Though this hideous portraiture of grim and impassive godhead is thrust upon her, she will have none of it. She will not abandon her plea, or accept the description. With this picture of hard, inexorable justice before her, she will not abandon her plea. If it be so, that she is thus weak and poor, and dealing with one whom no cries for pity, or claims for justice, can arouse, and no aspect of misery touch and soften; then nothing remains for her but the might of her weakness in its unceasing supplications, which will take no denial; nothing remains but to weary Him out into compliance. (Bishop Boyd Carpenter.)
Oriental judges
A judge in an Oriental city must not be regarded precisely as a judge among us, nowadays, nor yet with all the peculiar powers and duties of the ancient judges of Israel, whose powers somewhat resembled that of a king. Those ancient judges, more like ancient kings than anything else, were yet officers or rulers of such a peculiar sort, that the Romans transferred the name of their dignity into Latin–at least of their Carthaginian counterparts. Out of the Shemitic shofet they made suffetes. But in the time of Christ the judge, where not a Roman official, had still some power equivalent to that of the sheriffs of our country. He was head judge and head executioner of his sentences. Never till our own times, or those of two of three generations ago, has the world worked out the problem of wholly separating the legislative, the judicial, and the executive functions. Nor is it always accomplished by a nominal separation; nor can that separation ever be entirely actual, even as much so as required by theory. As long as the legislative or judicial power has anything to do, it must be gifted with some slight executive powers. But this is only one instance in the physical and metaphysical universe of the failure of human divisions to cover all that the one Spirit has made or is working. The prayer of the widow to the unjust judge–and here unrighteous is better; for attention is directed not very closely to his merely judicial function–regards rather his executive function than anything else. She does not call–in words at least–for a hearing of her cause, but for an order ofenforcement. In modern times that would be by sending a zabtieh or two, soldier police, to apply the necessary force. This might be done even without hearing, or before hearing, the case. To this day, in the East, it is necessary for poor suitors to be very importunate. It would be easy to give examples; but it might be tedious. A woman will frequently beg and beg a judge to attend to her case, or to execute a decree in a case he has passed upon and rendered judgment, and generally promise or ask to kiss the judges feet. But a little money from the other side will effectually stop the judges ears. (Prof. Isaac H. Hall.)
A widow
The Churchs widowhood
This parable sets before us, under the figure of a widow–a feeble and injured widow–the true character and standing of the Church of God on earth, during the present age. In numbers she is few–a mere election, a gathering out, no more; in power, slender; in honour, little set by; in alliances, little courted. That such is the case, nay, that such must be the case, appears from such things as these:–
1. The Fathers purpose concerning her. That purpose has great things in store for her, in the ages to come; but at present her lot is to be weakness, poverty, hardship, and the endurance of wrong.
2. Her conformity to her Lord. He is her pattern, not merely as to character, but as to the whole course of life. In Him she learns what her lot on earth is to be. He, the rejected one, even among His own, she must be rejected too.
3. Her standing by faith. It is the worlds unbelief that so specially makes it the world; so it is the Churchs faith that makes her what she is, the Church. We have known and believed the love that God hath to us.
4. The condition of the world out of which she is called. It is an evil world.
5. Her prospects. She is an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ Jesus. The world loves not the faithful widow, and would fain seduce her to a second marriage–a marriage with itself. Decked in costly array, it would admire her, and give her its willing fellowship. But dressed only in the widows mournful garb, it cannot tolerate her. Her faithfulness to her Lord condemns it. Her seclusion and separation rebuke it. Her continuing in supplication and prayers night and day it cannot away with. The widows cry sorely disturbs the worlds peace, and, ringing nightly through its glittering halls of pleasure, turns all its music into discord. Nor less does Satan dislike the widows weeds and the widows cry. For they remind him that his day is short, and that he who is to bind him in chains, and cast him out of his dominions, will soon be here. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
The importunate widow a type of Gods elect people
I. GOD HAS AN ELECT PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, scattered up and down among men found in various places, and in almost all communities, as his chosen ones. Men may take this principle in a light which does not belong to it, and affirm that they can deduce conclusions from it which in the Bible are directly and distinctly denied. There are, I might observe, two things which always make it appear to me, not only in a light that is harmless, but in a light that is most beneficial.
1. The one is, that it is never separated from its moral influences. Predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Chosen that we may be blameless and harmless, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. And here, in the passage before us, it stands allied with a devotional character and with a praying habit of mind: and we are sure of this, that, practically felt in the mind, it does humble, prostrate, purify, inspire, and awaken within the lowest gratitude, and, at the same time, the loftiest and the holiest joy.
2. The other thing that I would wish to remark respecting it is, that it interferes not in any degree with the universal invitations of the gospel.
II. THE ELECT OF GOD ARE DISTINGUISHED BY THEIR DEVOTIONAL CHARACTER–THEIR PRAYING FRAME OF MIND. Shall not God avenge His own elect who cry day and night before Him? The evidence that we are chosen of God, called into His Church, made partakers of His mercy, is in this, that we recognize His providence; that we live in daily dependence upon His bounty; that we lift up our hearts to Him in supplication; that believing we pray, and that praying we confide. Then I would add, that an elect and praying people are beautiful in the eyes of God, and His ears are ever open to their cry.
III. Their prayers particularly regard THE RETRIBUTION UPON THE ENEMY, AND THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM. Shall not God avenge His own elect, who cry day and night unto Him? There is emphasis on the word cry. Abels blood did cry; there was a shrill, piercing, importunate voice in it. Just before God came down to deliver the Israelites in Egypt, on account of their bondage and oppression, it is said they did sigh and cry: and we find the Church, when distressed and in anguish by reason of the enemy, is said to cry. A widow, a desolate person, sustaining injury, bleeding under injustice, cries, and asks the judge for justice; and precisely in the same way the Church is said to cry to God for justice. And against whom? The answer is, against Satan, the great adversary, who has established a tyranny and an usurpation in this world, who has built up his kingdom amidst darkness, and violence, and blood. And we ask for justice upon him, and pray God to bruise him under our feet, and to do it quickly. The Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil; and we call on the Son of God in the exercise of His supremacy to do His work.
IV. THE PRAYER OF THE ELECT CHURCH FOR JUSTICE SHALL BE HEARD AND ANSWERED WHEN THE LORD COMETH. I am not sure that the word avenge here is the right one: if the widow had asked vengeance on her enemy, peradventure the judge would not have granted it; but it means more properly justice. Though He bear long with them, says the text. A very learned critic, on the authority of many ancient manuscripts, observes it ought to be though He compassionate them: that is, while they cry, though God appeareth not to attend to them, yet He does hear them and tenderly compassionates them. If we take it as being correctly avenge, I beg to remark that the world and the wicked have had their time of vengeance. Here is a picture! All that pass by clap their hands at Thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem. With ferocious face they clapped their hands, and hissed, and wagged their heads, saying, Is this the city that men call the perfection of beauty, the icy of the whole earth? All Thine enemies have opened their mouth against Thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it. Unholy vengeance! Revenge, in the true and strict sense of the expression, awful to contemplate! That was mans day; that was the day of the adversary: and God stood silent by. But God has His day: the day of the Lord cometh: and this is referred to in the text.
V. We come to the last thing, when the Lord shall come to execute His justice, FAITH WILL BE AT A LOW EBB ON THE EARTH. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh shall He find faith on the earth? when He cometh to execute justice. It is very observable that in almost every great and signal instance in which God has remarkably come for a purpose specified in the passage, it has been suddenly, in a moment, and when there is no belief of it. (J. Stratten.)
God hears the prayers of His elect
I. GOD HAS AN ELECT PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, WHO ARE A PRAYING PEOPLE. This character of a praying people is confined to them.
II. GOD WILT AVENGE HIS OWN ELECT, WHO CRY DAY AND NIGHT UNTO HIM. Though men see not, He is in the world; though men see Him not, He is not far from any one of us; though men see not His work, He is carrying it on; He has been building up His Church, and establishing its progress.
III. THE STRIKING REBUKE WHICH CHRIST UTTERS: When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith upon the earth? What a thought; how we ought to humble ourselves! (I. Saunders.)
Gods response to the cry of the elect
Alexander Peden, one of the Scotch covenanters, with some others, had been at one time hard pursued by Claverhouses troops for a considerable way. At last, getting some little height between them and their pursuers, he stood still and said, Let us pray here, for if the Lord hear not our prayer and save us, we are all dead men. He then prayed, saying, O Lord, this is the hour and the power of Thine enemies; they may not be idle. But hast Thou no other work for them than to send them after us? Send them after them to whom Thou wilt give strength to flee, for our strength is gone. Twine them about the hill, O Lord, and cast the lap of Thy cloak over the poor old folk and their puir things, and save us this one time, and we will keep it in remembrance, and tell to the commendation of Thy goodness, Thy pity and compassion, what Thou didst for us at sic a time. And in this he was heard, for a cloud of mist immediately intervened between them and their persecutors, and in the meantime orders came to go in quest of James Renwick, and a great company with him.
Shall He find faith on the earth?—
The faith of the Church
I. THE IMPORTANCE ATTACHED BY CHRIST TO THE FAITH OF HIS PEOPLE. The faith of the Church is important, because it is at the root of all Christian activity and zeal. What wonder is it, then, that Christ attaches such importance to the faith of His people?
II. THOUGH THE FAITH OF THE CHURCH IS TRIED BY THE DELAY OF THE DELIVERANCE, YET THERE ARE ABUNDANT REASONS WHY IT SHOULD HOLD
ON. There is nothing mere remarkable in the history of Christ than the calm faith which He had in His own mission–in its success and ultimate triumph. He stood alone; and to be alone in any enterprise or sorrow is to most men hard and trying. Truth is truth if only embraced by one; truth is not a whir more true when ten thousand believe it. But we like sympathy. No one in the wide world understood His mission; but His faith never wavered for a moment. He was not careful to engrave His words on stone, or write them on parchment; He simply spoke. A spoken word–it stirs the air, it is like a pebble thrown into the ocean of air, causing a few ripples to spread, and it is soon lost like a pebble. Christ flung His words into the air, spoke on the mountain, by the sea-shore, in the Temple, in the synagogue, in the village, by the grave; and He knew that His words were living, and would continue to live, that they were not like a snowflake on the river, a moment white, and then gone for ever, but that they were destined to spread and to revolutionize the world. We learn, however, that notwithstanding His unshaken faith, He could see clouds in the future, persecution, corruption, iniquity, abound ing, love waxing cold, eras of apparent retrogression and failure. And seeing all this, He asks, When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find this faith on the earth?
III. He supposes THAT THE CHURCH MAY BECOME WEARY OF THE DELAY. (James Owen.)
The search for faith
Faithfulness is established in the very heavens: but what of faithfulness upon the earth?
I. I notice with regard to our text, first, that IT IS REMARKABLE IF WE CONSIDER THE PERSON MENTIONED AS SEARCHING FOR FAITH. When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?
1. When Jesus comes He will look for precious faith. He has more regard for faith than for all else that earth can yield Him. Our returning Lord will care nothing for the treasures of the rich or the honours of the great. He will not look for the abilities we have manifested, nor the influence we have acquired; but He will look for our faith. It is His glory that He is believed on in the world, and to that He will have respect. This is the jewel for which He is searching.
2. When our Lord comes and looks for faith, He will do so in His most sympathetic character. Our text saith not, When the Son of God cometh, but When the Son of Man cometh, will He find faith on the earth? It is peculiarly as the Son of Man that Jesus will sit as a refiner, to discover whether we have true faith or not.
3. Further, I would have you note well that the Son of Man is the most likely person to discover faith if it is to be found. Not a grain of faith exists in all the world except that which He has Himself created.
4. Besides, faith always looks to Christ. There is no faith in the world worth having, but what looks to Him, and through Him to God, for everything. On the other hand, Christ always looks to faith; there never yet was an eye of faith but what it met the eye of Christ.
5. The Son of Man will give a wise and generous judgment in the matter. Some brethren judge so harshly that they would tread out the sparks of faith; but it is never so with our gracious Lord; He does not quench the smoking flax, nor despise the most trembling faith. The tender and gentle Saviour, who never judges too severely, when He comes, shall even He find faith on the earth?
6. Once more, I want to put this question into a striking light by dwelling on the time of the scrutiny. When the Son of Man cometh, etc. I know not how long this dispensation of longsuffering will last; but certainly the longer it continues the more wantonly wicked does unbelief become.
7. I want you to notice the breadth of the region of search. He does not say, shall He find faith among philosophers? When had they any? He does not confine His scrutiny to an ordained ministry or a visible Church; but He takes a wider sweep–Shall He find faith on the earth? As if He would search from throne to cottage, among the learned and among the ignorant, among public men and obscure individuals. Alas, poor earth, to be so void of faith!
II. Let us somewhat change the run of our thoughts: having introduced the question as a remarkable one, we will next notice that IT IS EXCEEDINGLY INSTRUCTIVE IN CONNECTION WITH THE PARABLE OF WHICH IT IS PART. When the Son of Man cometh shall He find upon the earth the faith which prays importunately, as this widow did? Now, the meaning is dawning upon us. We have many upon the earth who pray; but where are those whose continual coming is sure to prevail?
III. In the next place, our text seems to me to be SUGGESTIVE IN VIEW OF ITS VERY FORM. It is put as a question: When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?
1. I think it warns us not to dogmatize about what the latter days will be. Jesus puts it as a question. Shall He find faith on the earth?
2. This question leads us to much holy fear as to the matter of faith. If our gracious Lord raises the question, the question ought to be raised.
3. As far as my observation goes, it is a question which might suggest itself to the most hopeful persons at this time; for many processes are in vigorous action which tend to destroy faith. The Scriptures are being criticized with a familiarity which shocks all reverence, and their very foundation is being assailed by persons who call themselves Christians. A chilling criticism has taken the place of a warm, childlike, loving confidence. As one has truly said, We have now a temple without a sanctuary. Mystery is discarded that reason may reign.
4. Do you not think that this, put in a question as it is, invites us to intense watchfulness over ourselves? Do you not think it should set us scrutinizing ourselves as our Lord will scrutinize us when He comes? You have been looking for a great many things in yourself, my brother; let me entreat you to look to your faith. What if love grow cold!
IV. My text is very IMPRESSIVE IN RESPECT TO PERSONAL DUTY. When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? Let faith have a home in our hearts, if it is denied a lodging everywhere else. If we do not trust our Lord, and trust Him much more than we have ever done, we shall deserve His gravest displeasure. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ looking in vain for faith
If I venture for a moment to look into the reasons of these things, perhaps I might particularize the following: It is always in the indolent and grossser nature of man to prefer the present and the visible, to the future and the unseen. The heart gravitates to practical materialism as a stone gravitates to the ground. It is always a special act to make a man feel the invisible, live in the invisible. For in fact, all faith is miracle. And days of great science, such as these, are always likely to be days of proportionate un-belief-because the power of the habit of finding out more and more natural causes, is calculated, unless a man be a religious man, to make him rest in the cause he sees, and not to go on to that higher cause of which all the causes in this world, are, after all, only effects. And familiarity, too, with Divine things–which is a particular characteristic of our age, has in itself a tendency to sap the reverence, which is at the root of all faith. But still more, the character of the age we live in is a rushing selfishness. The race for money is tremendous; men are grown intensely secular; the facilities are increased, and with them, the covetousness. You are living under higher and higher pressure, and everything goes into extremes; all live fast. And the competition of business is Overwhelming, and the excitement of fashion intoxicating. How can faith, which breathes in the shade of prayer and meditation–live in such an atmosphere as this? Let me just throw out one or two suggestions to you about faith. Remember faith is a moral grace, and not an intellectual gift. It lives among the affections; its seat is the heart. A soft and tender conscience is the cradle of faith; and it will live and die according to the life you lead. If you would have faith, you must settle with yourself the authority, the supremacy, and the sufficiency of the Bible. Then, when you have done that, you will be able to deal with promises. Feed upon promises. We take the spiritual character of what we receive into our minds, just as the body assumes the nature of the food it eats. Act out the very little faith you have. Faith is a series of continual progression, and each fresh step is accompanied by a moral effort which reacts to make another. Take care that you are a man of meditative habit. There cannot be faith without daily, calm, quiet seasons of thought. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Loss of faith in the Christian verities
I cannot but think that this faith is the faith once delivered to the saints, the faith of the gospel, and the creeds–the faith in Christ, the eternal Son of God Incarnate, crucified, risen, ascended, and returning. This faith will be in the pages of Scripture, and in the creeds of the Church. It may not, perhaps, be denied, but it will not be held. And yet without the realization of these great eternal verities there can be no faith, in the New Testament sense of the word. Already this faith grows weaker and weaker. It has been said that faith is turned inward, and a miserable turning it is: for what is there within the sinner to raise him up to God and unite him to the Supreme? It is the exhibition of the love of God in His Son which breeds faith in the soul, It is the same exhibition which sustains it, and the same which perfects it. (M. F. Sadler.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XVIII.
The parable of the importunate widow, 1-8.
Of the Pharisee and the publican, 9-14.
Infants brought to Christ, 15-17.
The ruler who wished to know how he might inherit eternal life,
18-23.
Our Lord’s reflections on his case, 24-27.
What they shall receive who follow Christ, 28-30.
He foretells his approaching passion and death, 31-34.
He restores a blind man to sight at Jericho, 35-43.
NOTES ON CHAP. XVIII.
Verse 1. Men ought always to pray] Therefore the plain meaning and moral of the parable are evident; viz. that as afflictions and desolations were coming on the land, and they should have need of much patience and continual fortitude, and the constant influence and protection of the Almighty, therefore they should be instant in prayer. It states, farther, that men should never cease praying for that the necessity of which God has given them to feel, till they receive a full answer to their prayers. No other meaning need be searched for in this parable: St. Luke, who perfectly knew his Master’s meaning, has explained it as above.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This duty of praying always is inculcated to us several times in the Epistles, as may appear from those texts quoted in the margin, which we must not interpret as an obligation upon us to be always upon our knees praying; for thus our obedience to it would be inconsistent with our obedience to other precepts of God, relating both to religious duties and civil actions, neither was Christ himself always praying: but it either, first, lets us know, that there is no time in which we may not pray; as we may pray in all places, every where lifting up holy hands without doubting, ( as the apostle saith, 1 1Ti 2:8), so we must pray at any time. Or, secondly, it is as much as, pray frequently and ordinarily; as Solomons servants are said by the queen of Sheba to stand always, that is, ordinarily and frequently, before him, 1Ki 10:8; and the Jews are said always to have resisted the Spirit of God, Act 7:51; that is, very often, for they did it not in every individual act of their lives. Or else, in every part of time; knitting the morning and evening (the general parts of our time) together by prayer. Thus the morning and evening sacrifice is called the continual burnt offering, Exo 29:42; Neh 10:33. Or, as it is in Eph 6:18, , in every season, whenever the providence of God offers us a fair season and opportunity for prayer. Or mentally praying always, intermixing good and pious ejaculations with our most earthly and sublunary occasions. Or, having our hearts at all times ready for prayer, having the fire always on the altar, (as was required under the old law), though the sacrifice be not always offering.
And not to faint, which is the same with that, Eph 6:18, watching thereunto with all perseverance; and Col 4:2, Continue in prayer, and watch in the same. Not fainting either by reason of Gods delay to give us the things we ask of him, or through laziness, and remission of our duty, before our life doth determine. This is now what our Saviour designs to teach us in this parable which followeth.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1-5. alwaysCompare Lu18:7, “night and day.”
faintlose heart, orslacken.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he spoke a parable unto them,…. To his own disciples, as the Ethiopic version reads, in order to encourage them to prayer, with perseverance in it; since such sore times of trial and affliction were coming upon the Jews, of which he had spoken in the preceding chapter; and such times more especially call for prayer; see Ps 50:15
[to this end], that men ought always to pray. This is opposed to them, who pray not at all, or have left off prayer before God, or who pray only in distress; and suggests, that a man should pray as often as he has an opportunity; should be constant and assiduous at the throne of grace, and continue putting up his requests to God, though he does not presently return an answer:
and not to faint; by reason of afflictions, temptations, desertions, and delays in answering prayer; and prayer itself is an admirable antidote against fainting under afflictive providences: it is with the Jews an affirmative precept that a man should pray,
, “every day” k; it was usual with them to pray three times a day; see Ps 55:17 there is no set time fixed by Christ; men should be always praying. This is not to be understood, that a man should be always actually engaged in the work of prayer; that he should be continually either in his closet, in private devotion to God, or attending exercises of more public prayer, with the saints; for there are other religious exercises to be performed, besides prayer; and besides, there are many civil affairs of life, it is every man’s indispensable duty to regard: nor does our Lord mean in the least to break in upon, or interrupt the natural and civil duties of life; but his meaning is, that a man should persevere in prayer, and not leave off, or be dejected, because he has not an immediate answer; and this is clear from the following case.
k Maimon. Hilch. Tephilla, c. 1. sect. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Unjust Judge. |
| |
1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
This parable has its key hanging at the door; the drift and design of it are prefixed. Christ spoke it with this intent, to teach us that men ought always to pray and not to faint, v. 1. It supposes that all God’s people are praying people; all God’s children keep up both a constant and an occasional correspondence with him, send to him statedly, and upon every emergency. It is our privilege and honour that we may pray. It is our duty; we ought to pray, we sin if we neglect it. It is to be our constant work; we ought always to pray, it is that which the duty of every day requires. We must pray, and never grow weary of praying, nor think of leaving it off till it comes to be swallowed up in everlasting praise. But that which seems particularly designed here is to teach us constancy and perseverance in our requests for some spiritual mercies that we are in pursuit of, relating either to ourselves or to the church of God. When we are praying for strength against our spiritual enemies, our lusts and corruptions, which are our worst enemies, we must continue instant in prayer, must pray and not faint, for we shall not seek God’s face in vain. So we must likewise in our prayers for the deliverance of the people of God out of the hands of their persecutors and oppressors.
I. Christ shows, by a parable, the power of importunity among men, who will be swayed by that, when nothing else will influence, to do what is just and right. He gives you an instance of an honest cause that succeeded before an unjust judge, not by the equity or compassionableness of it, but purely by dint of importunity. Observe here, 1. The bad character of the judge that was in a certain city. He neither feared God nor regarded man; he had no manner of concern either for his conscience or for his reputation; he stood in no awe either of the wrath of God against him or of the censures of men concerning him: or, he took no care to do his duty either to God or man; he was a perfect stranger both to godliness and honour, and had no notion of either. It is not strange if those that have cast off the fear of their Creator be altogether regardless of their fellow-creatures; where no fear of God is no good is to be expected. Such a prevalency of irreligion and inhumanity is bad in any, but very bad in a judge, who has power in his hand, in the use of which he ought to be guided by the principles of religion and justice, and, if he be not, instead of doing good with his power he will be in danger of doing hurt. Wickedness in the place of judgment was one of the sorest evils Solomon saw under the sun, Eccl. iii. 16. 2. The distressed case of a poor widow that was necessitated to make her appeal to him, being wronged by some one that thought to bear her down with power and terror. She had manifestly right on her side; but, it should seem, in soliciting to have right done her, she tied not herself to the formalities of the law, but made personal application to the judge from day to day at his own house, still crying, Avenge me of mine adversary; that is, Do me justice against mine adversary; not that she desired to be revenged on him for any thing he had done against her, but that he might be obliged to restore what effects he had of hers in his hands, and might be disabled any more to oppress her. Note, Poor widows have often many adversaries, who barbarously take advantage of their weak and helpless state to invade their rights, and defraud them of what little they have; and magistrates are particularly charged, not only not to do violence to the widow (Jer. xxi. 3), but to judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow (Isa. i. 17), to be their patrons and protectors; then they are as gods, for God is so, Ps. lxviii. 5. 3. The difficulty and discouragement she met with in her cause: He would not for awhile. According to his usual practice, he frowned upon her, took no notice of her cause, but connived at all the wrong her adversary did her; for she had no bribe to give him, no great man whom he stood in any awe of to speak for her, so that he did not at all incline to redress her grievances; and he himself was conscience of the reason of his dilatoriness, and could not but own within himself that he neither feared God nor regarded man. It is sad that a man should know so much amiss of himself, and be in no care to amend it. 4. The gaining of her point by continually dunning this unjust judge (v. 5): “Because this widow troubleth me, gives me a continual toil, I will hear her cause, and do her justice; not so much lest by her clamour against me she bring me into an ill name, as lest by her clamour to me she weary me; for she is resolved that she will give me no rest till it is done, and therefore I will do it, to save myself further trouble; as good at first as at last.” Thus she got justice done her by continual craving; she begged it at his door, followed him in the streets, solicited him in open court, and still her cry was, Avenge me of mine adversary, which he was forced to do, to get rid of her; for his conscience, bad as he was, would not suffer him to send her to prison for an affront upon the court.
II. He applies this for the encouragement of God’s praying people to pray with faith and fervency, and to persevere therein.
1. He assures them that God will at length be gracious to them (v. 6): Hear what the unjust judge saith, how he owns himself quite overcome by a constant importunity, and shall not God avenge his own elect? Observe,
(1.) What it is that they desire and expect: that God would avenge his own elect. Note, [1.] There are a people in the world that are God’s people, his elect, his own elect, a choice people, a chosen people. And this he has an eye to in all he does for them; it is because they are his chosen, and in pursuance of the choice he has made of them. [2.] God’s own elect meet with a great deal of trouble and opposition in this world; there are many adversaries that fight against them; Satan is their great adversary. [3.] That which is wanted and waited for is God’s preserving and protecting them, and the work of his hands in them; his securing the interest of the church in the world and his grace in the heart.
(2.) What it is that is required of God’s people in order to the obtaining of this: they must cry day and night to him; not that he needs their remonstrances, or can be moved by their pleadings, but this he has made their duty, and to this he has promised mercy. We ought to be particular in praying against our spiritual enemies, as St. Paul was: For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me; like this importunate widow. Lord, mortify this corruption. Lord, arm me against this temptation. We ought to concern ourselves for the persecuted and oppressed churches, and to pray that God would do them justice, and set them in safety. And herein we must be very urgent; we must cry with earnestness: we must cry day and night, as those that believe prayer will be heard at last; we must wrestle with God, as those that know how to value the blessing, and will have no nay. God’s praying people are told to give him no rest,Isa 62:6; Isa 62:7.
(3.) What discouragements they may perhaps meet with in their prayers and expectations. He may bear long with them, and may not presently appear for them, in answer to their prayers. He is makrothymon ep autois–he exercises patience towards the adversaries of his people, and does not take vengeance on them; and he exercises the patience of his people, and does not plead for them. He bore long with the cry of the sin of the Egyptians that oppressed Israel, and with the cry of the sorrows of those that were oppressed.
(4.) What assurance they have that mercy will come at last, though it be delayed, and how it is supported by what the unjust judge saith: If this widow prevail by being importunate, much more shall God’s elect prevail. For, [1.] This widow was a stranger, nothing related to the judge; but God’s praying people are his own elect, whom he knows, and loves, and delights in, and has always concerned himself for. [2.] She was but one, but the praying people of God are many, all of whom come to him on the same errand, and agree to ask what they need, Matt. xviii. 19. As the saints of heaven surround the throne of glory with their united praises, so saints on earth besiege the throne of grace with their united prayers. [3.] She came to a judge that bade her keep her distance; we come to a Father that bids us come boldly to him, and teaches us to cry, Abba, Father. [4.] She came to an unjust judge; we come to a righteous Father (John xvii. 25), one that regards his own glory and the comforts of his poor creatures, especially those in distress, as widows and fatherless. [5.] She came to this judge purely upon her own account; but God is himself engaged in the cause which we are soliciting; and we can say, Arise, O Lord, plead thine own cause; and what wilt thou do to thy great name? [6.] She had no friend to speak for her, to add force to her petition, and to use interest for her more than her own; but we have an Advocate with the Father, his own Son, who ever lives to make intercession for us, and has a powerful prevailing interest in heaven. [7.] She had no promise off speeding, no, nor any encouragement given her to ask; but we have the golden sceptre held out to us, are told to ask, with a promise that it shall be given to us. [8.] She could have access to the judge only at some certain times; but we may cry to God day and night, at all hours, and therefore may the rather hope to prevail by importunity. [9.] Her importunity was provoking to the judge, and she might fear lest it should set him more against her; but our importunity is pleasing to God; the prayer of the upright is his delight, and therefore, we may hope, shall avail much, if it be an effectual fervent prayer.
2. He intimates to them that, notwithstanding this, they will begin to be weary of waiting for him (v. 8): “Nevertheless, though such assurances are given that God will avenge his own elect, yet, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” The Son of man will come to avenge his own elect, to plead the cause of persecuted Christians against the persecuting Jews; he will come in his providence to plead the cause of his injured people in every age, and at the great day he will come finally to determine the controversies of Zion. Now, when he comes, will he find faith on the earth? The question implies a strong negation: No, he will not; he himself foresees it.
(1.) This supposes that it is on earth only that there is occasion for faith; for sinners in hell are feeling that which they would not believe, and saints in heaven are enjoying that which they did believe.
(2.) It supposes that faith is the great thing that Jesus Christ looks for. He looks down upon the children of men, and does not ask, Is there innocency? but, Is there faith? He enquired concerning the faith of those who applied themselves to him for cures.
(3.) It supposes that if there were faith, though ever so little, he would discover it, and find it out. His eye is upon the weakest and most obscure believer.
(4.) It is foretold that, when Christ comes to plead his people’s cause, he will find but little faith in comparison with what one might expect. That is, [1.] In general, he will find but few good people, few that are really and truly good. Many that have the form and fashion of godliness, but few that have faith, that are sincere and honest: nay, he will find little fidelity among men; the faithful fail,Psa 12:1; Psa 12:2. Even to the end of time there will still be occasion for the same complaint. The world will grow no better, no, not when it is drawing towards its period. Bad it is, and bad it will be, and worst of all just before Christ’s coming; the last times will be the most perilous. [2.] In particular, he will find few that have faith concerning his coming. When he comes to avenge his own elect he looks if there be any faith to help and to uphold, and wonders that there is none, Isa 59:16; Isa 63:5. It intimates that Christ, both in his particular comings for the relief of his people, and in his general coming at the end of time, may, and will, delay his coming so long as that, First, Wicked people will begin to defy it, and to say, Where is the promise of his coming? 2 Pet. iii. 4. They will challenge him to come (Isa 5:10; Amo 5:19); and his delay will harden them in their wickedness, Matt. xxiv. 48. Secondly, Even his own people will begin to despair of it, and to conclude he will never come, because he has passed their reckoning. God’s time to appear for his people is when things are brought to the last extremity, and when Zion begins to say, The Lord has forsaken me. See Isa 49:14; Isa 40:27. But this is our comfort, that, when the time appointed comes, it will appear that the unbelief of man has not made the promise of God of no effect.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
To the end that ( ).
With a view to the being necessary , and the articular infinitive. The impersonal verb here is in the infinitive and has another infinitive loosely connected with it , to pray.
Not to faint ( ). Literally, not to give in to evil (, , from , bad or evil), to turn coward, lose heart, behave badly. A late verb used several times in the N.T. (2Cor 4:1; 2Cor 4:16 etc.).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
To the end that men ought [ ] . Lit., with reference to its being necessary always to pray, etc.
Faint [] . To turn coward or lose heart.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
THE UNJUST JUDGE PARABLE V. 1-8
1) “And he spake a parable unto them to this end,” (elegen de parabolen autois pros to) “Then he told them a parable to this end-purpose,” to impress upon them this need, for this purpose, Luk 18:7.
2) “That men ought always to pray,” (dein pnatote proseuchesthai autous) “That they must always pray;” It is urgent or of serious importance to pray, even daily, Mat 6:9; Mat 6:11; 1Th 5:17.
3) “And not to faint;” (kai me egkakein) “And not to faint,” to lose heart, to give up, to quit, or fall by the wayside, Gal 6:9; Eph 6:18; Php_4:6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
We know that perseverance in prayer is a rare and difficult attainment; and it is a manifestation of our unbelief that, when our first prayers are not successful, we immediately throw away not only hope, but all the ardor of prayer. But it is an undoubted evidence of our Faith, if we are disappointed of our wish, and yet do not lose courage. Most properly, therefore, does Christ recommend to his disciples to persevere in praying.
The parable which he employs, though apparently harsh, was admirably fitted to instruct his disciples, that they ought to be importunate in their prayers to God the Father, till they at length draw from him what He would otherwise appear to be unwilling to give. Not that by our prayers we gain a victory over God, and bend him slowly and reluctantly to compassion, but because the actual facts do not all at once make it evident that he graciously listens to our prayers. In the parable Christ describes to us a widow, who obtained what she wanted from an unjust and cruel judge, because she did not cease to make earnest demands. The leading truth conveyed is, that God does not all at once grant assistance to his people, because he chooses to be, as it were, wearied out by prayers; and that, however wretched and despicable may be the condition of those who pray to him, yet if they do not desist from the uninterrupted exercise of prayer, he will at length regard them and relieve their necessities.
The parties between whom the comparison is drawn are, indeed, by no means equal; for there is a wide difference between a wicked and cruel man and God, who is naturally inclined to mercy. But Christ intended to assure believers that they have no reason to fear lest their persevering entreaties to the Father of mercy should be refused, since by importunate supplication they prevail on men who are given to cruelty. The wicked and iron-hearted judge could not avoid yielding at length, though reluctantly, to the earnest solicitations of the widow: how then shall the prayers of believers, when perseveringly maintained, be without effect? If exhaustion and weakness are felt by us when we give way after a slight exertion, or if the ardor of prayer languishes because God appears to lend a deaf ear, let us rest assured of our ultimate success, though it may not be immediately apparent. Entertaining this conviction, let us contend against our impatience, so that the long delay may not induce us to discontinue our prayers.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES
Luk. 18:1 And He spake a parable.This parable is closely connected with the preceding discourse about the second coming of Christ. The widow is the Church; the judge is God, who long forbears to avenge her wrongs. The parable is of a somewhat paradoxical nature, like that of the Unjust Steward, and like that of the Selfish Neighbour (chap. Luk. 11:5). The argument is: If such be the power of earnest entreaty that it can win right even from a man sunk in selfishness and fearing neither God nor man, how much more will the right be done by the just and holy God, in answer to the continued prayers of His elect! (Alford). Always to pray.It is rather urgent prayer that is here commended than a prevailing state of mind, as in 1Th. 5:17. To faint.A military metaphor: to abandon anything from cowardice, sloth, or despondency.
Luk. 18:2. Which feared not God, etc.A common form of expression to describe an unprincipled and reckless character. Probably the second clause of the descriptionneither regarded manbrings into stronger light his recklessness, and consequently the apparent hopelessness of the widows case; regard for the good opinion of others being, with many, a stronger motive than fear of God.
Luk. 18:3. A widow.One of a class more exposed to injustice and wrong in Eastern society than among us. Avenge me.Probably too strong an expression; rather do me justice (so in Luk. 18:5; Luk. 18:7-8); consider my case, and free me from the evil practices of my oppressor.
Luk. 18:4. Though I fear not, etc.This intensifies the situation, as it brings into clearer light the shamelessness of the judge. He deliberately admits to himself the villainy of his own character, so that no conscientious scruples are seen to affect him from beginning to end.
Luk. 18:5. Her continual coming.Lit., her coming to the endher coming for ever. Weary me.Wear me out (R.V.). This rendering seems rather weak, as there does not seem much difference of degree between trouble and weary, or wear me out. The word is a pugilistic term, and means literally to give any one a black eye. May there not be a half-humorous fear expressed, lest the widow should lose patience and strike him? There is no example of the word being used figuratively to mean weary, though the corresponding Latin word (obtundere) is often so used.
Luk. 18:7. Shall not God? etc.Over against the Unjust Judge is set God, the righteous judge, and over against the widow His elect. Though He bear long with them.If bear long is here an allusion to Gods long-suffering or compassion, the rendering in the A.V. yields no sense. In the R.V. the passage runs: And He is long-suffering over them. The word, however, which means slow-minded, may denote to be slow in avenging or assisting them. So that, literally rendered, the passage would be: Though He be long-suffering [towards their enemies] in their behalf. On the whole, the latter interpretation seems preferable.
Luk. 18:8. Speedily.I.e., soon, though the time seems long. Cf. 2Pe. 3:8-9. Faith.I.e., this kind of faith which continues in prayer without fainting. It implies that, in consequence of the delay, importunate prayer for His coming will be the exception rather than the rule. There is no prophecy in the words that the number of believers will then be few.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Luk. 18:1-8
Persevering Prayer.The difference between this parable and that of the Selfish Neighbour (ch. 11) should be kept in view. That taught the general lesson of perseverance in prayer: this deals with perseverance in prayer for a particular thingnamely, the coming of the Son of Man for judgment, which has been the theme of the preceding chapter (Luk. 18:20-37), and is recurred to in Christs question at the end of Luk. 18:8.
I. The story.The judge is one of those, too common always in the East, who poison the fountain of justice at its source, and are companions of thieves. His character is painted in dark colours, and the darker they are, the more do they serve to bring out the contrast between him and the Judge to whom Christians have to pray. That contrast is the very point of the parable. So far gone in selfish wresting of his office is this man that he is fully conscious of his own baseness, and does not even attempt the farce of varnishing it, but, with cynical frankness, acknowledges his motives to himself. His delay in granting the widows petition, and his final yielding, come from the same motivehis own convenience. It was troublesome to do as she wished, but when it became more troublesome not to do it, he did it. The judge is meant to be as much unlike our Judge as can be conceived. The widow is meant to be like the true disciple. She is the figure of Gods own elect, which cry day and night unto Him; and that not only in her persistence, but in her desolation. Whether we bring into connection the frequent Scriptural emblem of the bride, and think of the state of the Church during her Lords absence as widowhood, as we should probably do, or content ourselves with the vaguer interpretation, which regards her simply as afflicted, and the prey of oppressors, she represents the state of the Church in the absence of her Lord. The Eastern widow has no protectors, and, therefore, many oppressors; and if she can find no redress from the law, she is desolate indeed. Her prayer does not breathe so fierce a spirit as avenge suggests. What she asks is deliverance for herself, rather than vengeance on her foe. The deliverance cannot, indeed, be accomplished without retribution on the oppressor, but that is not the primary burden of her prayer.
II. Our Lords comment.The argument is a much more. Every point in the description of the Unjust Judge is to be reversed, and then we shall have the picture of our Judge. He does not delay for His own ease; He is not careless to our sorrows, nor deaf to our prayer. If His judgment seems to slumber, the delay is the tarrying of love, and is for the good of the Church. When the intervention comes, it will not be wrung from an indifferent hand by fear of being troubled, but be the loving gift of Him who knows when, as well as how, to grant deliverance. The whole teaches
1. That the Church will have to pass through a period of desolation and oppression, which will only end with Christs coming.
2. That its true attitude during that time should be earnest desire and prayer for that coming.
3. That there will be long delay.
4. That this delay is not the result of carelessness towards the Churchs need and cry, and so that no delay should deaden faith or silence entreaty. Jesus adds further an assurance and a sad question. The assurance is that whensoever deliverance comes, the thing will be done suddenly. The law of Gods judgments is that they travel slowly, but come suddenly at last, and are a short work. The final question is really a sad prediction. Butnotwithstanding the certainty, and My assurance of itthe faith in His coming (not merely faith in the wider sense of the word) will have waxed dim. This closing word at once shows the correctness of the interpretation, which gives a special direction to the persevering prayer enjoined, and enforces the exhortation by the consideration of the danger to which the waiting servants are exposed.Maclaren.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luk. 18:1-14
Luk. 18:1-14. Lessons on Prayer.
I. A lesson on prayer.
II. A lesson from a widows urgency (Luk. 18:2-5).
1. An unjust judge will listen to an urgent suitor. How much more will a holy, righteous, and merciful God!
2. A friendless widow, by perseverance, gained her cause. How much more will Gods own elect, His own children, get a speedy answer when they cry to Him!
III. Lessons from a Pharisee and a Publican.Contrast the attitude, the prayer, the failure, of the one, with the attitude, the prayer, the success, of the other.W. Taylor.
A Parable on Prayer.Lukes second parable on prayer (see Luk. 11:5-14), peculiar to his gospel. Summing up the whole widowed life of the Church in her life of prayer. How to pray (19). How not to pray (1214). An impressive instance of Lukes method of balance by contrast.Alexander.
Luk. 18:1-8. Perseverance in Prayer.From the lessons Jesus taught His disciples on perseverance in prayer, it appears how well aware He was that God shows Himself so little like a Father that those who trust in Him are tempted to think Him rather like a man of selfish spirit, or like an unjust judge, who is indifferent to right. The relevancy of this parable requires that this character should be regarded as representing God, not as He is indeed, but as He seems to tried faith. The didactic drift of the parable is: You will have to wait on God, possibly till hope deferred make the heart sick; but it is worth your while to wait.Bruce.
Always to pray.The story and the lesson in this parable are not as parallel rods, but the one is laid across the other, and they touch only at one point. That one point is always to pray, and not to faint. Thus, the key of this parable is hung up on the door. This parable teaches how to pray for ourselves. Put all your soul and strength into your prayers; keep on praying under Gods delays.
I. The helpless.In the East widows are the most helpless of beings. Your soul is even as this widow. It is in great need. There is no help for you in yourself.
II. The helper.God has boundless store, and is not troubled by your coming to Him. Turn to the Mighty for help.
III. The appeal.Let it be definite, earnest, for things good and right. Gods delays are not denials. So we must persevere in prayer.
IV. Encouragements.God loves to be pressed. The lesson is taught by contrast and unlikeness. Would you make God worse than a godless judge?Wells.
Continue in prayer.
Many get discouraged in praying because the answer does not come at once.It should be settled in the mind
I. That God always hears the true prayer, and that He will always send an answer, though it may not always be the answer we desire. Gods plans reach out widely, and work slowly.
II. The reason of Gods delay may be to increase our earnestness.The story of the Syro-Phenician woman illustrates this.
III. Many prayers are never answered because men faint at Gods delay.A little longer patient perseverance would have brought you a great reward. Many lose heart just when the answer is about to be granted.Miller.
A Strong Argument.The argument, as in the case of the Unjust Steward, is fortiori: If such be the power of earnest entreaty that it can win right, even from a man sunk in selfishness, and fearing neither God nor man, how much more will the right be done by the just and holy God, in answer to the continual prayer of His elect!even though, when this very right is asserted in the world by the coming of the Son of Man, He may hardly find among His people the power to believe it; though few of them will have shown this unweariedness of entreaty which the poor widow showed.Alford.
Luk. 18:1. Men ought.
1. Prayer a duty.
2. Binding on all.
3. Always to be maintained.
4. To be offered fervently.
To faint.Said properly of a coward in battle. Prayer is here spoken of as a militia or warfare. The arms of the Church are prayers. The Church militant is the Church supplicant. Her congregations for public prayer are her armies of soldiers storming the gates of heaven with a siege of prayers.Wordsworth.
Discouragement.The danger of discouragement arises from the delay in receiving an answer, while the adversary continues to harass.
Luk. 18:3. A widow.In its struggles with the world, and with sin within or around it, while feeling abandoned by God (of which condition we have a picture in the case of Job), and left without earthly support or help, the soul resembles a widow, who in vain entreats the assistance of a wicked judge. But perseverance in prayer overcomes at last even the severity of heaven.Olshausen.
Loneliness and Helplessness.Every soul conscious of its loneliness, conscious that it has no help, save in God only, is a widow.Augustine.
Luk. 18:3. Avenge me of mine adversary.Here we see the Church, which in her nature and her destiny is the bride of Christ, and waits for His festal appearance, in the form of a widow. Matters have the look as if her betrothed spouse were dead at a distance. Meanwhile, she lives in a city where she is continually oppressed by a grievous adversary, the prince of this world. But since she continually calls on God for help, it may, in a weak hour, appear to her as if He had become the Unjust Judge over heras if He were dealing entirely without Divine righteousness and without love to man. But she perseveres in prayer for His coming to redeem her, and although this is long delayed, because God has a celestially broad mind and view, and accordingly trains His children for Himself to the great spiritual life of eternity, yet it comes at last with surprising quickness.Lange.
Luk. 18:4. Would not.The only way in which to move such a man was either
(1) to bribe him, or
(2) to intimidate him, or
(3) to weary him into attending to the petition. The widows poverty and weakness left her with only the third resource.
Luk. 18:5. Weary me.The word is well known to have been a pugilistic term, corresponding to the word punish in the slang of the ring, but having special reference to the eyes of an antagonist. St. Paul uses the word in a sense less removed from the primary in 1Co. 9:27, I punish my body. In our Lords parable the word has departed still further from its primary sense, and in the mouth of the Unjust Judge is clearly slang. It is the poor widow who is to bruise the lazy judge, not by blows nor by unsparing treatment, but simply by importunity. I know of no English equivalent which at all preserves the metaphor, except the slang word bore, and that is founded, apparently, on a different though not very dissimilar analogy. I suppose that a man is bored when the sharp pertinacity of another threatens, as it were, to drill a hole into him, as the ceaseless turning of a metal point will bore the hardest rock. The Greek equivalent is the more expressive of the two. It is well known that the constant repetition of a very light stroke upon the body will produce a painful bruise at last. I do not know, however, how the sentence can be better rendered in English than, lest by her continual coming she bore me.R. Winterbotham.
Luk. 18:6. Hear what the unjust judge saith.Cf. Luk. 16:8, where another lesson is drawn from the conduct of an unrighteous man. Though the language of the Unjust Judge be revolting, yet take notice of it and observe the lesson that may be drawn from it.
Luk. 18:7. Shall not God?Since
(1) He is not an unjust, but a righteous judge, and
(2) the supplicant is not a stranger, but His own elect.
Cry day and night.The best illustration of this text is to be derived from the prayer of the souls of the elect of God, under the altar (Rev. 6:9-10), which cry with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?i.e., on the powers of this world.
Conditions of Importunate Prayer.
I. Sense of need.
II. Desire to get.
III. Belief that God has in store what we desire.
IV. Belief that, though He withholds awhile, He loves to be asked.
V. Belief that asking will obtain.Arnot.
Speedily.The relief, which to mans impatience tarries long, indeed arrives speedily; it could not, according to the far-seeing and loving counsels of God, have arrived a moment earlier. Not while Lazarus is merely sicknot till he has been four days deaddoes. Jesus obey the summons of the sisters whom He loved so well (Joh. 11:6). The disciples, labouring in vain against a stormy sea, must have looked often to that mountain where they had left their Lord; but not till the last watchnot till they have toiled through a weary nightdoes He bring the aid so long desired (Mat. 14:24-25).Trench.
Luk. 18:8. Nevertheless.The fear is not that the judge will delay granting the succour needed, but that the supplicants will cease asking for it.
Shall He find faith?Our Lord spoke these words to show that when faith fails, prayer dies. In order to pray, then, we must have faith; and that our faith fail not, we must pray. Faith pours forth prayer; and the pouring forth of the heart in prayer gives steadfastness to faith.Augustine.
Find faith.Cf. Mat. 24:12 : Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Butlers Comments
SECTION 1
Pessimism (Luk. 18:1-8)
18 And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2He said, In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; 3and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, Vindicate me against my adversary. 4For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, Though I neither fear God nor regard man, 5yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming. 6And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?
Luk. 18:1-5 Vigilance: Jesus had just told His disciples He would not always be with them in this world, physically, as He was then. They would have to stay behind in a world of self-indulgence, irreverence, confusion about the kingdom and downright wickedness comparable to that of Sodom and Gomorrah (Luk. 17:20 ff.). It is going to be a rotten world, ready for the vultures. The question a disciple of Jesus would have is, What am I to do living in a society like Noahs or Lots? Jesus is coming back but no one knows when that will be. In the meantime, He is to be crucified, raised from the dead and ascended into heaven. And His disciples must live in an indifferent society. There will be people like this judgeindifferent, callous and impervious. The poor and powerless will despair of ever receiving justice or being vindicated. Their rights will be trampled, they will be exploited and no one will care enough to make things right for them. What are they to do? How can the powerless and poor go on without just giving up and becoming like the rest of the world?
Necessary to the survival of ones spiritual life in a society like that is persistent, unbending, unending prayer. Jesus taught this parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. Ones trust that God will ultimately answer with vindication is the one imperative for spiritual survival. The Christians relationship to God must be steadfast for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. The Christian must pray without ceasing. The Christian must be like the widow of this parable who would not capitulate to her adversary. She was clinging to the hope that the judge would eventually vindicate her. This judge was about as indifferent to the womans plea as a human could possibly be. Finally, out of some selfish motive of his own to rid himself of an inconvenience, he gave in and did what he did not want to do at first. But our God is not like that! It is not by praying that we wear God downit is by persistent faith we put ourselves in the right attitude to receive what God wants eagerly and speedily to give us. This parable is teaching the same lesson as the one in Luk. 11:5-13 (see comments there).
But how can a person always pray or, pray without ceasing? Arent there other things in life, even the Christian life, to do besides praying? We must understand what prayer is. Prayer is far more than uttering words in some public meeting, or even alone at ones bedside. Prayer is the urge or bent of ones life toward God. Prayer is the continual conscious and unconscious focusing of the mind on that which is above. Prayer is the communication of an attitude of faith, trust and love, whether that be communicated in words or deeds or both.
Luk. 18:6-8 Vindication: Here is what this parable says: If an indifferent, self-serving, callous judge like that will finally give justice to a poor, defenseless widow because she did not give up, is not our gracious God eager and able to give complete justice to us! Shepard says Jesus argument in this parable is a fortiori (with stronger reason). God will speedily vindicate His elect. He does not need persuading, He only needs people who are preparing themselves by unswerving faith to accept His way and His time schedule. Some are not willing to exercise the persistent faith to accept Gods way of vindicating them. Some, thinking God ought to work as man works, are unable to accept delay. Many are impatient with God, They will not accept the longsuffering of God so that all may have an opportunity to repent. It may appear to many that God delays for a long time. But we must understand the word speedily from Gods perspective. God may have vindicated us immediately upon our asking and because we had no spiritual maturity we did not see it or understand it. He does not always vindicate in ways we would hope or expect or even comprehend. What we must have is faith in the absolute faithfulness of God to answer always, speedily, though the answer may be contrary to our expectations and understanding (cf. Isa. 55:6-11). Remember the faith of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) and remember that it took all the centuries until the first coming of Christ to vindicate their faith!
Jesus did not mean to suggest that He would find widespread wickedness and chaos when He said, . . . when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth? At least He did not mean to suggest that here, in this context. The Greek text has the definite article before the word faith and Jesus statement should read, . . . will he find the faith . . . the particular kind of dogged faith that produces persistent prayer in time of trouble. The Bible indicates there will be believers still alive on earth when Jesus, returns (cf. 1Co. 15:51 ff.; 1Th. 4:13 ff.). So His question here is more in the form of a challenge. He asks, Will there be any believers on earth praying with the persistence of this widow when I come back or will they have despaired and fainted and resigned themselves to the idea that God is not aware of their needs, or He doesnt care? That is very near unbelief. That is pessimism. That is the way the world thinks. The disciple of Jesus must think differently.
Appleburys Comments
The Parable of the Widow and the Judge
Scripture
Luk. 18:1-8 And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, and regarded not man: 3 and there was a widow in that city; and she came oft unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his elect, that cry to him day and night, and yet he is long-suffering over them? 8 I say unto you, that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Comments
to the end that they ought always to pray.A lesson on persistence in prayer is the purpose of the parable. There is no reason to lose heart simply because prayer may not be answered as soon as we expect. There will be trials and hardships before the Lord comes again, but that is all the more reason to keep on praying.
Some have assumed that the Lord has delayed His coming because there has not been enough praying. Peter, however, makes it clear that His coming is delayed because of Gods long suffering; He wants all men to come to repentance. See 2Pe. 3:9.
This parable does not teach the same lesson as the parable of the Friend at Midnight (Luk. 11:5-13). There the thought was: Dont be ashamed to ask God. Here it is: Keep on praying. Both emphasize this: God does answer prayer.
There was in the city a judge.The wicked judge is contrasted with the gracious heavenly Father. We miss the point of the parable if we fail to see this contrast. The judge was about as indifferent to the needs of others as a man could possibly be, but the Father is kind and eager to help those who call on Him. The judge delayed action until he was forced to do something; the Father, as Jesus put it, will speedily avenge those who call on Him.
and she came oft unto him.Again the contrast must be noted: the widow kept coming, apparently with the same request. But the heavenly Father is ready to hear the prayers of His children at all times. The only reason the wicked judge paid any attention to the widows request was a selfish desire to be rid of her. The heavenly Father demonstrated His eagerness to help His people when He sent the Christ into the world to give help to the seed of Abrahamthat is, to the men of faith (Heb. 2:16). The Lord said, Hear what the wicked judge saidthat is, about being troubled and worn out by the widows continual coming.
And shall not God avenge His elect.If the unrighteous judge was willing at last to render justice in the case of the widow, certainly God will see that justice is done in the case of His chosen. The elect are the ones who choose to be members of the family of God by dedicating themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ through faith and obedience to His Word. The chosen are those who choose to accept Jesus as the Christ. All who will may make this choice for themselves (Rev. 22:17; Joh. 3:16).
he is longsuffering over them?God will see that His chosen ones are given just treatment before Him; He does not grow weary with their coming to Him day and night. This is the point of the parable. God is not a wicked judge nor a pevish parent that grows weary listening to the cries of His children.
he will avenge them speedily.Some assume that Jesus was saying that His coming and judgment on the wicked were to come speedily. The lesson, however, is on prayer. Jesus was urging the disciples to pray always and not grow weary in doing so. The Father would hear them and answer their cry without waiting until the Judgment Day to do it. Christ, our high priest, is able to save completely because He lives to make intercession for us (Heb. 7:25).
Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh.Although God will answer their cries without delay, Jesus asks, Will there be that kind of faith on earth when the Son of Man comes? That is, will the elect show that kind of faith that will keep them praying without ceasing until He comes? It is a question that every disciple of Christ must ask and answer for himself.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XVIII.
(1) That men ought always to pray, and not to faint.The latter of the two verbs is noticeable as being used in the New Testament by St. Luke and St. Paul only (2Co. 4:1; 2Co. 4:16; Gal. 6:9; 2Th. 3:13). The whole verse is remarkable as being one of the few instances (Luk. 18:9 being another) in which a parable is introduced by a distinct statement as to its drift and aim.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 18
UNWEARIED IN PRAYER ( Luk 18:1-8 ) 18:1-8 Jesus spoke a parable to them to show that it is necessary always to pray and not to lose heart. “There was a judge,” he said, “in a town who neither feared God nor respected man. There was a widow in the same town who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ For some time he refused. But afterwards he said to himself, ‘Even though I neither fear God nor respect man, because she bothers me, I will vindicate this widow, lest by her constant coming she exhausts me.'” The Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And shall God not vindicate his own chosen ones who cry to him day and night, even though he seem to wait for long? But when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on earth?”
This parable tells of the kind of thing which could, and often did, happen. There are two characters in it.
(i) The judge was clearly not a Jewish judge. All ordinary Jewish disputes were taken before the elders, and not into the public courts at all. If, under Jewish law, a matter was taken to arbitration, one man could not constitute a court. There were always three judges, one chosen by the plaintiff, one by the defendant, and one independently appointed.
This judge was one of the paid magistrates appointed either by Herod or by the Romans. Such judges were notorious. Unless a plaintiff had influence and money to bribe his way to a verdict he had no hope of ever getting his case settled. These judges were said to pervert justice for a dish of meat. People even punned on their title. Officially they were called Dayyaneh Gezeroth, which means judges of prohibitions or punishments. Popularly they were called Dayyaneh Gezeloth, which means robber judges.
(ii) The widow was the symbol of all who were poor and defenceless. It was obvious that she, without resource of any kind, had no hope of ever extracting justice from such a judge. But she had one weapon–persistence. It is possible that what the judge in the end feared was actual physical violence. The word translated, lest she exhausts me, can mean, lest she give me a black eye. It is possible to close a person’s eye in two ways–either by sleep or by assault and battery! In either event, in the end her persistence won the day.
This parable is like the parable of the Friend at Midnight. It does not liken God to an unjust judge; it contrasts him to such a person. Jesus was saying, “If, in the end, an unjust and rapacious judge can be wearied into giving a widow woman justice, how much more will God, who is a loving Father, give his children what they need?”
That is true, but it is no reason why we should expect to get whatever we pray for. Often a father has to refuse the request of a child, because he knows that what the child asks would hurt rather than help. God is like that. We do not know what is to happen in the next hour, let alone the next week, or month, or year. Only God sees time whole, and, therefore, only God knows what is good for us in the long run. That is why Jesus said we must never be discouraged in prayer. That is why he wondered if men’s faith would stand the long delays before the Son of Man should come. We will never grow weary in prayer and our faith will never falter if, after we have offered to God our prayers and requests, we add the perfect prayer, Thy will be done.
THE SIN OF PRIDE ( Luk 18:9-14 ) 18:9-14 Jesus spoke this parable to some who were self-confidently sure that they were righteous and who despised others. “Two men went up to the Temple to pray. The one was a Pharisee, the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘O God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, thieves, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all that I get.’ The tax-collector stood afar off, and would not lift even his eyes to heaven, and kept beating his breast and said, ‘O God, be merciful, to me–the sinner.’ I tell you, this man went down to his house accepted with God rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The devout observed three prayer times daily–9 a.m., 12 midday and 3 p.m. Prayer was held to be specially efficacious if it was offered in the Temple and so at these hours many went up to the Temple courts to pray. Jesus told of two men who went.
(i) There was a Pharisee. He did not really go to pray to God. He prayed with himself. True prayer is always offered to God and to God alone. A certain American cynically described a preacher’s prayer as “the most eloquent prayer ever offered to a Boston audience.” The Pharisee was really giving himself a testimonial before God.
The Jewish law prescribed only one absolutely obligatory fast–that on the day of Atonement. But those who wished to gain special merit fasted also on Mondays and Thursdays. It is noteworthy that these were the market days when Jerusalem was full of country people. Those who fasted whitened their faces and appeared in dishevelled clothes, and those days gave their piety the biggest possible audience. The Levites were to receive a tithe of all a man’s produce ( Num 18:21; Deu 14:22). But this Pharisee tithed everything, even things which there was no obligation to tithe.
His whole attitude was not untypical of the worst in Pharisaism. There is a recorded prayer of a certain Rabbi which runs like this, “I thank, Thee, O Lord my God, that thou hast put my part with those who sit in the Academy, and not with those who sit at the street-corners. For I rise early, and they rise early; I rise early to the words of the law, and they to vain things. I labour, and they labour; I labour and receive a reward, and they labour and receive no reward. I run, and they run; I run to the life of the world to come, and they to the pit of destruction.” It is on record that Rabbi Simeon ben Jocai once said, “If there are only two righteous men in the world, I and my son are these two; if there is only one, I am he!”
The Pharisee did not really go to pray; he went to inform God how good he was.
(ii) There was a tax-collector. He stood afar off, and would not even lift his eyes to God. The King James and Revised Standard Versions do not even do justice to his humility for he actually prayed, “O God, be merciful to me–the sinner,” as if he was not merely a sinner, but the sinner par excellence. “And,” said Jesus, “it was that heart-broken, self-despising prayer which won him acceptance before God.”
This parable unmistakably tells us certain things about prayer.
(i) No man who is proud can pray. The gate of heaven is so low that none can enter it save upon his knees. All that a man can say is,
“None other Lamb, none other Name,
None other Hope in heaven or earth or sea,
None other Hiding-place from guilt and shame,
None beside Thee.”
(ii) No man who despises his fellow-men can pray. In prayer we do not lift ourselves above our fellow-men. We remember that we are one of a great army of sinning, suffering, sorrowing humanity, all kneeling before the throne of God’s mercy.
(iii) True prayer comes from setting our lives beside the life of God. No doubt all that the Pharisee said was true. He did fast; he did meticulously give tithes; he was not as other men are; still less was he like that tax-collector. But the question is not, “Am I as good as my fellow-men?” The question is, “Am I as good as God?” Once I made a journey by train to England. As we passed through the Yorkshire moors I saw a little whitewashed cottage and it seemed to me to shine with an almost radiant whiteness. Some days later I made the journey back to Scotland. The snow had fallen and was lying deep all around. We came again to the little white cottage, but this time its whiteness seemed drab and soiled and almost grey in comparison with the virgin whiteness of the driven snow.
It all depends what we compare ourselves with. And when we set our lives beside the life of Jesus and beside the holiness of God, all that is left to say is, “God be merciful to me–the sinner.”
THE MASTER AND THE CHILDREN ( Luk 18:15-17 ) 18:15-17 People were bringing even their babies to Jesus that he might touch them. When the disciples saw it they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him saying, “Let the little children come to me, and don’t stop them, for of such is the kingdom of God. This is the truth I tell you–whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter into it.”
It was the custom for mothers to bring their children to some distinguished Rabbi on their first birthday that he might bless them. That is what the mothers wanted for their children from Jesus. We are not to think that the disciples were hard and cruel. It was kindness that made them act as they did. Remember where Jesus was going. He was on the way to Jerusalem to die upon a cross. The disciples could see upon his face the inner tension of his heart; and they did not want Jesus to be bothered. Often at home we may say to a little child, “Don’t bother your Daddy; he’s tired and worried tonight.” That is exactly how the disciples felt about Jesus.
It is one of the loveliest things in all the gospel story that Jesus had time for the children even when he was on the way to Jerusalem to die.
When Jesus said that it was of the child-like that the kingdom of God was composed, what did he mean “What are the qualities of which he was thinking”?
(i) The child has not lost the sense of wonder. Tennyson tells of going early one morning into the bedroom of his little grandson and of seeing the child “worshipping the sunbeam playing on the bedpost.” As we grow older we begin to live in a world which has grown grey and tired. The child lives in a world with a sheen on it and in which God is always near.
(ii) The child’s whole life is founded on trust. When we are young, we never doubt where the next meal is to come from or where our clothes will be found. We go to school certain that home will be there when we return, and all things ready for our comfort. When we go on a journey we never doubt that the fare will be paid or that our parents know the way and will take us safely there. The child’s trust in his parents is absolute, as ours should be in our Father–God.
(iii) The child is naturally obedient. True, he often disobeys and grumbles at his parents’ bidding. But his instinct is to obey. He knows very well that he should obey and is not happy when he has been disobedient. In his heart of hearts his parents’ word is law. So should it be with us and God.
(iv) The child has an amazing faculty of forgiveness. Almost all parents are unjust to their children. We demand from them a standard of obedience, of good manners, of refined language, of diligence which we seldom satisfy ourselves. Time and again we scold them for doing the very things we do ourselves. If others treated us in the way we treat our children in the matter of plain justice, we probably would never forgive. But the child forgives and forgets, and does not even realize it when he is very young. It would be so much lovelier a world if we would forgive as a child forgives.
To keep alive the sense of wonder, to live in unquestioning trust, instinctively to obey, to forgive and to forget–that is the childlike spirit, and that is the passport to the kingdom of God.
THE MAN WHO WOULD NOT PAY THE PRICE ( Luk 18:18-30 ) 18:18-30 A ruler asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? There is none good except one God. You know the commandments–do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honour your father and your mother.” He said, “From my youth I have kept all these.” When Jesus heard that, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come! Follow me!” When he heard these things he was very sad, because he was exceedingly rich. When Jesus saw him he said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard him said, “And who can be saved?” He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Peter said, “Look you–we have left our private possessions and have followed you.” He said to them, “This is the truth I tell you–there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brother, or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not get it all back many times over in this time, and, in the age that is coming, eternal life.”
This ruler addressed Jesus in a way which, for a Jew, was without parallel. In all the religious Jewish literature there is no record of any Rabbi being addressed as, “Good teacher.” The Rabbis always said “there is nothing that is good but the law.” To address Jesus in such a way savoured of almost fulsome flattery. So Jesus began by driving him and his thoughts back to God. Jesus was always sure that his own power and his own message, came to him from God. When the nine lepers failed to return, his grief was, not that they had forgotten to come back to say thanks to him, but that they had not come back to glorify God ( Luk 17:18).
It was indisputable that this ruler was a good man, but he felt within his heart and soul that in his life there was something lacking. Jesus’ command to him was that if he wanted to find all that he was searching for in life he must sell all his possessions and distribute them to the poor and follow him. Why did Jesus make this demand specially from this man? When the man whom Jesus had cured in the country of the Gerasenes wished to follow him, he told him to stay at home ( Luk 8:38-39). Why this very different advice to this ruler?
There is an apocryphal gospel called the Gospel according to the Hebrews most of which is lost; in one of the fragments which remain there is an account of this incident which gives us a clue. “The other rich man said to Jesus, ‘Master, what good thing must I do really to live?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Man, obey the law and the prophets.’ He said, ‘I have done so.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go, sell all that you possess, distribute it among the poor, and come, follow me!’ The rich man began to scratch his head because he did not like this command. The Lord said to him, ‘Why do you say that you have obeyed the law and the prophets? For it is written in the law, “You must love your neighbour as yourself,” and look you–there are many brothers of yours, sons of Abraham, who are dying of hunger, and your house is full of many good things, and not one single thing goes out of it to them.’ And he turned and said to Simon, his disciple, who was sitting beside him, ‘Simon, son of Jonas, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.'”
There we have the secret and the tragedy of this rich ruler. He was living utterly selfishly. He was rich, and yet he gave nothing away. His real God was comfort, and what he really worshipped were his own possessions and his wealth. That is why Jesus told him to give it all away. Many a man uses such wealth as he has to bring comfort and joy and good to his fellow-men; but this man used it for nobody but himself. If a man’s god is that to which he gives all his time, his thought, his energy, his devotion, then wealth was his god. If he was ever to find happiness he must be done with all that and live for others with the same intensity as that with which he had so long lived for himself.
Jesus went on to say that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Quite often the rabbis talked of an elephant trying to get through the eye of a needle as a picture of something fantastically impossible. But Jesus’ picture may have one of two origins.
(i) It is said that beside the great gate into Jerusalem through which traffic went, there was a little gate just wide and high enough for a man to get through. It is said that that little gate was called the needle’s eye, and that the picture is of a camel trying to struggle through it.
(ii) The Greek word for a camel is kamelos ( G2574) . In this age of Greek there was a tendency for the vowel sounds to become very like each other, and there was another word which would sound almost exactly the same–the word kamilos, which means a ship’s hawser. It may well be that what Jesus said was that it would be easier to thread a needle with a ship’s hawser than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
Why should it be so? The whole tendency of possessions is to shackle a man’s thoughts to this world. He has so big a stake in it that he never wants to leave it, and never thinks of anything else. It is not a sin to have much wealth–but it is a danger to the soul and a great responsibility.
Peter pointed out that he and his fellow disciples had left all to follow Jesus; and Jesus promised that no man would ever give up anything for the kingdom of God but he would be repaid many times over. It is the experience of all Christian folk that that is true. Once someone said to David Livingstone, thinking of the trials he had endured and the sorrows he had borne, of how he had lost his wife and ruined his health in Africa, “What sacrifices you have made!” Livingstone answered, “Sacrifices? I never made a sacrifice in all my life.”
For the man who walks the Christian way there may be things the world calls hard, but, beyond them all and through them all, there is a peace which the world cannot give and cannot take away, and a joy that no man takes from him.
THE WAITING CROSS ( Luk 18:31-34 ) 18:31-34 Jesus took the Twelve and said to them, “Look you–we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that was written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the gentiles; and he will be mocked and cruelly treated; and spat upon; and they will scourge him and kin him; and on the third day he will rise again.” But they did not understand these things; this word was hidden from them; and they did not grasp what was being said.
There are two kinds of courage. There is the courage of the man who, suddenly and without warning, is confronted with some emergency or some crisis, and who unhesitatingly and even recklessly flings himself into it. There is the courage of the man who sees a terrible situation looming ahead and knows that nothing short of flight can avoid it, and who yet goes steadfastly and inflexibly on. There is no question which is the higher courage. Many a man is capable of the heroic action on the spur of the moment; it takes a man of supreme courage to go on to face something which haunts him for days ahead and which, by turning back, he could escape.
In a novel a writer paints a picture of two children walking along the road playing their children’s games. One said to the other, “When you’re walking along the road, do you ever pretend that there is something terrible just around the next corner waiting for you; and you’ve got to go and face it? It makes it so exciting.” With Jesus it was no game of let’s pretend. It was the grim truth that there was something terrible waiting for him. He knew what crucifixion was like; he had seen it; and yet he went on. If Jesus was nothing else, he would still be one of the most heroic figures of all time.
In face of Jesus’ frequent warning of what was to happen to him in Jerusalem, we sometimes wonder why, when the cross came, it was such a shock and such a shattering blow to his disciples. The truth is that they simply could not take in what he was saying to them. They were obsessed with the idea of a conquering king; they still clung to that hope that he would let loose his power in Jerusalem and blast his enemies off the face of the earth.
Here is a great warning to every listener. The human mind has a way of listening only to what it wants to hear. There are none so blind as those who refuse to see. There is a kind of wishful thinking which believes that the unpleasant truth cannot really be true, and that the thing it does not want to happen cannot happen. A man must ever struggle against the tendency to hear only what he wants to hear.
One thing more we must note. Jesus never foretold the cross without foretelling the resurrection. He knew that shame lay before him, but he was equally certain that glory lay before him, too. He knew what the malice of men could do, but he knew also what the power of God could do. It was in the certainty of ultimate victory that he faced the apparent defeat of the cross. He knew that without a cross there can never be any crown.
THE MAN WHO WOULD NOT BE SILENCED ( Luk 18:35-43 ) 18:35-43 When Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the wayside begging. When he heard the crowd passing through he asked what it meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” Those who were going on in front rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he cried all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus stood, and ordered him to be brought to him. When he had come near he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed him glorifying God, and, when the people saw it, they all gave praise to God.
The one thing which stands out in this story is the sheer, desperate persistence of the blind man. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to the Passover. At such a time pilgrims travelled in bands together. One of the commonest ways for a Rabbi to teach was to discourse as he walked. That was what Jesus was doing, and the rest of the pilgrim band were crowding close around him, not to miss anything that he might say. As such a pilgrim band passed through a village or a town those who themselves could not go to the feast lined the wayside to see the pilgrims pass and to bid them godspeed on the way.
It was amongst the wayside crowd that the blind man was sitting. When he heard the murmur of the approaching throng he asked what was happening and was told that Jesus was passing by. Immediately he cried out to Jesus for help and healing. Thereupon everyone tried to silence him. The people round Jesus were missing what he was saying because of the clamour of this blind man.
But the man would not be silenced. He shouted again. The word used for shout in Luk 18:39 is quite different from that used in Luk 18:38. In Luk 18:38 it is an ordinary loud shout to attract attention. In Luk 18:39 it is the instinctive shout of ungovernable emotion, a scream, an almost animal cry. The word well shows the utter desperation of the man.
So Jesus stopped, and the blind man found the healing he so passionately desired.
This story tells us two things.
(i) It tells us something about the blind man. He was determined to come face to face with Jesus. Nothing would stop him. He refused to be silent and he refused to be restrained. His sense of need drove him relentlessly into the presence of Jesus. If a man wants a miracle that is the spirit he must show. A gentle, sentimental longing never really taps the power of God; but the passionate, intense desire of the very depths of the human heart will never be disappointed.
(ii) It tells us something about Jesus. At that moment he was discoursing to the crowd like any rabbi. But at the blind man’s cry of need he stopped, the discourse forgotten. For Jesus it was always more important to act than to talk. Words always took second place to deeds. Here was a human soul in need. Speech must end and action begin. Someone has said that many teachers are like men throwing chatty remarks to a man drowning in a tempestuous sea. Jesus was never like that; he leaped to the rescue of the man. There is many a man who could not put two sentences together but others love him because he is kind. Men may respect an orator but they love a man with helping hands. Men admire a man with a great mind but they love a man with a big heart.
-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible
98. PARABLE OF THE UNJUST Judges , vv1-8.
As in the previous chapter, the discourse has a reference to the Second Coming of the Lord. The Church is a widow in his absence; she has an oppressive adversary, being the persecuting world, or the devil, of whom it is the instrument; God is to her, for the interval, as the relentless, unlistening judge. Great is the danger that her faith should fail, and her prayer grow faint and cease. But, in fact, she has a swift Avenger of whom she should never lose sight. Yet when the Son of man comes to execute that vengeance, though the Church through her long life shall have sent millions to glory, there will peradventure be scarce a faithful remnant on earth!
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1. Unto them Unto his disciples. Though it was doubtless later in their journey toward the Jordan than the discourse of the coming of the Son of man in the last chapter, yet the impress of that discourse is upon the mind, and the same solemn topic tinges the present parable.
Always to pray The habit of earnest vocal devotion, public, family, and private, will in due time impregnate the Christian soul with prayer. The human spirit thus attains the temper in which it spontaneously breathes prayer.
And not to faint Not faint through weariness of the long well doing. It is a sad thing when prayer grows silent on the lips, and faint in the heart. For since prayer is the vital breath of the Christian, without it the Christian life ceases, and the man is spiritually dead.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he spoke a parable to them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint,’
This parable is so important that an explanation of its meaning and significance is given at its commencement. It is given as an encouragement and incentive to pray, and to go on praying without wilting. And as with the Lord’s prayer, the prayer is to be concerning the going forward of God’s purposes. It is to be always with an eye on the coming of the Son of Man. The prayer is to be that God will act on behalf of His people, will watch over them, will vindicate them (‘hallowed be Your name’), and will bring them through safely believing until the end (‘lead us not into testing’). Jesus’ final question in 8b is not really an expression of doubt, but an encouragement to faith.
‘Always to pray.’ Compare Paul’s ‘pray without ceasing’ (1Th 5:17). This is a reminder that our lives should be firmly based on having fellowship with Him in prayer, and on an attitude of constant prayerful trust as we live our lives day by day, emphasising especially the need for God’s people to come together regularly to pray. From it we recognise the importance that Jesus placed on constant communion with God, and on praying regularly concerning the things of God.
Sadly a lot of Christians see prayer as coming with a shopping list to God and then saying, ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme (give to me)’, or as a noble attempt to keep all their relatives well. But neither of these are seen to be what should be the Christian’s prime concern. For as we saw in Luk 11:1-4 Jesus said that our main emphasis in prayer should be on the carrying forward of His will, and the establishment of His Kingly Rule. It should only be children who spend all their time talking about themselves.
In context the emphasis is on praying continuingly until the second coming of Jesus Christ in view of the constraints that will be on His people. His people should be concerned in one long chain of prayer that never ceases, in which all of us should continuingly partake, and should be centred on the fulfilment of His purposes, for this will play an important part in His purposes coming about.
The conflict between this attitude and that of the Jews is striking. They prayed formally three times a day, and limited it to that lest God get sick of them, but this goes far beyond that. This was looking for prayer to become the very breath of life. It was an indication that God looks for our companionship continually.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Parable of the Unrighteous Judge (18:1-8).
As Luk 18:8 b makes clear, this parable looks directly back to Jesus’ prophecy which describes Himself as coming as the Son of Man in Luk 17:24. It is a call to His disciples, and to all Christians, to continue in praying that God will maintain the cause of His people until that Day. However, the question in 8b makes clear that the way is not necessarily going to be easy. It demonstrates that His people will have to face up to many faith-challenging experiences.
In the chiasmatic analysis of the Section (see introduction to the Section) this parable parallels the healing of the ten skin-diseased men. That healing was proof of what God was going to accomplish in His people, and the skin-diseased man who returned full of gratitude and faith was like these described here who must pray through to the end with the same gratitude and faith, constantly returning to give thanks and praise to the One Who has made them whole. They will be the few among the many whose faith shines through.
In considering this parable we might well ask, why did Jesus not use the illustration of a righteous judge? And the answer is that Jesus wanted to build into the parable the notions of delay and the need for persistence. Neither should occur with a righteous judge. They might occur if he was overwhelmed with work but Jesus would hardly want us to see God as overwhelmed with work. This then brings out what is the stress in the parable, delay and the need for persistence. But the reason for the delay in God’s case is that He has a large purpose to carry out that necessitates delay, your salvation and mine, for instance, so that He could not bring about the consummation immediately. The overall point, apart from the need for us to be persistent in prayer, is therefore that God will give His people justice, and will answer their cry at the most suitable time. This may sometimes be locally, but whatever happens there, in the end it will be true at the final consummation. So their future is guaranteed, but as regularly in Scripture, it is to go hand in hand with their persistence in prayer and their faithfulness in life. We pray knowing that we will receive what we ask for, because our praying is a part of how He brings it about.
Analysis.
a
b Saying, “There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, and regarded not man,” (Luk 18:2).
c “And there was a widow in that city, and she came to him often, saying, ‘Avenge me of my adversary’ ” (Luk 18:3).
d “And he would not for a while, but afterwards he said within himself” (Luk 18:4-5).
e “ ‘Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming’ ” (Luk 18:5).
d ‘And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says” (Luk 18:6).
c “And shall not God avenge His elect, who cry to Him day and night, and even though He wait a long time over them?” (Luk 18:7).
b “I say to you, that He will avenge them speedily” (Luk 18:8 a).
a “Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luk 18:8 b).
Note that in ‘a’ His people are to believe on, praying in all circumstances, and in the parallel the question is as to whether they will believe on. In ‘b’ we have the resolute judge and in the parable the resolute God. In ‘c’ we have the request for justice, and in the parallel the promise of justice for His people. In ‘d’ the judge speaks to himself, and in the parallel we are to hear what he says. Centrally in ‘e’ is the assurance of a guaranteed answer to the plea.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Men Must Live In The Light Of The Coming Of The Son of Man In His Glory (15:1-19:28).
Having established in Section 1 that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the city of David where He was proclaimed ‘Saviour’ and ‘Lord Messiah’; and in Section 2 that as ‘the Son of God’ Jesus had faced His temptations as to what His Messiahship would involve and defeated the Tempter; and that in Section 3 He had proclaimed in parables the secrets of ‘the Kingly Rule of God’; and had in Section 4 taught His Disciples the Lord’s Prayer for the establishment of that Kingly Rule and for their deliverance from the trial to come; and having in Section 5 seen in the healing of the crooked woman on the Sabbath a picture of the deliverance of God’s people from Satan’s power; this section now centres on His coming revelation in glory as the glorious Son of Man (compare Dan 7:13-14).
(For the evidence that these points are central to the narrative see Introduction).
Section 6 follows the chiastic pattern that we have already seen abounds in Luke. It may be analysed in detail as follows:
a Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Him (Luk 15:1).
b The parables concerning the seeking Shepherd who goes out into the wilderness, the woman with the coins, and the three, the father and the two young men, who each make their choice as to what they will do, and Heaven’s rejoicing when tax collectors and sinners repent (Luk 15:2-32).
c The steward who used his lord’s wealth wisely, and thoughts on using money wisely in preparation for the eternal future in the everlasting dwellings (Luk 16:1-13).
d The Pharisees are blind to the truth about Jesus and cavil at His teaching, but all who see the truth press into the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 16:14-18).
e The story of the rich man, and the beggar Lazarus, is a pointer to the wrong use of wealth in the light of the eternal future and to the unwillingness of many even solid Jews to truly listen to the Law of God, which will result in their being lost for ever (Luk 16:19-31).
f The danger of putting stumblingblocks in the way of others, especially of children, in the light of the eternal future (Luk 17:1-5).
g The servant who only does his duty in the expansion of the Kingly Rule of God does not expect a reward, for that is his duty (Luk 17:6-10).
h Ten lepers come seeking deliverance and are healed – but there is only one, a Samaritan, who afterwards seeks out Jesus with gratitude so as to give thanks. Among the many the one stands out. He alone finally seeks Jesus in faith and is abundantly vindicated. Jesus asks, ‘where there not ten cleansed, where are the nine?’ and stresses his faith (Luk 17:11-19).
i The Kingly Rule of God does not come with signs (Luk 17:20-21)
j After first being rejected the Son of Man, when He comes, will come in His glory (Luk 17:22-24), men must therefore beware of false Messiahs. After this we have a cluster of Son of Man sayings (Luk 17:26; Luk 17:30; Luk 18:8; Luk 18:31; Luk 19:10).
i The coming of the Son of Man will be unexpected (and thus without signs) (Luk 17:25-37).
h In parable there is an unrighteous judge, (who represents God), and he is faced by one who comes to him seeking for vindication, a picture of God’s elect seeking vindication. God’s elect must persevere in prayer and seek Him with faith that they too might find vindication. Among the many, the few stand out. Jesus asks, ‘when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?’ (Luk 18:1-8).
g The Pharisee who thinks he does his duty and expects thanks for it, is contrasted with the one who comes humbly and is justified (Luk 18:9-14).
f The Kingly Rule of God must be received as a little child (Luk 18:15-17).
e The approach of the rich young ruler and the difficulty of entering under the Kingly Rule of God, stressing the wise use of wealth for the sake of the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 18:18-30).
d While the Apostles remain partially blind to the truth about Jesus, (the fact that what is written about the Son of Man must be accomplished), the blind man at Jericho recognises Him as the Son of David and insists on being brought to Jesus and his eyes are opened, He insistently presses into the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 18:31-43).
c The chief tax collector Zacchaeus uses his wealth wisely and yields it to the Lord, demonstrating that the Son of Man has successfully come to seek and save the lost (Luk 19:1-10).
b The king goes to a far country to receive Kingly Rule, he gives coins to his servants to trade with, and his three servants have each to make their choice (Luk 19:11-27).
a ‘And when He had said thus He went on before, going up to Jerusalem’ (Luk 19:28).
Note how in ‘a’ the section opens with the tax collectors and sinners drawing near ‘to hear Him’, and ends with Him ‘concluding His words’ before moving on towards His death in Jerusalem. In ‘b’ the shepherd goes into the wilderness, the woman looks after her coins, and a father and his two sons make their choices, while in the parallel a king goes into a far country, he dispenses coins to be looked after, and three servants make their choices. In ‘c’ the steward uses money wisely and in the parallel Zacchaeus uses his money wisely. In ‘d’ The Pharisees are ‘blind’ to the truth about Jesus and cavil at His teaching, while those who see the truth press into the Kingly Rule of God, and in the parallel the disciples are ‘blind’ to Jesus’ teaching, while the blind man presses insistently into seeing Jesus. In ‘e’ we have the rich man who used his wealth wrongly and in the parallel the rich young ruler who refused to use his wealth rightly. In ‘f’ we are told of the danger of putting stumblingblocks in the way of others, especially of children, while in the parallel the Kingly Rule of God must be received as a little child. In ‘g’ the servant who only does his duty does not expect a reward, while in the parallel the Pharisee is confident that he has done his duty and boasts about it, but is seen as lacking. In ‘h’ ten men cry out for deliverance, but one man stands out as seeking Jesus and is commended and his faith alone is emphasised, in the parallel one woman seeks to a judge (God) and His elect are to seek out God for deliverance and are commended but lack of faith on earth is feared. In ‘i’ the Kingly Rule of God does not come with signs, and in the parallel His coming will be unexpected (and thus without signs). In ‘j’, and centrally, the rejected Son of Man is to come in His glory and false Messiahs are to be avoided (Luk 17:22-24).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Parable of the Unjust Judge – Jesus followed His teaching on the coming of the Kingdom of God with the Parable of the Unjust Judge (or the Parable of the Persistent Widow) in order to explain to them how to persevere in faith while awaiting His Second Coming (Luk 18:1-8). This example of faith (verse 8) involves persistence in prayer. If a wicked man responds to persistence, then a good God will readily respond to the persistence of His children. The emphasis in this story is the importance of having a heart of persistence in the Kingdom of God while awaiting Christ’s Second Coming.
The purpose of the Parable of the Unjust Judge (Luk 18:2-5) is to show that we should always pray and not faint. The Parable of the Importunate Friend (Luk 11:5-13) is similar in its message. These parables illustrate Pro 25:15, “By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.”
Illustration – My father once told me that you could take a small hammer and begin to tap on a large, steel railroad rail. Of course, the small hammer cannot shatter this big piece of steel. Or can it? If the hammer taps long enough, eventually the steel will give way and break.
Illustration – See how Samson responded to Delilah’s persistence in Jdg 16:16-17.
Jdg 16:16, “And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
Luk 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Luk 18:1
[262] K. Aland, M. Black, C. M. Martini, B. M. Metzger, M. Robinson, M., and A. Wikgren, eds., The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (with Morphology) (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1993, 2006), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), Luke 18:1.
Comments – “that men ought always to pray” – We must always “look to God” for help.
“and not to faint” Illustration – In my third and fourth years of college, I had not been doing much long distance running, so I was out of shape for the track team. Despite this fact, I entered into a 6-mile cross-country race. After two miles I was dead tired. I slipped through the woods, waited for race to end and told coach that I had quit running. I felt ashamed that I had grown weary and not finished the course. If we do not pray always, we will faint and grow weary, and not finish the course and be ashamed at Jesus’ coming.
Luk 18:1 Comments – Emanuel Scott gives the illustration of someone asking a little boy the question, “Do you pray,” to which he replied, “Sometimes I say my prayers, and sometimes I pray my prayers.” Scott says God is personal and powerful: “Our father,” “Abba, Father.” As a small boy, Emanuel Scott wanted to a bag of scrap bread to eat. He lived in Waco, Texas. His family was poor. He did not even have a penny. He was walking down the road and began to pray that he might find a penny. He walked and he prayed until He found a penny. He is the God of Abraham Isaac, and Jacob and the God of Emanuel Scott.
Scott tells another story. One day, he was rushing to hospital to visit a trustee. Finally, he slowed down, realizing that God was already there and thus, no need to be in a hurry. So he began to pray to God above for this person.
Again, Scott illustrates the element of a personal relationship in prayer. His grandson asked him for a pair of shoes that cost $50. Why was it easy to hand over this money to his grandson: because his grandson had been keeping fellowship with his granddad even when his grandson did not want anything? [263]
[263] Emanuel Scott, “ Sermon,” chapel service, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, 26 January 1982.
Luk 18:1 Comments – Creflo Dollar tells the story of how he got up one morning, and struggled about going to prayer. When the Lord spoke to him and said that every failure in life was a prayer failure, he jumped up and ran to his prayer closet. [264]
[264] Creflo Dollar, Changing Your World (College Park, Georgia: Creflo Dollar Ministries), on Trinity Broadcasting Network (Santa Ana, California), television program, 25 September 2009.
Luk 18:1 Scripture References – Note similar passages in Scripture:
Gen 45:25-26, “And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.”
Isa 30:15, “For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.”
Isa 40:31, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Heb 12:3, “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Rev 2:3, “And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.”
Luk 18:3 “And there was a widow in that city” Comments Why would Jesus use a widow to illustrate the principle of persistence in prayer? Part of the answer lies in the fact that a widow was the most underprivileged member of the society. She has no physical strength, no wealth, nothing to offer such a corrupt judge in order to gain justice. Often in corrupt societies a corrupt leader can be moved by bribes; or, such a person can be moved by political muscle. She had neither. Thus, her prayer serves as an example of the least likely plea to be heard by a corrupt judge who has no interest in justice. The only thing she could do was to be persistent. If persistence pays off in the case of an ungodly judge, how much more will it benefit us before a righteous God.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Witnesses of Jesus Justifying Him as the Saviour of the World (God the Father’s Justification of Jesus) Luk 4:31 to Luk 21:38 contains the testimony of Jesus’ public ministry, as He justifies Himself as the Saviour of the world. In this major section Jesus demonstrates His divine authority over man, over the Law, and over creation itself, until finally He reveals Himself to His three close disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration as God manifested in the flesh. Jesus is the Saviour over every area of man’s life and over creation itself, a role that can only be identified with God Himself. This was the revelation that Peter had when he said that Jesus was Christ, the Son of the Living God. Luk 4:14 to Luk 9:50 begins with His rejection in His hometown of Nazareth and this section culminates in Luk 9:50 with Peter’s confession and testimony of Jesus as the Anointed One sent from God. In summary, this section of material is a collection of narratives that testifies to Jesus’ authority over every aspect of humanity to be called the Christ, or the Saviour of the world.
Luke presents Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world that was presently under the authority of Roman rule. He was writing to a Roman official who was able to exercise his authority over men. Thus, Luke was able to contrast Jesus’ divine authority and power to that of the Roman rule. Jesus rightfully held the title as the Saviour of the world because of the fact that He had authority over mankind as well as the rest of God’s creation. Someone who saves and delivers a person does it because he has the authority and power over that which oppresses the person.
In a similar way, Matthew portrays Jesus Christ as the Messiah who fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. Matthew’s presentation of Jesus as the King of the Jews supports His claim as the Messiah. John gives us the testimony of God the Father, who says that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. John uses the additional testimonies of John the Baptist, of His miracles, of the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and of Jesus Himself to support this claim. Mark testifies of the many miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ by emphasizing the preaching of the Gospel as the way in which these miracles take place.
This major section of the public ministry of Jesus Christ can be subdivided into His prophetic testimonies. In Luk 4:31 to Luk 6:49 Jesus testifies of true justification in the Kingdom of God. In Luk 7:1 to Luk 8:21 Jesus testifies of His doctrine. In Luk 8:22 to Luk 10:37 Jesus testifies of divine service in the Kingdom of God as He sets His face towards Jerusalem. In Luk 10:38 to Luk 17:10 Jesus testifies of perseverance in the Kingdom of God as He travels towards Jerusalem. Finally, in Luk 17:11 to Luk 21:38 Jesus teaches on glorification in the Kingdom of God.
The Two-Fold Structure in Luke of Doing/Teaching As Reflected in the Prologue to the Book of Acts – The prologue to the book of Acts serves as a brief summary and outline of the Gospel of Luke. In Act 1:1 the writer makes a clear reference to the Gospel of Luke, as a companion book to the book of Acts, by telling us that this “former treatise” was about “all that Jesus began to do and to teach.” If we examine the Gospel of Luke we can find two major divisions in the narrative material of Jesus’ earthly ministry leading up to His Passion. In Luk 4:14 to Luk 9:50 we have the testimony of His Galilean Ministry in which Jesus did many wonderful miracles to reveal His divine authority as the Christ, the Son of God. This passage emphasized the works that Jesus did to testify of Himself as the Saviour of the world. The emphasis then shifts beginning in Luk 9:51 to Luk 21:38 as it focuses upon Jesus teaching and preparing His disciples to do the work of the Kingdom of God. Thus, Luk 4:14 to Luk 21:38 can be divided into this two-fold emphasis of Jesus’ works and His teachings. [186]
[186] We can also see this two-fold aspect of doing and teaching in the Gospel of Matthew, as Jesus always demonstrated the work of the ministry before teaching it in one of His five major discourses. The narrative material preceding his discourses serves as a demonstration of what He then taught. For example, in Matthew 8:1 to 9:38, Jesus performed nine miracles before teaching His disciples in Matthew 10:1-42 and sending them out to perform these same types of miracles. In Matthew 11:1 to 12:50 this Gospel records examples of how people reacted to the preaching of the Gospel before Jesus teaches on this same subject in the parables of Matthew 13:1-52. We see examples of how Jesus handled offences in Matthew 13:53 to 17:27 before He teaches on this subject in Matthew 18:1-35. Jesus also prepares for His departure in Matthew 19:1 to 25:46 before teaching on His second coming in Matthew 24-25.
Jesus’ Public Ministry One observation that can be made about Jesus’ Galilean ministry and his lengthy travel narrative to Jerusalem is that He attempts to visit every city and village in Israel that will receive Him. He even sends out His disciples in order to reach them all. But why is such an effort made to preach the Gospel to all of Israel during Jesus’ earthly ministry? Part of the answer lies in the fact that Jesus wanted everyone to have the opportunity to hear and believe. For those who rejected Him, they now will stand before God on the great Judgment Day without an excuse for their sinful lifestyles. Jesus wanted everyone to have the opportunity to believe and be saved. This seemed to be His passion throughout His Public Ministry. Another aspect of the answer is the impending outpouring of the Holy Ghost and the sending out of the Twelve to the uttermost parts of the earth. Jesus understood the necessity to first preach the Gospel to all of Israel before sending out the apostles to other cities and nations.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Glorification: Jesus Testifies on the Kingdom of God (Passing thru Samaria and Galilee) – In Luk 17:11 to Luk 21:38 Jesus testifies about the Kingdom of God as He passes through Samaria and Galilee towards Jerusalem. This part of the journey will take Jesus into the Temple to teach the people for the last time. At this time the emphasis of Jesus’ teachings focuses on eschatology, or His Second Coming and the Kingdom of God.
He first enters a village and heals ten lepers (Luk 17:11-19) and is able to teach His disciples about thankfulness. He then responds to a question by the Pharisees and teaches about the coming of the Kingdom of God and tells them the importance of watchfulness (Luk 17:20-37). Jesus followed this teaching with the Parable of the Persistent Widow in order to explain to them how to persevere in faith while awaiting His Second Coming (Luk 18:1-8). To the self-righteous Jesus taught on humility using the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luk 18:9-14). Jesus then blesses the children who are brought to Him in order to teach on childlikeness (Luk 18:15-17). When a rich young ruler asks Jesus about inheriting eternal life, Jesus teaches him and those with Him on the dangers of riches and covetousness (Luk 18:18-30). Thus, each one of these stories tell us virtues that we are to pursue as children of the Kingdom of God awaiting His Second Coming. Jesus concludes this teaching session with a prediction to His twelve disciples about His pending death (Luk 18:31-34). After healing a blind man (Luk 18:35-43), dining with Zacchaeus (Luk 19:1-10), and teaching of faithfulness in the Kingdom of God (Luk 19:11-27), Jesus gives three prophecies concerning His arrival in Jerusalem (Luk 19:28-47), His rejection (Luk 20:1-19), and His exaltation (Luk 20:20-47). This major division closes with an eschatological discourse (Luk 21:1-38).
Here is a proposed outline:
A. Narrative: Jesus Teachings (Thru Samaria & Galilee) Luk 17:11 to Luk 19:27
B. Discourse: Jesus Instructs (Into Jerusalem) Luk 19:28 to Luk 21:38
Luk 17:11 to Luk 19:27
Narrative: Jesus Teaches on the Kingdom of God in Samaria and Galilee
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. Healing of the Ten Lepers (Thankfulness) Luk 17:11-19
2. Jesus Instructs Disciples on Second Coming Luk 17:20-37
3. Jesus Instructs Disciples on Prayer Luk 18:1-8
4. Corrects Pharisees on Humility Luk 18:9-14
5. Jesus Instructs Disciples on Childlikeness Luk 18:15-17
6. Jesus Teaches Disciples on Covetousness Luk 18:18-30
7. Jesus Predicts His Death Luk 18:31-34
8. Jesus Heals a Blind Man Luk 18:35-43
9. Jesus Dines with Zacchaeus Luk 19:1-10
10. Jesus Teaches on the Faithfulness in the Kingdom Luk 19:11-27
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Importunate Widow. The unjust judge:
v. 1. And He spake a parable unto them to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint,
v. 2. saying, There was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man,
v. 3. And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
v. 4. And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God nor regard man,
v. 5. yet, because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. The revelations of Jesus concerning the last days of the world and His coming to Judgment would naturally fill the disciples with consternation and apprehension. It was evident that, with such afflictions and desolations coming upon the land, they would have need of much patience and continual fortitude, but also of the constant protection of God, To be instant and importunate in prayer, therefore, would be a necessity of the last days for such as intended to heed the warnings of the Master. The story was to teach the disciples the obligation always to pray, to be persistent and persevering in prayer, in spite of all temptation to unbelief, notwithstanding all delay on the part of God. Not to grow weary, not to be overwhelmed by fatigue, that is the secret of the conquering prayer. For the point of the story is not that God does not delay in answering prayer. This fact is only too well known from the experience of many Christians. But the cause, reason, or motive for delay in the case of God is entirely different from that of the judge. The judge represents God only in so far as the Lord often appears to a sorely tried heart as a hard and unreasonable Master, otherwise there is no similarity.
A judge was in a certain city. According to Deu 16:18, the Jews were to have, in all the gates of the city, judges, whose work consisted in hearing cases and pronouncing judgment. They were supposed to administer justice without respect of persons, Exo 23:6-9; Lev 19:15; Mat 5:21-22. But the judge here spoken of feared not God, he paid no attention to the calls of justice; and he had no respect for man, he was unmoved even by such complaints as required immediate adjustment. An utterly unprincipled man, controlled by shameless selfishness. Now there was a widow in the same city that had been defrauded, that had suffered an injustice, and she naturally brought her complaint to the official whose business it was to adjudicate matters of that kind. Her cry was: Vindicate me from my adversary, see to it that I get justice, provide a square deal for me. She continued to come again and again, and she became more insistent as time went by. For a considerable time he stood it, for he had no inclination to exert himself, since he was living for his own ease only. But finally he thought the matter out within himself. Though he had no fear of God in his heart and no respect for men in his mind, yet his selfishness thought very highly of his own comfort and peace of mind. To escape the bother which she was making for him, to spare himself disagreeable hours, since she was rendering life miserable for him, he wanted to secure justice for her, lest she at last, in the height of bitterness and rage, literally put her fists into his eyes, punish him, in the language of the prize-ring. The condition of his heart was not changed in a single particle, but he disliked being bored to distraction.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Luk 18:1-14
The Lord speaks the two parables on prayerthe importunate widow, and the Pharisee and publican.
Luk 18:1
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. The formnla , literally, “and he spake also,” calls attention to the fact that the parable-teaching immediately to follow was a continuation of what had preceded. Indeed, the connection between the first of the two parables, which urges restless continued prayer, and the picture which the Lord had just drawn of men’s state of utter forgetfulness of God, is obvious. “The Son of man has been rejected; he has gone from view; the masses are plunged in gross worldliness; men of God are become as rare as, in the days of Abraham, they were in Sodom. What, then, is the position of the Church? That of a widow whose only weapon is incessant prayer. It is only by means of this intense concentration that faith will be preserved. But such is precisely the disposition which Jesus fears may not be found even in the Church at his return” (Godet).
Luk 18:2
There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man. Probably enough the whole scene was a sketch from life; under such a rule as that of Herod Antipas there were, doubtless, judges of the character here portrayed.
Luk 18:3
And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. The petitioner was a woman and a widow, the latter being in the East a synonym for helplessness. With no one to defend her or plead her cause, this widow was ever a prey to the covetous. Not once nor twice in the noble generous words of the chivalrous Hebrew prophets we find this readiness on the part of those in power to neglect, if not to oppress these helpless widow-women, sternly commented upon. So in Isaiah we read (Isa 1:23), “They judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.” While Jesus (Mat 23:14) includes this cowardly sin among the evil deeds of the rulers of the Israel of his day: “Ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer.” A more desperate situation, as regards any hope of obtaining the object of her earnest prayer, could not well be pictureda careless, corrupt judge of the lawless Herod period for the tribunal in Israel, and a poor helpless widow for the suppliant. The forlorn woman of the parable represents the Church or people of God in dire straits, overborne by an unbelieving world and seemingly forgotten even of their God. The story is a reminder that there is hope even in that extreme situation sketched in the parable, if the petitioner only continues persistent in her prayer. The argument which lies on the surface of the parable, teaching is obvious: if such a judge will in the end listen to the prayer of a suppliant for whom he cares nothing, will not God surely listen to the repeated prayer of a suppliant whom he loves with a deep, enduring love? Such is the argument of the story. Importunity, it seems to say, must inevitably triumph. But underlying this there is much deep teaching, of which, perhaps, the most important item is that it insists upon the urgent necessity for us all to continue in prayer, never fainting in this exercise though no answer seems to come. “The whole limb of the faithful,” as Origen once grandly said, “should be one great connected prayer.” That is the real moral of the story; but there are a number of minor bits of Divine teaching contained in this curious parable setting, as we shall see. Avenge me of mine adversary. We must not suppose that mere vengeance in the vulgar sense is what the widow prayed for; that would be of no use to her; all she wanted was that the judge should deliver her from the oppression which her adversary exercised over her, no doubt in keeping from her the heritage to which she was lawfully entitled. Of course, the granting her prayer would revolve loss and possibly punishment to her fraudulent oppressor.
Luk 18:7
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him? The Master tells us that God permits suffering among his servants, long after they have begun to pray for deliverance. But we are counselled here to cry day and night unto him, and, though there be no signor reply, our prayers shall be treasured up before him, and in his own good time they will be answered. Though he bear long with them. With whom does God bear long? With the wrong-doers, whose works and words oppress and make life heavy and grievous to the servants of God; with these who have no claim to consideration will God bear long. And this announcement gives us some clue to the meaning of the delay we often experience before we get an answer to many of our prayers. The prayer is heard, but God, in the exercise of mercy and forbearance, has dealings with the oppressors. It were easy for the Almighty to grant an immediate answer, but only at the cost often of visiting some of the oppressors with immediate punishment, and this is not his way of working. God bears long before his judgments swift and terrible are sent forth. This has ever been his way of working with individuals as with nations. Was it not thus, for instance, that he acted towards Egypt and her Pharaohs during the long period of the bitter Hebrew bondage? We who would he God’s servants must be content to wait God’s time, and, while waiting, patiently go on pleading, sure that in the end “God will avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him.”
Luk 18:8
I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. “Non bientot, mais bien rite“ (Godet). It means that God will act in accordance with his servant’s prayer, not soon, but suddenly; sure and sudden at the crisis the action of Divine providence comes at the last “as a thief in the night.” Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? These difficult words seem to point at least to a fear lest, the second coming being long delayed, true faith would have died out of the hearts even of the godly. Such a fear might be Jesus’; for we know, from his own lips, that to him, while on earth and wearing the body of humiliation, the day and hour of the second advent was not known. Was not our Lord speaking with the same sad onlook in his parable of the virgins, when he said, “they all slumbered and slept,” wise virgins as well as foolish (Mat 25:5)? “It is often the case that God’s action as a Deliverer is delayed until his people have ceased to hope for deliverance. So it was with Israel in Egypt; so was it with her again in Babylon. ‘ Grief was calm and hope was dead’ among the exiles when the word came that they were to return to their own land; and then the news seemed too good to be true. They were ‘like them that dream’ when they heard the good tidings. This method of Divine actionlong delay followed by a sudden crisisso frankly recognized by Christ, is one to which we find it hard to reconcile ourselves. These parables help us so far, but they do not settle everything. They contain no philosophy of Divine delay, but simply a proclamation of the fact, and an assurance that, in spite of delay, all will go well at the last with those who trust in God” (Professor Bruce).
Luk 18:9
And he spake this parable. With this parable, “the Pharisee and the publican,” St. Luke concludes his memories of the last journeyings toward Jerusalem. The incidents which directly follow took place close to Jerusalem; and here St. Luke’s narrative rejoins that of SS. Matthew and Mark. No note of time or place assists us in defining exactly the period when the Master spoke this teaching; some time, however, in these last journeyings, that is, in the closing months of the public ministry, the parable in question was certainly spoken.
Luk 18:10
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. This parable constitutes an important chapter in Jesus’ apology or defenceif we may dare use the wordfor loving the sinful, for consorting with publicans and sinners. It tells men, in very simple language, how they are saved; not by works of righteousness which they have done, but of grace; in other words, by God’s free mercy. Jewish religious society in the time of our Lord, as represented by the great Pharisee sect, totally misunderstood this Divine truth. They claimed salvation as a right on two grounds:
(1) because they belonged to the chosen race;
(2) because they rigidly and minutely obeyed the precepts of a singular code of laws, many of them devised by themselves and their fathers.
Upon these two grounds they claimed salvation, that is, eternal blissful life. Not content with this claim of their own, they condemned, with a sweeping, harsh condemnation, all other peoples, and even those of their own race who neglected rigidly to observe the ordinances and ritual of a law framed in great measure in the schools of their own rabbis. Two extreme instances are here chosena rigid, exclusive, self-satisfied member of the religious society of Israel; and a Jewish officer of the hated Roman government, who knew little or nothing of the Law, but yet who longed after a higher life, and craved for an inward peace which he evidently was far from possessing. These two, the Pharisee and the publican, both went up to God’s holy house, the temple, with a view of drawing near to the eternal King.
Luk 18:11
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are. How closely drawn from the life is this picture of a Pharisee will be seen by a comparison of the prayer here with the prayer of a rabbi contained in the Talmud. When Rabbi Nechounia Ben Hakana left his school, he used to say, “I thank thee, O Eternal, my God, for having given me part with those who attend this school instead of running through the shops. I rise early like them, but it is to study the Law, not for futile ends. I take trouble as they do, but I shall be rewarded, and they will not. We run alike, but I for the future life, while they will only arrive at the pit of destruction” (from the treatise ‘Berachath’).
Luk 18:12
I fast twice in the week. There was no such precept in the Law of Moses. There only a single fast-day in the year was enjoined, the Day of Atonement (Le Luk 16:29). By the time of Zechariah the prophet (viii. 19) the one fast-day had grown into four. But this fasting twice every week was a burthensome observance imposed in the later oral Law. Thursday and Monday were the appointed fasting-days, because tradition related how, on those days, Moses ascended and descended from Sinai. Compare the Talmud (treatise ‘Bava Khama,’ fol. 82. 1). I give tithes of all that I possess. Here, again, the Mosaic ordinance only enjoined tithes of corn, wine, oil, and cattle. The later rabbinic schools directed that everything should be tithed, down to the mint and anise and cummin. And so this poor deluded Pharisee dreamed he had earned his eternal salvation, forgetting that the tithes he so prided himself on paying were merely tithes of goods of which he was steward for a little time, tithes, too, given back to their real OwnerGod. Could this be counted a claim upon God? He boasted, too, that he was no extortioner: did he forget how often he had coveted? He was no adulterer: what of those wicked thoughts which so often found a home in his heart? He rejoiced that he was not like the publican and others of that same class: did he think of the sore temptations to which these and the like were exposed, and from which he was free? He gloried in his miserable tithes and offerings: did he remember how really mean and selfish he was? did he think of his luxury and abundance, and of the want and misery of thousands round him? did his poor pitiful generosity constitute a claim to salvation? All this and more is shrined in the exquisite story of Jesus, who shows men that salvationif it be given to men at allmust be given entirely as a free gift of God.
Luk 18:13
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner! Utterly sad and heart-broken, the publican neither recounts nor thinks of good kind deeds done, or special sins committed; no thoughts came into that poor heart, such as, “I have done some fair deeds; I am not altogether vile and sinful.” He felt that with him evil so far overbalanced good that he could make no plea for himself, and yet he, too, longed for salvation, so he threw himself wholly upon God’s mercy and love in his sad prayer, “God be merciful to me the sinner!” for so the words should be rendered. Different to the Pharisee, who thought himself better than his neighbours, this man, in his sad humility, evidently thought other men better than himself, but still he so trusted in God that he felt even for him, the sinner, there might be mercy.
Luk 18:14
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. And the publican was right; there was mercy even for him, all sin-stained though he was. The words with which the Lord closes his teaching are full of comfort. That prayer he tells us was heard and granted. The “I tell you” of Jesus here means, as Stier well puts it, “I tell you, for I know, I have seen, I have heard all this in many such a case, and in many such prayers.” With this example of prayer favourably heard, there is surely no sin-burthened soul on earth who may not take courage in seeking God’s face. One great object of this parable, we may believe, was to suggest some such thoughts, to embolden sorrowful, heart-broken sinners simply to go to God, trusting in his great pitying love. It should not be forgotten that the publican’s prayer was heard in the temple; a silent approval seems given to his having thus sought out the appointed consecrated place of prayer.
Luk 18:15-30
Jesus and the children. The young ruler refuses to give up his riches. The Lord speaks of the reward of them that leave all for his sake.
Luk 18:15
And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them. Our Lord’s noticing children is several times alluded to in the Gospels. There was something evidently in his look and manner which singularly attracted little ones to him. SS. Matthew and Mark both recount this blessing of the children immediately after the teaching on divorce. Our Lord thus sanctifies the bond of marriage and its legitimate offspring. It was a silent but powerful reply to the mistaken inference which his disciples had drawn from his words. They had said, “It is not good to marry” (Mat 19:10). But when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. Something of what the Master had said concerning the marriage state affected the disciples. Had he not just (see Mat 19:10-12) been claiming high honour for the solitary life where there were no family ties to claim attention? Surely, then, these women and their children had better stand aloof: what had that grave and earnest Teacher of theirs to do with these? He had higher and more important matters on his mind f
Luk 18:16
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. St. Mark, who gives us here the memories of a faithful eye-witnessSt. Peterrecords how much displeased Jesus was when he saw them pushing back the mothers and their little ones, eager to win a smile or perhaps a touch from him whom the people justly regarded as the children’s Friend. It seems also to have been the practice for Jewish mothers to bring their babes to famous rabbis, and to ask these teachers to bless their little ones. Christ’s “interest in the little children was real, and for their own sakes. It was primary; not merely secondary, and because of the childlikeness of his subjects. If they who are like little children belong to the kingdom of heaven, why should we for a moment doubt that the little children themselves belong to the kingdom? Doubtless they all do. And if that change which men call death happen to them while they are still little children, we may rest assured that it will be to the little ones bye everlasting. They will not be shut out from the higher province of the kingdom of heaven when they are snatched away from the lower” (Dr. Morrison). St. Mark’s account, being that of an eye-witness, is fuller and more graphic. It is read in the Office of the Church of England for the Baptism of Infarcts, wherein young children are in like manner presented to Christ. It is considered that the Master’s words and act here justify the Church in commending infants, as such, to the blessing of their Father. Surely if little ones were capable of spiritual blessings then, they are so now. It is noticeable that these children were not brought to the Lord to be taught, but “that he should put his hands upon them, and bless them” (Mar 10:16).
Luk 18:17
Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. Jesus here reminds men that if they hope to enter the kingdom, it must be in the spirit of children, who never think of putting forward any claim of merit or paying any price for kindness showed them. His late parable of the Pharisee and publican was evidently in the Master’s mind when he said this.
Luk 18:18
And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life! This incident is related in the three synoptical Gospels. St. Matthew speaks of him as the young man. St. Luke here styles him a ruler; by some the title is supposed simply to denote that he was the ruler of a synagogue or congregation; others, however, consider that it denotes that the subject of the narrative was a ruler of the Jews, and possibly, but this is of course doubtful, a member of the Sanhedrin. His youth (Mat 19:20) is not at variance with this inference. Youth is defined by Philo as including the period between twenty-one and twenty-eight. All the three evangelists mention his great wealth. Dean Plumptre suggests that his large possessions and evident devotion had probably opened to him, at a comparatively early age, a place in the great council. His question concerning eternal life indicates that he was a Pharisee, and he evidently represented the noblest phase of this religious party. Ire had sedulously followed out the precepts of the best rabbinic schools of his day, but there was something lacking, he felt, and his intercourse with Jesus and the influence of the Master’s words led him to take this question point-blank to the famous Teacher, who he feltalone of any master whom he had metwas able to satisfy this longing desire of his heart.
Luk 18:19
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. The title “good” was a singular one for the young ruler to have used. It was never used to the most famous rabbis by their pupils. It implied an intense reverence, but nothing more. The young man distinctly did not then believe the Master was Divine, else he had never made the great refusal recorded directly afterwards. “To be a good man is impossible God alone could have this honour” (Plate, ‘Phaed.,’ 27). “You are looking at me,” said the Master, “as a man: why give me this strange, lofty title? You are looking on me only as an earthly Teacher.” The great Heart-reader was reading the young man’s thoughts, thoughts which soon crystallized, as we shall see, into the refused to do what he, whom he chose to style “good,” directed him to carry out.
Luk 18:20
Thou knowest the commandments. The report in St. Matthew is somewhat fuller. There the ruler, when directed to the commandments, replies by asking “which?” expecting most likely to be referred to some of the elaborate traditional laws of the rabbinic schools, which were difficult to keep even by men in the position of a wealthy Pharisee; but to his surprise Jesus mentions the most general and best-known of the ancient ten.
Luk 18:21
And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. He listens to the Master with something like impatient surprise. There is a ring of concealed indignation in his “All these have I ever kept. What do you take me for? I am a religious, God-fearing Jew; from my child-days have I kept these.” Kept these! How little the poor questioner knew the secrets of his Own heart! Yet he had answered Jesus in the true spirit of a Pharisee trained carefully in the rabbinic schools. We read, for instance, in the Talmud how “when Rabbi Chaninah was dying, he said to the angel of death, ‘Go and fetch me the book of the Law, and see whether there is anything in it which I have not kept.'”
Luk 18:22
.Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing. St. Mark (Mar 10:21), who had St. Peter’s memories to draw from, adds here a very touching detail. “Jesus beholding him [looking earnestly at him] loved him.” There was something noble and true in that life, struggling in the imperfect light of the rabbinic teaching after eternity and heaven, and feeling that in all its struggles some element was surely wanting; and Jesus, as he gazed on the young earnest face, loved him, and proceeded to show him how far removed his life was as yet from the perfect life he dreamed of attaining to. He would show him in a moment how selfish, how earthly, were his thoughts and aims; how firmly chained to earth that heart of his, which he thought only longed for heaven. Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me; “Well,” the Master said, “I will test you. You say you have from your child-days kept your whole duty to your neighbour; you say that you hunger after the higher righteousness. Do you really? Will you indeed be perfect (Mat 19:21)? Then I will tell you what you lack. Go, sell those great possessions which I know you love so dearly, and give all to the poor, and come, take up the cross (Mar 10:21), and follow me, the homeless, landless Teacher whom you call by the Divine title ‘good.'” The “cross” of St. Mark only Jesus understood then in all its dread significance. It was coming then very near; and the great Teacher saw that his true servants, if they would indeed follow him, must follow him along that lonely road of suffering he was then treading. “Via crucis, via lucis.” The young ruler, with his great wealth, thought he had from his youth done his whole duty to his neighbour. The Galilaean Master, whom he so reverenced and admired, reminded him that out of those wide domains, those stored-up riches, out of the mammon of unrighteousness, he had forgotten to make to himself friends who, when he died, should receive him into the eternal tents of heaven. This is what he lacked, lie had probably heard the Lord’s teaching in the parables of the unjust steward and of Lazarus.
Luk 18:23
And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. St. Mark adds (a memory of Peter’s) that when he heard this the ruler went away frowning, with a lowering look. This was too much. He could not, even at the bidding of that loved Teacher, give up the pleasant life he loved so well, the things he prized so highly; so silently and sadly he turned away. The ‘Gospel of the Hebrews,’ a very ancient document, dating from the first days of the faith, a few fragments only of which have come down to us in quotations in the Fathers, thus describes the scene: “Then the rich man began to scratch his head, for that was not to his mind. And the Lord said to him, How then canst thou say, I have kept the Law; for it is written in the Law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; and, lo! many of thy brethren, children of Abraham, live in the gutter, and die of hunger, while thy table is loaded with good things, and nothing is sent out to them?” (quoted by Origen, in Mat 19:1-30.). Dante calls this “The Great Refusal,” and represents the shade of the young ruler among the throng of the useless, of those who faced both ways (‘ Inferno,’ 10.27). It is worthy of notice that there was no angry retort from the wealthy ruler, no scornful, cynical smile of derision, as we read of among the covetous, wealthy Pharisees (Luk 16:14). Still, in the heart of this seeker after the true wisdom there was a sore conflict. Grieving, sorrow-stricken, with gloomy looks, he turned away in silence.
Luk 18:24
And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! The temptations which beset a rich man are so many and so various. The poor, indeed, with all their trials, stand fairer for the kingdom than do their envied richer brothers and sisters.
Luk 18:25
For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. This simile, taken in its plain and obvious sense, appears to many an exaggerated one, and various explanations have been suggested to soften it down. The best is found in Lord Nugent’s ‘Lands Classical and Sacred,’ who mentions that in some modern Syrian towns the narrow gate for foot-passengers at the side of the larger gate by which waggons, camels, and other beasts of burden enter the city, is known as the “needle’s eye.” It is, however, very uncertain whether this term for the little gate was known in ancient times. But the simile was evidently a common one among the Jews. The Talmud, for instance, gives us the parallel phrase of an elephant passing through a needle’s eye. The Koran repeats the very words of the Gospel. it is the object of the proverb to express human impossibility.
“I would ride the camel,
Yea leap him flying, through the needle’s eye
As easily as such a pampered soul
Could pass the narrow gate.”
(Southey.)
It seems strange that the three evangelists, SS. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, who tell this story of the young questioner and the Master’s conversation with him, do not mention his name. And yet he must have been a conspicuous personage in the society of the time. First of all, his riches were evidently remarkable. One account tells us that he was” very rich.” Two of the Gospels mention his “great possessions.” St. Luke tells us that he was “a ruler.” He was, then, certainly a very wealthy Jew holding a high official position, not improbably a member of the Sanhedrin council. Why is he nameless in the three Gospels? Dean Plumptre has a most interesting theory that the young wealthy ruler was Lazarus of Bethany. He bases his hypothesis upon the following data: He begins by stating that “there is one other case in the first two Gospels which presents similar phenomena. ]n the narrative of the supper at Bethany, St. Matthew and St. Mark record the passionate affection which expressed itself in pouring the precious ointment of spikenard upon our Lord’s head as the act of ‘a woman’, leaving her unnamed. In Joh 12:3 we find that the woman was Mary, the sister of Lazarus. The train of thought thus suggested points to the supposition that here also there may have been reasons for suppressing in the records a name which was familiar to the narrator. What if the young ruler were Lazarus himself? The points of agreement are sufficiently numerous to warrant the conjecture. The household of Lazarus, as the spikenard ointment shows, were of the wealthier class. The friends who came to comfort the bereaved sisters were themselves, in St. John’s language, ‘of the Jews,’ i.e. of the chief rulers (Joh 11:19). The young ruler was obviously a Pharisee, and the language of Martha (Joh 11:24) shows that she, too, believed in eternal life and the resurrection of the dead. The answer to the young ruler, ‘ One thing thou lackest’, is almost identical with that to Martha, ‘One thing is needful’ (Luk 10:42). In such a case, of course, nothing can be attained beyond conjectural inference; but the present writer must avow his belief that the coincidences in this case are such as to carry the evidence to a very high point of probability.”
Luk 18:26
And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? This hard saying appeared to the disciples to be terribly comprehensive in its scope; the longing to be rich was confined to no one class or order, it was the universal passion. Were theft guiltless here? Were they not looking for riches and glory in the Messianic kingdom of the immediate future? And of all peoples the Jews in every age have been credited with the blindest devotion to this idol, wealth. In St. Mark (Mar 10:24) we find certainly an explanatory statement: “How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” But this explanatory and softened statement is not found in the older authorities; these read instead, in Mar 10:24, simply the words, “How hard is it to enter the kingdom of God!’ Hard alike, the Master meant, for rich and poor, though harder for the former.
Luk 18:27
And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Yes, impossible, the Divine Teacher repeated, from a man’s point of view; impossible from the platform of legal obedience on which the young ruler (Luk 18:21) had taken his stand, or the Pharisee in his prayer (Luk 18:11, Luk 18:12); but it was not impossible with God. He might give this salvation as a perfectly free gift, utterly undeserved, perfectly unmerited, as he did to the prodigal son when he returned, or to the publican when he beat his breast in almost voiceless mourning, or still more conspicuously, not many days later, to the penitent thief dying on the cross.
Luk 18:28
Then Peter said, Lo, we hays left all, and followed thee. Again the question of Peter, evidently acting as spokesman of the twelve, is repeated by the first three evangelists. Strangely faithful in their accounts of their own dealings with their adored Master, they never veil or hide any human weakness or error of their own which led to an important bit of teaching from their Lord. Now, in this place, they, in the person of Peter, gave utterance to a very worldly, but a very natural, thought. The ruler had failed when the test was applied to him; he was a conspicuous example of failure in the rich to enter the kingdom. But they had not failed when the test had been applied to them; they had given all up for his sake: what would be their reward?
Luk 18:29, Luk 18:30
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting. Evidently, from the reports of the three evangelists, the reply of Jesus was a lengthy one, and contained much deep teaching. St. Luke only gives us, however, one section, so to speak, of the great discourse which followed upon Peter’s question. Here and in St. Mark Peter and the twelve receive a quiet rebuke in this general promise. The Master seems to say, “My promises are not especially to you, my first followers, but to all who, not for any selfish hope of recompense or reward, but for the kingdom of God’s sake, give up what they hold dearest; there will be real, true happiness for them even in this world, and in the world to come unspeakable joy will be their portion; theirs will be the life that knows no ending.” St. Mark adds, with rare truth, that the happiness which his faithful are to enjoy in this world will be accompanied with persecutions. It is the same beautiful thought which the Master had put out before, only the gem now is set in different words. “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 5:10; see, too, Mat 5:11, Mat 5:12), St. Matthew deals especially with another division of the Lord’s discourse. Here Jesus speaks of the future of the twelve; and, looking forward to the generally noble and self-devoted lives he saw these would live, he tells them of the great destiny surely reserved for them if they remained faithful to the end. But even here, in his words, “the first shall be last” (Mat 19:30), and still more pointedly in the parable of the labourers which followed (Mat 20:1-16), he warned these devoted but often mistaken men of the danger of self-complacency. It was only because he foresaw that in these really great ones this spirit would in the end be overcome (at least in eleven of them) that he made the grand and mysterious promise of Mat 19:28.
The narrative here, in the three synoptical Gospels, is not continuous; at this point there is a break. There is little doubt but that the sickness and death of Lazarus of Bethany, and the summons of the sisters to Jesus, took place about this period. The three synoptical evangelists are silent hero for reasons we have discussed elsewhere.
Between Mat 19:30 and 31 there probably should be inserted the hasty journey to Bethany. The Master was not far when the news of his friend’s death reached him. Immediately after the miracle there appears to have been a meeting of the Sanhedrin, when it was decided to put Jesus to death, though not during the ensuing Passover, with such precautions as were possible. The terrible decision became known. Jesus then retired to Ephraim, an obscure village about twenty miles from the city. Here a very short time was spent in absolute retirement and seclusion. But the Passover Feast was nigh at hand. In company with some of the crowded pilgrim caravans, and secure under their protection till his last few days of work were accomplished, Jesus journeys to Jerusalem. At this point the three synoptical Gospels take up the story again. The eleventh chapter of St. John fills up this gap in the connected story.
Luk 18:31-42
Jesus again tells them of his Passion. The healing of the blind at Jericho.
Luk 18:31
Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them. St. Mark (Mar 10:32) prefaces this announcement with the words, “And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid.” There was something unusual, evidently, in the manner and behaviour of the Master; silently, wrapped up in his own lofty meditations, he strode on in front of the company of his followers. A feeling of awe and fear stole over them as they watched the silent Master with the shadow of the coming cross falling, perhaps, across his countenance. Much had happened lately: the teaching growing more and more solemn as the end drew near; the raising of Lazarus; the intense enmity of the great men of the nation; the fixed determination to put the Master to death; his short retirement; then the announcement that he was going up to face his enemies at the great feast in Jerusalem; and now alone and silent he walked at their head. What was coming? thought the twelve and their friends. He read their thoughts, and, calling them round him, told them what was about to happen. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
Luk 18:32, Luk 18:33
For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: and they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. The outlines of the Passion he had sketched for the disciples before on two occasions, But never so clearly as now. He even tells them the manner of his end, and how his own countrymen would give him up to the Romans, and how these Gentiles, amidst every conceivable circumstance of horror, would do him to death. And the Master closed his dread revelation by predicting his speedy resurrection.
Luk 18:34
And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. But they listened all dazed and confused; they could not take it in, neither the shame of the death of their loved Leader, nor the glory of the Resurrection which was to follow immediately after. They could not persuade themselves that the hopes of an earthly Messianic glory in which they were to; share must positively Be given up. “We must learn to love Divine truths Before we can understand them,” said Pascal. “Toward everything which is contrary to natural desire,” wrote Riggenbach (in Godet), “there is produced in the heart a Blindness, which nothing but a miracle can heal.”
Luk 18:35
And it came to pass; that as he was come nigh unto Jericho. Jericho was once called “the City of Palms,” afterwards “the City of Perfumes.” It was about eighteen miles from Jerusalem. In the Herodian times it became a popular resort, owing to the affection the great Herod entertained for it. Its palm-groves and balsam-gardens were a present from Antony to Cleopatra. Herod the Great bought them from her, and made it one of his royal cities, and adorned it with many stately buildings, and eventually died there, it is now a miserable village. A certain blind man sat by the wayside begging. An apparent discrepancy exists in the three accounts given of this act of our Lord. St. Luke speaks of one blind man who was healed as our Lord was entering the town. St. Matthew and St. Mark mention that the miracle took place as our Lord was leaving the place, and St. Matthew mentions that two blind men received their sight at the bidding of Jesus. Several solutions of this little difficulty have been proposed. Perhaps the most probable is that the sufferers were sitting near the town gates as the Lord entered. They, hearing who was passing by, eagerly called to him for help. Surrounded by the crowd, he probably did not hear the cry, or possibly wished to test the earnestness of their faith by allowing them to wait. They follow him through the place, and in the open space outside the city they attract his attention, and he heals them. Or, in the words of Dr. Morrison, “the case seems to have begun as he entered into the city, but it culminated in all likelihood as he departed.” A later explanation, apparently preferred by Godet and Farrar, is that, as Josephus and Eusebius distinguish between the old and the new Jerichothe old town on the ancient site, and the new Herodian town which had sprung up at a little distance from itthe blind man might, according to some traditions, have been healed as Jesus was leaving old Jericho; according to others, as he was entering the new town. The fact of SS. Mark and Luke only mentioning one blind man is easily explained. There was one evidently (as we shall suggest further on), a well-known character in Christian storyBartimaeus. Two of the evangelists recorded his cure, as being of special interest to the Church, leaving the second among the numberless unrecorded miracles of healing of Jesus. A certain blind man. St. Mark names him Bartimaeus. It may be inferred that, as St. Mark specially names him, this man was well known in early Christian story. We know that after the cure he joined the company as one of the followers of Jesus.
Luk 18:37
And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. The Lord’s name was by this time a household word in Palestine, and among the sick and afflicted a most precious and welcome sound.
Luk 18:38
Jesus, thou Son of David. This form of address distinctly shows that the idea that the Rabbi of Nazareth, the great Wonder-worker, the wise kind Teacher, was in some way or other the long looked-for Deliverer, was now taking possession of the people’s mind. “Son of David” was distinctly a Messianic salutation.
Luk 18:39
And they which went before rebuked him. It must be remembered that our Lord was surrounded by a great host of Passover pilgrims, by many of whom he was reverenced as “some great One,” perhaps the King Messiah. Such a low wailing cry on the part of a blind beggar, asking to be brought into the presence of him they wondered at and admired and hoped so much from, seemed a great presumption: hence these rebukes.
Luk 18:40, Luk 18:41
And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him. St. Mark here adds, “And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.” These kindly sympathizing words of the disciples to the beggar, doing their loving Master’s behest, were one of Peter’s own memories of the scene under the walls of Jericho. And when he was come near, he asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? Many besides the governor Pilate, who a few days later put the query to him, “Art thou a King, then?” during this period must have often asked silently the same question. We shall soon see the whole multitude carried away with enthusiasm, giving him a royal welcome as he entered the city. Here, with a majesty truly royal, as Godet well remarks, Jesus seems to open up to the beggar the treasures of Divine power in “What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” and to give him, as it were, carte blanche. And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. There is a curious variation in the terms of this request in that ancient Syriac Version known as “the Cure-tonian,” in the account of St. Matthew, “That our eyes might be opened, and we shall see thee.”
Luk 18:42
And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight. “Magnifique aumone du Christ” (Pressense’). Thy faith hath saved thee. The American Longfellow has united the cry for mercy of the blind, the kindly sympathizing words of the disciples, and the gift of Jesus Christ, in his exquisite poem of ‘Blind Bartimaeus.’
“Those mighty voices three
‘ !
!”
HOMILETICS
Luk 18:1-8
The importunate widow.
The importance which Christ attaches to prayer is evidenced by the frequency with which he recurs to it in his teaching, and the variety of his illustration of its duty and blessedness. The sermon on the mount enforces it as one of the cardinal virtues of the perfect disciple. In the eleventh chapter of this Gospel both the manner after which we are to pray, and the assurance on which faith should rest, are presented. Again, towards the close of the ministry we are introduced to two parables bearing on it, each with the lesson which the Master would teach clearly defined. The former of these two has this as its object (Luk 18:1), “that men ought always,” i.e. unremittingly, “to pray, and not to faint;” i.e. not to be scared by hindrances, or induced to desist by the sickness which comes through hope deferred. The structure of the parable is very simple. There is a judge who neither fears God nor regards man. A poor widow, who has been wronged, claims his interposition. He pays no regard to her suit. But she importunes him; day by day she presents herself, until, though he has no regard to the justice of her case, he listens to her pleading in order that he may be relieved of her solicitations. If man, unjust and selfish, thus yields to unceasing prayer, how much more, argues Jesus, will he, who is the Absolutely Just and the Infinitely Loving, yield to the cry, day and night, of his own people! Notice three features in the delineation.
I. GOD IN CONTRAST WITH THE HUMAN AVENGER. The latter consults his own ease. He acts in mere selfishness. The Eternal Righteousness is ever consistent with itself. “To this man will I look, even to him that is humble and contrite in spirit.”
II. GOD‘S PEOPLE IN CONTRAST WITH THE WIDOW. They resemble her in one thingin the sense of need, of helplessness. But the widow stands in no special relation to the judge. God’s people are his own elect. They are part of the blood-bought, ransomed family. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God;” and “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.” Each of them is in the most intimate relation to the Eternal. “I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh on me.”
III. THE LONG–SUFFERING OF GOD IN CONTRAST WITH THE LONG–SUFFERING OF MAN. The long-suffering of man is in consequence of the indisposition to act; if in the end. it is dispelled, if the action after a lengthened interval follows, it is only that repose may be purchased by the effort, and that the mind may be free to carry out its unloving projects. God bears long with his elect, not because he is unwilling to bless, but that he may draw them closer to himself, that he may prepare them for fuller measures of blessing, that he may chasten their wills into completer union with his will, and so ultimately bestow the higher gifts of his Fatherhood. When they cry, there is much that needs to be corrected; they desire only what they regard as the best or what will relieve them from some pressure. There is still a distance between their will and his; he delays the answer that they may be brought in true self-emptiness to his heart, and that, their faith being purified, they may be enriched out of his exceeding abundance. So the Lord bore long with Job; in him patience had its perfect work; he learned to “abhor himself, and repent in dust and ashes;” he was “attuned also to finer issues” by the charity which led him to pray for his friends. And the Lord turned his captivity when his prayer was thus disciplined and enlarged, and he received “twice as much as he had before.” So, too, the woman of Canaan cried, and “the Lord answered her not a word” (Mat 15:1-39.). Then came she “and worshipped him.” She bowed her whole soul before him, and she received the reward of the “great faith.” “Therefore,” says the Lord, “faint not.“ “Pray without ceasing.” The heavens above are not brass. There is a flexibility in the ordering of the universe which admits of the answer, direct and real, to prayer. “More things are wrought by prayer than the world dreams of.” “O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.” The Lord anticipates a decadence in the belief as to the efficacy of prayer, for he adds a “nevertheless” (verse 8). Is this loss of faith true of the Church and of Christians in this day?
Luk 18:9-14
The Pharisee and the publican.
The lesson as to prayer is continued. The parable which follows exhibits the spirit and conditions of effectual prayer. Mark the two features of the audience specially addressed. He speaks to certain
(1) who trusted in themselves as being righteous;
(2) who, as the outcome of this trust, despised others.
He spoke in the previous parable of “God’s own elect.” Now, the Pharisees accounted themselves the elect of God. They were puffed up by this confidence. They regarded themselves as the righteous, who kept the Law, beth oral and written. And, indeed, they were most scrupulous as to every requirement; nay, they were willing to burden themselves with minute and vexatious observances. And the sin which beset them was the pride shadowed forth in one of the two who went up to pray. As the illustration of the elect, the Lord chooses a tax-gatherer, one of a hated class, for whom, in Pharisee-thought, there was no place in the kingdom of heaven. The instruction is suitable to every time. Pharisee separation and pride are features to be recognized in the Church of this day, as they were prominent in the Jewish Church of our Lord’s day. Ever to be studied is the antithesisrespectability in the Pharisee, non-respectability in the publican. See the two. The one, with his broad phylactery, his supercilious bearing, his Pharisaism reflected in every feature of his sallow countenance, as with measured step he proceeds to the temple. In its inner court he stands erect; he arranges his prayer-robe, he looks around, the face darkened by a scowl as he observes the publican in a distant corner of the sacred building. And then he lifts his eye. No prayer trembles in any tone; no pleading escapes through any word; he “speaks with himself” rather than with God. It is a soliloquy, a self-gratified recital of his own piety. If he says, “God, I thank thee” (verses 11, 12), it is not for any grace that he has received, it is not in acknowledging that only through a higher mercy and strength he is what he is; nay, with something of familiarity in the address, he bids the Almighty join him in admiration of his virtues, on account of which he is lifted above other men. Only by certain averages of his own striking does he measure his excellence, the climax being reached, when there comes the contemptuous “even as this publican.” Oh, what a superior person, to be sure! With what satisfaction must highest Heaven regard one who fasted twice in the week, and gave tithes of all he possessed! The other, with hurried gait, as one intent only on pouring out his heart before God, takes his place far off. He has no wish to disturb the complacency of his fellow-worshipper. He claims nothing; self-assertion in every form is absent from his heart. The only presence with him is the Holy One of Israel. Beneath the vision of his holiness all that is of the earth must keep silence. He wilt not even lift up his eyes. He has not much to record; human righteousness even is but a filthy rag when held up to the light of that Perfect Holiness. And as for him, oh, there can be only the one prayer, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” (verse 13). He is overpowered with the conviction of sin. His only refuge is the mercy of the eternal. “I tell you” (Verse 14). concludes Christ, “this man is manifested to be one of God’s elect. He, not the other, returns to his house the one accepted and justified.” The parable is most suggestive.
I. IT IS THE EXPOSURE OF SPIRITUAL PRIDE IN ITS ROOT AND FRUIT. Its root, the measurement of self by “other men.” God is not in the thought. The song of the seraphim, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts,” sounds faintly in the ear. The mind is not occupied with him and his holiness. It looks around rather than above. The standard is a social one. There is “a zeal for the law, but not according to knowledge. Having settled the constituents of righteousness, and having in conduct realized these constituents, it looks from the legal vantage-ground on others. And, seeing the many below the elected level, it whispers within itself, “I thank thee that I am not as they.” The I struts abroad with a distinct sense of superiority. This pride is the parasite of religiosity. And religiosity is the whole religion of many. Religiosity means the performance, punctilious and sincere, of acts and offices, functions and services. It may comprehend a wide area of the existence. It may fill up much of time and much of thought, and he who abounds in it is held to be a religious man. But it is a morality untouched by the motion of the broken and contrite spirit. There is no distinctively evangelical motive force. On an earlier occasion the contrast between the routine religiosity and the warm religion of the heart was presented at the dinner-table where Simon the Pharisee presided, and the woman washed the Lord’s feet with her tears. Of her he said, “She hath loved much.” Here the Pharisee is in opposition to the publican, who had the inner spirit of poverty. Now, one who has the religiosity, not the religion, is apt to rest on the duties which he discharges, on the zeal which he manifests. He trusts in himself as being righteous, and, whenever there is this trust, there creeps around it a feeling of superiority. “I am not as other men are.” It engenders the separatist’s haughty spirit. It brings in the sentiment of a caste. The “I” belongs to the religious world, “others” are without. Let us beware lest we rest satisfied with a righteousness like that of the Pharisee, lest we substitute the outward for the inwardwhat we do for what we are. Let us beware of that which always develops with this tendencythe habit of comparison of self with others on levels lower than our own, instead of realizing “the vision splendid” of that righteousness which demands the entire self. It is this trust, this self-elevation, this pride of righteousness, which vitiates the sacrifice of many who go up to the temple to pray.
II. IT IS THE COMMENDATION OF HUMILITY, IN ITS ESSENTIAL NATURE AND BLESSEDNESS. What is humility? It is not so much a self-consciousness as a God-consciousness; not so much a mean thinking of ourselves as a thrilling, penetrating consciousness of him who is perfect holiness and truth. There is a self-abhorrence, but that follows the seeing of God with the opened inner eye. The Pharisee had no conviction of sin, because he had no discernment of the Eternal. His god was the property of his caste, one on whom he had a claim because of his belonging to the caste and doing what was required by it. The publican felt God at his heart; and the sight awoke the longing to be holy as God is, and the longing to be holy called out the sense of wrongness. Oh, how he had offended! how selfish and grasping and wicked he had been! All else fades into indistinctness; in that temple there are to him but the first cry of the soul which God has appropriated. There is no real prayer until that cry. A genuine earnest pleading is evoked. The beginning of all prayer, christ reminds us, is the taking of the sinner’s place, and the simple appeal to mercy. And as it is the first, so it is the cry ever pulsing through prayer. It is never wanting from the justified. The pardon has been received. The blood cleanses from all sin; but not the less, all the more, is the knowledge of sin and the need of the ever-renewed application of mercy. This is humilitysinful self cast on Divine mercy, and, forgiven much, loving much. There is no measurement with other men, for God is all in all. And this is blessed. The Pharisee returnshis pride more deeply written into his nature, its blight and curse; no spring in the heart, no spring in the heart, no visitation of any day-spring from on high. Remaining in his pride, he was truly abased. The publican returnsa burden rolled off from his heart, a new elasticity in his step, a new light in his countenance. “The winter is past, the flowers appear on the earth.” He is at peace with God, justified, sanctified, righteous in the communion of the Righteous One. “I, yet not I, for he lives in me.” In his humility he was exalted.
Luk 18:18-25
The ruler who refused the crown.
It is a certain ruler, a young man, who accosts our Lord. And the question which he asks represents one of the deepest cravings of the human breast. Is it only in the Gospels that we find this question? It is written into all the religions, into the best of all the philosophies, the poetries, the guesses at truth, which have commanded the thought of the ages, It is as old as human nature, as manifold in its complexion as the human experience, as abiding in its persistence as the human need. It is our questionone compared with which the hundred things which claim our attention are only as strivings after wind. Let us listen. The eternal life: what is it? and how is it realized?
I. WHAT DID THE YOUNG MAN MEAN when he came running and kneeling and asked, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The answer may indicate the essential features of the desire that has haunted the breast. Clearly he meant three things:
1. A real, personal existenceone implying distinct consciousness and activity. He is too prosaic, too selfishly in earnest, to mean less than this.
2. An existence removed from the imperfections of the present time. His notions of immortality may have been crude; but he certainly desired a life which, as contrasted with the changeful and limited, is an eternal life.
3. A life in relation to a moral or spiritual system. He has possessions. Sirens are ever luring him to the fateful shores of pleasure. Against them “the categorical imperative” of conscience is ever dominant. It says, “Root thy conduct in the everlastingly true. The eternal life is not mere endlessness. It is endless goodness, truth. And to be in harmony with this is to live eternally.” Now, such being the contents of his thought, the burden which he brings to the Master ishow it comes that, although the harmony of his conduct with this system is complete, he is still unsatisfied; nay, that the more he seems to approach the ideal the more conscious he is that it is far ahead of him. “Explain it to me” is the passionate entreaty; and who does not love him for this sublime passion? “What is the missing quantity? What is the plus yet to be possessed that I may have eternal life?”
II. Turning to THE ANSWER OF CHRIST, and connecting it with words elsewhere, WHAT IS CHRIST‘S EXPOSITION OF THE ETERNAL LIFE? The question is, “What shall I do?” And to this the specific reply is, “Be free. Your ]ire does not consist in the abundance of your possessions. Can you part with them, that you may the more unreservedly obey the vision which has dawned on you?” (Luk 18:22). Thus the truth probed him. He might not have been called actually to sell his estate, any more than Abraham was called to offer up Isaac. But the trial of his will was made; and, in the trial, he was found wanting (Luk 18:23). Do we blame him?we whom the truth is proving every day, only to find that we are caught up by all kinds of vanities! He turned away; and, alas! what of us? But the demand of the Lord reminds us of the requirement essential to the eternal life. Life, we are told by scientists, consists in an adaptation of organism to surrounding. When the adaptation is complete, and the surrounding nourishes the organism, there is health. When it is impaired, there is sickness; when it is broken, there is death. Human life has both a spiritual and a material environment. As the ruler rightly supposed, the eternal life implies correspondence to the spiritual environment.-Where there is no such correspondence, where, in Scripture phrase, the life is “without God,” there is death. Where the correspondence has been formed, and the inner life is nourished by the system which surrounds it, there is spiritual, eternal life. But are not the phrases, “systems,” “environments,” too vague and abstract? Do we not need something more concrete, something nearer us, than such abstractions? This is more concrete, this is nearer us, “Take up the cross; come, follow me” (Luk 18:22). A perfect Man has walked this earthOne in whom the correspondence with the heavenly environment was complete, who lived in and with a Father in heaven, and whose meat was to do his will. His existence, in its details, we cannot copy; but his life, in its principles, inspirations, in all that gave it its beauty and glory, we can realize, under varying conditions. To be joined to him; to live in his light; to be the manner of person that he was; to be affianced to him as the Lord and Friend and Brother of our perfect choice; and have his flesh as meat indeed, and his blood as drink indeed;this is the way to the eternal life. But what is this life whose way is thus defined? It must be kept always in view that eternal is not merely another name for endless. Endless time would not be eternity. The eternal is the timeless. Everlasting existence may be involved; but this is because the life is what it isDivine, and therefore imperishable. Christ has supplied many unfoldings of this Divine life (see Joh 3:1-13; Joh 6:32-53; Joh 17:3). May the guidance of the Holy Spirit illumine this teaching! and may we all realize the secret of St. John: “He that hath the Son hath the life!”
III. THIS RULER INTERESTS US. The narrative concerning him suggests reflections which may be dwelt on with profit.
1. The difficulty, the hindrance, to salvation that is interposed by riches. (Verses 24, 25.) Great possessions, Christ declares, increase the risk of losing the true spiritual health, are apt to stand in the way of the eternal life. It is not the riches themselves that are evil; it is, as one of the evangelists explains, the trust in them, the sensation of them, that is the evil. And may there not be a trust in riches, even when they are not actually possessed? We may have very little, and yet have such a craving for more as proves that the ungotten wealth stands for our best. More than this, with little there may be as much of earthliness and love of the world as when there is much. It is a wretched slavery which one often sees, and the feeling of which one often detects in one’s own breast. Persons are miserably ruled over by the sense of wealth. Neither do they get the good, nor does the world get the full good, of what they have. On the other hand, the poor cannot rise to the real dignity of their being because they set possessions on the height which they regard as the summum bonum. Social life is honeycombed by that trust in riches. “How hard it is,” says Christ, “for those that have riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” (verse 24).
2. A crown is refused. Who the ruler was we cannot tell. On a sudden he appears, on a sudden he disappears. Is he wrecked, like a ship with full sail, at the harbour-bar? It is noticeable that Jesus “loved him;” in this distinction he is bracketed, in the Gospels, with Martha and Mary and Lazarus. For a moment the crown hangs over his head. Did he finally reject it? But he waves it aside. Oh, not the last who has missed the flood-tidethe blessing offered to the man, and the man turning from it! Young men, all, reflect!
Luk 18:35-43
Bartimaeus.
Here are two noises suggestive of the human life with which we are all familiar. There is the tramp, tramp, tramp, of the swaying multitude, the din of the many minds, many experiences, many mouths, all moving in obedience to a common impulse. Men and women, when they become mere units of a crowd, forget for the time their personal histories, They are swept on by the current, sharing and adding to its excitement. There is nothing more unaccountable sometimes than the impulses which are communicated from person to person, and pass by infection to the multitude. Different days have their different idols. Those who are shouting themselves hoarse with their hosannahs at Jericho will shout themselves hoarse with the cry, “Away with him! Crucify him!” at Jerusalem. Oh, fickle popularity! The Lord knew what the applause of the crowd was worth. The children crying in the temple were far more to him than the loud voice and the tremendous enthusiasm of the thousands who had swelled the triumph of the entry into the city of David. But through that tumult, in the midst of that noise, there is anotherthat which always reaches the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Only one voice, at most two voices, shrill and clamorousthe voice of misery and want and prayer! Had he not heard that same voice in highest heaven? Had it not pierced through the praises of angel and archangel, of cherubim and seraphimthe cry of a sinful and weary world? A little one only in the system of the universe, but the least in need has a special way of access to the Eternal Love. Far off the great Shepherd hears the bleat of the sheep that has strayed into the wilderness. He who heard the sigh of the world from the excellent glory will not turn from the piteous pleading of the poor and needy. God’s tenderness individualizes. “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”
I. REGARD THIS POOR MAN. Perhaps we shall realize that he is our near kinsman.
1. He has been sitting by the wayside begging. And what are we all but beggars at the world’s wayside? Even the mind most richly endowed, the heart most wealthy in love and imagination, needs “the life more and fuller.” Is there no begging from heaven? no consciousness of a fountain of living waters? This Bartimaeus, taking his place day by day on the thoroughfare and asking an alms, is only too faithful a picture of me, wanting, desiring, and, alas! too often trying to satisfy my soul with some dole of happiness or excitement thrown to mea beggar all the while, blind.
2. What is this? An unusual bustle and din. What does it mean? We can imagine the question addressed, with only a languid interest, to some person at handa languor which vanishes when the answer is given, “It is Jesus of Nazareth who is passing by.” Ah! the newness of cry, sign of newness of life! What and how he had heard of this Jesus we know not; but he had heard enough to open the gates of the soul. The one argument is need, the one reasoning, “I am here; he is there. Son of David, have mercy on me!” It is the great hour of a human life when speech is begun between the soul and heaven. Such speech arrests the love of God in the way. “We enter heaven by prayer.”
3. Those around bid the one who cries hold his local. So speak the many to the one in earnest. Notice how often in the Gospels the disciples are represented as keeping back from Christ instead of helping to him (see Luk 18:15). They did not know the heart of God. And men do not know it still. There is often a “send away” in the minds of even the well-disposed. Earnestness meets discouragements where it leasts expects them. Cry on, thou who hast felt the breath of the passing Saviour. If those about thee are unsympathetic, throw thyself the more on thy Lord; the more they protest, cry thou the more, “Son of God, they will not take me up. Father and mother even forsake me. Thou, thou only art my hope. Make no tarrying, O my God.”
II. THINK OF THE SAVIOUR, IN WHOM THE LIVING GOD IS REVEALED.
1. There is the Christ-commandment. “Bring him hither to me.” It is the commandment to an often misunderstanding and misinterpreting Church. Christ has much to bear at the hand of the world; he has much also to bear at the hand of his Church. How frequently those who are his repel rather than attract, send away rather than bring! “Bring”there. is no gainsaying this charge. Instantly the tone of the multitude changes. Now it is, “Rise, be of good comfort; he calleth thee.” And what alacrity in the Bartimaeus-obedience! The old tattered garment connected with the past time of, it may have been, a sinful life is thrown away. There is no stopping to inquire how the blind can reach that blessed presence. He has called. In the call there is the pledge of a sufficient grace. O mirror of Divine condescension! O word, preparing for work, of power! “The blind, the poor, bring to me!”
2. There is the Christ-question. “What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” The question is put when the presence is reached. The presence is the help to the answer. Now, the great underlying want is expressed, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” Is it not the prayer of the human heart when the quickening presence of God is realized? It is to prepare for the revelation that the will is gently besieged. He cannot force; he can only draw. Stooping to thee, the person thou art, and as thou art, the word of grace and truth is, “What wilt thou?”
3. And then the Christ-action. “He touched the eyes,” says St. Matthew, “Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee,” says St. Luke. His faith had been a trust in the dark. He could not make the light, but he could call for it. And he had called, he had pressed to Christ, awfully in earnest, unboundedly confident. The faith saved through what it did. It brought him to the Lord; and that is salvation. The first use of the new sight was to behold the Deliverer. The first face that wrote its image in the heart was the face of God in Christ. Saved, whole, because that face was formed in the heart of hearts, never more to fade from it. “I was blind; now I see.” “Go thy way,” says the Lord. “Nay, dearest Master, where thou goest I will go. Where thou dwellest I will dwell. Thy way is mine. Mine the new song which thou hast given. Thou hast touched my eyes
“And in that light of life I’ll walk
Till travelling days are done.”
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Luk 18:1-7
Continuance in prayer: Divine delay.
We have first to consider what is
I. THE ARGUMENT IN THE TEXT. It is one from the less to the greater, or rather from the unworthy to the worthy. If a bad man will, for a poor reason, accede to the request of one for whom he cares nothing, how much more certainly will the Righteous One himself, for a good reason, espouse the cause of those who are so dear to him! The reasons for confidence in God’s faithfulness and interposition are therefore threefold.
1. If an unprincipled judge amongst men will finally do justice, assuredly the righteous Judge of all the earth will do so. His character is something which cannot fail; we may build on that as on the most solid rock.
2. If justice is granted by us for so poor a reason as that of fearing vexatious annoyance, surely God will listen and will respond to reverent and believing prayer. He is far more certain to be won by that in us which pleases him than is an unjust judge by that in his appellant which annoys him. And our approach to him in prayer, our reverent attitude, our faith in his goodness, our trust in his Word,all this is very pleasing unto our Father.
3. If a man will yield a demand made by one to whom he does not feel himself related, and in whom he is absolutely uninterested, how confident we may be that God will interpose on behalf of those who, as his own sons and daughters, are dear to his parental heart, and who, collectively, constitute “his own elect “those who are most tenderly and intimately related to him in Jesus Christ his Son!
II. THE SERIOUS FACT OF THE DIVINE DELAY. “Though he bear long with them” (Luk 18:7), or, “and he delays [to interpose] in their cause” (Dr. Bruce). It is certain that, from our point of view, God does delay to vindicate his people; his answer does not come as soon as we expect it; it is held back so long that we are ready “to faint” (Lose heart). Thus was it many times in the history of Israel; thus has it been frequently in the history of the Church of Christ. How many times have suffering bands of noble martyrs looked up piteously and despondently to heaven as they cried, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood?” Thus has it been in multitudes of individual instances; men have been oppressed, or they have been embarrassed, or they have been disappointed, or they have been otherwise afflicted; they have appealed to God for his delivering grace; and they have looked long in vain for the Divine response. They say, “O my God, I cry, but thou hearest not” (Psa 22:2).
III. THE EXPLANATION THAT WILL BE FOUND. The time will come when we shall understand why God did delay to answer us. But we may be quite sure that when it comes it will be seen:
1. That it was not in himnot in his absence from us, nor his indifference to us, nor his unreadiness to help us.
2. That it, was in usin our unreadiness to receive his interposition, or in the misuse we should make of it, or in the greater and truer good to be gained by our patience than by our relief; and thus in the ultimate gain to our own well-being by his withholding.
IV. THE BLESSED FACT THAT IT IS ONLY A DELAY. “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.”
1. It is probable that when God does manifest his power he will work speedy and overwhelming destruction to the guilty; he will avenge “speedily,” i.e. quickly, instantaneously. “How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image” (Psa 73:19, Psa 73:20).
2. It is certain that in his own time and way God will defend his people, that he will relieve his children, that he will redeem and bless his “own elect.” His faithfulness to his Word; his love for them that love him; his intimacy of relation to those who are “in Jesus Christ;”this is a sure and absolute pledge that the appeal to him cannot be and will not be in vain. Men ought continuously, perseveringly, to pray, and never to lose heart. The day of Divine appearing is entered in the books of God.C.
Luk 18:8
Our unbelief.
“Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” These words have no special reference, if they have any at all, to the condition of the world at the “second coming” of Christ. In order to understand and appreciate them, we must consider
I. WHAT IS THE FORCE AND RANGE OF THIS EXPRESSION, “the coming of the Son of man.” And it will be found on investigation that it signifies any special manifestation of God’s power or any special appearance of Christ either in Person or in providence. This may be:
1. In mercy; including the Incarnation, when the Son of man came “not to destroy but to save” the world; the Resurrection, when he came in power and triumph from the other world; the Day of Pentecost, when he came in marvellous outpouring of Divine influence upon the world.
2. In judgment; including the destruction of Jerusalem; the day of death to each human being; the day of judgment itself, when “before him shall be gathered all nations.”
II. WHAT IS THE APPLICATION OF IT IN THE TEXT. A widow appeals for redress against “her adversary” (the defendant) to an unprincipled judge. He puts her off until her importunity makes him listen and respond in order to save himself from annoyance. Arguing a fortiori, our Lord contends that God, the righteous Judge, will most certainly grant to his own people (children) the requests they make of him (see previous homily). But, continues the great Teacher, who had such a perfect insight into our nature, when he does that, and “comes” in judgment to his foes and in mercy to his friends, will he find his friends expecting him? will they be looking for his appearing? will their attitude be one of holy expectation, of instant recognition, and of devout thankfulness? or will they not, after all their asking, be positively surprised and even incredulous at his manifestation? He will come most assuredly, but when he comes, will he find faith on the earth?
III. WHAT ILLUSTRATIONS WE HAVE OF THE TRUTH OF IT.
1. We have two striking scriptural illustrations.
(1) Christ’s own coming, after his resurrection, to his disciples. Instead of looking for him and welcoming him, according to his word (Luk 18:33), they were astounded and incredulous (Luk 24:11, Luk 24:22, Luk 24:23, Luk 24:37). He did not “find faith” in them.
(2) His coming in providential deliverance to Peter. When the Church had been praying without ceasing for him, they should have been hoping for a Divine visitation in response to their prayer. Nevertheless, when it came, were they not found unbelieving and astonished (Act 12:5, Act 12:15)? Are we much better than they?
2. Christ’s coming in judgment. Such narrow and false interpretations as the Jews were apt to put upon sudden and sad calamities (Luk 13:1-4) we must scrupulously avoid. But when we see a man who has defied all laws, human and Divine, brought down into shame and ruin, or when we see a guilty empire which was founded on violence, sustained by force, and nourished in corruption, stricken down by defeat and reduced to dishonour and disaster, shall we be surprised as if a strange thing had happened? or shall we not rather feel that this is precisely what we had every reason to expect from the righteousness of the Divine Ruler?
3. Christ’s coming in grace and mercy. When the Christian family, in answer to earnest and continued prayer, is just saved from serious embarrassment and perhaps from disgrace; when the Christian Church, after much pleading for God’s Spirit, receives marked and manifest tokens of the presence and power of God in the midst of it; when the Christian teacher or preacher, as the issue of much devout and faithful work, finds many souls to be seeking the life which is of God;is the attitude of that family, that Church, that teacher, one of calm expectation and devout acquiescence? or is it not rather one of surprise, if not even of incredulity? When we have been imploring the Son of man to come, and he comes at our appeal, does he find us awaiting and expecting him? Surely, with fuller and deeper faith on our part, there would be a more frequent coming on the part of our gracious Lord in life-giving power and blessing.C.
Luk 18:9-14
The Pharisee and the publican.
The scene indicated by our Lord’s opening sentences is easily realized. We readily picture to our minds the place and the two persons in whom we are interestedthe haughty Pharisee and the humble-minded publican. We readily imagine their demeanor as they enter, their posture as they pray, their reception as they pass through the courts going and returning. But we ask how and why was it that the Pharisee was rejected and the publican accepted. And in reply we say:
1. In some respects the two men stood on the same ground. Both were free from the taint of idolatry and were worshipping God; both appreciated the privilege of prayer; both came to the same building, and, using the same invocation, each uttered the uppermost thought in his mind.
2. In some aspects the Pharisee seemed to have the advantage.
(1) He had the respect of the public, the good and God-fearing public, of the respectable people of his day;
(2) he had lived the worthiest life in all social and political relations;
(3) he was much the more “religious ‘ of the two, in the sense that his habit of life Was devout and charitable, while that of the publican had been godless and avaricious.
3. The terms of their respective prayers are not decisive of their acceptableness in the sight of God.
(1) A truly humble man might speak to God in the strain, though not in the spirit, of the Pharisee. It is quite right to thank God for being preserved from presumptuous sins and being kept in the path of rectitude and devotion (see Psa 41:12, Psa 41:13).
(2) A thoroughly formal worshipper might present the petition of the publican. How often, since then, have these or very similar words been used by “penitents” who have been impenitent, by those who have taken the language of humility on their lip while they “have regarded iniquity in their heart”! A modern writer (T. T. Lynch) represents these two men as going up again to the temple; but this time the Pharisee, adopting the publican’s form of words in hope of acceptance, is again rejected; while the publican, giving thanks to God for his reconciliation and renewal, is again accepted
“For sometimes tears and sometimes thanks,
But only truth can please.”
How, then, do we explain the fact that “this man went down to his house justified rather than the other”?
I. THE PHARISEE HAD FORMED A RADICALLY FALSE ESTIMATE of his own character, and the publican a true one of his. The Pharisee thought he was everything God wished him to be, and was miserably wrong in his estimate; he was reckoning that God cared chiefly if not exclusively for the outside in religion, that his favour was secured by ceremonies, by proprieties, by punctualities, by utterances of prescribed forms. He failed to understand that this was only the shell and not the kernel, and that the shell of correct behaviour is nothing without the kernel of a reverent and loving spirit. The publican, on the other hand, believed that he was very far from right with God; that he had been living a guilty life, and was condemned of God for so doing; and his thought was true.
II. THE PHARISEE‘S FALSE ESTIMATE LED HIM INTO SELF–FLATTERY; the publican’s true estimate into frank, penitential acknowledgment. Under the cover of gratitude, the one man paid himself handsome compliments, and held on high his great meritoriousness, thus confirming in his own mind the delusion that he was a favourite of Heaven; the other, moved by a deep sense of personal unworthiness, made honest confession of sin, and sought the mercy he knew he needed.
III. GOD HATES THE PROUD, AND HONOURS THE HUMBLE–HEARTED. Old and New Testaments may be said to be full of this truth. God has said and has repeated, he has most plainly and emphatically declared, that pride is odious and unpardonable in his sight; but that humility shall live before him (Luk 18:14; see also Psa 32:5; Psa 138:6; Pro 28:13; Isa 57:15; Mat 5:3; 1Pe 5:6; 1Jn 1:8, 1Jn 1:9). Here is:
1. A message of solemn warning. It concerns those who are the spiritual descendants of the Pharisee; who are satisfied with their spiritual condition but have no right to be so; who are building the hope of their hearts on things which are external, but in whom the love of God does not dwell. And here is:
2. A message of gracious encouragement. It concerns those who are burdened with a sense of sin and need not remain so. The way of mercy is open to every penitent soul. Jesus Christ is the “Propitiation for the sins of the whole world,” and the grace of God in him far more than suffices for every guilty heart. In him we have forgiveness of sins; in him we have peace and hope and joy, even eternal life.C.
Luk 18:15, Luk 18:16
Christ and the children: a sermon to children.
This familiar and attractive scene is well conceived and described in the lines commencing, “Over the hills of Jordan.” It contains valuable lessons for the young.
I. THE KINDLINESS OF JESUS CHRIST. Some kind men are not kindly. They will do a great deal for you, will give much to you, will run serious risks or even make serious sacrifices on your behalf; but they are not gracious, genial, winning. They are not approachable; you are not drawn to them; you are not inclined to address them and make friends with them; they rather repel than invite you. Such was not Jesus Christ. He was not only kind at heart, but kindly in manner and in bearing. The children of his day went freely and gladly to him. That “he was never seen to smile” is a wholly unauthorized and, we may be quite sure, an entirely false statement. Did he not take those infants into his arms with a smile upon his face? Did he not frequently, ay, constantly, smile as he looked upon innocency, upon hopefulness, upon childhood? Think of Jesus Christ as not only the kind but the kindly One, as not only the good but the gracious One, as not only the wise but the winning One. Think of him as that One to whom, if he were with us now as he was with men of old, you would be drawn with an irresistible attraction, and to whom you could, without any effort, unburden your heart. And believe that just what he was on earth he is in heaven.
II. JESUS CHRIST STILL RECEIVES US TO THE SHELTER OF HIS LOVING POWER. He took them up into his arms. The arms of the parent are the place of shelter to the child; to them in all time of danger or of distress he naturally and eagerly resorts. It is the place of strength, of defence, of succour. But youth needs more than human sympathy and help; it needs a refuge in Divine tenderness and power. It does so always; but more particularly when parental care is lost, because the parents themselves have “passed into the skies.” Very seriously is this need felt when parental care is left behind, when youth or young manhood goes forth from the shelter of the home. Then how priceless is the shelter of the loving power of the Divine Friend! In that unknown “world” which lies beyond the home-life are perils that cannot be anticipated, and that are all unknown. Take care to secure the invaluable refuge of the Divine arm; for only in the protection of the all-wise Leader and almighty Friend will safety be found.
III. JESUS CHRIST STILL LAYS HIS HAND UPON US. Mark tells us (Mar 10:16) that he “put his hands upon them, and blessed them.” You still sing, “I wish that his hands had been laid on my head.” It is a right and becoming thought. But the laying of the hand of flesh on those children’s heads may not have wrought any great spiritual change in them; they may have grown up to reject him. Of far more consequence is it that Christ should now lay the hand of his Divine power and grace upon your heart; that he should so act upon you by his Divine Spirit that your mind should be illumined, and that you understand what is the good and the wise thing to do; that your heart should be touched so that you will live to love him who is worthiest of all that is best. “His touch has still its ancient power.” Yes; and more than the healing touch which gave sight to the blind and wholeness to the poor leper is that benignant power which opens the closed mind and cleanses the unholy heart.
IV. JESUS LOOKS AND WAITS FOR YOUR SUBMISSION, He says that it is you who, of all people, can most readily enter his holy kingdom. He must have your free and full consent. When he made the world, and sent the sun on its course, and gave to the sea its bounds, “he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” He compels all things in nature to do his bidding; but he asks, he invites your trust, your worship, your love. He cannot bless you as he would unless you consent to receive him as your own personal Lord and Saviour and Friend. But he assures you that this is open to you as it is not to others; the young can readily give their attention, their docility, their love, their obedience. Fewer and slighter hindrances are in your way than are in the path of those who have travelled further. Of such as you are now “is the kingdom of God.” This is the golden chance of your life.C.
Luk 18:17
The child of man and the kingdom of God.
Jesus Christ not only opened the gate of his kingdom to the little child as he opened his arms to the little children whom the mothers of Judah brought to him; he also took the little child as a type of the true disciple. He taught us that if we wish to enter his kingdom, our spirit must be the child-spirit. Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as,” etc. And what is this spirit? It is that of
I. DOCILITY, or readiness to accept what is told us. The ideal child is teachable; it will learn because it is ready to receive; it has not found out the way of distrust and of rejection; it takes in the light, the truth, which is offered and it grows thereby. Men of mature years and powers, who have had all the advantages of Christian privileges, often stand without the kingdom because they will not receive the truth that is offered them; their mind is preoccupied with theories, systems, imaginations, of their own. They seem to know much; they believe they know much, for they are familiar with some things of which many (perhaps most) are ignorant; they could easily puzzle their neighbours by asking questions which these could not answer; they have a number of facts and laws, and a much larger number of names at their command; they “seem to be wise” (1Co 3:18). But their knowledge is very small in comparison with all that has to be acquired; it is partly (largely) local, temporary, evanescent (1Co 13:8); it is nothing to the wisdom of God. It becomes them, as it becomes us all, to feel toward God as our little children feel towards usto cherish a spirit of docility. How much more he has to tell us than we have to teach them! How much greater is our ignorance in his sight than theirs is in ours! He who will not accept the doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood; he who will not yield himself to a Divine Saviour; he who will not pursue the path of holy service, hoping to find at the end of it a heavenly home,because this does not square with some favourite theories, or because it transcends the range of some intellectual faculties, cannot enter the kingdom of truth, and therefore shuts himself out of the kingdom of God. We shall fail to stand on the first rung of the ladder that reaches heavenly wisdom unless we realize that we are all of us but very little children in the presence of our Father, and unless with docile spirit we come to his feet and say, “Lord, we are very ignorant; wilt thou teach us?”
“Lead us, O Father, in the path of truth;
Unhelped by thee, in error’s maze we grope.”
II. SIMPLICITY. The little child (of our thought and our affection) is simple, transparent, sincere; he says just what is in his mind, does not pretend he is naughty when he believes himself to be goodis real. This God demands of us”truth in the inward parts,” sincerity of spirit. It does not further our cause with him to affect a piety that is not genuine; to simulate a penitence of which our heart knows nothing; to use the language of humility while pride is reigning within. He would rather we tell him just what we feel, just what we are, than adopt the most appropriate confessions or petitions. We must be like the children of our home; we must mean what we say when we draw nigh to him.
III. TRUSTFULNESS. Christianity is a religion which centres in a Person, in one Divine Being. “He that believeth in me,” “that abideth in me,”that is the prevailing note. Trust in Jesus Christ as the Teacher, Saviour, Sovereign of the human soul, is the way of life. He who has that stands within “the kingdom of God.” Where shall we learn to trust? Is it not of the little child? As the child flees for refuge to its parent’s arms, confides itself and all it has or hopes for to its parent’s wisdom and love, so the human soul is invited to commit itself and all its everlasting interests to the Almighty Saviour, to say with implicit, childlike confidence and self-surrender
“Jesus. Refuge of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly.”
C.
Luk 18:18-22
The golden chance: a sermon to the young.
Many features combine to make this incident one of peculiar interest.
I. THE PRINCIPAL ACTOR IS THE SCENE A YOUNG MAN. Matthew tells us this quite incidentally (Mat 19:22), but it adds great interest to the occurrence. For our hearts are drawn towards youth. Youth is innocent, ingenuous, frank, trustful, hopeful, loving. There is, moreover, some mystery about it. We know what the old man has been; we know what the man of middle life will be; but of youth we cannot tell; it may accomplish great things; it is covered with the delicate buds, with the beautiful flowers of promise.
II. A YOUNG MAN OF WEALTH AND INFLUENCE. This might not make him more interesting to Christ; but it does to us. The rich young heir may be of no more intrinsic worth than the beggar by the wayside; but because he is the heir of fortune, we care about him, we watch his career; we are specially glad if he takes a wise course, and are specially grieved if he goes astray.
III. A YOUNG MAN WITH SOME OF THE NOBLER QUALITIES OF YOUTH.
1. We note his reverence. Youth should be reverent. Ignorance and inexperience should pay to knowledge and wisdom the regard which is their due. We like this young man because he saw in that homeless Teacher a wisdom superior to his Own, and came and prostrated himself before him in becoming homage.
2. We note his ardour. He came running (Mar 10:17) to meet and to learn of Christ. Youth should be, as in the person of this inquirer it waseager, ardent, enthusiastic, sanguine of good things.
3. We note his religiousness. “Heaven lies about us in our infancy,” etc. Youth is the time when heavenly visions are most and best seen; when Divine claims, spiritual realities, are strongest and clearest to the soul; then “life eternal” has the deepest meaning. So was it with him. To him life held something larger and better than all his lands and houses; other and higher voices than those of debtors and stewards reached his ear; he had a vision of a holy service in which he might be engaged; of a Divine life he might be living; and running in his eagerness, and kneeling in his reverence, he looked up into the face of Christ and said, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”
IV. A YOUNG MAN IN THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST, exciting his special interest. A young man, with his life before him and a soul not yet stained by the evil which is in the world, standing in the very presence of him who knew what human life might include and what the human soul was worth, who could tell him how to enlarge the one and how to ennoble the other, and who (Mar 10:21) took a tender and loving interest in this earnest spirit,what could we have more profoundly interesting than this?
V. JESUS CHRIST REVEALING TO HIM THE TRUE STATE OF HIS HEART. Our Lord’s treatment of inquirers differed much; it was, no doubt, determined by the state of their heart, as he alone knew it. He replied to this young man as he did, because he wished him to know where he actually stood; he wished to show him that, in order to be prepared to lay hold on eternal life, it was not only necessary to have such sincerity as he had, and such earnestness as he had, but such earnestness as would make him ready to yield everything to the Lord of his life; and that this he had not. So, after leading him up to the point, he said, “Sell all that thou hast,” etc. And then the inquirer knew that he lacked one thingone essential thing; he wanted that thoroughness of purpose toward God which made self-surrender possible to him. It was a glorious, golden chance, then used or then lost when this interview was held. It must have been the crisis of his career, on which everything hung for all the future. Similar in its nature, though not alike in its circumstances, is the opportunity offered to each one of us.
1. All the life of Christian privilege is the golden chance of our existence. “Now is the accepted time,” the period when everything is open to us, when a noble and immortal future stretches Out before us and is within our power.
2. Youth is the golden chance of life. It is in the days that are now passing, when the heart is warm, and the mind is open, and the conscience tender, and the life unburdened and unembarrassed, that Christ should be approached and his lasting friendship gained.
3. The day of Divine visitation is the golden chance of youththat day when the truth and the grace of Jesus Christ are most powerfully felt, and a voice from heaven is heard saying of the path of life, “This is the way: walk ye in it.”C.
Luk 18:24
Wealth and piety.
Wherein lies the difficulty of a rich man entering the kingdom? This young ruler shrank from parting with his property, but Jesus Christ does not ordinarily ask men of wealth to “sell all that they have and give to the poor.” His difficulty, therefore, is not the common one.
1. It is not that the rich man is not as welcome to the friendship of Christ as the poor man. He does not make distinctions in his invitation, or in his desire that men should come to him. In him in whom is neither male nor female, bond nor free, there is neither rich nor poor. The poor as much as the rich, and also the rich as much as the poor, are the objects of his love and of his seeking. The Lord of our nature regards us, and concerns himself for us, not on account of our circumstances, but because he knows the value of our souls.
2. Not because the rich man cannot illustrate the distinctive graces of Christianity. The sale and distribution of property in apostolic times was an expedient which was adopted for the occasion; but it was not insisted upon as necessary even then (Act 5:4), and it was very soon abandoned. Paul, writing to Timothy, wrote on the supposition that the Christian Church included many wealthy men (1Ti 6:1-21.). Every age and every country has witnessed the lives of wealthy Christian men, who have illustrated every grace that the great Teacher has commended. It is clear that a rich man map be as humble, as generous, as temperate, as pure, as devout, as any poor man can be; and he sometimes is so. The explanation of our Lord’s language is found in the fact that riches are apt to put a serious obstacle in the way of entrance into the kingdom. If we would find our way into that holy and blessed kingdom, it is necessary that we should have a sense of our personal emptiness and need. We come to Christ to be filled with his fulness, to be enriched by his grace and love. He is a Physician, and it is they who feel that they are sick that are likely to apply for his healing power. He is the Divine Source of all wealth and enrichment (Rev 3:18), and they must know themselves to be poor who come to buy of him gold that they may become rich. Hence the difficulty. It is for this reason that
I. A MAN WHOSE MIND IS FULL OF KNOWLEDGE finds it hard to receive distinctive Christian truth. He is rich, as compared with his fellows, in the acquisition of knowledge. He is proud of this possession of his, and is bent on making the most of it. Jesus Christ comes to him, and says that he must lay aside his own views and notions, and sit at his feet and receive the truth he brings to him from God. Then the “rich” man has to sacrifice his favourite theories, has to make nothing of his learning, that he may admit to his mind the wisdom that is from above; and he finds it very “hard” to do this.
II. A MAN WHO IS CLOTHED WITH HONOUR finds it hard to take a very humble view of himself. For honour is an order of wealth, and one that is highly prized. But the natural and common effect of it is to lead those who are the objects of it to form a flattering view of themselves; it is hard to get them to believe that in God’s sight they may be as sinful as those held in very much less regard by their fellow-men. But the ground on which human souls must come to Christ is that of humility. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
III. A MAN WHOSE CHAMBERS ARE FULL OF TREASURE is tempted to seek his satisfaction in the lower good. We have to make our choice, as Divine truth is presented to us, whether we will live for the service of Christ or for our own personal enjoyment and aggrandizement. To the poor, to the afflicted, to the suffering, to those who know they have not long to live, the temptation to live for this present world is not so strong; on their ear the overtures of the gospel of grace fall as that very thing they need for theft comfort and their peace; they have little to surrender, they have much to gain. But to those to whom every avenue of enjoyment is open; to those who may look hopefully, perhaps confidently, for place, for power, for society, for pleasure, for honour,the inducement is very strong and urgent to cast in their lot with those “whose portion is in this life.” Many voices very close to their ear, very clear and convincing, call for their strength to be given to the material rather than the spiritual, to the temporal rather than the eternal, to the human rather than the Divine; and it is “hard” for them to resist and to overcome.
1. Let poverty find its ample consolation in the accessibility of the riches that always satisfy and never flee.
2. Let those who know neither poverty nor riches thank God for the happy mean in which his providence has placed themnot subjecting them to the temptations of either.
3. Let wealth beware lest it make a sad, a supreme, mistake; lest, in the great spiritual strife, it
“Clutch the tinsel gilding, and let go the crown of life.”
C.
Luk 18:28, Luk 18:29
Christ’s estimate of a Christian life.
It is certain that no literalist could ever understand Jesus Christ. Men of this order of mind utterly failed to understand him in his own time (see particularly Joh 6:41-46), and they are equally at fault to-day. It is clearly impossible to give a literal interpretation to these words of the Lord; the facts of the case do not permit it. But going to the heart of this Divine utterance, we understand that any one who for Christ’s sake suffers the loss of kindred and of worldly goods, shall have that which, in the sight of God and in the light of his truth, is worth a hundred times more than any human or earthly blessings can be. We shall better see the truthfulness of this declaration if we approach the main thought from a little distance, and consider that human life is something the value of which depends not on the quantity but on the kind of it. A small quantity of human life outweighs in value a large amount of animal life. A very small portion of the higher human life transcends in value a large extent of lower human life. “Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay.” Bailey has well written
“Life’s more than breath and the quick round of blood;
It is a great spirit and a busy heart.
We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.”
And there is wisdom as well as strength in the lines
”One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name.”
Lifting up this truth to the spiritual level of the teaching of Jesus Christ, we find that in such a life as that which is of him and in himfor the attainment of which we may have to make very great sacrifices
I. THERE IS AN ELEVATED AND TRANSPORTING JOY experienced in the very endurance of persecution; and this alone goes far towards fulfilling the Saviour’s word. This statement is simply historical. The apostles returned from the council, condemned and severely scourged, “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his Name.” Paul and Silas sang the praises of God in the darkness and foulness of a Philippian dungeon. And under every sky since then, men and women, old and young and in the midst of life, have gone to the dungeon and to the stake and to the open grave in which they were to be buried alive, not with tears in their eyes and lamentations on their tongues, but with songs of praise upon their lips, and with keen, exultant triumph in their hearts. To-day there is far more of real and lasting joy to be found under the roof of the missionary compound than in the palatial buildings of European capitals, profounder and more lasting satisfaction in the self-sacrificing labours of the evangelist than in the lounging idleness of the sons and daughters of fashion and of pleasure.
II. IN TRUE DISCIPLESHIP THERE ARE SOURCES OF JOY which altogether outweigh any losses that may be entailed by fidelity. Some people know just enough of “religion to find it a weariness, a burden, an anxiety. This is neither piety nor policy; it does not secure God’s favour, and it gives no satisfaction to them. But the true and thorough servant of Jesus Christ, heartily surrendering himself to his Divine Redeemer, and devotedly engaging in his service, has “manifold more” of blessedness than he loses by anything with which he parts. He has
(1) the favour, the forgiving and abiding love of God his Father; his lifelong, his unfailing friendship;
(2) happy, holy fellowship with Jesus Christ, and, through him, with the true and pure and good amongst men;
(3) a share in that holy service, outside of which is no rectitude for man, in which is rightness and wisdom, and therefore peace and joy;
(4) the luxury, the blessedness of usefulness, of doing good and communicating, of being a source of strength and healing to the poor and needy;
(5) “And in the world to come eternal life:” not the lingering and lasting shadows into which Greek and, Roman shrank from descending; not the uninviting sheol of the Hebrews; but everlasting day, eternal lifelife in its fulness, its freedom, its blessedness, its glory, life never ceasing but enlarging and unfolding evermore. What commanding, convincing, constraining reasons are here for choosing the Master’s service! What is it that he asks us to surrender for his sake? Anything in the way of profit, or pleasure, or companionship? Perhaps something in these ways. But what we gain by accepting him as Saviour and Friend is a thousand times more precious than all that we can be called upon to renounce. Even here and now God gives to us far more than he takes from us; and, beside this, in the world to come is” eternal life.” We may well do as Peter said he and his associates had doneleave all to follow Christ.C.
Luk 18:31-34
God’s concealing kindness, etc.
The clear prevision which the Lord Jesus Christ had of the future which was before him may suggest to us the thought
I. GOD‘S KINDNESS IS CONCEALMENT. We often try to forecast the future, and sometimes wish that we could do so less imperfectly than we can. But our very inability to do this is to us a valuable shield that saves us from great unhappiness. For who of us would care to proceed at all if he knew all the sorrowful experiences through which his path would lie? We sometimes feel a humane satisfaction that the sheep anti cattle that browse so contentedly to-day in the field have not their short enjoyment marred by any expectation of the slaughter-house they are to enter to-morrow. And we may well be thankful that so thick a veil hangs over our future, that we cannot possibly tell what are the troubles that will befall us, or where our life will be darkened with its deeper shadows. Even when, as with Paul, we know that “bonds and afflictions abide us,” still, like hire., we do “not know the things that will befall us” then. And whilst, on the one hand, we very commonly have enough of premonition to make desirable preparation for coming evil, on the other hand our life is so ordered that we go happily and hopefully on our way, untroubled by the evils which are in front of us but which are mercifully hidden from our view.
II. OUR LORD‘S LEADERSHIP IN THE EXPERIENCE OF APPREHENSION. Our happy inability to anticipate the future is not the whole of the truth, though it is a large part of it. It remains true that there is a considerable amount of apprehension in the structure of our life. There are times when we clearly foresee some trial ahead of us. We may not know precisely the time of its arrival, nor the elements of which it will be composed. But we can tell that “our hour is coming.” Before us, at no great distance, is suffering, is separation, is loss, is loneliness, is heart-ache. The road we are travelling along will soon descend, and we shall go down into the darkly shaded valley. Of that we have no doubt; and our spirit trembles, our heart is full of foreboding and, perchance, misgiving. How shall we pass through that dark valley? How bravely or how weakly, how worthily or how unbecomingly, shall we undergo that experience when it comes? There are many sources of encouragement to which we might resort. But this passage speaks to us of one of the best of them. Christ has gone this way before usthis way of keen and anxious apprehension. He knew that the most trying experiences were only a little way in front of him. He knew that the last extremity of human hatred and of human cruelty would be visited upon him. The Jews would condemn him with all their malignity, and the Gentiles would maltreat him with all their disdainful and powerful heartlessness. The sad and shameful future immediately before him stood clear to his sight, clearer far than any coming sorrow can shape itself to us. Therefore we may feel that:
1. We are treading in the footsteps of our Lord, and it is enough for the disciple to be as his Master.
2. We may be confident of his tenderest and fullest sympathy. He has suffered just what we are suffering now.
3. He will help us in our time of need. As he himself sought of man the succour he did not find, and was glad to receive from heaven the comfort he did not ask, we may be well assured that he will not refuse us all the aid we need and ask of him when the trial-hour of our experience shall have come.
III. THE DIFFICULTY OF DISCIPLESHIPTO LEARN UNWELCOME TRUTH. There was no inherent incomprehensibleness in the words Christ here employed; yet “they understood none of these things” Why did they not comprehend such intelligible language? Because the truth conveyed was so exceedingly unwelcome. It cut across all their cherished hopes respecting the Messiah; it dashed their natural expectations to the ground; and it went sorely against all that their affection prompted them to believe and cherish. “It could not, must not, did not mean that,“ they said in their hearts. It is not the strangeness nor the profundity of truth which is too much for us; it is its remoteness from that on which we have set our heart. We do not understand that which clashes with our prejudices, or our passions, or our affections. The apostles of Christ would have saved themselves from many hours of awful sorrow and abject hopelessness and painful incredulity, if their feelings had allowed them to understand the truth which their Master put so plainly and so repeatedly before them (Mat 16:21; Mat 17:22; Mat 20:17). Can it be that Jesus Christ is saying something to us which we ought to understand, but do not because it is unwelcome to our hearts, or because it is at variance with all our old and strong habits of thought? Is it possible that he is calling us to repentance, to self surrender, to a full confession of our faith, to a nobler life, to some field of active work, and we do not understand what he is saying to us? Where his own apostles so greatly failed, may not we be found at fault? Shall we leave it to future darkness and a great surprise and a mortifying discovery of error to set us straight? Or shall we not rather recognize in time our liability to mistake; seek to have an open mind to receive all his holy will concerning us; ask God to help us to remove the bandages of prejudice and of earthly attachments from the eyes of our understanding; seek by docility and devoutness of spirit to be such disciples of the Master that, when he speaks even unwelcome truth to us, we shall understand him and obey?C.
Luk 18:37
Present but passing opportunity.
Pathetic stories are told of those who, in circumstances of the greatest danger or distress, have suddenly found themselves almost within reach of blessed deliverance, but who just failed to realize their hope. It is the captive knight past whose dungeon a friendly host is filing, and the sound of the clarion drowns his pleading cries; or it is the shipwrecked sailor on the lonely island whose laboriously constructed signal the ship that is homeward bound does not descry, and who sees his one chance of rescue vanishing away. Those who have never known a supreme misfortune, together with a possibility, which was only a possibility, of deliverance, cannot realize the thrilling and all but intolerable suspense of such moments of present but passing opportunity as Bartimaeus now knew. He was blind, helpless, shut out from all the sights and nearly all the enjoyments of human life; his lot was of the darkest and the saddest; and there was passing by One who could turn darkness into day, dreariness and gloom into blessedness and beauty, if only he could win his ear and make his plea. This glorious Healer was within a few paces of him, would soon be actually in front of him, would all too soon be gone beyond his call. “Jesus of Nazareth was passing by!” We see here
I. THE SORENESS OF OUR SPIRITUAL NEED. We are blind, helpless, suffering the worst privations, under the dominion of sin. We recognize rot our Father, our brethren, our true selves, our true opportunities, our chief perils, our real interests; and our blindness is not only immeasurably reducing the value of our present life, but is leading us to that which is darker still and sadder far.
II. THE NEAR PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST. A Divine Deliverer is at hand. Quite near to us, within reach of our voice, within touch of our hand, is One who can open our eyes and make us see clearly all that we need to know. At our very door is One who is not only ready at our entreaty, but even prepared already and eager to supply all our need. Here is One who offers to:
1. Enlighten our mind.
2. Restore the relationship to God our Father we have lost by our sin.
3. Constitute himself our almighty and unchanging Friend and Guide through all our life.
4. Conduct us and receive us to a heavenly home.
III. THE PASSING OF PRESENT OPPORTUNITY. This priceless chance is ours to-day; but how long will it remain within our reach? Jesus of Nazareth is near, but he is passing.
1. We know nothing of Christian privilege beyond the grave, and our life is hastening on; it may close at any hour, and it is hurrying away on the swift wings of duty and of pleasure.
2. The favoured period of youth is still more transient. Christ is very near us in the golden days of youth, when the spiritual nature is so open and so responsive; but how fast these days are fleeing! how soon will they be gone!
3. The hour of special grace and of rare privilege is but an hourthat time when Heaven puts forth its most constraining influences, and we see and feel that the gates into the kingdom of God are opened wide for our entrance, We cannot afford to delay when Jesus of Nazareth is near us. When eternal life is within our grasp, we must compel every other interest to take the second place; and this, not only because it is of such transcendent value, but because we may never have so golden an opportunity again. There is “a tide” in the history of every man which leads on to something more than “fortune;” it leads unto lifethe life that is Divine and everlasting. On no account whatever must that be “omitted.” Foolish beyond all reckoning, as well as guilty before God, is the soul that lets Jesus of Nazareth pass by without seeking his feet and finding his favour.C.
Luk 18:41
What we want of Christ.
Our hearts are drawn towards blind Bartimaeus; we compassionate him for his long-continued blindness; we enter into his feeling of keen hopefulness when he hears of the passing of Jesus Christ; we like the importunity of the man, his sturdy refusal to be put down by popular clamour; we like also his manly directness in reply to the question asked him, “Lord, that I may receive my sight!” We owe him some gratitude in that it was his necessity which provided our Lord with one more opportunity of illustrating his power and his pity, and of carrying on the great redemptive work he came to accomplish. For these miracles he wrought were a part, and a valuable part, of that work of his. If apprised of less value than they once were, they are very far indeed from being valueless. And amongst other things they illustrate Christ’s personal dealing with men. As he did not heal in troops and companies but addressed himself to each individual man or woman that was sick or suffering, blind or lame, so does he now make his appeal to each individual heart, and say to this man and to that man, “What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” And what do we want of him, as he thus approaches us?
I. THOSE WHO WANT NOTHING IN PARTICULAR. They meet with their neighbours to worship him and to hear about him, but they have no sense of need in their hearts; their souls are not suffering and smarting under a painful sense of sin; their hearts are not athirst for the living God and Saviour. They wish for “bread enough,” but it is not the bread of life for which they hunger; they would like much to be wealthy, but they arc not careful to be “rich toward God.”
II. THOSE WHO WANT NOTHING OF CHRIST NOW. The time will come when they will be glad of a Saviour and Friendsome future hour of sorrow, or difficulty, or loneliness, and certainly the hour of death; they would like to keep open the line of communication, but at present they do not feel that they want anything of the great Healer of hearts. But let us look rather at
III. WHAT WE ALL DO REALLY WANT OF HIM. If our Divine Father is not to be disappointed in us, if our lives on earth are not to be miserable failures, then may we all urge, with this blind man, “Lord, that we may receive our sight!” For it is essential to the life of our life that we should be enlightened upon:
1. The transcendent value of the human spirit, and thus understand of how much more value we ourselves are than any of our earthly surroundings, or than the body which is our temporary residence.
2. The intimate and tender relation in which we stand to God. That God is the one Being with whom we have to do, from whom we cannot withhold our love and service without doing him and ourselves the greatest wrong, who is “earnestly remembering” and patiently seeking us in our distance and estrangement.
3. The supreme and abiding blessedness of the service of Christ; that this is the soul’s only true rest and portion, its peace and its inheritance. We want that these great saving truths should stand out before the eyes of our soul as the solid and living facts, in comparison with which all other things are of small account; we want to recognize in them the great verities which alone will satisfy and save us. If we would that Christ should do this for us, we must remember that what he is saying to us is this:
(1) “Learn of me;”
(2) “Believe in me;” “Have faith in me;”
(3) “Abide in me;”
(4) “Follow me.” C.
HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR
Luk 18:1-14
Lessons in prayer.
Our Lord, in the two parables composing the present passage, gives the disciples encouragement to pray. The one brings out the need of perseverance and importunity in prayer; the other brings out the spirit of self-abasement which should be cultivated in prayer. They are thus linked together as twin lessons in the art of prayer.
I. LET US NOTICE THE NEEDFUL IMPORTUNITY OF GOD‘S ELECT AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE IMPORTUNATE WIDOW. (Luk 18:1-8.) The story is about an earthly judge of unscrupulous character, to whom a widow in her weakness, but with a deep sense of injury, appeals for redress. The weak woman is able by her importunity to extort from the heartless judge the redress which he would give on no other conditions. He even becomes facetious and humorous over it, and declares that he will avenge her, lest “by her continual coming she strike me” Having related this story, our Lord makes certain deductions from it. And:
1. He declares that at his coming there will little faith in his advent. (Luk 18:8.) Now, this unbelief about his advent can be accounted for on several grounds.
(1) The procession of nature is so uniform. All things seem to continue as they were from the creation. Nature is on so largo and grand a scale that we do not appreciate the real progress, and imagine that we are in the midst of a standstill. Uniformity, however, is not standstill.
(2) Hope deferred will make many hearts sick. And so what has been so long talked of and yet has never appeared will be thought at last as never to appear. And
(3) stoicism will lead many just to take things as they are, and entertain no concern about any change. It is astonishing how easy-going people tolerate manifest wrongs rather than take the trouble either to pray about them or to work for their removal. But:
2. Our Lord acknowledges the wrong to which his elect ones have been exposed. Their cry is for justice, for redress, like the widow. Now, our Lord admits that his people have not got justice from the world. The world has not been worthy of them. The world has made them time after time martyrs. It is a great assurance that the Lord acknowledges his servants’ wrongs.
3. He intimates at the same time that, like the widow, they will need importunity. The one weapon must be wielded and wielded incessantly. He keeps us waiting doubtless for our good. If we got all the moment we asked it, how should we ever learn patience? But:
4. He promises a sudden redress. The idea seems to be not “speedily” but “suddenly” he will avenge them. It will be a sharp and decisive deliverance when it comes. We thus see that all life’s discipline is planned to stimulate prayer. And when we have least taste for it, we should, like Luther, pray on. This is the importunity the Lord loves and will answer.
II. LET US NOTICE THE SPIRIT OF SELF–ABASEMENT WHICH SHOULD CHARACTERIZE OUR PRAYER AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE PARABLE OF THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. (Luk 18:9-14.) And in this second story we have a Pharisee first presented whose prayer is an outburst of self-confidence. He thanks God that he is so much better than his neighbours. For in these he recognizes extortioners, unjust men, and adulterers. A self-righteous spirit is censorious; its prayer is a criticism; even a publican’s modesty in standing afar off, and his contrition in smiting on his breast, are set down to his disparagement. Then the Pharisee can congratulate himself on fasting twice a week, and on giving tithes of all he possesses. But he was not a bit the better for all tiffs so-called prayer, this bit of blatant self-praise. On the other hand, the publican, though he remained afar off and hardly ventured to look up, but smote on his breast and cried, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” went down to his house a happier and better man. For the important point is not their consciousness, but God’s attitude towards their respective spirits. To the one spirit God responds by justification and a sense of acceptance. The other is sent empty away. Hence the principles Jesus deduces are twofold.
1. Self-exaltation always precedes abasement. The proud will sooner or later get his fall. The Pharisaic spirit is always humiliated in the end. The man who is filled with self-satisfaction is only demonstrating his own self-ignorance and distance from God and his great ideal.
2. Self-abasement always leads to exaltation. It is when we feel “as a beast” before God, like Asaph in the seventy-third psalm, that we are on the way to spiritual rapture. For God has provided for the abased sinner the pardon he needs, and, besides the pardon, sanctification and everlasting progress. Let us, then, pray in the penitential key continually, and let us pray determined not to be deified; and heights of spiritual exaltation and rapture will be seen rising from our very feet, and inviting us to sit down on them with Jesus.R.M.E.
Luk 18:15-30
The children of the kingdom.
During the progress of the King towards Jerusalem, his personal influence and benediction were greatly valued. It would seem that mothers brought their children to him to be blessed, and ended by producing the very little ones. The disciples thought the line should be drawn somewhere, and so ventured to forbid the anxious mothers, only, however, to receive the significant rebuke from him, “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” We are thus introduced to the important principle that
I. CHILDLIKENESS IS THE QUALIFICATION FOR GOD‘S KINGDOM. (Luk 18:15-17.) Now, that is only another way of stating that God’s government is paternal, and that his subjects are sons. It is, in fact, “a mighty family” of which he is himself the Head. It is when we recognize in him our Father, and are prepared to accept as little children all he sends, and to do all he commands, that we truly belong to his kingdom. Hence the two characteristics specially brought out are
(1) trust, and
(2) obedience.
It is thus we are to test ourselves. Do we trust God our Father as little children trust their fathers according to the flesh? and do we obey our heavenly Father as little ones obey their earthly parents? Then are we in the kingdom.
II. CHRIST EXPECTS THE RICHEST RULER TO TRUST AND TO OBEY HIM LIKE A LITTLE CHILD. (Luk 18:18-27.) We have here an interesting case of anxiety, and how Christ dealt with it. And here we have to notice that:
1. Neither his wealth nor his position satisfied the young ruler. Something more was needed. The heart cannot content itself with either rank or gold. Hence his anxiety to lay hold on eternal life, which he felt was something more than he had yet obtained.
2. He fancied he could entitle himself to it by a stroke of public service. Hence his inquiry, “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” His notion was that he could claim it as a right, if he could only tirol out the additional duty he felt able to discharge.
3. Jesus destroys with a single stroke his overestimate of human nature. The flattery of human nature coincides with self-esteem. The young ruler believed in his own goodness and capabilities, and he complimented Jesus as “good Master,” because he believed in the existence of any number of good menhimself, of course, included. Now, Jesus will not accept a false compliment. Human nature is not good; and it is not as a mere man that he is going to receive such flattery. Hence he tells the ruler that there is no mere man good; that God alone is good. There is here no repudiation of goodness as belonging to himself, but simply a repudiation of goodness as an attribute of unaided humanity.
4. Jesus insists on examination of past conduct in the light of the Divine Law. He asks the young ruler if he has kept the second table of the Decalogue, and been dutiful to his fellow-men. Looked at from without, the self-sufficient mind imagines it is a simple thing to keep the Law. But when for “law” we substitute “love,” the self-examination does not so assure us. Meanwhile the young ruler is strong in the belief that he has kept the whole Law.
5. Jesus now demands, as a test of his trust in him, the surrender of his riches to the poor, and the subsequent following of him. The demand was for faith. When we consider that Jesus was apparently but a poor artisan, then, unless the young ruler would absolutely and implicitly trust him, he would never think of obeying his demand. The result proved that he was not yet ready to trust Jesus. He trusted his money more! Hence his sorrow as he leaves the Lord. And herein lies the money-danger. It bids for the trust of the soul. Moneyed men find it hard to trust any one more than money. They think it only natural that they should feel independent. But if money leads men away from Jesus, it is a curse, and not a blessing. When tempted to be covetous, let us remember that money has its special dangers, and makes it harder and even impossible for some to enter into God’s kingdom.
6. Jesus, while stating the difficulty which rich men find in entering God‘s kingdom, shows that God manifests his great power in saving some of them. Money is such a barrier that we might well despair of the salvation of any rich men. Poor men have a chance. They have so little that they dare not trust in it, but in God only. But the rich man is tempted to trust in the uncertain riches, and leave God out of the account. But for this very reason God magnifies his grace in saving some rich menin saving some in spite of all their temptation to trust in their abundance. A rich yet real believer is a splendid illustration of the grace of God. He sees through his riches and forbids them to come between his soul and his Saviour.
III. CHRIST INDICATES THE RECOMPENSE AWAITING ALL THOSE WHO HAVE SACRIFICED. THEIR ALL FOR HIM. (Luk 18:28-30.) Peter, as spokesman for the others, asks Christ what they shall have, seeing they have sacrificed their worldly positions to follow him. They thought that they should have some recompense. Nor were they mistaken; for Christ shows that they shall have:
1. A recompense in kind in this world. Often when a home is left for the sake of Jesus, a happier home is found in the midst of the Lord’s work. When rich prospects are renounced for the Saviour’s sake, unexpected recompense comes round in the shape of riches. When relatives are resigned that Christ’s cause may be promoted, new relations spring up around the devoted soul and bring compensation. And the spirit of loving appreciation which appropriates all things makes ample amends for all our self-denial for our Saviour (1Co 3:21-23).
2. A recompense in the world to come in the shape of eternal life. So that self-denial, self-renunciation, becomes the path to the life eternal. The opportunity of living in God and for God awaits all sincere souls in the other life, and satisfies them. Let us consequently rejoice in hope of the glory, and have grace to fear no evil.R.M.E.
Luk 18:31-43
Blindness, mental and physical.
Having spoken to the disciples about recompense, he balances his consolation by giving them fair warning of his own approaching humiliation and death. But they were so infatuated about the honours that they were totally blind to the humiliation. Christ’s words were no better than idle tales to them. It suggests
I. THE ONE–SIDED WAY IN WHICH PEOPLE MAY READ THE BIBLE. (Luk 18:31.) What was about to happen to Jesus was prophesied ages before. The Old Testament presented a suffering as well as an exalted Messiah. But the Jews totally overlooked the humiliating aspect. And in the very same way people go still to God’s Word, and find there only what they want to find. It needs great trials oftentimes to expound some passages of the Divine Word to us. We are partial students; we do not enter into the wide meaning of the Word as God would have us!
II. GREAT TRIALS ARE NEEDED TO OPEN OUR EYES TO THE OVERLOOKED REALITIES. (Luk 18:32-34.) It is plain that they did not take in Christ’s meaning until he was actually taken from them and crucified. In the terrible suffering which seemed to extinguish all their fond hopes, the overwhelmed men got the spiritual vision, and were enabled to see a suffering as well as an exalted Messiah revealed in the Divine Word. And do we not often, when crushed and broken by trial, come to appropriate passages of God’s Word which formerly were blank to us? We ought to bless God for the opened eye, even though the process of opening it be painful.
III. THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST MADE AMENDS FOR ALL THE PREVIOUS SUFFERING. (Luk 18:33.) For resurrection was exaltation; it was glory which could only be reached through the tomb. No possibility was there of Jesus being raised if he had never died. It is an experience cheaply purchased, perhaps, through death and the grave.
IV. LET US CONTRAST WITH THIS THE CURE OF BLIND BARTIMAEUS. (Luk 18:35-43.) From blind disciplesmentally blindLuke proceeds to speak of the blind beggar and his physical cure. Jesus was proceeding to Jerusalem to enter it as King. It was a royal progress. Here was one of the splendid accompaniments of it.
1. The condition of the poor blind beggar. He was blind, and, as he could not keep himself by work, he had to beg. He was thus perfectly helpless and dependent. And he knew his deficiencies. There was no unconsciousness of them or indifference to them.
2. The knowledge he possessed of Jesus. He had heard of Christ’s miracles, how he had cured several blind men previously. He knew he was the Son of David, and regarded him as true Messiah. Hence his knowledge of Christ was sufficient to lead him to throw himself upon his mercy as soon as he had the chance.
3. The visit of Jesus to his neighbourhood. Jesus was passing on, and the crowd surged mightily around him. The noise fell upon the blind man’s acute ear, and led him to ask what it all meant. Then, as soon as he learned that Jesus was passing by, he began to cry, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!” Noble example! Should not all who feel their need of mercy cry as Bartimaeus did?
4. Discouragement only intensifies Ms eagerness for blessing. The crowd rebuked him, but Bartimaeus persevered. The more discouragement, the more importunity. So let it be with us in our seasons of discouragement.
5. The call of Jesus. The importunate one is summoned to the Saviour’s presence. Those who once discouraged him now urge him forward.
6. The inquiry of Jesus. Bartimaeus is asked what mercy he desires; and his whole soul goes forth in the words, “Lord, that I may receive my sight!” It is surely well when we clearly know our need and desire its supply.
7. The cure conferred and its consequences. Bartimaeus is thrown upon his faith; according to this is his cure. But his faith was strong enough for the occasion, He consequently sees plainly, and his fresh sight is used to guide him after Jesus. So is it with us if we receive from Jesus our spiritual healing. Then we see the Saviour plainly, and we learn and are proud to follow him. The people, too, in seeing us follow Christ, will learn to glorify the God of grace who has enabled us to do so.R.M.E.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Luk 18:1. And he spake a parable, &c. But, [, ] he taught them by a parable, that men ought to persevere in prayer, and not to be discouraged. Heylin. The particle. , but, plainly implies, that this parable has a relation to the discourse in the preceding chapter, and was delivered at the same time. The evangelist says it was designed to shew, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; that is, ought frequently to pray; for so the word signifies, Joh 18:20. The figure is carried still higher in the epithet given to the morning and evening sacrifices; which, because of their frequency, are called, a continual burnt-offering: and, in allusion to this, men are directed to pray without ceasing, 1Th 5:17. See on Luk 2:37. It is plain, therefore, that the parable was spoken to recommend continual praying, not in the strict sense of the words, but frequency, earnestness, and perseverance in the duty, not only for blessings on ourselves, but also for blessings on the church of God militant on earth; and being delivered on this occasion, it is designed to inspire the disciples with earnestness and perseverance in their prayers, particularly for the coming of the Son of man, to put an end to the Jewish polity, notwithstanding God should long defer the accomplishment of their desires. The comingof Christ to destroy the Jewish polity, is in this and other passages of scripture, spoken of as a thing exceedingly to be wished for by the disciples in those days; the reason was, the Jews in every country, being their bitter persecutors, were the chief opposers of the Christian religion. Our Lord often in the course of his ministry recommended frequency, earnestness, and perseverance in prayer; not because the Divine Being is tired out by our importunity, but because it is both an expression and exerciseof our firm belief and confidence in his goodness, without which it would not be fit for God to bestow his blessings upon us, nor should we be capable of receiving and using them. See Mat 7:11. Luk 11:8. The word , rendered to faint, is expressive, and signifies, “to faint under pressures and persecutions,to yield to evils, and despond under them,to be so wholly wearied out with them, as to give place to them,and to cease from prayer as unavailing to procure relief.” See Eph 3:13. 2Th 3:13. Heb 12:3.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 18:1 . What Jesus has hitherto said of His Parousia was of such weighty and everlastingly decisive concern for His disciples, that it was calculated to stimulate them to unremitting prayer, that they might become partakers of the which the Parousia was to bring to them (Luk 18:7 ). Hence (without the omission of any intervening dialogue, Schleiermacher, Olshausen) now follows the parable of the widow and the unjust judge, peculiar to Luke, and its application (Luk 18:1-8 ). This parable is no addition inserted without a motive (Kstlin, Holtzmann), nor is it taken from the Logia ; but it comes from the source of the account of the journey. Weizscker alleges that it must have been a later growth, annexed by Luke to his source of the narrative of the journey; that the judge is the heathen magistracy; the widow, the church bereaved after the departure of Christ; her adversary, the hostile Judaism. Here also (comp. on Luk 15:11 , Luk 16:1 ; Luk 16:19 ) is a transferring of later relations to an early period without sufficient reason.
] in reference to .
] It is not the continual disposition of prayer (“as the breath of the inner man,” Olshausen) that is meant, but the constant actual prayer, in respect of which, however, is not to be pressed, but to be taken in a popularly hyperbolical sense. Comp. Luk 18:7 ; 1Th 1:10 .
] to become discouraged , not: in their vocation (Schleiermacher), but, according to the context: in their prayers . As to the form ., for which Lachm. has . (and Tischendorf: .), which, although here preponderatingly attested, is to be regarded as an improvement, see on 2Co 4:1 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3. The Judge and the Widow (Luk 18:1-8)
1And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men [they1] ought always topray, and not to faint [become discouraged]; 2Saying, There was in a [certain] city a3[certain] judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widowin that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God,nor regard man; 5Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her6continual coming [coming forever, ] she weary [stun, or, distract] me. Andthe Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7And shall not God avenge his ownelect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he [indeed, ] find faith on the earth?
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Luk 18:1. And He spake.Although it is possible that between this and the immediately preceding discourse of the Saviour some intervening discourses were delivered (Olshausen, Schleiermacher), yet this hypothesis is not indispensably necessary, as the connection of the parable of the Unjust Judge with the foregoing discourse about the Parusia, strikes the eye at once. The Saviour had already long before announced that heavy times were coming, in which conflicts and oppression would by no means be wanting to His people; what could He now do better than to admonish them to persevering prayer, that, at last, the long-sighed-for , Luk 18:7, might become their happy lot? The parable, according to this, is principally addressed to His disciples (, comp. Luk 17:22), and the not becoming discouraged against which a warning is here given with so much earnestness, is not the neglect of the Christian vocation generally, but especially of prayer, as sufficiently appears from the example of the Widow.
Luk 18:2. A certain judge.According to Deu 16:18, Israel must have in all the gates of the city judges, who in cases that occurred had to deliver sentence, and were under obligation to administer justice, without respect of persons. See Exo 23:6-9; Lev 19:15. In the days of our Lord, also, such municipal tribunals existed, Mat 5:21-22; and it is not impossible that the narrative before us was taken from life. The character of the judge here delineated is of such a kind that he allows himself, with perfect recklessness, to be controlled by the most shameless selfishness. Of the two impulses which often restrain men from evilthe fear of God and respect to menneither one is able to move him to strict righteousness. He is destitute of the character of genuine Old Testament piety, . , as well as of respect for the judgment of others. Thus does he stand even below the ungodly, who, at least, still have the latter, and what is the worst, he is not even ashamed of this his reckless temper in his soliloquizing.
Luk 18:3. Avenge me.The widow desires not only that he will at last make an end of her tedious suit (Schleiermacher), but that he will deliver her forever from the hand of a mighty adversary, who is obstinately persecuting the helpless woman. Although now every soul that finds itself in similar distress may, in a certain sense, be compared to such a woman, yet the connection of the discourse gives us occasion to find here in particular an intimation of the Church of the Lord, which before His is in apparent defencelessness exposed to the obstinately assailing might of the world and sin, while it a thousand times appears as if she called on God entirely in vain for deliverance and victory.
Luk 18:4. A while, , aliquamdiu, Erasmus. Indefinite indication of the comparatively long time during which all entreaty might appear in vain.In the days of the great tribulations, Mat 24:21-22. They must be spent in prayer, these days, but reach an end as surely as the widows time of trial The justice which the Unjust Judge executes by constraint, the Righteous One bestows at its due time willingly.
Luk 18:5. Yet because.Comp. Luk 11:8. The judge gives ear to the widow, because her endless complaining becomes unendurable to him. How greatly the beauty of the parable is heightened by the fact that he communicates his resolution in the form of a soliloquy, strikes the eye at once. The tragical fortune of the widow is related in dramatic form. , not tandem but incessantly, LXX = ,, properly to beat one black and blue under the eyes, but then also proverbial for the designation of any possible torment, comp. 1Co 9:27. According to Meyer, the judge is to be understood as having really become afraid, or at least having scoffingly presented the case to himself that the woman might become desperate, and undertake to make an attack upon him and strike him in the face. Possible, undoubtedly; but surely this was no feature that would have suited well to the image of a defenceless and supplicating widow, since she in this way would have been transformed into a fury. As to the rest, it appears from the whole monologue that it is only selfishness that determines the judge now to yield, as it had before impelled him to unrighteousness. The Vulgate, Ne sugillet me. Luthers marginal gloss: That she may not plague and torture me, as they say of impetuous and wanton people: How much the man plagues me. Well expressed is the proverbial character of the style of speaking in the Dutch translation: Opdat zy niet kome en my het hoofd breke. [That she may not come and break my head for me.]
Luk 18:6. Hear what.In surprising wise the Saviour holds the man of power to the word which He has Himself put in his mouth. Here, also, rising from the humanly imperfect to the Divinely perfect as before, Luk 11:5; Luk 16:8 : in which, of course, we have to take careful note of the tertium comparationis. The force of the antithesis in the question: and shall not God, &c, may be better felt than rendered in a paraphrase. As to the rest, here also the Elect are not conceived so much as individuals, but rather as a collective body, although, of course, what is here said is applicable also to every individual in his measure.
Luk 18:7. Though He bear long with them, .In the reading preferred by us it is not necessary to take in the sense of , quamvis, comp. Act 7:5; Heb 3:9, and elsewhere. With it is not the idea of forbearance in general, but delaying of help that is to be adhered to, and the second half of the question, Luk 18:7, is, with Meyer, therefore, to be paraphrased: and is it His way in reference to them to delay His help? It appears from this that the first member of the question requires an affirmative, the second, on the other hand, a negative, answer; and that the here-designated stands directly in contrast with the . which, Luk 18:8, is promised in the most certain manner. designates the as objects of a delay, in respect to which, according to the Saviours word, it cannot be thought that it should endure endlessly. He gives here, therefore, not the assurance that God is forbearing towards His own, which here would not be at all in place, nor yet that He for their sake postpones the punishment of His enemies, which is Indeed taught in other places, but not here; but He denies that God can to the last withhold a help which His elect so ardently entreat from Him.
Luk 18:8. I tell you.The fixed assurance of the opposite of the negative . . God is so far from being more inexorable than the Unjust Judge, that, on the contrary, He will hasten, after shorter or longer delay, to assure the victory to the cause of right. The runs here parallel with the Parusia of our Lord, at which His enemies are most deeply humbled. While this was in the last chapter represented as the terror of the careless, it is here described as the deliverance of the oppressed, and as the hearing of the prayers which have day and night ascended from the hearts of the elect towards heaven.
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh.After the Saviour has assured His own that God will in no case leave their complaints unheard, He emphatically proposes to them the question, whether they would indeed exhibit so much patience and perseverance in prayer as the Widow had displayed, and shows thereby that He, at least in relation to some of them, doubts thereof. There is not the least ground to understand here any other than the last coming of the Son of Man, which, it is true, presupposes an uninterrupted, continually ascending climax of revelations of His glory. The Saviour transports Himself in spirit to the time of the , which shall be preceded by the last conflict and the deepest tribulation of His church, and which His disciples on earth are to endure in faith, prayer, patient waiting. Will their faith, even after the long time of trial, be yet great and persevering enough to be able to reckon on such a deliverance as this widow obtained? contains a certain intimation of doubt, which must stimulate His own so much the more strongly to remain, along with their praying, watchful also. designates, not saving faith in general, which recognizes Jesus as the Messiah (Meyer), nor yet the faithfulness of the disciples, which elsewhere, Luk 12:35-48, is demanded of them (De Wette); but faith in God as a Righteous Judge, which alone enables to so persevering prayer, and which in His disciples is most intimately connected with personal faith on the Saviour, comp. Joh 14:1. Plainly our Lord presupposes that this faith will have to sustain a severe conflict, on account of the delay of the hearing of prayer and the delay of the Parusia. There is, however, no need whatever on this account to assume (De Wette), that the present redaction of this parable belongs to a later period, comp. 2Pe 3:3. In other places also it gleams, not obscurely, through the words of the Saviour, that the will not come so quickly as some suppose, comp. Mat 25:5; Mat 25:19.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. In the doctrine of Christian prayer, the parable of the Unjust Judge, preserved to us by Luke alone, may with right be named a locus classicus. In parabolic form the promise is here repeated which in John, Luke 14-16, is given without a parable. It is, however, to be observed, in addition, that to pray ever is not exactly to pray without ceasing, of which there is mention, 1Th 5:17. By the latter, the uninterrupted living and breathing of the soul in communion with God is designated; here, on the other hand, the unwearied praying and calling for the same thing is meant, as to which one has attained the persuasion that it coincides with Gods will. Paul speaks of the prevailing frame of mind of the believer; the Saviour, on the other hand, of the conflict of prayer of the distressed and suffering disciple.
2. In a striking way is the relation of the Church militant to the hostile world placed before our eyes in the image of the Widow.Here we see the Church, which in her nature and her destiny is the bride of Christ, and waits for His festal appearance, in the form of a widow. Matters have the look as if her betrothed Spouse were dead at a distance. Meanwhile, she lives in a city, where she is continually oppressed by a grievous adversary, the Prince of this world. But since she continually calls on God for help, it may, in a weak hour, appear to her as if He had become the Unjust Judge over heras if He were dealing entirely without Divine righteousness, and without love to man. But she perseveres in prayer for His redeeming coming. And although this is long delayed, because God has a celestially broad mind and view, and accordingly trains His children for Himself to the great spiritual life of eternity, yet it comes at last with surprising quickness. Lange. Only we must guard ourselves against the inclination to find here a definite period in the history of the church militant, as, for instance, Vitringa does, who interpreted this parable of the relation of the Roman Emperors to the Christian church, through whom the church was first oppressed, but afterwards protected. The image has, in a greater or less measure, found its fulfilment in all ages, and will in particular be realized in the yet impending grievous times of which Paul speaks, 2Ti 3:1, and elsewhere.
3. This parable deserves so well its place in the Pauline Gospel of Luke for the reason also that the disciples of the Saviour are here very especially represented as . As such they are, entirely without their own merits, the objects of the gracious complacency of God, and may even regard their cause as His. Persevering prayer is at once the sign and the pulse of their spiritual life, and all their prayers meet in the , which the Spirit and the Bride unceasingly repeat, locking towards the heavenly Bride-groom. Rev 22:17.
4. Before one extols excessively the righteousness and the love of the natural man, it is well worth the, trouble for once carefully to distinguish how much of it, as with the Unjust Judge, is begotten of necessity arid selfishness. This is precisely the character of that external good which man accomplishes outside of union with God; namely, that it is entirely accidental, springs from capricenot from a fixed principleand remains a fruit of carnal calculation, but not of spontaneous obedience.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The coming of the Saviour must not only be awaited with watching, but also with praying.Christian perseverance in prayer: 1. A holy; 2. a difficult; 3. a blessed duty.Injustice here below is not seldom practised under the form of law, and by those who should administer justice.The image of the church militant: 1. The Widow, Isa 54:1-2; Isaiah 2. the Adversary, 1Pe 5:8; 1 Peter 3. the Judge, Psa 43:1.God, a Husband of widows and a Judge of orphans.From His elect God cannot possibly withhold what an unjust judge grants a complaining widow.God delays long, but only to make haste at last.All the prayers of the church militant converge at last in longing for the coming of the Lord.The Lord comes: 1. In order to humble His enemies; 2. in order to redeem His friends; 3. in order on both to reveal His glory.How small comparatively will the number of those be whose faith and prayer endures to the end.The Son of Man will, at His coming, find not only careless enemies, but also faint-hearted disciples.The long postponed deliverance comes certainly, and at last often unexpectedly besides.The persevering prayer of faith: 1. A widely comprehensive duty of faith; 2. an indispensable support of faith, Luk 18:2; Luke 3. a painful conflict of faith, Luk 18:4 a.; 4 a triumphant might of faith, Luk 18:4 b.; 5 a rare fruit of faith, Luk 18:8.
Starke: Quesnel:Prayer is a property of the poor, and sighing the salvation of the wretched.Canstein:Power in the world often misleads men, so that they concern themselves neither about God nor man.Where there is no fear of God, there is also no true respect nor regard for man.Rulers should, according to Gods commandment, take especial care of widows and orphans, Isa 1:17; Jer 7:6.Complaints are torments, even in the most righteous cause.God brings to pass justice and righteousness when it pleases Him, even through an unrighteous judge.Canstein:One can draw profit even from the worst examples.Hedinger:Beware of impatience: God does not what we prescribe to Him, but what He finds good for us, 1Jn 5:14.Zeisius:When often before believers eyes all appears to be lost, help is often nearest at hand, Psa 12:6.Heubner:The question whether prayer is a duty, is as sensible as that whether it is a duty to breathe.Continuous prayer to God the best help of widows.The prayer of the elect must at last be heard, for the redemption of the saints is Gods eternal will.Without faith in Gods fathers heart, prayer is grimace.Faith is the main thing on which all depends.Lisco:Motives for the citizens of the kingdom to persevering in prayer.Zimmermann:Persevere in prayer; to that should impel us: 1. The consciousness of our dependence on God; 2. the greatness of our need; 3. the so oft delaying help; 4. the certainty of a final answer.Gerok:The course of Christians through the school of prayer: 1. The need which brings before Gods door; 2. the faith that knocks at Gods door; 3. the patience that waits before Gods door; 4. the experience that goes in at Gods door.F. Arndt:Why should we persevere in prayer? 1. Grounds in us; 2. grounds in God.
Footnotes:
[1]Luk 18:1.. See Lachmann and Tischendorf, ad locum.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 1556
THE DUTY OF PERSEVERING IN PRAYER
Luk 18:1. Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
THE efficacy of prayer is continually exhibited in the sacred writings, and every incitement to it is afforded us: nevertheless we are prone to faint in the performance of it. To encourage our perseverance in it our Lord delivered a parable. Waving all notice of the parable itself, we shall consider,
I.
Our duty
To be always in the act of prayer would interfere with other duties: that which is here inculcated, implies that we pray,
Statedly
[Regular seasons for prayer should be fixed. Except in cases of absolute necessity [Note: Mat 9:13.] they should be adhered to. We should constantly acknowledge God in the public assembly [Note: Heb 10:25.]. We should maintain his worship also in our families [Note: Abraham and Joshua were noted for their attention to family religion, Gen 18:19. Jos 24:15 : and our Lords example is worthy of imitation; he not only expounded his parables to his disciples in private, but prayed with them. See Luk 9:18. which means, he was at a distance from the multitude, and praying with his disciples.]; nor should we on any account omit it in our closets [Note: How frequent the stated seasons shall be, must be left to our own discretion; Davids example is good, Psa 55:17. But as the morning and evening sacrifices were called the continual burnt-offering, so they may be said to pray always, who pray at those returning seasons.].]
Occasionally
[There are many particular occasions which require us to pray: in prosperity, that God may counteract its evil tendency [Note: Our liturgy teaches us to pray, in all time of our wealth. See Pro 30:9.]: in adversity, that we may be supported under it [Note: Jam 5:13.]: in times of public distress or danger, to avert the calamity [Note: 2Ch 7:14.].]
Habitually
[We should maintain a spiritual frame of mind. We may have a disposition for prayer in the midst of business; nor will secret ejaculations prevail less than solemn devotions [Note: Compare 2Sa 15:31. with 2Sa 17:14; 2Sa 17:23. See also Neh 2:4; Neh 2:6.].]
To pray thus is our duty; We ought, &c.
It is a duty we owe to God
[He, our Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer, has commanded it; nor can any thing absolve us from our obligation to obey.]
We owe it also to our neighbour
[The edification of Christs mystical body depends, not only on the union of every part with the head, but on the whole being fitly framed together, and on every joint supplying its proper nourishment [Note: Eph 4:16. Col 2:19.]. But if we be remiss in prayer, we shall be incapable of administering that benefit, which other members have a right to expect from us [Note: Samuel had a deep conviction of this truth; 1Sa 12:23.].]
We owe it to ourselves
[A spirit of supplication is as necessary to the soul, as food to the body; nor can we feel any regard for our souls, if we do not cultivate it.]
It is, however, by no means easy to fulfil this duty
II.
The difficulties that attend it
When we set ourselves to the performance of it, we shall find difficulties
Before we begin to pray
[ Worldly business may occupy, or worldly amusements dissipate, our thoughts. Family cares may distract our minds, and family disagreements indispose us for this holy employment [Note: 1Pe 3:7.]. Lassitude of body may unfit us for the necessary exertions. We may be disabled by an invincible hardness of heart. A want of utterance may also operate as a heavy discouragement. By these means many are tempted to defer their religious exercises: but to yield to the temptation is to increase the difficulty.]
While we are engaged in prayer
[The world is never more troublesome than at such seasons. Something seen or heard, lost or gained, done or to be done, will generally obtrude itself upon us when we are at the throne of grace. The flesh also, with its vilest imaginations, will solicit our attention; nor will Satan be backward to interrupt our devotions [Note: He has various devices whereby he strives to accomplish his purpose. He will suggest it is needless to pray: or, it is presumption for so great a sinner to ask any thing of God: or, it is hypocrisy to ask, when the heart is so little engaged. Sometimes he will inject into the Christians mind the most blasphemous and horrid thoughts; and at other times tempt him to admire his own fluency and enlargement in prayer. Such are the fiery darts with which he often assails the soul, Eph 6:16.].]
After we have concluded prayer
[When we have prayed, we should expect an answer. But worldliness may again induce a forgetfulness of God; and a habit of worldly conversation drive every serious thought from our minds. Impatience to receive the desired blessings may deject us. Ignorance of the method in which God answers prayer may cause us to disquiet ourselves with many ungrounded apprehensions. Unbelief may rob us of the benefits we might have received [Note: Jam 1:6-7.]. Whatever obstructs Gods answers to prayer, disqualifies us for the future discharge of that duty.]
Application
[Let us not expect victory without many conflicts. Let us remember the effect of perseverance in the case of Moses [Note: Exo 17:11-13.]. Above all, let us attend to the parable spoken for this end [Note: Luk 18:2-8.]. So shall we be kept from fainting under our discouragements, and God will fulfil to us his own promise [Note: Gal 6:9.] ]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
CONTENTS
This Chapter contains the Relation of the Importunate Widow, The Parable of the Pharisee and Publican. Children brought to Christ. Our Lord’s Discourses; and the History of the Blind Man, near Jericho.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
(1) And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; (2) Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: (3) And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
The scope of this beautiful parable is not to insist upon the necessity of prayer; for the Lord’s people are supposed to be a praying people. Psa 27:8 . No sooner doth grace at regeneration enter the heart, than the new-born soul breathes in prayer. Behold, he prayeth! is the first account the Lord himself gives at the conversion of Paul. Act 9:11 . But it is the perseverance in prayer, the holy vehemency and importunity of a soul in prayer, which, like Jacob, will not leave the mercy-seat without a blessing. Gen 32:26 . This is the great point, which the Lord Jesus so graciously teaches his redeemed and exercised ones, by the design of this parable. He who best knows how matters go on at the court of heaven, here instructs all his people how to hold on, and hold out, upon earth, until the needed mercy is obtained. In due time we shall reap if we faint not. Gal 6:9 . Reader! do not overlook this great design of the parable. Neither forget who it is that designed it. He who is the Almighty Advocate at the throne, in whose hands all petitions are lodged, and from whose prevalency in his priestly office, blood-shedding and righteousness, all success must be obtained. It is Jesus, all-precious Jesus, that thus recommends; and, in that recommendation, gives grace to perform. This God-man directs his people to carry all their sorrows, exercises, trials, temptations, fears, and unbelief to him, at his pardon-office, and there wait. And he gives an instance, by the similitude of a parable, how sure they are to succeed.
The Lord first gives the outlines of character in an unjust judge. The portrait Jesus draws of him, is but in two features; but the Lord hath so strongly marked them, that they convey the whole countenance, both of head and heart. He feared not God, neither regarded man. What an awful character in himself! and how unsuited for the office of a magistrate! It is true indeed, that every man by nature, and while remaining in a state of unregeneracy, hath not the fear of God before his eyes; but here is a monster of iniquity that sets God at defiance. Not content with living regardless of God, he prided himself in the contempt of God. He was arrived at that consummate degree of impudence as to boast of it; for he scrupled not to give his
own character, in openly declaring, that he feared not God, nor regarded man. To this infamous man a poor defenceless widow was compelled to bring her cause. What hope could there be that one who made no conscience of his ways would listen to her petition? Can any that have thrown off the fear of God be well disposed towards man?
The parable goes on: And there was a widow in that city (saith Jesus), and she came to him, saying, Avenge me of mine Adversary. Reader! do attend to the several features of character in which Jesus hath drawn her picture; and if, with an eye to the Church; in the case of every individual of Christ’s mystical body, you consider the subject (for very evidently it was in this light Jesus intended it), the matter will become more striking. It is Christ’s poor, despised, oppressed followers, the Lord meant by this widow. Not indeed that, in the strictest sense of the word, the Church is a widow, for Christ, her husband, is not dead, for he ever liveth. But the Church is called a widow. Lam 1:1 . And while Christ is absent from her, she is considered as one in a widowed state. Joh 14:18 . It is said that Jesus will come and bring home his wife to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Revelations 19:9. Hence, therefore, during the present day of grace, the Church may be considered as in the city of an unjust judge; and surrounded with many adversaries, both from within and without; and continually longing to be delivered from their power. It is the case of all the Lord’s tried ones.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Luk 18:1
That saying with others did encourage one to prayer. Then the Tempter again laid at me very sore, suggesting That neither the Mercy of God, nor yet the Blood of Christ did at all concern me, nor could they help me for my sin; therefore it was but vain to pray. Yet, thought I, I will pray. But, said the Tempter, your sin is unpardonable. Well, said I, I will pray. It is to no boot, said he. Yet, said I, I will pray. … So I went to prayer to God…. And as I was thus before the Lord, that Scripture fastened on my heart, O man great is thy faith, even as if one had clapped me on the back, as I was on my knees before God.
Bunyan, Grace Abounding, sees. 200, 201.
References. XVIII. 1. J. Learmount, British Congregationalist, 25th July, 1907, p. 82. S. Bentley, Sermons on Prayer, p. 14. J. J. Blunt, Plain Sermons (2nd Series), p. 195. F. B. Cowl, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. xviii. p. 141. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xliii. No. 2519. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in a Religious House, vol. i. p. 293. XVIII. 1-5. H. S. Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. p. 161. XVIII. 1-8. F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. iii. p. 179. J. A. Alexander, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 381. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv. No. 856. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iii. p. 306. XVIII. 1, 9. Expositor (6th Series), vol. viii. p. 117. XVIII. 1-14. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 131. XVIII. 3. H. Bonar, Short Sermons for Family Reading, pp. 376 and 385.
The Doctrine of Delays
Luk 18:4
The Divine delay meets us everywhere and in every sphere; there is scarce one heart but has been torn and tried by it. Now in this matter of delay it seems to me that not a few of God’s people are still children. They think that God has some quarrel with them personally. They forget that the problem is as old as time. Delay tends to become more marked the higher you rise in the Creator’s purposes. The greater and richer the blessing that we pray for, the more must we reckon on the delays of God.
I. We should not forget what I might call the moral training of delay. Did we get everything we craved for in the very hour of asking it, I think it would be a long farewell to manhood. Work reveals character, but so does waiting. Waiting shows the baby or the man. We need to be tested to prove if we be worthy just to receive and use the thing we crave. So it often is that God delays, and will not answer us, and keeps us waiting. It is not in scorn, but in the wisest love that He will not for a while.
II. Then it is very helpful to remember that Divine delay does not mean inactivity. There have been men of genius who could only work irregularly; for long periods they seemed to do nothing at all. Then suddenly, and as if by inspiration, their powers took fire and they wrought at a white heat. You may be sure of it that the periods in between were not so idle as the world considered them. By thought, by reading, by communion with glad nature, half-un-consciously they were preparing for their work. As it is with men of genius, so with God, only in loftier and nobler ways. His delays are not the delays of inactivity. They are the delays of preparation. It takes a million of years to harden the ruby, says the poet, yet through all the years the hardening goes on. It takes a century for the sea to wear away one cliff, yet every night when we sleep the breakers dash on it. So when we pray and strive and nothing happens, till we are tempted to say, ‘God does not know, God does not care,’ who can tell but that, behind the veil, infinite love may be toiling like the sea to give us in the full time our heart’s desire. Do not lose heart at the delays of God.
G. H. Morrison, The Unlighted Lustre, p. 158.
References. XVIII. 6. T. G. McCormick, Church Family Newspaper, vol. xvi. p. 10. XVIII. 6, 7. J. H. Jeilett, The Elder Son, p. 68.
Luk 18:7
How long, O Lord! Not forever; no. All anarchy, all evil, injustice, is by the nature of it, dragon’s teeth; suicidal, and cannot endure.’
Carlyle.
Reference. XVIII. 7. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlviii. No. 2836.
Faith
Luk 18:8
It is obvious that if He does not find faith He will find nothing. Nothing is more striking about our Lord Jesus Christ than this, that while He preached and hoped the best, He was never afraid to face the worst. You can hardly imagine a greater contrast than the magnificent hopefulness of the declaration, ‘Shall the Lord avenge His own elect? I tell you He will avenge them speedily’ with the sadness with which, as He looked down the ages, He said, ‘Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?’ It makes us ask two questions: First, what is this faith on which everything depends, on which the success or failure of Jesus Christ’s mission depends? and secondly, would He find that faith if He came today?
I. What is faith? I suppose that on no subject in the world are there greater misconceptions than on the nature and character of faith. There are some who think, and honestly think, that faith is mere credulity. Let us face, then, this common idea, this deadly accusation. And I will have you notice that the Bible attaches the most tremendous importance to our reason. The first thing, therefore, to get rid of, if we are to see our way through this accusation against our faith, is the idea that God and religion and the Church and the Bible do not welcome the intellects of us all. Bring your reason to the faith. From long experience with doubters, I find that they often doubt, because they do not think enough, and not because they think too much. Then notice this that conversely, just as religion recognises the intellect, so science and the study of nature demand faith. The great mistake which so many of us make is to imagine that we consist solely of our analytical reason. What we have to bring to the help of our intellect is our imagination that Divine power which sees great things and grasps them. And with your imagination bring your conscience. Then notice this: that just as the great discoveries in nature, after they have been conceived by the imagination, are perpetually tested by experience, so we have the mighty witness of experience to the spiritual verieties which we believe. (1) Is faith opposed to practical work? True faith, the faith which works by love, has such an instantaneous effect upon action, that you can only compare it to the flash and report of a firearm. (2) Well, then, what does faith come out to be? If faith is the energising, active, brave, strong angel which bears up the universe, if faith is the lever which moves the world, then surely it becomes a most searching question, ‘When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?’
II. Would He find that faith if He came today? It would be possible to make out the most appalling picture that Christ could find no faith if He came today. But on the other side, there is a brighter point of view. Every man who is not ashamed of his faith where he works, every woman who bears a brave witness in her drawing-room or in her cottage, every boy who stands by his faith at school, all are helping to make it possible that when Jesus Christ comes He shall find faith on the earth.
Bishop Winnington-Ingram, Banners of the Christian Faith, p. 1.
Faith on the Earth
Luk 18:8
A question like this always carries the strongest negative. It is simply a strong and impassioned way of denying a thing which is asked ‘The Son of Man shall not find faith on the earth’. ‘Not find faith on the earth?’ What, nowhere? Shall there be no faithful ones among ‘the quick,’ that shall be waiting and looking for the Second Advent? Thank God, He always has His own. But our Saviour’s words of indignant wonder too clearly tell us that ‘faith’ will not characterise the world in the latter days.
I. The Decay of Faith. These words of our Lord are becoming every day something more than prophecy. We are probably living almost, if not quite, in their fulfilment. When Christ comes, what He will look for is ‘faith’. That inference is clear; for what a man does not find must be that for which he was searching. Therefore, when Christ returns to our world in His glory, His eye will range over it in a moment to scan and test its ‘faith’. Can we wonder at this? Let us look at facts. I believe that I am speaking the opinion of all who are the most conversant with the state of Christendom, when I state that faith is greatly on the decrease. And the result of all is an awful breadth of spiritual wilderness.
II. The Causes of the Decay. If I venture for a moment to look into the reasons of these things, perhaps I might particularise the following:
(a) Preference for the visible. It is always in the indolent and grosser nature of man to prefer the present and the visible to the future and the unseen. The heart gravitates to practical materialism as a stone gravitates to the ground. It is always a special act to make a man feel the invisible, live in the invisible. For in fact, all faith is miracle.
(b) The advance of Science. And days of great science, such as these, are always likely to be days of proportionate unbelief, because the power of the habit of finding out more and more natural causes is calculated, unless a man be a religious man, to make him rest in the cause he sees, and not to go on to that higher cause of which all the causes in this world are, after all, only effects.
(c) Familiarity with Divine Things. And familiarity, too, with Divine things, which is a particular characteristic of our age, has in itself a tendency to sap the reverence which is at the root of all faith.
(d) The selfishness of the age. But still more, the character of the age we live in is a rushing selfishness. The race for money is tremendous; men are grown intensely secular; the facilities are increased, and with them the covetousness. You are living under higher and higher pressure, and everything goes into extremes; all live fast. And the competition of business is overwhelming, and the excitement of fashion intoxicating. How can ‘faith,’ which breathes in the shade of prayer and meditation, live in such an atmosphere as this?
III. How does it Stand with our Faith. Now, if these things are so, if it be a fact that ‘faith’ is getting rarer and rarer, is not it very important to each one of us to determine how it stands with our faith? Let me just throw out one or two suggestions to you about faith.
‘Faith’ is a moral grace, and not an intellectual gift. It lives among the affections; its seat is the heart. A soft and tender conscience is the cradle of faith; and it will live and die according to the life you lead.
If you would have ‘faith,’ you must settle with yourself the authority, the supremacy, and the sufficiency of the Bible. All truth must be an uncertainty if you have no standing-ground. Therefore, establish to your own mind the Divine origin, the universal application, and the ultimate appeal of the Scriptures.
Then, when you have done that, you will be able to deal with promises. Feed upon promises.
Take care that you are a man of meditative habit There cannot be faith without daily, calm, quiet seasons of thought.
But, above all, have the eye upward. All faith, and every stage of it, is a direct answer to prayer.
Luk 18:8
Show me a Stoic, if you can. Show me a man whose life is moulded on the doctrines he professes. Show me a man who is sick and happy, in peril and happy, dying and happy, exiled and happy, in disgrace and happy. Show me such an one; for, by God, I fain would see a Stoic. You cannot? Well, show me at least one who is shaping for a Stoic. Do me this kindness. Grudge not an old man a sight he has yet failed to see. Do you think you need to show me the Zeus or the Athena of Phidias, all ivory and gold? Nay, let any of you show me but a soul of man ready to think as God thinks, refusing to blame God or man, ready not to be disappointed about anything, not to think himself an injured party, not to be angry or envious or jealous, and let me say it outright desirous of becoming Divine himself, and in this poor, mortal body thinking of his fellowship with God. Show me such a man. Nay, you cannot.
Epictetus, Diss., 2:19.
That which caused bur Saviour the keenest suffering was not so much the thought of the torment he was to endure, as the thought that these torments would be of no avail for a multitude of sinners; for all those who set themselves against their redemption, or who do not care for it.
Eugnie de Gurin.
‘I do not conceive,’ writes F. W. Robertson to a friend, ‘that this passage even touches the question whether the human race will advance or deteriorate, whether religion will be spread universally or be extinct at Christ’s coming; but another question altogether, for “faith” here means not faith generally, but faith with a special reference a reference to the redress spoken of: not to the Christian religion, but to the Christian tendency to despond when things look dark.’
References. XVIII. 8. Bishop Gore, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. p. 349. T. Arnold, Christian Life : Its Ropes, p. 15. Archbishop Magee, Sermons at Bath, p. 300. A. Whyte, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. p. 264. R. W. Hiley, A Year’s Sermons, vol. iii. p. 207. Bishop Winnington-Ingram, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. p. 88. J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons (9th Series), p. 121. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiii. No. 1963. H. Scott Holland, Church Times, 5th Feb. 1909.
The Pharisee and the Publican
Luk 18:9-10
The lessons taught by this parable are many. Its main lesson, no doubt, is the warning it conveys against spiritual pride, and the encouragement it gives to humility. But there is much beside this.
I. Consider in what the prayer of the Pharisee differed from that of the Publican.
(1) In reality it was no prayer whatever. Still, it might have been in one sense no prayer, and yet acceptable to God. For instance, it might have been an act of praise, which is the highest form of prayer (Psa 50:14 ; Sir 35:6-7 ). And, indeed, it was an act of praise, but it was an act of self-praise. It was an act of thanksgiving, but he thanked God that he was ‘not as other men are’.
(2) Where were these two men? In the Temple. For what object? To pray. In Whose presence? In God’s. They both acknowledged this in their prayer. But the one says, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are,’ and the other, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner’. The Pharisee singles out the poor Publican, and his mind fastens upon him. His mind fed upon pride, and there was his food. He seizes upon it, devours and assimilates it, and is satisfied. Yes, and ‘full’ (1 Cor. iv. 8) though he thought himself to be, he would have to go ’empty away’ (St. Luke i. 53).
(3) A sense of sin never entered this Pharisee’s mind. He did not pray to God to forgive him what he was, but he thanked God for what he was not
(4) The prayer of the Pharisee may be briefly summed up thus: He gave thanks without being grateful. He asked for no grace, and received none. He went away justified, but only in his own sight. His prayer was weighted with pride, and it fell to the earth, whence it came; or, if it went up at all, it went up as a witness against him; it was resisted of God; it drew no grace from Him.
II. Let us turn to the Publican.
It matters little what he had been. His trade, often marked by oppression and extortion, was held in abhorrence by the Jews; he had been looked upon not merely as an apostate from his religion, but also as an official in the pay of a foreign Power. Whether he was better or worse than his class matters not much. One thing we know he stood in the Temple in the character of a humble praying penitent.
The Pharisee came in righteous in his own eyes, and wise in his own conceit; and so he goes out. He passes the Publican with the same look of scorn, little dreaming of the change in him. How startled he would be if he but knew what their relative position was in the eyes of the All-seeing God. ‘This man’ i.e. the Publican says our Lord, ‘went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.’
J. B. Wilkinson, Instructions on the Parables.
The Prayer of the Scorned
Luk 18:9-14
The last was first; the farthest away was nearest God. No Scripture portraits are more to the life than those of the Pharisee and the publican. Their anonymous names have entered into our common speech, and in the market-place, as in the pulpit, when men speak of two types always appearing, they do it in the terms of this parable.
I. An enduring instinct overthrows for a time an artificial distinction. In the hunger for God men come together.
II. Where separation has least justification, there the folly of man creates it. To the entrance of the temple and no farther on one path. Where separation has least sanction in truth and experience it begins. The kind of praying that sets you farther from your neighbour can be no true approach to God.
III. The separation is accepted, but the order reversed. The foremost come out least in the sight of God, and last in those gifts God gives those who truly seek. (1) The spirit of the Pharisee offers the most effective obstacle to man’s approach to God. (2) The spirit of the Pharisee offers the most effective obstacle to God’s approach to man. (3) The root of it is a shallow thought of God. T. Yates, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. p. 76.
References. XVIII. 9. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iv. p. 446. XVIII. 9-14. F. Bourdillon, Plain Sermons for Family Beading (2nd Series), p. 138. G. T. Newton, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. viii. p. 367. Expositor (6th Series), vol. i. p. 465; ibid. vol. viii. p. 119. XVIII. 10. T. H. Ball, Persuasions, p. 292. J. C. M. Bellew, Five Occasional Sermons, p. 43. Fr. St. John Corbett, The Preacher’s Year, p. 136. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xli. No. 2395.
Luk 18:11
You have no pity; you have no sense of your own imperfections and your own sins. It is a sin to be hard: it is not fitting for a mortal for a Christian. You are nothing but a Pharisee. You thank God for nothing but your own virtues you think they are great enough to win you everything else.’
Maggie Tulliver to her brother, in The Mill on the Floss.
References. XVIII. 11. J. Keble, Sermons for Sundays after Trinity, pt. i. p. 406. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. ii. p. 91. J. J. Blunt, Plain Sermons, p. 114. H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of Christ, p. 221. XVIII. 11-13. J. Wright, The Guarded Gate, p. 41. XVIII. 12. Expositor (4th Series), vol. i. p. 348. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. vii. p. 262.
The Publican’s Prayer
Luk 18:13
The burden of this man’s cry is mercy, and deeper still he begs for propitiation, that the wrath of God excited by his sins may be appeased. Hence it is the cry of one who has begun to realise the true nature of sin. The knowledge of sin, in its full malignity and horror, is a true step in repentance. The sense of sin, we are sometimes told, is absent largely from this generation; if so, it is a serious thing, for it means the negation of all progress and the absence of all excellence.
II. The cry of the publican is the cry of the soul terrified by the sense of impending punishment. There are two especial things connected with sin which drive the sinner back on the mercy of God and make him crave for His help; the one is the powerlessness to arrest the consequences of sin, the other is the threatened loss of that to which every man passionately clings his own liberty.
W. C. E. Newbolt, Church Family Newspaper, vol. xiv. p. 620.
Luk 18:13
Prayer, said Geiler of Kaysersberg, is asking from God. He recommended as model prayers, ‘Domine propitius esto mihi peccatori’ (Luk 18:13 ), the Psalm ‘Miserere mei Deus,’ and the Pater.
Luk 18:13
Dr. Eugene Stock tells us that Bishop Daniel Wilson of Calcutta directed in his will that on a tablet to his memory in the Cathedral should be engraven the words in Greek as so much more emphatic than the English: ‘ ‘God be propitiated to me the sinner’.
References. XVIII. 13. H. Woodcock, Sermon Outlines (1st Series), p. 117. R. W. Hiley, A Year’s Sermons, vol. ii. p. 89. F. B. Cowl, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. xvii. p. 384. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv. No. 216; vol. xxxiii. No. 1949. Expositor (5th Series), vol. ix. p. 441.
The Desire for Satisfaction
Luk 18:14
If we look at the parable with open minds, it draws a contrast between self-satisfaction and self-dissatisfaction in the spiritual life, and teaches that dissatisfaction is the more excellent way.
I. There is an inevitable desire amongst men for self-satisfaction, and they desire a system of life which promises them this source of gratification. The longing to be able to say with a good conscience, ‘I have done all that was my duty to do,’ has led to many attempts to define and regulate the sphere of duty. (1) The first evil result which follows from the pursuit of self-satisfaction in the spiritual life is that it cuts a man off from half of the lessons whereby God would train his soul in holiness. It cuts him off from that large sympathy with all men, which is the special work of our great Master’s life on earth. The man who deliberately makes a division in his own mind between himself and those who hold with him on the one side, and all other men on the other side, is certainly making his own life poorer, and is losing precious opportunities. (2) But further than this, self-satisfaction is destructive to the desire for progress. This, I think, is the real head and front of the Pharisee’s offending. His religion distinctly led him to the performance of his moral duties, and made him a worthy member of civil society. But we feel that, when he had reached the point of thanking God that he was not as other men are, he had little chance of further growth. This is the danger of self-satisfaction; it is destructive of effort, and without continued effort it is difficult to keep the level already gained. We know that in science, in literature, and in art, it is fatal to rest contented, and that a Divine discontent is the next precious gift of heaven to the man of genius. Every one is bound to pursue knowledge up to the limit of his capacity and opportunity; and every one is equally bound to develop, to the best of his power, his moral and religious sense. To rest satisfied with a decent average is to prepare the way for a general decline.
II. The publican sought for no satisfaction, yet it came of itself. Peace came to him, though he sought it not. How came it, from so unpromising a beginning? The answer is, that instead of the approval of self-satisfaction, he received the joy of pardon, and with pardon a renewal of hope and strength. Now, it has been urged that the Christian teaching about forgiveness is immoral and anti-social; it weakens the sense of responsibility, and hides from a man the inevitable that a wrong done cannot be undone, a truth which is the real deterrent from vice. A great deal might be said on this point; I am only concerned to show that the desire for pardon is the result of a sense of failure, and that a sense of failure is inseparable from any worthy appreciation of the task undertaken.
Bishop Creighton, The Heritage of the Spirit, p. 89.
Luk 18:14
‘The mystic,’ says Mr. Arthur Symons, ‘knows well that it is not always the soul of the drunkard or the blasphemer which is farthest from the eternal beauty.’
References. XVIII. 14. R. W. Church, Village Sermons (3rd Series), p. 267. Bishop Bickersteth, Sermons, p. 168. C. Kingsley, The Good News of God, p. 355. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvi. No. 2687. Expositor (4th Series), vol. viii. p. 85; ibid. (5th Series), vol. vi. p. 249. XVIII. 15. T. Sadler, Sunday Thoughts, p. 27. XVIII. 15-30. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 138. XVIII. 16. R, J. Campbell, The Restored Innocence, p. 1. XVIII. 17. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv. No. 1439. J. Martineau, Endeavours after the Christian Life, p. 101.
Luk 18:18
How strange it is that such a question should be so put! How rare are the occasions on which two people approach one another so nearly! Most of us pass days, weeks, months, years, in intercourse with one another, and nothing which ever remotely concerns the soul is ever mentioned. Is it that we do not care? Mainly that, and partly because we foolishly hang back from any conversation on what it is most important we should reveal, so that others may help us. Whenever you feel any promptings to speak of the soul or to make any inquiries on its behalf, remember it is a sacred duty not to suppress them.
Mark Rutherford, in Catherine Furze.
Reference. XVIII. 18, 19. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iv. p. 382.
Luk 18:19
In our own experience it has been no uncommon thing, I suppose, when grave and difficult matters have been in question, and we have been speaking of them with the looseness and carelessness of youth carelessness, alas! of which old age does not always cure us when we have talked too fast, and were committing ourselves to more than we could make good to find ourselves checked and as it were pulled up, by those wiser and more thoughtful than ourselves, for the confusions of our language, and the ‘shortness’ and shallowness of our thoughts. It was the case here.
R. W. Church.
References. XVIII. 19. R. J. Campbell, A Faith for Today, p. 53; ibid., Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. p. 321. Expositor (4th Series), vol. vi. p. 88; ibid. (6th Series), vol. x. p. 175. XVIII. 21, 22. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. ii. p. 261. XVIII. 22. H. R. Gamble, The Ten Virgins, p. 103.
Luk 18:23
Is it a truth, that if we are great owners of money, we are so swoln by a force not native to us, as to be precipitated into acts the downright contrary of our tastes?
George Meredith.
Luk 18:29
When Wesley began his ministry at Savannah, it happened that ‘in the second lesson (Luke xviii.) was our Lord’s prediction of the treatment which he himself (and, consequently his followers) was to meet with from the world. “Verily, I say unto you, there is no man hath left house, or friends, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.” Yet, notwithstanding these declarations of our Lord notwithstanding my own repeated experience notwithstanding the experience of all the sincere followers of Christ whom I have ever talked with, read, or heard of; nay, and the reason of the thing convincing to a demonstration that all who love not the light must hate him who is continually labouring to pour it upon them; I do here bear witness against myself, that when I saw the number of people crowding into the church, the deep attention with which they received the word, and the seriousness that afterwards sat on all their faces; I could scarce refrain from giving the lie to experience and reason and Scripture all together.
‘I could hardly believe that the greater, far the greater part of this attentive, serious people, would hereafter trample underfoot that word, and say all manner of evil falsely of him that spake it.’
References. XVIII. 31. T. F. Crosse, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 98. H. Alford, Sermons and Christian Doctrine, p. 166. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 49. XVIII. 31-33. C. Kingsley, The Good News of God, p. 223. XVIII. 31-34. F. Bourdillon, Plain Sermons for Family Beading, p. 159. Expositor (5th Series), vol. iv. p. 418. XVIII. 34. J. Keble, Sermons for the Holy Week, p. 1. T. F. Crosse, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 98. H. Jones, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvii. p. 380.
Spiritual Sight
Luk 18:34
This passage of Scripture is divided into two distinct parts the one about the Twelve, the other about blind Bartimus (see Mar 10:46 ); but together they illustrate the important subject of spiritual sight. And what more appropriate subject than this for us on this day, the festival of St. Mark, who by his Gospel has done so much for the illumination of the Church? Why was it that the Twelve could not understand anything concerning Christ as a suffering Saviour? They were spiritually blind. Why was it that the blind man recognised Jesus as the Son of David? He had spiritual sight. Notice: I. The Twelve. (Mar 3:14-19 ). They were unlearned men (Act 4:13 ) and of obscure station (Mat 4:18 ); but they had all the advantage of seeing and hearing what Christ did and said (Mat 13:16-17 ; Act 1:3 ). They had a certain knowledge of the Scriptures and of Christ (Joh 1:45 ). They acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ (Mat 16:13-16 ). Why, then, did they not understand about His sufferings and death? What did Scripture say? (Isa 53 .; Mic 5:1 ; Zec 13:6 ). They needed to be taught by the Holy Spirit whom Christ was to send. (See Luk 24:25-27 ; Luk 24:44-48 ). Christ gave them the Spirit (Joh 20:22 ). And what was the result? (Act 1:16-20 ). What understanding after Pentecost’ (Act 2:25-36 ; Act 2:18-22 , &c).
II. The Blind Man. He was unable to see what Christ did, and so poor that he could not provide himself with assistance (Rev 3:17-18 ). The multitude tell him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by (Joh 1:46 ; Joh 7:52 ). Why does he persist in crying ‘Jesus thou son of David? This was a title of the Messiah (Mat 21:9 ). It had been promised to David that the Christ should be of his seed (Psa 132:11 ; 1Ch 16:11-15 ). This poor blind man was clearly taught to see that Jesus was the Messiah, and so his Saviour (Psa 27:1 ). He saw Him with the eye of faith, though deprived of natural sight (Joh 20:29 ). He expresses his desire (ver. 41; Jer 33:3 ). His prayer is more than answered (ver. 42; Joh 15:7 ). His sight is restored (ver. 43; Psa 30:2 ).
Let each of us who knows his spiritual blindness make the prayer of Bartimus his own: ‘Lord, that I may receive my sight’.
A Blind Beggar
Luk 18:35
I. Hebe is a sight to move our pity. Blind and begging, either were bad enough, but sad is it indeed for him who carries a double burden, of darkness and of want. And nigh unto Jericho, too. ‘The city of fragrance, the city of roses, the city of palm-trees, the paradise of God,’ as one has called it. In this blaze of light and beauty sits a blind beggar! Why does God let there be any blind beggars? He is kind. He is almighty. Why is there any want and sorrow. Well, let us stand beside him for a while, and we may come to see that, as in everything else, there are two sides to this matter of blind beggars. Here comes a man anxious and careworn, counting up his gains, and fretting within himself that he made no more by his last venture. ‘Listen to the birds,’ says the blind man, ‘they do sing sweetly; I love to hear them. And how the scent of roses fills the air today!’ But turn to the merchant again. He is looking at nothing but the ground, and without so much as seeing that. Pity the poor blind indeed! Which is the blind man, the beggar by the wayside, or the man who has eyes and sees not, and ears but hears not, and a nose has he but he smells not. ‘Oh, he is rich,’ you say. No, no, he is the poor man. Pity him. Now, startling the business man in the midst of his fretting, comes the voice of the blind. ‘Poor fellow,’ he mutters to himself, ‘here I have been worrying about a bad debt; and after all I have enough left and to spare and he stops to give the blind beggar an alms. ‘Well, it is a mercy to have one’s eyes,’ he says, as he goes on his way, ‘how much I have to be thankful for!’ And presently he looks up, ‘Really what a beautiful day it is! And these birds, how they do sing! Well, well, that is music. And yes, really the air is wonderfully sweet and fragrant with the flowers.’ Oh, wonderful blind beggar, thou hast opened a blind man’s eyes to his mercies, and unstopped his ears to God’s music, and given to him the faculty to smell the sweetness of God’s earth. Want and woe, suffering and sorrow are God’s angels of mercy to us to us who think ourselves rich and increased in goods and in need of nothing.
II. We linger on the scene to find a stimulus and guide for our faith. Suddenly there comes the murmur of a crowd, the hum of many voices. ‘What is it?’ asks the blind man of one and another. At last he finds somebody who stays to reply: ‘The great Prophet of Nazareth passeth by’. At once his soul is thrilled with eagerness. Suddenly bursts a cry: ‘Thou Son of David, have mercy upon me!’ Then come the hindrances. But Jesus stops and bids them bring the beggar, ‘What wilt thou that I do for thee?’ Instantly the blind man cried; ‘Lord, that I might receive my sight’. At once his eyes were opened. Jesus is a great physician. No case is too far gone for Him.
M. G. Pearse, Naaman the Syrian and other Sermons, p. 167.
References. XVIII. 35. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. i. p. 129. T. F. Crosse, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 173. Expositor (4th Series), vol. vi. p. 192. XVIII. 35-43. T. Davies, Sermonic Studies, p. 129. XVIII. 37. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv. No. 906. XVIII. 38. R. W. Hiley, A Year’s Sermons, vol. iii. p. 74. XVIII. 39. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 178. XVIII. 40. J. M. Neale, Readings for the Aged (4th Series), p. 18. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. i. p. 128. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iii. p. 454. XVIII. 40, 41. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 144.
On the Threshold of Lent
Luk 18:41
This passage is a very familiar one to most of us. It is one which I have no doubt many of us have pictured to ourselves again and again, one of those scenes in the Gospel which we seem able to imagine more vividly than others. And it is a most pathetic story; this of the poor blind man, in his poverty and blindness, sitting by the wayside, calling out so eagerly to our Lord.
I. I want you to notice first that eager desire of poor blind Bartimus. It is difficult for us, to whom God has given the gift of sight, to realise what blindness must mean; to live in a world of darkness with no sunlight, no sense of form or colour, not to see the faces of our friends, or the wonderful sights of nature, and to be so helpless as the blind often necessarily are. Who can wonder that he had so eager a desire for help, or that he was so prompt? This was perhaps his one chance. He had heard what the great Prophet had done for others. How can he let this chance pass by? And so he calls out, ‘Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy upon me’. But the earnestness of his desire is sharply tested. Everything that the crowd can do to discourage it they do. The caravan of people of the pilgrims going up to Passover, as is usual in a crowd, is excited, selfish, wrapped up in its own interests and very likely misunderstanding him, thinks that he is begging for alms. And so the people rebuke him that he should hold his peace. They were quite out of sympathy with him. ‘But he cried so much the more.’ It is a very strong word which is translated ‘cried’ ‘he screamed in eagerness so much the more, “Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.”‘
You see, his eager desire stood the test. He did not mind being conspicuous. He did not mind drawing attention to himself, or being tiresome, and hindering the people who wanted to push on. And then Jesus stood and commanded him to be called, because ‘He is more ready to hear than we to pray, and is wont to give more than we desire or deserve’. ‘Receive thy sight,’ He said, ‘thy faith hath made thee whole.’
So then let us notice in this story which has such deep meanings in it, if only we would ponder them the magnetic power of a strong desire, of a strong, living faith.
II. And then let us think of the question which our Lord asked of him, and the answer that he gave, ‘What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?’ ‘Lord, that I may receive my sight.’ We wonder why our Lord should have asked him. The need must have been perfectly obvious to our Lord: of course He knew why the man called to Him. Let us ever recollect that in prayer our object is not to give information to God. ‘Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him.’
But it is His way to give His best gifts to those who pray. He loves to see His children at His knees. He wants us to feel our utter dependence upon Him; and so He willed that this poor man should express in words his needs. ‘What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?’ ‘Lord, that I may receive my sight.’
It is because of this lack of realising and grasping the unseen that our enthusiasm is so little and our power to help other people so weak. If only we could say, like St. John in his old age, ‘That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you’. People will say to us, as our Lord said to Pilate, ‘Sayest thou this thing of thyself all this that you say about your religion, or about religious subjects or did others tell it thee of Me?’ Did we get it out of books? Did we get it secondhand? Or, have we made it our own experimentally? Have we tried to work it into our very innermost selves and to live by it?
Well might we say, each one of us, ‘Lord, that I may receive my sight as I go through this Lent’. We might make St Augustine’s prayer it is a very easy one to remember our own, ‘I would know Thee, I would know myself.
III. Then lastly, the sequel of it all. ‘Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight, thy faith hath made thee whole, and immediately he received his sight and followed Him.’ ‘Immediately!’ I have known many cases, and I doubt not you have, where this clearness of vision has come quite suddenly to a man and roused him out of a careless, or unbelieving, or sinful life. But it is not always so. It. may come quite gradually. To St. Paul the light came with one great flash on the way to Damascus. I suppose it had been coming for a long time before. To the other Apostles, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ came slowly and gradually. We can trace it coming as we read the Gospels. Whichever it is, whether it comes to us at once, or whether it comes to us gradually, the result will be the same ‘He followed Him’ it is quite practical. If we really believe in the things of the unseen world, if we really believe in the Incarnate Son of God, if we really believe in prayer and Sacraments, we shall be called by some of our friends visionaries. We shall be told that we are unreal. And there is such a thing as unreality. There is mysticism which may be perfectly unreal. But let us remember that a true mysticism and a true power of seeing the unseen lies at the heart of the deepest and best religion. We must be visionaries, yes, and see visions. Not, I suppose, anything such as the saints have seen, not what we ordinarily call visions; but see something though very dimly, of the true light of God shining into our hearts. And we must follow it. This insight must always be translated into action. The two things may seem far apart. It may seem strange that the sculptor or the architect can translate his idea into solid stone so cold and hard and unresponsive; but that is his work. And it is our work to translate what God teaches us in to the practical reality of daily life.
W. B. Trevelyan, Church Times, 26th Feb. 1909.
References. XVIII. 42. J. Keble, Sermons for Septuagesima to Ash Wednesday, p. 191. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xx. No. 1162. Charles Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxviii. p. 161. XIX. 1. Joseph Parker, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 73. Mark Guy Pearse, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lii. p. 33. XIX. 1-10. B. J. Snell, Sermons on Immortality, p. 149. S. Chisholm, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. p. 322.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
The Danger of Riches
Luk 18:24
Is it easy then for poor people to enter into the kingdom of God? Jesus Christ does not say so. It is always difficult to enter into the kingdom of heaven. It is not entered by wealth, nor is it entered by poverty; for wealth and poverty are incidental and external circumstances. Let us fix our attention upon the fact that this was probably the first rich applicant at the door of the kingdom of Christ. There have been many since; familiarity may have made some processes in their external relations easy enough: but this young man was in all probability the first rich applicant. Did he think he would add something to what he already had? Was the kingdom of God, or, as he termed it, eternal life, a kind of annexe to the property which he already had? and did he suppose that he might on the whole as well have eternal life as not? it would cost nothing, it would entail no heavy responsibility; it might invest the young man himself with the dignity of novel thought and speculative enterprise, and give a kind of sparkling accent to his general situation. We cannot enter into the reasoning of the young man’s mind; we should be foolish to condemn the young man: Jesus Christ loved him, was struck either by his personal beauty, or by his modesty, or by something bewitching in his geniality; he looked upon him as the young man had never been looked upon before, and loved him. If he could have saved him he would; if he could have made the gate of the kingdom a little wider he would: but the kingdom has its laws. Jesus Christ represented those laws, obeyed them, and insisted upon them, and therefore the comeliest young man of to-day would not be allowed to take in with him all his burden.
It was a critical moment for Jesus Christ himself. He had to set precedents in his own Church, he had to create examples by which all succeeding Christian ages and Christian institutions should regulate their policy. Was it no temptation to the Lord? Was it no temptation to attach a millionaire to the cause that elicited social contempt? Might not one rich man act as a decoy and bring a thousand other rich men, and so might not a fashion be created? There can be no fashion in crucifixion. Calvary can never be popular. The Cross can never be a custom of the day. That is the spirit of Christianity, these are the conditions upon which alone eternal life can be realised; we do not enter by money, by wit, by genius, learning, pedigree, or aught that is incidental and external: only by way of the Cross do men pass into the kingdom. The disciples were troubled; they thought that an opportunity had been lost; they started the proposition that if this were to be the policy of the Master, salvation was simply impossible. How could the kingdom get on without such people as this young man? “Who, then, can be saved?”
But Jesus Christ explained the whole occasion by saying, “them that trust in riches.” There is no harm in riches themselves, they may be instruments of the greatest possible good, in right hands they are well administered, and the world is better for a Christian administration of wealth. The Lord is not abusing riches or condemning riches; he is pointing out that men may trust in riches, men may idolise their own wealth, their own possessions, and may be unwilling to take the step between the material and the spiritual. He did not say it was impossible, he said it was “hard.” There was a touch of agony in the process; there was a conscious wrench in making the change Ye must be born again and admission into the greater kingdoms, all morning and all summer as they are, must be an admission through the gate of pain. Jesus Christ often calls us to do the impossible that he may stimulate us to do the difficult. Christianity is the great impossibility of the world. In all its higher ranges it is not within our reach; but its loftiness is an encouragement to those who otherwise would succumb to difficulty, and yield the field to the enemy. Jesus Christ calls us to climb the clouds in the air that he may tempt us a little way up the solid hill. Christianity will never be easy; it can never be thrown in with something else; it is not a supplement, it is the integral and dominating quantity. There are those who wear their Christianity as they wear their garments newly bought and much valued for the moment: but Christianity is not to be worn, it is a robe of the heart, it is the clothing of the soul. Hence Jesus Christ calls us to do things that mortal man cannot do, in order that we may be stirred to nobler aspiration and purpose. No man, being smitten on the one cheek, can turn the other also; yet we could not do without that impossibility in the divine vocation. It makes our best endeavours look poor; it humbles our virtue into prayer The spirit, not the letter, reaches the discipline of Christ in the soul.
Nor must we think of riches as referring to mere money. There are riches of many kinds centres of pride, centres of vanity, centres of self-trust and idolatry, and the whole fabric must be shaken to its base, and torn up by its foundations before Christ can begin to build. There are those who are proud of things they have no concern in. You remember the titled lady, whose name we have ungratefully forgotten, who called upon a distinguished artist, and on being shown into a drawing-room was perfectly wonderstruck. When the painter appeared the lady said, “I am seeking Thrift, the painter.” “Well,” said the gentleman, “that is my name.” And looking round at the beauty of the place, she said, “Is this your house?” “Yes,” he said. She thought a painter lived in a garret, and had a portmanteau for a wardrobe and a three-cornered cupboard for a larder. A painter with all these nick-nacks and curios and little touches of refinement about him what right had a painter to such environment? as if a painter were not a greater man than a king that sits upon a throne he never worked for and never deserved! People are very fond of talking about the aristocracy of the body: they never know that there is a spiritual aristocracy, that many a man who has no money and no title and no pedigree that can be written down in plain ink, is related to Aristotle, and traces his progeny beyond the Plantagenets even to the great thinkers that have ruled the world by the energy and splendour of their genius. All this rubbish must be cleared out of the way before spirit can rule, and genius be invested with its divinest influence.
Notice the deceitfulness of all kinds of riches. Riches may corrupt the very simplest of you take care! How many men have we seen go to the gallows and hang themselves just through the deceitfulness of riches! How delightful it would be to trace the life of many a man and see how he died in the bank that great mortuary. The man began simply, and was a right genial soul; he brought with him morning light and fresh air wherever he came, and as to cases of poverty his hand knew the way to his pocket so well that he could find that pocket in the dark; as for religious services he was there before the door was open; he never thought the Sabbath too long, he loved the sanctuary, and was impatient to be there; he even went to the week evening service, but then he was only a working man, and only working men should go out in the night air what does it matter about a few working men being killed off by the east wind! The man whose course we are tracing doubled his income and multiplied it by five, and then doubled it again, and then found that he must give up the prayer meeting. Certainly! Then he proceeded to double his income again, and then he gave up the Sunday service there was a draught near where he sat, or there was some person in the third pew from his, the appearance of whom he could not bear. How dainty my lord is becoming! Oh, what a nostril he has for evil savours! He will leave altogether presently. He will not abruptly leave: he will simply not come back again, which really amounts to the same thing. He will attend in the morning, and congratulate the poor miserable preacher on the brevity of the service. Did he mean to do this when he began to get a little wealthier? Not he. Is he the same man he used to be? No. Is he nearer Christ? He is universes away from the Cross. He is killed by wealth, trusted in, misunderstood, misapplied. It is not the wealth that has ruined him, but his misconception of the possible uses of wealth; he might have been a leader of the Church.
How is it that Jesus Christ does not attract more poor people to his Church? Because the Church has ceased in some degree to be Jesus Christ’s at all. Jesus Christ is as fond of the weak and the poor and the blind and the halt as he ever was; he is just as tender and beneficent to lepers as he ever was in his earthly ministry; but we have changed the whole situation: now the masses go to the socialists, and the classes go to scientists, and they can treat them better than we can do. The Church has lost its Lord. They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. But was not Jesus Christ crucified in the days of his flesh? Yes, and he would be crucified if he came back again; the first thing we should do with the Christ of God would be to stone him and then to slay him. It must be so: this is the necessary treatment of the infinite by the finite, the pure by the impure, the ineffably holy by the unspeakably corrupt. There are those who in the midst of the greatest splendour remember the days of their poverty. Blessed be God for such men, so sweet of soul, so unpresumptuous, so ready to help. The more wealth they have the better am I pleased, because the better is the world, the better is the Church provided for. “I want,” said the late Emperor of Germany, the last but one, the great William, “I want a lamp such as so-and-so has ” naming some distinguished member of the court. A lamp was provided according to the very pattern, but his majesty complained on returning to his study after withdrawment that he could not bear the savour of the room, the lamp was emitting smoke, and it was altogether intolerable. One of the secondary servants knew the reason, but dare not name it to his majesty; one of the higher servants learned the cause and brought it under his majesty’s attention “It is because your majesty turns down the light when you leave the study, that occasions the emission of smoke and vapour, and if you will cease to do that, all will be well.” “Ah,” said the good old patriot of his nation, “I know how that is; I learned that in the days of our poverty: after the battle of Jena we were very poor, and my mother never allowed us to leave a room at night without turning down the light, and I continue to turn down the light in memory of my mother.” A beautiful economy! a tender domestic story that! Here is a man who could have had a thousand lamps, and yet in memory of the days of his poverty, when his mother taught him the uses of money, he kept turning down the light, saying, “Sacred to the memory of my mother.” There are men to-day who are practically doing the same thing: In memory of the days when we struggled, here is our gift; in memory of the time when we had nothing but hard work to do, here is a token of goodwill to those who are carrying heavy burdens up steep hills. The Lord multiply your wealth a thousandfold; you are the trustees of God, you are the stewards of heaven.
With regard to the whole surrounding of the Church, we should lose heart altogether if we did not hold on to Christ himself. We must come back to the living Lord. If any man were to ask me, as I have recently been asked, to discuss the present position and action of Christianity, I should decline to debate because the man would silence me; I should have no answer to his poignant eloquence. If I endeavoured as a special pleader to make a show on the other side, my own soul would blush for shame whilst I heard my own hollow words and pleas. Because Christianity is now ecclesiasticised, it is an ecclesiastical institution, and I will not defend it. Because Christianity is now a formulated creed, the separate clauses of which are all duly and arithmetically enumerated; and the clauses run into tens and twenties, and only trained intellects and self-deceived metaphysicians can even begin to understand the unintelligible farrago. Because Christianity is now turned to the uses of selfishness I will not defend it. I have challenges from men of various grades, and I decline them one and all, because the challenges are all directed to a vindication of ecclesiasticisms, credal formularies, controversial dogmas, and I renounce them all. If any man will discuss with me the Christ of God, his personality, his claims, his propositions, his life, his priesthood, the Lord that has delivered me all my lifetime will deliver me from any assailant who would lay violent hands on the Son of God; there I will debate and contend vehemently and zealously, because I know the Saviour Christ to be the one Saviour of the world, the one Saviour of my sinning soul “His blood can make the foulest clean, his blood availed for me.” Ecclesiasticisms, institutions based upon narrow conceptions, controversial propositions, man-made creeds, are all doomed. Blessed be God! I will be present if I can when a great bonfire is made of the whole of them, and if anybody wants any quarter of that great pile lighted I shall be willing to lend both hands on the occasion. You can burn down everything but the Cross. That cannot be burned: it is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever: grim, bleak, bare symbol of agony, type of suffering, consummation of woe. And yet it is breaking out like a tree in the springtime, there are little glints of green, forthputtings of power. There is every assurance that the Cross will be the tree of life, the most beautiful tree in the gardens of the universe, every leaf designed to heal the wounds of the heart.
You cannot bring your riches with you into the kingdom, if you are going to trust in them: if you are going to offer them to Christ and sanctify them to his use, bring them all. You cannot bring your intellectual pride with you: if you are going to consecrate your intellect to the study of the profoundest mysteries, if you are going to cultivate a childlike spirit, if the greater the genius the greater the modesty, bring it all. You can bring with you nothing of the nature of patronage to Christ. It is because he has so little he has so much: because he is so weak he is so strong. You cannot compliment him: he lies beyond the range of eulogy: we reach him by his own way of sacrifice, self-immolation, transformation, a great mystery outside of words and all their crafty uses, but a blessed conscious spiritual experience. Blessed are those to whom that experience is a reality.
Inquiry Into Meanings
Luk 18:36
The speaker was a blind man. He sat by the wayside begging. Though he was a blind man, he had the use of other faculties. Let us be just to facts, and cognisant of the law of compensation. “Hearing a multitude pass by ” then he was not deaf. To be deaf is worst of all. There is nothing to compare with deafness. So the Bible says in all its analogies and teachings. The deaf heart, the deaf soul, the deaf devil, these are given as instances of the horribleness of deafness. This man was not deaf, he heard the multitude pass by. “And he cried, saying” then he was not dumb. If we really search into the case of men who are marked by some special disadvantage or infirmity, how many instances of alleviation shall we find! Yet these go for nothing in the fluency of our description. We make much of this man being blind; we say nothing of the fact that he was neither deaf nor dumb; that he had an obstinate and determined will of his own; and that all the multitude passing by could not stifle his prayer. We forget much.
“He asked what it meant.” We can at least do this. In asking a question we begin a hopeful experience. The difficulty Christianity has to contend with is that people do not sufficiently ask what it means; they let the procession of miracles pass on and do not say, What is the significance of all that is proceeding round about us? We are bound to ask what these things mean. No man can be just to his own intelligence who does not interrogate the history of Christianity, and insist upon definite replies. Men can live without intelligence, they can elect to be ignoramuses, they can go a step further down and be absolute fools; but no man can be just to his intelligence who does not ask what Christianity means? Christians in their turn are bound to ask what Buddhism means, what Mohammedanism means, what idolatry means; Christians ought to study the philosophy of history, and to know everything that can be known within the region of fact. Here is a marvellous thing, that one name should have become uppermost, a ruling dominant name, that the centuries cannot put down nay, that the centuries lift to a higher elevation age after age. Here is a name, a person, an actor on the stage of history, confessedly unrivalled in his influence and power, exercising a wondrous charm: what does it mean? However he came into the world, he is in it, and he is the most conspicuous fact in all its history. Say he came in by the historical gate how did he get in? Why have not others come in of equal magnitude and quality? Why should there be only one man? why should he be peerless? Say he came in by the dream gate. Still, here he is; if he was dreamed, he is, if possible, more wonderful than he is in his historical relations. Here is a dream that has fascinated the ages, overturned thrones, established dynasties, ruled policies, made thrones bow down in homage. Who dreamed this dream? What is his name? Did he ever dream again? These inquiries enable us to reassert the statement that no man can be just to his own intelligence who does not seriously ask and faithfully pursue the inquiry, What does this thing mean? Here is a name that has tamed tigers and made them gentle as lambs; here is a power that has turned the poor man’s little house into a gate opening towards heaven; here is a power that has liberated slaves, sustained the cause of the poor and needy, never been silent in the face of oppression. What does it mean? How did it get amongst the agencies that constitute human history? Tell us about it. When men ask questions like these they begin, let us repeat, a hopeful experience. Great questions will always elicit great replies.
There is another side to this circumstance. When any man asks what it means, there should be some other man standing close to him who can answer. That may be a serious deficiency in the Church, qualified men, persons who can speak with the authority of experience, and not with the authority of office, people who can definitely say, We will tell you what he has done for us, and what he has done for us he will do for you, he loves to do it; come nearer to us, and we will tell you all the story of wisdom and love as we ourselves have been enabled to receive and understand it. That is the function of the Church. The Church has a great teaching ministry to discharge. Do we cultivate and encourage the spirit of inquiry. Do we so deport ourselves that men feel they may venture to ask us serious questions? It is well that the Church should wear its robe of humility and speak of its ignorance. But the Church ought, on the other hand, to have some definite message to deliver, the Church ought to be able to answer certain great questions. It will be no sign of pride, but a distinct proof of faithfulness, when the Church says, Whatever I can tell you I am willing to communicate. Nor should the Church be dumb until she can be eloquent. There is a halting-place between silence and noblest utterance: there is the point of serious attempt; there is the point of being willing to say how much divine wisdom has been acquired: and so wondrous is the law of spiritual communication that when we begin to speak we begin to find somewhat to say, if so be we are inspired by the spirit of earnestness, and are deeply solicitous about the eternal welfare of the people who have asked us questions. It will be vain, and even worse than vain, it will be simple and most culpable hypocrisy, to say that we will not tell what we do know until we know more. What should we say of a man who refused to give bread to the hungry until he has multiplied his own loaves by a hundred? Give what you have; start where you can; speak the one little sentence that is addressed to you in all your presently-acquired treasures of the kingdom of heaven. We want a communicative Church as well as a communicative ministry. Inquiries are handed on to the minister. That might be right if the inquirers wanted to know something technical, recondite, pedantic, if they wanted a literary schoolmaster, a veritable pedagogue; but they want encouragement, sympathy, and they will feel that sympathy all the more tenderly if spoken to them on an obvious level which is not unattainable by themselves. All this reference to ministers for answers to questions is superstitious, popish, and infinitely mischievous; in the Christian kingdom every man is a priest, a minister, a teacher sent from God.
Those who are able to answer should not be content to rebuke inquirers. We read in this connection, “And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace.” We are not to encourage the spirit of rebuke. We cannot impoverish Christ, therefore we need not rebuke appellants and suppliants; they can appeal and supplicate and cry and desire, and the more he gives the more he will have remaining in his power. The Church has always been delighted to rebuke men. The more highly organised the church the more has it been characterised by the rebukeful spirit. A highly organised church be it Popish, Episcopalian, or Congregational always means authority, dictation, standard of orthodoxy, repulsion by authority. All this need not be put down by force, because all time, all progress, all spiritual ministries are on the other side. The rebukeful spirit must go down, and the spirit of sympathy must take its place, and exercise a blessed function in reference to the education and progress of mankind. The Church by which I mean any highly organised and elaborated Church has always stood in the way of progress, has been the mother of superstition, has been the occasion of infinite mischief. The whole history of progress has run away from the lines of the Church. When we say the lines of the Church we take liberties with imagination, for the Church has no lines. In speaking thus of the Church we are not speaking of any particular church, but of the organisation which for the time being represents the supreme spiritual authority of the day, by what name soever it may be described and defined.
There was a time when it was pronounced a heresy to declare the existence of the Antipodes. To us this is incredible, but we must not throw away the history of our own race. There was a time when a man could have been imprisoned for declaring that the earth moved. A great monk arose in Alexandria, by name Cosmas, who was charged as it were by the Church to refute the awful and soul-destroying doctrine of the Antipodes. He devoted the remainder of a long and laborious lifetime to the refutation of the heresy. The result of his thought and labour was that he declared the earth to be a parallelogram, whose length is twice its breadth, that the sky is glued round its sides, and the sun and moon and stars are the decoration of its firmament; and to say anything contrary to this was to be anti-Christian, to be in a distressing spiritual condition. If a man arose to say anything to the contrary he was rebuked, that he should hold his peace. Now men go to the Antipodes as a matter of course. Cosmas said the Bible speaks of “the face of the whole earth “; so how can it have anything on the other side of it? He was a literalist, and the letter-mongers have nearly ruined the whole cause of Christianity, and would have done so if it had not been divine. That Christianity has survived the patronage of its friends is the culminating proof of the divinity of its origin. We must therefore beware of this spirit of rebuke, inasmuch as we have history to guide us in reference to its action. When men arose to declare on the evidence of geology that death was known hundreds and thousands of ages ago, the Church rebuked them, that they should hold their peace. Now every child knows that death has been in the world from the beginning, that the cemetery is the oldest of its institutions, or may at least rank amid the most venerable of its antiquities. Poor Church, authoritative empurpled Church! holding a sceptre of its own cutting and its own gilding, which has always been shouldered out of the way by men, for whom God be praised. Hence our great object should be to shatter all great organisations of a spiritual kind; all poperies and hierarchies and man-made mechanisms, and to simplify Christian relations to the utmost, and cultivate a spirit of reverent freedom, so that every man shall tell every other man, as opportunity may arise, what he has heard in his own tongue concerning the wonderful works of God. The disciples would seem to speak with authority. Who dare contravene the dictum of a disciple? The blind man dared. If he had not been blind he would not have dared; but conscious need defies the Church. Said the blind man in effect I am blind, and this man can give me my sight; stand back and let me speak to him for myself. This is the individuality we ought to encourage no prayer by proxy, no choking of supplication by official authority, but each heart, conscious of its own need, coming to Christ to tell its own tale.
When men get the right answer they should offer the right petition. When the blind man was told that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by he got the right answer, and having got it, he offered the right petition: “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” This is the point we must all begin at. This is evidently true. We could not amend the terms, we could add nothing to the dignity of the spirit, we could increase by no instalment or increment how small soever the dignity of this man’s position have mercy! The reason we have not received answers to many prayers is that we did not begin at the beginning. Many persons begin their prayers at the wrong end; they do not take up the sequence of things. There is no logic in the progression of their sentiments and desires: we must begin by crying for mercy. The publican said, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” The suppliant came to him saying, “Lord, have mercy upon my child.” Whoever begins there begins at the only right point. We do not come to discuss questions of law and righteousness, of ordinance and institute, of sovereignty and destiny with God, we come to ask for mercy; having obtained mercy, we advance, we grow, and our prayers enlarge, until they become reverently familiar communions with God, long fellowships, talks that take up all the sunlight, and that Christ himself must needs conclude by coming into the house and breaking for us our bread. Are there any who are standing outside, saying that they have many questions to ask Jesus Christ before they will ask him to heal them? He will not answer; he has no time; earnestness cannot dally; the king’s business requireth haste. You could retain him for ages in your own house if your earnestness could last so long; he will never go so long as your simplicity and sincerity have any question to ask: but to discuss with us on equal terms, to make Christianity a kind of schoolmaster revelation, he will never consent, it is a flash of light, it is a dawning day, it is a spirit whispering in the soul, an infinite subtlety operating upon every point of life, and working a miracle without name or limit.
Having got the right answer, men should adopt the right course. What did the blind man do? “And immediately he received his sight, and followed him.” There are many who have received sight, and have gone the other road. “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.” Ingratitude is easily learned; if it is a fine art we seem in many instances to be to the manner born. We have received all that men could give us, and have rewarded them with tepid applause or discriminating criticism: enthusiasm, devotion, avowal of indebtedness, who can find? Yet when found how precious are they, how they multiply life and increase influence, and establish the teacher in a kind of natural and holy authority. Who will be the last man to leave that travelling Christ? The man whose sight was restored. He will get to the front presently. He has not received his eyesight that he might not make use of it. This man intends to be on the front line presently. We have seen what force he had in blindness his energy has not been destroyed by his restoration. Do we not make mistakes regarding Christian influence in this way? A man is converted, and henceforth we hear nothing more about him. That would not be conversion, that would be extinction. A man has been a great singer in the tavern, in the saloon, in the family circle; his voice has been praised for richness and sweetness of tone: he has been converted, and now he sits in the church, and no one ever hears his voice. That is not conversion, that is annihilation. The man who was blessed with restored sight was a man who put the church down when he wanted his eyesight, and he will put down any church that wants to keep him from his right place. What we want is not so much further instruction but simple gratitude. We do not go too far in our statement in saying that gratitude will outlast all mere information, all external training, and will be heard at the very end glorifying God. How can a man go from Christ who has received his sight? This would seem to be absolutely impossible. Other men may go who have only received external gifts, such as bread for passing hunger, water because of immediate thirst; these things may be forgotten: but restored sight! why, every star that glittered, every flower that bloomed, every bird that flew in the air would be a rebuke and a reproach if such a man turned away from Christ yea, he could not have seen the way to go but for the very sight which he received from the Son of God. Let us take care how we turn our Christian instruction to immoral uses. Let us beware, we who learned to read in the Sunday School, lest we turn our power of reading to the service of the devil. Christianity found us when no other agency cared about our life; elicited our interest, fascinated our imagination, evoked our confidence, and made us men. The question now is, Shall we, having been thus discovered, re-created, inspired, shall we turn our back upon our Creator and Inspirer, and spend the treasures of his benevolence at the counter of the devil?
Blessings bestowed on others should make Christians joyful and grateful. “And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.” This is the spirit of festival. If we were to continue our hymn as long as we could discover any instances of divine interposition, our psalm would never cease. Yet this is precisely what we are called upon to do. The missionary comes into the church in breathless haste and says an island has been purged of its idolatry, a house of prayer has been set up there, and the people are eagerly flocking into it, and are crying mightily for light and love from heaven. Such a speech ought to fire the enthusiasm of the mother country from whose shores the missionary went forth. To-day they are but an insignificant minority who care anything as to what any missionary may declare. You can empty almost any church by putting a missionary in the pulpit to tell his tale of Christian triumph. When we hear of benevolent institutions being founded, we should sing another hymn of praise; when we hear that any one solitary heart has been made glad by news from heaven, we should join the festival and increase the gratitude. We are involved in other engagements; we care for spectacles, demonstrations, great occasions: unhappily, we seldom care for the right thing. That a king is to be executed would excite all the civilised nations of the globe: that a man has been converted would excite the suspicion of the few people who cared anything concerning it. We are living upside down. We are availing ourselves of false standards and estimates of things. When the world is in the right course the things that are now highly esteemed will be of no repute, and when a little child begins to sing its first Christian hymn with the intelligence of tears the whole church will pray with holy joy.
Blind men should avail themselves of all the light they can secure. But of what use is light to a blind man? None. But the question does not end with the blind man. We have read of a man who was travelling on a dark night, carrying a brightly shining lantern; we have read of some one meeting him, looking him in the face, and discovering that he was blind; we have further read of him inquiring of the man who carried the lantern, “Are you not blind?” and receiving an affirmative answer. “Why, then,” said the astounded inquirer, “do you carry a lantern?” Said the blind man, “To prevent other people stumbling over me.” A philosopher that as well as a blind man. He was protecting himself by carrying a light. As he could not see others coming, and others might not take heed of his blindness, there might be collision and loss; so the blind man carried the lantern. So it may be in many of our moral and spiritual relations. We should show what we are even if we are blind. We might prevent other people injuring us and injuring themselves by declaring in some way our blindness. The mischief is that some men who are blind declare that they see, and having declared that they are in the possession of sight they incur responsibility. If they had not said “We see,” their sin would not have remained: “but,” said Christ, “now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” God judges by facts, by limitations; he takes all things into account, and his mercy endureth for ever.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XII
THE TEN LEPERS; WHEN AND WHERE OF THE KINGDOM; THE PARABLE OF PRAYER FOR JUSTICE
Harmony, pages 128-129 and Luk 17:11-18:8
This section commences on page 128 of the Harmony (Luk 17:11-37 ) and includes three subjects:
1. The healing of the ten lepers
2. The when and the where of the kingdom and the king
3. The parable of the prayer for Justice
On the page immediately preceding this section we learn that “Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews, but departed thence into the country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there he tarried with the disciples.” That Ephraim is in the northern part of Judea. The first verse of the section says, “And it came to pass, as they were on their way to Jerusalem, that he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee.” The question naturally arises: Why did not Jesus, being in Judea, go straight back to Jerusalem, why did he go through Samaria and a part of Galilee, both north of him, in order to get to Jerusalem south of him? The answer is: Jesus in making this last visit to Jerusalem wishes to fall in with the pilgrim throng from Galilee attending the Passover near at hand, and this pilgrim throng would not pass through Samaria to go to Jerusalem, but would cross the Jordan and pass through Perea to Jericho and thence to Jerusalem, the object being to avoid Samaria. The Samaritans were very hostile to all Jews going south to the feasts, but hospitable to them going north, because they claimed that theirs was the true temple in Mount Gerizirn.
THE TEN LEPERS
In John 20-21, we have these two passages: “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written” (Joh 21:25 ); and, “Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in his name” (Joh 20:30-31 ).
In other words, the inspiration of God leads each historian to record, not everything that Jesus said and did, but just such things as fall in with his plan and viewpoint, leaving the combined histories to show a larger plan. Therefore, when we come to consider this healing of the ten lepers we first compare it with the passage on page 31 (Mat 8:2-4 ; Mar 1:40-45 ; Luk 5:12-16 ) of the Harmony, where Matthew, Mark, and Luke give an account of the healing of one leper in the early Galilean ministry. I have already discussed all the general features of leprosy, so it remains now to consider only the distinguishing features of the two passages, which are these:
There, on page 31 of the Harmony, only one leper is healed, and here ten.
There, the leper was near at hand and was healed by a touch; here the ten lepers are afar off, in speaking distance however, and are healed by a word.
There, the healing of one leper was instantaneous; as soon as Christ touched him he was healed. Here the healing of the ten lepers is as they were going away obeying what he told them to do.
There, the healer enjoins silence on the healed because he didn’t want to spring prematurely on the unbelieving Jews the claims of his messiahship lest their hostility should hinder the laying of the foundations of his kingdom and the preparation of his disciples. But here no silence is enjoined.
Apart from these distinctions of the two lessons, we now note these special things:
1. Leprosy, as it outlaws a Jew, unites him in association with the Samaritan. One of these ten was a Samaritan. On account of the religious jealousies, only a great calamity upon all could associate them. We often see in life that the people who scratch and fight in the days of prosperity become bedfellows in the day of adversity.
2. One reason for recording a second healing of lepers is to show the exceptional gratitude of one of the recipients of the divine mercy. Jesus healed all the ten. One of them, feeling himself to be healed, rushed back and prostrated himself at the feet of Jesus and returned thanks and glorified God. Hence comes the great text from which many preach: “Where are the nine?” Ten were healed. Only one is grateful, which leads to another reason.
3. Both the judgments and mercies of God are given to lead to salvation. Paul says that the goodness of God leadeth to repentance. Now only one out of the ten who received this goodness, physical healing, was led to spiritual healing, and that one was a Samaritan. Nine Jews, one Samaritan. The one, following the leading of the divine mercy, is saved saved spiritually as he had been saved physically. The nine were saved physically, but no hint of their spiritual salvation is given.
When any great trouble or any great blessing comes upon us we should stop right there and ask ourselves the question, What is the shortest road from this trouble or blessing to God? What did he mean by it, to me?
He meant good of some kind. He always means good. But some people both judgments and mercies harden. Leprosy was regarded as a special divine judgment, and its healing a divine mercy. Therefore, both the affliction and its cure should turn the mind toward God. In order that we may get vividly before us the fearful nature of leprosy and the blessedness of its cure, we should study the case of Job. His affliction was leprosy. The account in Ben Hur of Christ’s healing his leprous mother and sister, and N. P. Willis’ great poem on the healing of the leper are worthy of note.
THE WHEN AND THE WHERE OF THE KINGDOM This part of our discussion is given by Luke alone (Luk 17:20-37 ). In the beginning of the paragraph the Pharisees ask, “When is the kingdom of God?” At the close the disciples ask, “Where, Lord?” So that this paragraph is an answer to two questions, “When” and “Where?”
If we turn to our Lord’s great prophecy on page 160 (Mat 24:1-51 ; Mar 13:1-37 ; Luk 21:5-36 ), we find a similar question, last part of the third verse in Matthew and corresponding places in Mark and Luke: “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Mark says, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished?” And Luke puts it: “Teacher, when therefore shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are about to come to pass?” Again, on page 229 (Luk 24:44-49 ; Act 1:3-8 ; 1Co 15:7 ) of the Harmony, near the bottom, Act 1:6 f, “They therefore, when they were come together, asked him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within his own authority.” So, that first question is, When? It is the most natural question that comes to the mind. Jesus is talking about the judgment, about his final coming. They say, “When, Lord? Will it probably be tomorrow, or next week, or next year?” In both ancient and modern times experts have not been wanting to answer that question, When? But notice that Jesus does not answer it. So we, when we preach, may safely imitate our Lord.
I heard an old Negro preacher say to an ambitious young Negro preacher, “My young brother, don’t you be cocksure about the time the Lord is going to come.” The Lord himself said that the angels in heaven did not know it, that no man knew it, not even the Son of man, Jesus himself, as far as his humanity was concerned. Of course, he knew it in his divinity. The Pharisees asked when the kingdom of God should come.
Now notice how he replies to questions of that kind. He says, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo, here! or, there! for, lo, the kingdom of God is within you.” To Pilate he said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Paul says that the kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. In other words, instead of being curious as to dates, we should be concerned as to the spiritual nature of the kingdom, and our preparedness for it.
There was a kingdom set up and it was a visible kingdom, but the spiritual nature of the kingdom should concern us, and our preparedness for it, far more than to know the date. Keeping in mind the question asked by the Pharisees, he then turns to the disciples and begins to talk about the final coming of the Lord: “The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.” In other words, many sad things must intervene. “You will be discouraged at the delay of your vindication. You will be outcasts, persecuted, put to death, so that the souls of the saints under the altar will be crying out, ‘How long, Master, the holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?’ ” So his answer here and elsewhere puts the When a long way off. Likewise as to the place, in answering the question, Where? Pay no attention to men’s “Lo, here, and Lo, there.” The Millerites in the United States were wiser than the Lord. They appointed a date for the Lord to come and a place from which they were to ascend to heaven. He warns against such folly. When that day comes, it will advertise itself. As a flash of lightning from one end of heaven to the other, in a moment of time, so will be the coming of the Son of man. There will be no need of human heralds to say, “Lo, here, and Lo, there.” Here and elsewhere many times, the New Testament teaches and warns that the necessary intervening things must precede his coming. Here he says, “But first must he suffer many things and be rejected of this generation.” In this great discourse on this subject, to be considered later, he warns: “The end is not yet . . . famines and earthquakes . . . are the beginning of travail.” Paul, in the letter to the Thessalonians, rebukes them for expecting the advent to come right away. He says that it cannot be until first the great apostasy comes, and the revelation of the man of sin. In other words, it comes at an appointed time.
It is not true that the final advent and general judgment may come tomorrow or next day that it is always imminent.
Likewise, Peter explains the delay of the coming of the Son of man when they were saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?” i.e., “He said he was coming quickly and he has not come.” He explains that God’s delay is in order to the salvation of the lost; that we must reckon that the long delay of his coming meaneth salvation, i.e., he delays his final advent in order to save men, for after he comes nobody will be saved. This section does teach, however, that the coming will be sudden and that the wicked will be unprepared. It will be as in the days of Noah. Noah for 120 years had been preaching righteousness and telling them the flood was coming; at first, he may have attracted some attention, but after awhile they got to laughing at him, doubtless joked the old man for spending all that money building that huge old tub of a ship, and on the very last day the sun was shining as brightly as it ever shone, the wedding bells were ringing, people were marrying and giving in marriage, eating and drinking. The likeness of his advent to the days of Noah does not consist in the relative number of the saved and lost. Our passage does not mean that as there were only eight people saved at the deluge, so only a few Christians will be on the earth at the coming of Christ, as some premillennialists insist on preaching, but the likeness is in the suddenness of the event and in the unpreparedness of the wicked. Similarly he compares the advent on these points, with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot, a preacher of righteousness, was vexed in his soul at their wickedness. They did not repent and reform, so the very day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and those cities were buried under the Dead Sea. So, to the unprepared wicked the advent will be sudden. The great point of the passage is that there will be no chance to get ready after the coming. A man on the housetop has no time to go back into the house to get anything. If he is out in the field he cannot go back home. Whereover a man may be or in what engaged (he may be asleep; he may be traveling), when that great shout and the sound of the trumpet come, the preparation is ended forever.
This scripture teaches clearly that it will be a time of separation very unexpected and startling separation. The very day that Christ comes two women will be grinding at a mill, one will be taken and the other left; two men will be in the field, plowing, grubbing, or harvesting, and in one flash of the eye one will be translated and caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord, and the other will be left. Nothing that has ever happened on this earth will equal the suddenness and sharpness of this separation: “When the Son of man shall come . . . he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats.” The father may be placed on the left, and the mother on the right; the daughter on the left, and the son on the right.
Now comes the disciples’ question, Where, Lord? “When he comes, to what place is he coming?” Man’s questions are, “When is it? Where is it?” As he answered the “When,” so here, the Where: “Where the body is, thither will the eagles also be gathered together.” He will not tell whether the place be Jerusalem or London or New York or Texas, but “wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered.”
THE IMPORTUNATE WIDOW This is a lesson on prayer. If the reader will take the Harmony and go through it on the subject of prayer, first, as to Christ praying, and what he prayed for; second, Christ’s lessons on prayer, what he taught concerning it, he will be wonderfully impressed by these prayers of Jesus.
Here are two of his prayer lessons. The first connects right back with his advent-teaching just discussed, that is, the relation of the prayers of his people to their vindication at his advent.
Because of this connection we must not construe the words, “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint,” as being equal to Paul’s exhortation, “Praying without ceasing.” Paul gives an exhortation concerning prayer in general, but this parable refers to praying for one particular thing. The idea here is that Christians ought to keep on praying that Jesus would vindicate them, avenge them on their adversaries and not become discouraged at his long delay.
This idea he illustrates by a story of how one on earth, persisted in her plea for justice, before a human court, until her wrongs were righted. Her persistence until successful under far more unfavorable conditions than those surrounding a Christian, constitutes the point of the story.
The judge before whom she pleads is far less approachable, far less disposed to hear, than the Judge to whom the Christian prays for vindication. The argument is, that by just so much as our Judge is better than the woman’s judge, on all the points of contrast, by just that much the Christian should be encouraged to pray in faith, and to keep on praying, nothing doubting.
But though this argument makes it certain that God will at last avenge the wrongs of his people, yet as faith in long deferred vengeance is difficult to impatient people, will the Lord at his coming find that faith on earth?
In general this is the idea of the parable. But let us note somewhat in detail the points of contrast between the human and the divine Judge. In both cases it is the office of the judge to right wrongs, to dispense justice. The Mosaic law sternly requires every judge to acquit the innocent and condemn the guilty and particularly enjoins him to protect the widow and the orphan from oppression. But this judge was unjust. The plea for justice did not move him. This judge cared nothing for widows. He was not concerned to protect the helpless. Usually the fear of God hereafter influences men to do right in time. But this man feared not God. He was an atheist. Usually deference to public opinion somewhat constrains men to do right. But this judge “regarded not man.” The case seemed hopeless. But the woman kept on crying out: “Avenge me of my adversary.” Every day she appeared in the court and renewed her plea: “I am a widow. I have been wronged. You are the judge. Avenge me of my adversary.” Perhaps she waylaid him on the streets or followed him home and stood under his window, if the door was shut in her face, all the time, everywhere crying out, “Avenge me of my adversary,” and so at last she found the one and only way to reach him. He loved himself and his ease, or feared danger to his person from a desperate woman, and therefore righted her wrongs.
But God is just; God loves his people. They are his elect. God has promised to right their wrongs. Therefore, shall not God avenge his own elect who continually, day and night, pray unto him, though he delay long to avenge? He will avenge them speedily, though not as we count speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh to avenge them, so long has he delayed to come, and so impatient are they, and so sick from hope deferred, will he find that faith on the earth? Not, Will he find faith on earth, but that faith, faith in his speedy vengeance on their enemies, not saving faith in Christ. Indeed, not even faith that he will ultimately avenge them, but faith in his speedy vengeance, ten pistin , “that faith.” The article has all the force of a demonstrative pronoun. It designates a particular kind of faith. The difficulty in the way of exercising that particular faith lies in the two ways of understanding “speedily.” He promised to come quickly. But men construe the “speedily” and “quickly” from their idea of the meaning of the words. But God construes them from his idea of the meaning. With him a thousand years are as one day. So when he said, “speedily” and “quickly,” though eighteen centuries have passed away, that is less than two of our days to him.
Bulwer, in his drama of Richelieu, represents that great cardinal as scornful of future judgments, to whom Annie of Austria replies: “The Almighty, my lord cardinal, does not pay every week, but at last He pays.” The German poet, Von Logau, well says: The mills of God grind slowly, But they grind exceeding small. Though with patience He stands waiting With exactness grinds He all.
All our premillennial friends should restudy on the “quickly” Peter’s great argument on this point (2Pe 3 ), and no longer allow their misconception of Luk 7:26 ; Luk 18:8 to fill them with pessimistic views concerning the progress of the kingdom and the fewness of Christians on earth at the coming of our Lord.
QUESTIONS
1. Why did Jesus go through Samaria and Galilee, which were north of him, on his way to Jerusalem?
2. What was the cause of the hostility of the Samaritans toward the Jews?
3. What two passages in John bearing on inspiration, and the individual plan and viewpoint of the several historians?
4. What did inspiration lead each historian to record?
5. What method, therefore, is adopted in the study of the healing of ten lepers?
6. What are the distinguishing features of the healing of the one leper and the healing of the ten?
7. What three special things noted?
8. What great text for a sermon in this connection and what is the point of application?
9. How was leprosy and its healing regarded in that day?
10. What Old Testament case of leprosy cited and what are the points of its illustration?
11. In what country was leprosy most prevalent?
12. What two instances of the healing of leprosy in current literature cited?
13. What two questions does Luk 17:20-37 answer?
14. What were the similar questions which brought forth “the great prophecy” of our Lord?
15. What similar question just before our Lord’s ascension and what was his answer?
16. How does Christ answer the question, “When the kingdom of God”?
17. What should be our principal concern as to the kingdom?
18. What statement of our Lord here puts the when a long way off, and what does it mean?
19. What illustration given of the foolishness of appointing the date and place of our Lord’s coming?
20. What of the warning of Christ against such folly?
21. According to Christ, what must first take place?
22. According to Paul, what?
23. What was Peter’s explanation of our Lord’s delay?
24. What two Old Testament illustrations cited by our Lord?
25. In what does the likeness of the coming of our Lord to the days of Noah consist, negatively and positively?
26. What of the likeness to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah?
27. What is the great point of the passage?
28. What illustrations given by our Lord of the startling separations that will take place at his coming?
29. What was Christ’s answer to the question, “Where”?
30. What is the lesson of the parable of the importunate widow and how does it connect back with his advent teaching?
31. What is the principal idea in this parable?
32. Repeat the story of the widow and the judge. What is the point of the story?
33. What is the argument of the parable?
34. What is the relation of this argument to faith?
35. What are the points of contrast between the human and divine Judge?
36. What faith is mentioned in this parable and what is the difficulty in exercising it?
37. What is the meaning of “avenge them speedily”?
38. What is Bulwer’s illustration of this?
39. What is Von Logau’s?
40. What misconception of Luk 17:26 ; Luk 18:8 here cited and what u the result of such interpretation?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end , that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Ver. 1. Always to pray and not to faint ] Gr. , not shrink back, as sluggards in work or cowards in war. Prayer should be redoubled and reinforced, as those arrows of deliverance, 2Ki 13:19 . The woman of Canaan prays on when denied; and Jacob holds with his hands when his thigh is lamed. He wrestled with slight and might, he raised dust, as the word signifies, and would not away without a blessing. a James, surnamed the Just (Christ’s kinsman), had his knees made as hard as camel’s knees with much praying, as Eusebius writes. Father Latimer, during his imprisonment, was so constant and instant in prayer, that often times he was not able to rise off his knees without help. Yea, Paulus Aemilius, being to fight with Perses, king of Macedonia, would not give up sacrificing to his god Hercules, till he saw certain arguments of a victory. As loathing of meat (saith a divine) and painfulness of speaking are two symptoms of a sick body, so irksomeness of praying and carelessness of hearing, of a sick soul.
a Etiam post naufragium tentantur maria.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1 8. ] THE UNJUST JUDGE. This parable, though not perhaps spoken in immediate unbroken sequence after the last discourse, evidently arose out of it: perhaps was the fruit of a conversation with the disciples about the day of His coming and the mind with which they must expect it. For observe that in its direct application it is ecclesiastical; and not individual, but by a legitimate accommodation. The widow is the Church; the judge, her God and Father in heaven. The argument, as in the parable of the steward , so in this of the , is fortiori: ‘If such be the power of earnest entreaty, that it can win right even from a man sunk in selfishness and fearing neither God nor men, how much more will the right be done by the just and holy God in answer to the continued prayers of his elect:’ even though, when this very right is asserted in the world by the coming of the Son of Man, He may hardly find among his people the power to believe it though few of them will have shewn this unweariedness of entreaty which the poor widow shewed?
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1. ] , with reference to.
] See 1Th 5:17 .
The mind of prayer, rather than, though of course including, the outward act, is here intended. The earnest desire of the heart is prayer.
(= , re [102] .: see note 2Co 4:1 ) to languish, to give up through the weight of overpowering evil.
[102] The Textus Receptus or received text of the Greek Testament. Used in this Edition when elz and Steph agree
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 18:1-8 . The unjust judge , in Lk. only.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Luk 18:1 . : the story is a parable in so far as it teaches by an incident in natural life the power of perseverance with reference to the spiritual life. , in reference to, indicating the subject or aim of the parable de (so Kypke, with examples). : not continuously, but persistently in spite of temptation to cease praying through delayed answer = keep praying, notwithstanding delay. The whole raison d’tre of the parable is the existence of such delay. Some fail to see this and think that the difference between God and the judge is that He does not delay. It is not so. God is like the judge in this, only His delay has not the same cause or motive. The judge represents God as He appears in Providence to tried faith : a Pauline word (Gal 6:9 ; 2Th 3:13 , etc.). This introduction to the parable is probably due to Lk., who, it will be observed, takes care to make the lesson of general application, though the after and the concluding reflection in Luk 18:8 imply that the special subject of prayer contemplated both by Lk. and by our Lord was the advent referred to in the previous context.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Luke Chapter 18
Luk 18:1-8
Whether the parable of the importunate widow was uttered as the sequel to the preceding discourse, I am not prepared to say; but this at least is plain, that the parable connects itself very naturally with what had just gone before, though there seems to me a more general form of the truth also (as is common with our Evangelist) so as to fit in admirably with what follows. It forms, therefore, a pendant as well as a transition.
But the connection with Luk 17 is of importance if it were only to guard from the unfounded idea that its direct application is ecclesiastical, that the widow is the Church, and the judge her God and Father in heaven. Such notions are as far as possible from the context, as well as the contents of the parable; and the error lies incomparably deeper than missing the scope of the Scripture before us. It is of the deepest moment to understand as a Divine truth, in our estimate of relationship with God, that Israel was in the position of the married wife (Jer 2 ; Eze 16 ) with Jehovah; whereas the marriage-supper of the Lamb is not celebrated till after the saints, changed into His likeness, are translated to heaven, and Babylon has been judged under the last vial of God’s wrath. (Rev 19 .) Hence, whatever the anticipative power of faith in realising our place as the bride before the consummation, and whatever the closeness of exhortation founded on Christ’s relation to the Church, the apostle speaks of betrothing us to one man or husband to present as a chaste virgin to Christ. So, on the other hand, the specific form of Israel’s unfaithfulness was adultery, as we hear so often in the prophets. But it is not so in Christendom, where the grievous corruption is designated under the figure of a great harlot, not an adulteress. (Rev 17 .) The assumption that we are like Israel, the married wife, falsifies our attitude both toward our Lord Jesus and toward the world. it Judaises the Church instead of leaving her in her proper place of waiting for Christ in holy separateness from the world.
Babylon the great, who falsely arrogates this place to herself, naturally follows it up by saying in her heart, “I sit a queen and I am no widow” (as poor Zion is) “and shall see no sorrow”; and so she has glorified herself and lives deliciously. “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.” (Rev 18:7 f.) But here have we no continuing city, though we seek one to come; and in this world we look for tribulation, and through much tribulation to enter the kingdom, being content, yea joyful, to show Christ’s rejection where He was put to shame and death, and assured of appearing with Him when He appears in glory. Hence, though we suffer meanwhile with Christ, and glory in affliction, distress, and insult for His name’s sake, it is not as orphans or as widowed; for we enjoy the adoption of sons to our God and Father., and are one spirit with the Lord; but for this very reason we are in the secret of the Divine counsels, and await His coming who is on high, not of the world as He is not, till the day arrives for Him to take the world-kingdom and for us to reign with Him. Thus we “reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.” (Rom 8:18 .) Refusing to assume the air of the wife in rest and possession of His inheritance, we feel that our sorrow here is joined with the communion of His love before He comes to receive us to Himself and to display us with Himself before the world.
In short, then, the parable touches the godly Jewish Remnant rather than the Christian when we come to the exact application of the widow; and this falls in aptly with those saints involved in the judgment of the quick described just before, where one shall be taken and the other left – an earthly scene, it is plain, without a word implying translation to heaven. Still, the Holy Spirit gives the exhortation a more general bearing and with the moral purpose we have so often remarked in our Evangelist. Every saint should profit by it.
“And he spoke also* a parable to them, to the purport that they should always pray, and not faint, saying, There was a judge in a city, not fearing God, and not respecting man. And there was a widow in that city, and she cametid=63#bkm445- to him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary; and he would not for a time; but afterwards he said within himself, If even I fear not God, and respect not man, tid=63#bkm446- at any rate because this widow annoys me, I will avenge her, that she may not by perpetual coming completely harasstid=63#bkm447- me.”
*The “also” [in AD, etc.] is omitted by some of the best authorities [BLM, some cursive manuscripts [13, 69, etc.], besides Old Lat.]. But, without it the reference or address is certainly to the disciples ( and ), not about other men, as in the A.V. (B.T.)
“They”: so Edd., following ABKL, etc., 69, Memph. Arm. It is omitted in DEG, etc., and many cursives (as 1).
The reflection which the, Lord adds as its second part and application makes all plain to the instructed ear. “And the lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God at all avenge his elect, who cry to him day and night, and he bears* long as to them.tid=63#bkm448- “I say unto you that he will avenge them speedily. But when the Son of man cometh, shall he indeed find faith on the earth?” It is an fortiori analogy, which no more views the unjust judge as God than the unjust stewardtid=63#bkm449- in Luk 16 means the disciple. In the two cases it is a powerful or a consolatory appeal. Jesus would encourage one always to pray without fainting if the answer seem to tarry and evil to abound. Even the unrighteous judge would rather see to the right of the most friendless and feeble than be ever stunned with appeals. How much more shall not God interfere on behalf of His elect against their enemies! It is true that He bears long as to His own; but he will avenge them soon, as all will own when the blow falls.
*”And he bears”: so Edd., after ABDL, etc., 1, Syrrcu sin Arm., although “bearing” (T.R.) is found in R, 69.
The attentive reader will note that the deliverance as well as the prayers are Jewish in character,* not patient grace like the Christians. It is not by their going up to meet the Lord, but by Divine judgment on their foes. Still, there is real faith in thus crying day and night to God, Who, if He delay, is not slack concerning His promises, but is bringing souls to, repentance that they too might be saved. And there is perseverance till the answer is given. When the Lord comes, there are elect saints already glorified with Him (Rev 17:14 ; Rev 19:14 ); but here they are on earth crying to God till He takes vengeance on those who wronged them. It would seem also, from the question which the Lord puts and does not answer, that faith will be rare then as in the days of Noah and Lot, when few were saved and some nearest to the saved were lost – so feeble and fluctuating the faith, too, that only He could find it.tid=63#bkm450-
*I cannot agree with Mr. [Bp. J. C.] Ryle (who seems to follow, in this, “Trench on the Parables”), that Irenaeus and Hippolytus were far astray in seeing earthly Jerusalem in the widow, though it is hard to say why the unjust judge is Antichrist in particular [see note tid=63#bkm449- in App.]. Vitringa’s notion that the early Church is the widow, and the Roman Emperors the judge, is in my opinion not only more fanciful, but unsound in principle for reasons already given. There can be no doubt that the parable is meant only to encourage individuals in persevering prayer at any time.
Luk 18:9-14 .
The next section of our Gospel sets forth, first by a parable, then by facts, lastly by the words which passed between the Lord and the twelve, the characteristics which suit the kingdom of God. The connection is with this as we know it now, rather than with its display when the Son of man comes in judgment of the quick as in the preceding parable. Indeed, the exceeding breadth of the lesson about to be taught we learn in the words with which the Evangelist opens: “And he spoke also to some, who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and made nothing of all the rest [of them], this parable.” It is no dispensational picture of the Divine ways with Jews and Gentiles; it is a moral delineation which tells us how God regards those who plume themselves on their correctness of ways as a ground of confidence with Him, and what His estimate is of those who are broken before Him because of their conscious and now to themselves loathsome sinfulness.
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee, standing, prayed thus to himself: God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax-gatherer. I fast twice in the week, I tithe every thing that I acquire.* And the tax-gatherer, standing afar off, would not lift up even his eyes to heaven, but was striking upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me the sinner. I say unto you, this [man] went down to his house justified rather than that [other]; for every one who exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
*”Possess” is the force of the perfect. Here it is rather “to come into possession of” (). (B.T.)
“To his house”: so most Edd. with mass of authority. Blass omits, as D and Sah.
The Pharisee represents the religious world in its most respectable shape; the tax-gatherer, such as had no character to lose, but whatever he may have been, now truly penitent and looking to God’s compassion in self-judgment. How different are the thoughts of God from those of men! A delicate difference is implied in the two forms of the word which we translate “standing” in each case. With the Pharisee the form () implies a stand taken, a putting himself in position, such as one might naturally do in addressing a speech to an assembly. With the tax-gatherer it is the ordinary expression for standing in contradistinction to sitting ().tid=63#bkm451-
Again, the essence of the Pharisee’s prayer, if prayer it can be called, is not a confession of sin nor an expression of need even, but a thanksgiving; and this, not for what God had done and been for him, but for what he himself was. He was not, like the rest of men, violent and corrupt, nor even as the tax-gatherer, of whom he cannot speak without a tinge of contempt – “this tax-gatherer.” He finally displays his own habits of fastingtid=63#bkm452- and of religious punctiliousness. Not that he laid false claims; not that he excluded God, but he trusted, as a ground for acceptance, to his righteousness, and he made nothing of others’. He never saw his own sins in the sight of God.
The tax-gatherer, on the contrary, is filled with shame and contrition. He stands afar off with not even his eyes raised to heaven, and beats withal on his breast, saying, “God be compassionate to me, the sinner if ever there was one.”tid=63#bkm453- There is no solid reason to infer that he pleads the Atonement in the word . No doubt the idea of propitiating is expressed by the verb; but it is used far more widely, like its kindred word in Mat 16:22 , where no one could suppose such an allusion. Whatever the origin or usage of the word, we are not to suppose that the tax-gatherer in employing it thought of the day of atonement, or of the mercy-seat in the holiest; still less are we warranted to attribute to him an intelligence of the mighty work of redemption which Jesus was soon about to accomplish. The word might allude to propitiation; but that he did so in his crying to God thus is another matter altogether. We easily transfer to souls before the death of Christ a knowledge which, however simple and clear to us since the Cross, could not be possessed before.
And this misapprehension has led to another, that the Lord was here pronouncing the tax-gatherer justified as we are who believe in the Lord Jesus and His blood. But this is not the teaching of the passage. The strong assertion of Archbishop Trench that it is, and the fact that Roman Catholic theologians deny it, need neither allure nor deter. It is in vain to say that the sentence of our Lord is that the publican was justified by faith at the time when he is described as going down to his house. There is a distinct comparison with the Pharisee, and it is affirmed that the tax-gatherer went down justified rather than the former. Had justification by faith been meant as in Romans 3-5, no such statement could have been made. There are no degrees in the justification of which Paul speaks
the Lord implies that there are in what He speaks of. Besides the form of the word differs. He is said to have gone down, not dikaiwqeiv” absolutely, but dedikaiwmevno” . . . garj ejkei’non.*tid=63#bkm454- I do not doubt that this is the true text.
*The perfect is used as to the state of the Christian viewed as dead with Christ to sin – discharged or cleared from it in God’s sight (Rom 6:7 ). (B.T.)
“Rather than” (): so A and all the later uncials. W.H., after Treg., adopt the neutral text , above or beside that (other), in BL, Old Lat. Sah. Memph. Blass adds , as D. See, further, note tid=63#bkm454- , in App.
The common English version seems quite correct, though founded, no doubt, on the vulgarly received text, . The great mass of uncials and cursives join in giving the strange reading , followed even in his eighth edition by Tischendorf, spite of the Sinai MS. which casts its weight into the scale of the Vatican (B) and Parisian 62 (L), not to speak of D with its not infrequent additions, and some few other authorities.
Dean Alford shows us the danger of misapplying the case to justification, which is his own view, by the remark he adds: “Therefore, he who would seek justification before God must seek it by humility and not by self-righteousness.” It is the more to be regretted that this glaring error should have been made by one who had just confessed that we are not to find any doctrinal meanings in . It would have been more consistent not to have pressed similarly.tid=63#bkm455-
Luke 18: 15-17.tid=63#bkm456-
Mat 19:13-15 ; Mar 10:13-16 .
From the homily on lowliness in view of our sins we are now to receive another, lowliness because of our insignificance. “And they brought to him also infants that he might touch them; but the disciples when they saw [it rebuked them. But Jesus calling them to [him] said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter into it.”tid=63#bkm457- (Mat 18:3 .) The babes were of great price in the eyes of Jesus, not of the disciples, who, if not rabbis themselves, would have lowered their Master to the level of such an one in contempt of little ones. But this could not be suffered, for it was not the truth. Neither the Son nor the Father so feel toward the weak and evidently dependent. Nor is this. all: “of such is the kingdom of God.” Those who enter into His kingdom must by grace receive the Saviour and His word as a child that of its, parents. Self-reliance is excluded and replaced by dependence on God in the sense of our own nothingness.
Luk 18:18-30 .
Mat 19:16-29 ; Mar 10:17-30 .
Next comes the young and rich ruler, who went away sorrowfully from Christ rather than give up the self-importance attached to his manifold possessions. “And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Teacher, having done what shall I inherit life eternal? tid=63#bkm457a- And Jesus said to him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, God.*tid=63#bkm458- Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honour thy father and thy mother.tid=63#bkm458a- And he said, All these things have I kept from my youth. And Jesus on hearing [this] said to him, One thing is lacking to thee yet: sell all that thou hast and distribute to poor [men], and thou shalt have treasure in the heavens; and come, follow me. But he on hearing these things became very sorrowful, for he was exceedingly rich. And Jesus having seen him [become very sorrowful]|| said, How difficult shall those who have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to enter through a needle’s eye than for a rich [man] to enter into the kingdom of God.”
*”One, God”: so most authorities (versions and MSS.), as AD, etc., Syrr., etc., followed by Edd. in text. X and Bpm omit and thus read “one God.”
“My”: so A, etc., Syrsin Latt., etc. Recent Edd. omit, as BD Syrcu.
[“This”]: so A, etc.; but Edd. omit, following BDL, 1, 33, 69, Syrrcu sin pesch Memph.
“The heavens”: so Edd. after BD, Memph. (ALR having “heavens” without the article: so Tisch.). “Heaven” is the reading of PX, etc., Old Lat. Amiat.
||”Having seen him [become very sorrowful]”: so AD, etc., most cursives, Syrr. Old Lat. Edd. adopt “Seeing him, said,” following BL, 1, Memph.
“Shall . . . enter”: so ADR, and later uncials in general, most cursives, Syrr. Old Lat. Edd. “do . . . enter,” after BL.
The case is plain. The young ruler had no sense of sin, no faith in Christ as a Saviour, still less did he believe that a Divine person was there, which indeed He must be to save sinners. He appealed to Jesus as the best expression of goodness in man, the highest in the class in which he counted himself no mean scholar. The Lord answers him on the ground of his question. Did he ask the Lord as the good master or teacher, what thing doing he should inherit eternal life? He took his stand on his own doing; he saw not that he was lost and needed salvation. It had never occurred to him that man as such was out of the way, none good, no, not one. That Jesus was the Son of God and Son of man sent to save was a truth to him unknown. The Lord brings in the commandments of the second table: but his conscience was untouched: “All these things have I kept from my youth.”tid=63#bkm458b- “One thing is lacking to thee yet,” said Jesus to the self-satisfied yet dissatisfied ruler, conscious that he had not eternal life and that he had no solid security for the future – “Sell all that thou hast, and distribute to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.” The conscience which had resisted the test of law fell at the first touch of Jesus. “And hearing this he became very sorrowful, for he was exceedingly rich.”tid=63#bkm459-
Yet how infinitely did the demand fall short of what we know and have in the Master, good indeed, God indeed, who never laid on others a burden which He had not borne,”” who bore one immeasurably greater and under circumstances peculiar to Himself, and for ends redounding to the glory of God, and with the result to every sinful creature on earth of a testimony of grace without limit, and of a blessing without stint where He is received! To the ruler it was overwhelming, impossible, the annihilation of all he valued; for indeed now it was evident that he loved his riches, money, mammon, a thing he had never suspected in himself before; but there it had been all along, discovered now in presence of and by Him Who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. 2Co 8:9 . The ruler valued his position and his property, and could not bear to have nothing and be nothing. Oh, what a contrast with Him who “counted it not a matter of robbery to be on equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking a bondsman’s form, born in likeness of men; and who, when found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself by becoming obedient as far as death, yea death of the cross.” Phi 2:6 ff.
How plain, too, that worldly prosperity or wealth, fruit of fidelity according to the law, is a danger of the first magnitude for the soul, for eternity! And Jesus did not fail to draw the searching moral for the disciples, ever slow, through unjudged selfishness, to learn it. They knew not yet to what Christians are called, even to be imitators of God as dear children, and to walk in love according to the pattern of Christ. (Eph 5:1 f.) It is all but impossible, it is impossible, as far as man is concerned, for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.tid=63#bkm461- “And who can be saved?” is the remark of those who heard a sentence so counter to their secret desires.tid=63#bkm462- Jesus replied, “The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.”tid=63#bkm462a- There, is no other hope of salvation. It is of God, not of man. Yet to save cost God everything, yea His own Son. And “if the righteous are with difficulty saved, where shall the impious and the sinner appear?” (1Pe 4:18 .) And why wonder at the danger to a rich man through the unrighteous mammon? None can serve two masters. Happy he who through grace makes wealth to be only for Christ’s service, looking to have the true riches his own in everlasting glory
Luke 18: 31-34.tid=63#bkm464-
Mat 20:17-19 ; Mar 10:32-34 .
“And Peter said, Behold we have left all* things and have followed thee. And he said to them, Verily I say unto you, There is no one who hath left home, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who shall not get manifold more at this time, and in the age that is coming life eternal.”tid=63#bkm463- But if Peter was thus prompt to speak of their losses for Christ, who certainly repays as God only can both now and through eternity according to the riches of His grace, “he taking the twelve to [him] said to them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all the things written by the prophets of the Son of man shall be accomplished; for he shall be delivered up to the nations and shall be mocked, and insulted, and spit upon; and when they have scourged him they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.” Again, what a contrast even with the thoughts and hopes of disciples! Alas! “they understood none of these things; and this word [or matter] was hidden from them, and they did not know what was said.” So it ever is where the eye is not single. By faith we understand. Where nature is still valued by saints, the plainest words of Jesus are riddles even to such.tid=63#bkm465-
*”All () and”: so Treg. (text) following APRX, etc., most minuscules (33), Goth. Some excellent authorities [BDL, 1, etc., most Old Lat. Amiat. Memph.] have , “our own” (so most Edd. and the Revv.). (B.T.)
Luk 18:35-43 .
Mat 20:29-34 ; Mar 10:46-52 .
The final scene approaches. Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem and to present Himself in the flesh to the Jews for the last time. Our Evangelist slowly traces this journey (Luk 9:51 ; Luk 13:22 , Luk 13:31 , Luk 13:33 ; Luk 17:11 ; Luk 18:31 ; Luk 19:28 , Luk 19:29 , Luk 19:37 , Luk 19:41 ), with the infinite consequences which flow from that cross which, to human eyes, was His rejection, but which faith knows to be the glorifying of God for ever, as well as the only possible ground of salvation for sinners.
Jericho held a remarkable place as the way to Jerusalem from the Jordan, and of old, when it stood in its might, the key of the position. Hence its solemn destruction under Joshua; hence the curse pronounced on him who should dare to rebuild it. But there Elisha, after the translation of Elijah and his own crossing through the miraculously parted river, healed the waters. So here the Lord, drawing towards the close of His long and last journey, after the transfiguration, performs a miracle of mercy on the blind man. It was an especial sign of His Messiahship; and rightly, therefore, led of God, did the blind man call on Him as Son of David: so the three synoptic Gospels carefully record.
It is to be observed, however, that not Mark nor Luke, but Matthew records the fact that two blind men were healed at this time. Further, Mark, who as usual adds details of the most graphic description, lets us know that the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, was thus healed as the Lord was going out of Jericho, Matthew also intimating that it was on leaving, not entering, the place. Luke, on the other hand, has been generally supposed to say that the miracle was performed on entering Jericho. So all the old English translations, Wickliff, Tyndale, Geneva, Cranmer, the Rhemish, as well as the Authorised: so the Latin, Syriac, and other ancient versions, with most moderns.
But it appears to me that the Greek phrase is so constructed as to avoid any such conclusion, and that the genuine, unforced meaning is “while he was near to Jericho.” According to the usage of the New Testament there might have been ground for the objection raised, if Luke had employed the genitive absolute. In strict grammatical nicety there is nothing to tie the sense to the entry into Jericho; it means equally well, as far as language is concerned, while the Lord was in the neighbourhood.
I cannot doubt that what weighed with translators in general is the fact that Luk 19 opens with the Lord’s entering and passing through Jericho. Hence it was assumed that the previously mentioned circumstance must have preceded this in time. And it must be owned if Luke, as a rule, adhered to the order of occurrence in his account, it would be most natural to translate Luk 18:35 as in the Authorised Version. But it has been shown throughout our Gospel that he adopts another and deeper order than the mere sequence of events, and habitually groups the words, works, and ways of our Lord in moral connection, whenever it is needful to this end, putting together what may have been far apart in time.
In the present case it seems to have been in the mind of the Spirit that all three who dwell on the Galilean ministry of Christ should mark Jericho and the healing of the blind there as a common starting-point before His formal appearance in Jerusalem. We can understand, therefore, why Luke, even if the incident of Zacchaeus occurred after the miracle, should, according to his manner, postpone his account of it till he had told us of the blind man healed. But there seems to have been a yet stronger reason of a similar character in the fact that, if the healing had been introduced after Zacchaeus, when (I have no doubt) it really took place, adherence to the mere chronology of the facts would have spoilt the very impressive order actually adopted, in which we see the tale of Zacchaeus, with salvation brought to his house though a chief tax-gatherer, followed at once by the parable of the pounds, which together beautifully set forth the general character and differing objects of the two advents of the Lord, who was about to suffer as the Ground of righteousness and salvation for the lost, instead of at once establishing His throne in Zion as others fondly thought. If this were the design of the inspiring Spirit, as I conceive it certainly to be, gathered from the special character traceable throughout its course, it does not seem possible to suggest any other order so admirably calculated to convey it as that which is pursued. Hence the point in verse 35 was to choose a phrase which, while not breaking the thread of the narrative, and, of course, in words thoroughly consistent with the exact truth, should nevertheless convey the thought of a time or state during which the particular act related took place. This, in my opinion, has been done perfectly in the language of Luke: so much so that, granting the aim to be as I suppose, no man can desire better words to combine what is intimated, or to avoid a false inference for all aware of that design. If, on the contrary, men, however learned, assume a bare order of fact, this naturally would influence their translation; and so I think we may fairly account for the common mistake.
Accordingly there is no need of resorting to any of the various methods of reconciling Luke’s account with Matthew and Mark. We are not driven to the harsh supposition that Luke’s blind man was healed before entering Jericho, and that the news of this reached Mark’s blind man, Bartimaeus, so that he went through a similar process of appeal on the Lord’s exit, as Origen and Augustine supposed in early days, Greswell, etc., in our own time. Nor is it necessary (though undoubtedly quite legitimate, and the fact elsewhere) to suppose that Matthew combined the two instances in one summary. Less reasonable is the view of Euthymius, who will have it that all three instances were distinct, and, therefore, that four blind men were healed at this time near Jericho. Nor is there any substantial ground to argue, as men have done from Calvin to Wordsworth, that the blind man began crying as our Lord approached Jericho, but was not healed till another joined him outside, and both received sight as Jesus left the place. Still more violent are the hypotheses of Markland and of Macknight. The truth is that there is nothing in this to reconcile, all that being evidently harmonious, when the language of Luke is seen to be such as falls in with the time and place described more precisely by Matthew and Mark. It may be well, however, to add that Matthew elsewhere names two where Mark and Luke as here speak only of one, as in the case of the demoniacs. (Compare Mat 8:28-34 with Mar 5:1-20 and Luk 8:26-39 .) See also Mat 9:27-31 . This was all right, when the fact (as here) warranted it, in one writing especially for Jews, with whom it was a maxim to demand at least two witnesses. The other Evangelists were each led to dwell only on the one that best suited the design of his own Gospel.
It is striking also to note that as there was a reason why Matthew, and not Mark nor Luke, should record pairs which were healed, so there is the strongest indirect evidence in this against the very poor theory that the omissions of the first Evangelist were supplied in measure by the second, and yet more by the third and so on. For it was the earliest who in these instances speaks of the two; which is irreconcilable, on the supplementary theory,tid=63#bkm466- with the second and third mentioning but one. The Holy Spirit made them by His power the vessels for setting forth the various glories of Jesus the Son of God on the earth. Each had his own line given and perfectly carried out, and facts or sayings are recorded by each, whether reported by the others or not, as they bore on his proper objects.
“And it came to pass when he was in the neighbourhood of Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting by the wayside begging; tid=63#bkm467- and when he heard the crowd passing, he asked what this might be. And they told him that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, and he called aloud, saying, Jesus, Son of David, pity me. And those in advance rebuked him that he should be silent; but he kept crying much more, Son of David, pity me. And Jesus stopped and ordered him to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, What wilt thou that I should do for thee? And he said, Lord, that I should receive my sight. And Jesus said, Receive sight: thy faith hath healed thee. And immediately he received sight, and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people saw, and gave praise to God.”
The Lord was still the rejected One, not understood even by His disciples, yet with a heart towards the most lowly and wretched in Israel who cried to Him in faith. The blind man near Jericho was one of them, and seized the moment of His presence, made known to his sightless eyes by the heedless noise of those who seeing saw not. Blindness in part had happened to Israel in good sooth, blindness most of all to such of them as least acknowledged it. Here was one who, near the city of the curse, dared to confess Him to be the Messiah Whom the religious chiefs had long desired to destroy, and sooner than they hoped were to be allowed to do so, and yet they dared to ask of Him that sign of opening the eyes of the blind peculiar to the Son of David, as even rabbinical tradition confessed. The story of His gracious power was not lost on the blind man. Now was his opportunity: might it not be the last? He called aloud; and the more rebuked, the more by far he cried. If to others Jesus was but the Nazarene, to him none other than David’s Son. “Son of David, pity me.” And never in vain goes forth the appeal of distress to Him. How pleasant in His ears the persistent call on His name! Jesus stops, commands him to be brought, inquires into his want, and gives all he asks. So will He in the day of His power when Israel (the remnant becoming the people) shall be made willing, shall call on Him and find sight, salvation, and every other good thing to the praise and glory of God.tid=63#bkm468-
But it was still the day of His humiliation, of Israel’s blind and wilful unbelief; and Jesus steadily pursued His sorrowful path to the Holy City about to perpetrate the most unhallowed deed of this world’s sad history.
NOTES ON THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER.
445 Luk 18:3 . – “Came”; or, “kept coming” (imperf.). Cf. Ecclesiasticus xxxv. 14 ff.
446 Luk 18:4 . – “The creed of a powerful atheist” (Bengel).
447 Luk 18:5 . – “Completely harass” or “plague.” Cf. R.V., “wear out,” . (Cf. 1Co 9:27 .) Weymouth: “pester.” D. Smith: “It is a pugilist’s term and means hit under the eye.”
448 Luk 18:7 . – The would be either, as the Expositor takes it, the “elect” Remnant (cf. Mat 24:22 , Rev 6:9-11 ); or, the adversaries (cf. 2Pe 3:9 ). Field: “He deferred His anger on their behalf” (that of the elect). Cf. further, Psa 13:1 f., Psa 55:17 and Psa 94:1-4 ; also Pro 9:11 ; Ecclesiasticus xxxv. 18.
For “and he” American Revv. have “and (yet) he.”
449 Cf. Psa 36:1 and 94: 20, which latter some (as B. W. Newton) have understood as predicted of the Beast’s legislation, but the Psalmist seems to speak there of judicial, rather than political oppression, “seat” representing tribunal (Jennings and Lowe).
450 Luk 18:8 . – See Isa 60:2 , Mat 24:12 , 2Th 3:2 and 2Th 2:10 of that Epistle for the few believers on the earth then. Cf. Bruce ad loc. Jowett of Balliol, in sermon at St. Mary’s, Oxford (1872), paraphrased thus: “What prospect is there of any great moral or religious improvement among mankind?” Farrar well says that such faith as the Son of Man will find among men will be faith in themselves.
Dr. Arnold has a sermon preached from this verse (“Christian Life,” p. 20).
“The (or, that) faith,” . This is variously taken as (a) such faith as the widow’s, typical of the Remnant (Exposition, and so very much B. Weiss); (b) personal faith in general; (c) Christianity (Canon Scott Holland, in sermon at St. Paul’s). Dr. Frederic Harrison, presumably, would understand it of creeds in general. He closes his autobiographic “Memories” (1911) by saying, “Our age has no abiding faith in any religion at all,” which should include that “of Humanity,” of which he is himself the English prophet (note 147a).
The Mohammedan Seljuks of the thirteenth century originated a belief that Aissa, the saint said to have preceded the Prophet by some 500 years, will visit every country of Europe, England, and America, but find none faithful to his teaching, until he reaches the Lake of Tiburijeh (art. by Capt. von Herbert in Hibbert Journal, Oct., 1908).
FAITH. – For faith in the word of JESUS, see Mar 1:15 : for faith in Himself, Mat 8:10 . Cf. note 98 on Mark.
The “Catholic” definition would be found in the “Explanatory Catechism,” No. 9. For Cardinal Newman’s Theory of Belief, see the psychological analysis of it in Mellone, “Leaders of Religious Thought” (1902). According to Maher, a living Catholic professor, Newman’s faith would be no more than opinion (“Psychology,” p. 328). See the Cardinal’s “Grammar of Assent,” chapters 4, 6, 7. Another representative of Catholicism comes near to the Expositor’s view in treating Faith as belief on Divine testimony (Rickaby, “First Principles,” part ii., chapter viii.).
A recent work by Dean Inge deals with the psychological aspects of Faith. Sir W. Hamilton wrote: “Knowledge is a certainty founded upon insight; belief is certainty founded upon feeling. The one is perspicuous and objective, the other obscure and subjective.”
The theological aspect of Faith has been thus stated by Fairbairn: “Faith is an intellectual act, for it is a form of knowledge; it is an emotional attitude and activity, for it trusts persons and works by love; it is a moral intuition, for it sees obligation in truth and right in duty” (“Philosophy of the Christian Religion,” p. 548). Cf. Rom 1:5 , Gal 5:6 , and note 9 on John, sub init.; and see also Stalker, “The Ethic of Jesus,” chapter viii.
For a scientific appreciation of the present state of Religious Belief in “Christian” communities see Pratt, “Psychology of Religion,” especially chapter viii. (p. 231 ff.). This writer’s third class of believers is composed of those who by the Evangelist are regarded as truly such. A correspondence in the Daily Telegraph some years ago, which has since been republished in a volume edited by W. L. Courtney, revealed the many lights in which this vital subject is now regarded. One of the contributors referred to an aphorism which would be found in Nietzsche’s “Antichrist” ( 52), that “Belief means not wishing to know what is true.” (Cf. Herbert Spencer on “Christian Scepticism.”)
Newman, from his Oxford pulpit, spoke well when he said, “Unbelief is opposed to Reason . . . criticizes the evidences of Religion, only because it does not like it, and really goes upon presumptions and prejudices as much as Faith does.”
In this connection it is odd that Hume, the protagonist of Doubt in the eighteenth century, avowed that he had never read the New Testament! Here it becomes a question of those who live in glass-houses not throwing stones.
Benn, in Literary Guide and Rationalist Review, Oct., 1908, has strikingly written, “Faith is no more than a particular application of Reason. It means confidence in the legitimacy of inferring the future from the past; the unseen from the seen; the unknown from the known.” Christian thinkers would acquiesce in this, from passages of Scripture like 1Pe 3:15 . The Bishop of Ossory, in Evidential Lecture at King’s College, London, in the year 1909, expressed himself in a like sense; emphasizing, of course, the element of trust, which adheres to Benn’s view nol. vol. But Christian faith is a gift of God (Eph 2:8 ), of which JESUS is originator (Heb 12:2 ; cf. Gal 2:20 ): and here lies all the difference.
Cf. notes 54 and 58 on Mark, and note 133, in particular, on John.
See Spurgeon’s Sermons, 856 and 1963.
451 Luk 18:11 . – “The Pharisee.” For the “Christian” counterpart, cf. Rev 3:17 f. As J. H. Newman in a parochial sermon said very truly: “The worldly man is a Pharisee.”
“Stood.” For cf. 19: 8, of Zaccheus. Standing was, and remains, the habitual attitude of Jews in prayer: cf. Mar 11:25 . The scriptural attitudes are either standing (Abraham, in Gen 18:22 : cf. Jer 15:1 , of Moses and Samuel), or kneeling (Solomon, Daniel, our Lord in 22: 41, Stephen, Peter, Paul). For the quaint expression “sat” in 1Ch 17:16 , cf. Mat 4:16 : the Hebrew word and its Greek equivalent being used for abiding, tarrying. Cf. further Luk 21:35 .
452 Luk 18:12 . – “Twice, etc.” That is, on Mondays and Thursdays, according to the Talmud. It is prescribed in Old Testament Scripture only for the Day of Atonement. The Didach enjoined its observance by Christians on Wednesdays and Fridays ( viii.).
453 Luk 18:13 . -“Was striking upon his breast.” Cf. Neander’s famous saying, The breast makes the theologian,” which carried the sympathy of Schleiermacher. The words of the writer of the well-known Church History were those of a man of genius.
“The sinner”; or, as A.V., retained by Revv., “a sinner.” That is, “who is a sinner,” the article being then regarded as equivalent to a relative pronoun, as in Rom 7:21 .
The same words were on the lips, when dying, of Archbishop Usher and William Wilberforce.
There is a discourse of Bunyan on verses 10-13 (“Works,” vol. ii.), also sermons of G. Whitefield and Isaac Williams.
454 “Justified,” . Meyer, Godet, and Weiss suppose that it means Pauline doctrinal justification, a view which the Expositor’s remarks were designed to meet. Cf. Wellhausen: justified relatively.
455 For verses 9-14, see “Pilgrim’s Progress,” part ii.: “Greatheart” to the pilgrims; also sermon of Whitefield, and Spurgeon’s 1949.
Critics, as the manner is, suppose a duplicate here of Luk 14:11 .
456 Luk 18:15 . – The connection with Mat 19:13 f. and Mar 10:13 ff. is here resumed.
457 Luk 18:16 f. – The KINGDOM (“moral” aspect).
“To receive” (verse 17); or, “to accept,” (active). Observe the distinct force of this word in 1Co 2:14 , compared with verse 12 there; also 2Co 11:4 , where both and instructively occur in the same verse. The Vulgate in Luk 18 has distinguished . in present verse from . in verse 30.
Stock: “receiving is not exactly a passive thing” (p. 230).
As to acceptance of the Kingdom (God’s Sovereignty, or Christ’s Lordship), see Dalman, p. 91, and note 105 on Mark; for entrance, which in Scripture is regularly used of the time of recompense, Dalman, p. 95, and note 99 on the same Gospel.
The GOSPEL as popularly used (see note on Luk 8:1 ) is only the scaffolding of the KINGDOM, not the building itself. Children of at least Christian parents obey them readily, from the heart, so far as they do respond to faithful “nurture and admonition.” Cf. Rom 1:5 , Rom 6:17 , and Eph 6:4 : in the last passage they are required to recognize the Lordship of Christ, to be subject to that. In the child as such there is no consciousness of merit; and so for those who entertain the doctrine of the Kingdom and enter upon the path which leads to its attainment.
“As a little child.” See Nicoll, “Return to the Cross,” pp. 201, 210, and chapter “The Theology of Little Children” (p. 142), quoting Bushnell: “It is the very character and mark of all unchristian education that it brings up the child for future conversion.” This American writer also remarks, “Of the Moravian Brethren not one in ten recollects the time when he began to be religious” (quoted ibid., p. 145); in other words, to love the Lord.
457a Luk 18:18 . – “Inherit”: see note 106 on Mark, and in particular Rom 8:17 , where a twofold inheritance is spoken of:-
(i.) “heirs of GOD,” obtaining an endless inheritance promised (Tit 1:2 , Tit 3:2 ; Heb 9:15 ; cf. 1Pe 5:10 ), which “fadeth not away” (1Pe 1:4 f.) and connected with Pauline justification, by FAITH, “of life” (Act 13:39 ; Rom 5:18 ), clenched by “this grace wherein (we) believers stand”;
(ii.) “but,”as Vulg. rightly: see Meyer, “joint-heirs with CHRIST, if so be . . . that we may be also glorified with (Him),” where a semicolon after “Christ” obscures the meaning. For this cf. Col 3:24 ; 2Ti 2:12 , and Heb 3:14 (Greek). In Rom 8:17 the and together make up the “but.” This distinct inheritance, which is the prelude to the other (verse 30; cf. Rom 2:7 ), popularly confounded with it, is related to justification by WORKS in Jas 2:18 , Jas 2:24 .
It is sometimes said by apologists for crude “Reformed” doctrine that, because Paul alone uses “before God” (Rom 4:2 ), justification in James means before men (cf. Mat 5:16 ), and appeal is made to Jas 2:24 . But that the Apostle James uses the word “see” for ideal sight is proved by verse 11 of his Epistle. Bishop Bull’s second Dissertation (chapter 1) on Justification has refuted what he describes as this “foolish scheme.” That one believer’s works are open to another’s human appreciation is clear from Jas 2:18 ; but James’s reference to Gen 22:19 is different from that made by Paul (Gen 15:6 ): observe in Gen 22:15 , “now I (Jehovah) know,” when no men were on the scene but Abraham and his son. Luther (like Calvin, note 192) did not apprehend the truth of the Kingdom, any more than that of the Church, which together have come out more clearly during the last eighty years.
See further Luk 21:36 and 1Co 10:12 , which, in harmony with other passages, establish the standing in responsibility (obnoxious to Calvinists) alongside of that in grace (obnoxious to Arminians). The statement of Norris that Justification is complete, though liable to be forfeited” (“Rudiments of Theology,” p. 125), is misleading: cf. Rom 8:30 and 1Ti 2:4 , which strike one note with 1Th 2:12 , which strikes another. “Probation,” recognized in the New Testament (1Co 9:27 , etc.), has to do with standing in responsibility. The Holy Spirit would jealously guard such a scripture as Act 13:39 from an interpretation admitting of antinomianism in any shape or form. See 2Pe 3:16 ; 1Co 10:11 f., etc.
Controversialists, Roman and Protestant, High Anglican and Evangelicals, too often will but “see” one side of the case; whilst Higher Critics are wont to divorce Gospels from Epistles, and, from Lutheran tradition, to view these as in disharmony (cf. note 617).
Kingdom blessing depends, not on conformity to “the Law,” as the term is used by the Apostle Paul (Gal 2:16 , “the works of the Law”: cf. Rom 6:14 ), but upon the believer’s realisation of, and conformity to, New Testament requirements: see in particular Mat 7:24 , Mat 28:20 , and 1Co 9:21 . The Kingdom in its manifestation will be the sphere of recompense for doing and suffering: see Luk 14:14 , comparing 1Th 4:14-17 , Phi 3:10 f.
“Eternal life,” as used by the “ruler,” is the “life for evermore” of Psa 133:3 , and so always by the Synoptists, who exhibit it in its historical limitations. Not that in the Fourth Gospel any more it is used as equivalent to the Synoptic “Kingdom,” as says Garvie (after E. F. Scott). From Luke’s treating the Kingdom largely from a “moral” point of view, bearing on the present dispensation (1Co 4:20 ), he has seemed to some German writers to lead up to what they suppose to be a merging, by the fourth Evangelist, of the Kingdom in Eternal Life; just as early “fathers” thought, on the other hand, that the swamps the . This has resulted from an imperfect induction of passages. The lineaments of the Synoptic Kingdom are engraved indelibly on Joh 15:1-8 , where not a word occurs about “life,” and where the three stages of fruit-bearing in Mar 4:20 are plainly recognizable. Again, the “abundant” life of Joh 10:10 is as thoroughly Lucan as it is Petrine. Cf. notes 65, 66, and 66a on John.
When Wernle criticizes Hermas amongst sub-apostolic writers for the conviction that many Christians would forfeit Kingdom blessings, on the ground that the writer of the Shepherd “never got quit of Jewish uncertainty of salvation” (“Beginnings,” ii., p. 303), it must be remembered that, whilst it is true that none of the spokesmen of that generation laid hold of the Biblical fact that the believer has a “purged conscience” (Heb 10:2 and 22), their imperfect understanding of Grace arose from the mistake above mentioned, which may have been accentuated by misunderstanding of 2Pe 1:11 ; this, notwithstanding critics’ depreciation of the Epistles as a whole, has become classical.
458 Luk 18:19 . – The emphasis is on “good,” not on “Me.” Cf. Ullmann, “Sinlessness of Jesus,” p. 148 ff. and note 107 on Mark, which deals with the point raised in such popular books as Schmiedel, “Jesus in Modern Criticism,” p. 23. The limitations of the Lord’s humanity we cannot determine outside Scripture (Joh 5:19 , etc.), they were incidental to His self-imposed humiliation. There is here no more avowal of imperfection than in 20: 41-44 a repudiation of his Davidic Sonship. It is noticeable that the Koran, whilst more than once recording Mohammed’s sense of need of forgiveness of sins, nowhere attributes to Aissa any such confession, although apocryphal gospels, from which “the Prophet” received his information, are not free from insinuations of the kind.
For “good” () applied to the Lord, cf. Joh 7:12 . “Goodness” () GOD displays specially in sacrifice (verse 22; cf. Rom 8:32 ). Ethical religionists may talk of “sacrifice in behalf of the race,” but JESUS first taught and practised it, as none other could or would do. Treasured have ever been words of the “judicious” Hooker in his great sermon on Justification: “We care for no other knowledge in the world than this, that man hath sinned and God hath suffered; that God hath made Himself the sin of men, and that men are made the righteousness of God.” Had Irving and others held to this fundamental truth, we should never have had the unhappy suggestion of peccability of the Lord intruded on the Church.
458a Luk 18:20 . – We have here, of course, a summary of the Ethical Code on its manward side, and that alone.
458b Luk 18:21 . – In the Talmud the inquiry is raised, “Why did God give so many commandments?” To which a rabbinical answer is, “To multiply Israel’s merit”!
459 Luk 18:23 . – Matthew adds here, “he went away.”
460 Cf. Gal 6:2 .
461 Luk 18:24 f. – Difficult as it may be for the affluent to accept the Gospel of salvation, still more is it for such, when already Christians, to conform their conduct to the principles of the Kingdom. But heavenly grace suffices for the one situation as for the other. The same Evangelist, who in this chapter of his record has commemorated the offering of the “poor widow,” has in another (Luk 23:50 ff.) told of the loving service rendered to the Master, when He was no longer on the scene to acknowledge it, by one of the class (cf. Mat 27:5 , ) here spoken of, “who was looking for the Kingdom of God” and, we may well suppose, will be awarded a place in it.
“Needle’s eye.” The small gate for foot passengers is not beside (Adeney), but within the larger one for animals (Schor, p. 30). Both words here (, ) are medical terms: see Hobart.
462 “Saved.” As to Messianic salvation, see note 361 (13: 23).
462a Luk 18:27 . – Cf. Mar 14:36 in another connection.
463 Luk 18:30 . – “Manifold more.” Garvie: “communion of saints instead of family relationships.”
“In this time.” Nietzsche: “Buddhism gives no promise, but keeps every one; Christianity gives any promise, but keeps none” (“Antichrist,” 42). This is the language of a man not understanding what he said (1Ti 1:7 ) in either direction. The Buddhism that he so much lauded occupies novice and grey-haired men alike in a delusive struggle against suffering. Nietzsche wrote of Pascal, that the eminent French Christian’s intellect was ruined by his faith; but this miserable man himself, as elsewhere stated, died insane. Again, Stanton Coit writes: “Many have asked and no one has answered, save where the prayer was overheard by some fellow man” (“The Lord’s Prayer,” p. 12). Myriads of men and women “in this time” can give the lie to this airy statement.
“Receive,” (passive).
The “age to come” will witness the initial manifestation (cf. references in note 457a, following that to present verse) of the Eternal Life of the Fourth Gospel, which is, or should be, known morally by all believers now. Cf. 1Ti 4:8 , “having promise of the life to come” (, a word regularly used in millennial contexts [cf. note 355]); and for the manifestation of the sons of God, Rom 8:19 .
The promise is made to those who have already acted as Peter says (Boehmer).
464 Luk 18:31-34 . – See note 220a on John (12: 1). Verses 31-43 appear in the “Lectionary” as Gospel for Quinquagesima, to accompany 1Co 13 : as the Epistle. “The one affords a transcript from actual life of that which the other exhibits as an ideal” (A. W. Robinson).
465 Luk 18:34 . – “Understood not”; or, “did not perceive,” cf. 24: 25, 46 and Joh 12:34 . It is much the same in Christendom now as it was in the Churches of “Asia” to which Paul’s declaration of “the whole counsel of God” was addressed, cf. Act 20:27 and 2Ti 1:15 .
“Know,” get to know ().
466 Luk 18:35 ff. – The variations of the several Evangelists here are set out in Plummer, p. 429. As to the “supplementary theory,” see Westcott, “Introduction,” p. 183 f.
467 See note 111 on Mark. Luke agrees partly with Matthew and partly with Mark, a feature which is somewhat embarrassing to advocates of the current documentary theory.
Of the various explanations available, that seems to be most worthy of consideration which is derived from the fact that there were two Jerichos, the older site and the city then lately built, at a distance of 1.25 miles from each other. Excavations are being conducted by Prof. Sellin under the auspices of a German, archaeological society.
Nsgen, as the Expositor, has followed Grotius’ explanation of ; but the present writer is not prepared to resist the suggestion of motion conveyed independently by the preposition (cf. the Greek of 19: 29), and agrees with the remarks ad loc. of Bishop Goodwin, p. 311. Chrysostom: “Such apparent discrepancies between the Evangelists do but tell for their mutual independence. The Holy Spirit has not been pleased to supply us with all the facts.” The most satisfactory rendering seems to be the one followed in the present volume, which happens to agree with that of Wellhausen.
468 For Messianic passages on blindness, see Isa 29:18 , Isa 35:5 , Isa 42:7 . Bartimaeus was the first of those outside the apostolic band who addressed the Lord by His Messianic title.
A poem of Longfellow was derived from this narrative.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Luke
THREE KINDS OF PRAYING
Luk 18:1 – Luk 18:14
The two parables in this passage are each prefaced by Luke’s explanation of their purpose. They are also connected by being both concerned with aspects of prayer. But the second was apparently not spoken at the same time as the first, but is put here by Luke as in an appropriate place.
I. The wearisome widow and the unrighteous judge.
But we must note the spiritual experience supposed by the parable to belong to the Christian life. That forlorn figure of the widow, with all its suggestions of helplessness and oppression, is Christ’s picture of His Church left on earth without Him. And though of course it is a very incomplete representation, it is a true presentation of one side and aspect of the devout life on earth. ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation,’ and the truer His servants are to Him, and the more their hearts are with Christ in God, the more they will feel out of touch with the world, and the more it will instinctively be their ‘adversary.’ If the widow does not feel the world’s enmity, it will generally be because she is not a ‘widow indeed.’
And another notable fact of Christian experience underlies the parable; namely that the Church’s cry for protection from the adversary is often apparently unheard. In Luk 11:1 – Luk 11:54 the prayer was for supply of necessities, here it is for the specific blessing of protection from the adversary. Whether that is referred to the needs of the Church or of the individual, it is true that usually the help sought is long delayed. It is not only ‘souls under the altar’ that have to cry ‘How long, O Lord, dost Thou not avenge?’ One thinks of years of persecution for whole communities, or of long, weary days of harassment and suffering for individuals, of multitudes of prayers and groans sent up into a heaven that, for all the answers sent down, might as well be empty, and one feels it hard to hold by the faith that ‘verily, there is a God that’ heareth.
We have all had times when our faith has staggered, and we have found no answer to our heart’s question: ‘Why tarry the wheels of His chariot?’ Many of us have felt what Mary and Martha felt when ‘Jesus abode still two days in the place where He was’ after He had received their message, in which they had been so sure of His coming at once when He heard that ‘he whom Thou lovest is sick,’ that they did not ask Him to come. The delays of God’s help are a constant feature in His providence, and, as Jesus says here, they are but too likely to take the life out of faith.
But over against these we have to place Jesus’ triumphant assurance here: ‘He will avenge them speedily.’ Yes, the longest delay may yet be ‘right early,’ for heaven’s clock does not beat at the same rate as our little chronometers. God is ‘the God of patience,’ and He has waited for millenniums for the establishment of His kingdom on earth; His ‘own elect’ may learn long-suffering from Him, and need to take to heart the old exhortation, ‘If the vision tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come, and will not tarry.’ Yes, God’s delays are not delays, but are for our profit that we may always pray and not faint, and may keep alight the flame of the sure hope that the Son of man cometh, and that in His coming all adversaries shall be destroyed, and the widow, no longer a widow, but the bride, go in to the feast and forget her foes, and ‘the days of her mourning be ended.’
II. The Pharisee and the publican.
Every word in the Pharisee’s prayer is reeking with self-complacency. Even the expression ‘prayed with himself’ is significant, for it suggests that the prayer was less addressed to God than to himself, and also that his words could scarcely be spoken in the hearing of others, both because of their arrogant self-praise and of their insolent calumnies of ‘all the rest.’ It was not prayer to God, but soliloquy in his own praise, and it was in equal parts adulation of himself and slander of other men. So it never went higher than the inner roof of the temple court, and was, in a very fatal sense, ‘to himself.’
God is complimented with being named formally at first, and in the first two words, ‘I thank thee,’ but that is only formal introduction, and in all the rest of his prayer there is not a trace of praying. Such a self-satisfied gentleman had no need to ask for anything, so he brought no petitions. He uses the conventional language of thanksgiving, but his real meaning is to praise himself to God, not to thank God for himself. God is named once. All the rest is I, I, I. He had no longing for communion, no aspiration, no emotion.
His conception of righteousness was mean and shallow. And as St. Bernard notes, he was not so much thankful for being righteous as for being alone in his goodness. No doubt he was warranted in disclaiming gross sins, but he was glad to be free from them, not because they were sins, but because they were vulgar. He had no right to fling mud either on ‘all the rest’ or on ‘this publican,’ and if he had been really praying or giving thanks he would have had enough to think of in God and himself without casting sidelong and depreciatory glances at his neighbours. He who truly prays ‘sees no man any more,’ or if he does, sees men only as subjects for intercession, not for contempt. The Pharisee’s notion of righteousness was primarily negative, as consisting in abstinence from flagrant sins, and, in so far as it was positive, it dealt entirely with ceremonial acts. Such a starved and surface conception of righteousness is essential to self-righteousness, for no man who sees the law of duty in its depth and inwardness can flatter himself that he has kept it. To fast twice a week and to give tithes of all that one acquired were acts of supererogation, and are proudly recounted as if God should feel much indebted to the doer for paying Him more than was required. The Pharisee makes no petitions. He states his claims, and tacitly expects that God will meet them.
Few words are needed to paint the publican; for his estimate of himself is simple and one, and what he wants from God is one thing, and one only. His attitude expresses his emotions, for he does not venture to go near the shining example of all respectability and righteousness, nor to lift his eyes to heaven. Like the penitent psalmist, his iniquities have taken hold on him, so that he is ‘not able to look up.’ Keen consciousness of sin, true sorrow for sin, earnest desire to shake off the burden of sin, lowly trust in God’s pardoning mercy, are all crowded into his brief petition. The arrow thus feathered goes straight up to the throne; the Pharisee’s prayer cannot rise above his own lips.
Jesus does not leave His hearers to apply the ‘parable,’ but drives its application home to them, since He knew how keen a thrust was needed to pierce the triple breastplate of self-righteousness. The publican was ‘justified’; that is, accounted as righteous. In the judgment of heaven, which is the judgment of truth, sin forsaken is sin passed away. The Pharisee condensed his contempt into ‘ this publican’; Jesus takes up the ‘this’ and turns it into a distinction, when He says, ‘ this man went down to his house justified.’ God’s condemnation of the Pharisee and acceptance of the publican are no anomalous aberration of divine justice, for it is a universal law, which has abundant exemplifications, that he that exalteth himself is likely to be humbled, and he that humbles himself to be exalted. Daily life does not always yield examples thereof, but in the inner life and as concerns our relations to God, that law is absolutely and always true.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 18:1-8
1Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, 2saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect Man 1:3 There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ 4For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect Man 1:5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.'” 6And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; 7now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? 8I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Luk 18:1 “Now He was telling them a parable” This is an antithetical or contrasting parable similar to Luk 11:5-13. It is a story that relates to the exact opposite of what God is truly like. The pronoun “them” refers to the disciples (cf. Luk 16:1; Luk 17:5; Luk 17:22; Luk 17:37; Luk 17:37).
“that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart” Notice the Greek terms:
1. dei, which means “ought” or “necessary.”
2. pas, here in adverbial form (pantote), which means “always.”
This phrase is a mandate to keep on praying and not become discouraged (cf. Eph 6:18). In several parallel passages in Paul’s writings, persistent prayer is linked to thanksgiving (cf. Php 4:6; Col 1:3; Col 4:2; 1Th 5:17-18).
Prayer is a worldview; thanksgiving is an attitude; both dictate believers’ actions toward people and circumstances.
“not to lose heart” The Greek term is egkake (cf. 2Co 4:1; 2Co 4:16; Gal 6:9; Eph 3:13; 2Th 3:13), which is probably the same as ekkake, which literally means “not to give in to the bad,” but metaphorically to be faint, to be remiss, or to be slothful.
Luk 18:2 “a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man” He was not swayed by God’s opinion or mankind’s opinion. His judgments were based on personal interest or personal preference.
Luk 18:3 “a widow” Again Luke shows Jesus’ concern and care for the socially powerless and/or ostracized. Widows were often taken advantage of in Jewish society (cf. Exo 22:21-24; Deu 10:18; Deu 24:17). Luke is characterized by Jesus’ interaction with and care for women.
“give me legal protection” This could mean vindicate or give me justice (cf. Luk 18:7-8).
Luk 18:4 “for a while he was unwilling” This is an imperfect active indicative, which denotes the judge’s ongoing refusal to act on behalf of the widow.
“even though” This is a first class conditional sentence (cf. Robert Nanna, A Grammatical Aid to the Greek New Testament, vol. 1, p. 123), which asserts the reality of the statements of Luk 18:2.
In a sense this is similar to Luk 15:17. This judge had an epiphany; he came to himself. He began to realize the consequences of his decision.
Luk 18:5 “wear me out” This literally meant “to blacken one’s eye” (cf. 1Co 9:27). Here it is used metaphorically of someone or something that continually bothers.
Luk 18:7 “not” This is a double negative, which was a strong way of expressing “no, never under any circumstances.”
1. Our heavenly Father is exactly the opposite of the unrighteous, inattentive, self-seeking judge.
2. His delay has a beneficial purpose (i.e., full number of the elect, cf. Rom 11:25; Joh 10:16).
“who cry to Him day and night” This phrase characterizes the persistent prayers of the elect (cf. Luk 11:9-13; Mat 7:7-12). Persistence does not overcome God’s reluctance, but it demonstrates trust and conviction.
“His elect” This is an OT way of referring to God’s people, especially as servants (cf. Isaiah 42-43; Isa 44:28 to Isa 45:7).
SPECIAL TOPIC: Election/predestination and the Need for a Theological Balance
“who cry to Him day and night” This is a way of expressing continual action (i.e., always). The order of “day and night” reflects a Gentile idiom, while Luk 2:37, “night and day,” reflects a Hebrew idiom. Luke was a researcher. He used his sources’ idioms, yet he was also an editor and compiler and at times his own idioms become part of his Gospel (cf. Act 9:24; Act 20:31; Act 26:7).
“will He delay long over them” This is the second of two rhetorical questions in Luk 18:7 which contrast God and the attitude of this wicked judge. The first question expects a “yes” answer and this, the second question, a “no” answer.
The Greek “delay” (makrothume, put wrath far away) is ambiguous and may mean one of two things:
1. help for the persistent elect to grow in faith
2. more time for the wicked to repent (cf. Rom 2:4; 2Pe 3:9)
3. the NASB (1970) has a marginal alternate translation, “and yet He is longsuffering over them,” which denotes the patience of God with sinners
Luk 18:8 This is a surprising conclusion to this parable. It seems to be unrelated to the story. Jesus’ return will be the mechanism of God’s bringing justice to the elect (cf. Rev 6:9-11).
What then does the prepositional phrase en tachei mean: (1) suddenly or (2) quickly? Is this a contrasting parable or a parable of differing motives for a delayed adjudication?
Many commentators assert that Luke’s Gospel suggests a delayed Second Coming and tries to prepare a Gentile audience for this surprising development (ex. Luk 12:35-48; Luk 17:22-30).
“when the Son of Man comes” This is an emphasis on the eschatological coming of the Messiah as Judge. The term “Son of Man” is primarily drawn from Eze 2:1 and Dan 7:13, where it combines human and divine qualities. See Special Topic at Luk 17:22.
“will He find faith on the earth” The NT emphasizes the physical, bodily return of Jesus Christ. However, it does not tell us when or how. It does tell us to be actively involved in the kingdom’s work and to be ready moment-by-moment for His coming. This phrase seems to reflect this two-pronged piece of advice.
“Faith” has the definite article. This is
1. the belief that God will answer their prayers for help (cf. Luk 18:7). His best answer will be sending His Son back into the world a second time to set all things straight as He promised.
2. M. R. Vincent, Word Studies, p. 204, takes kai as “yet” (cf. Joh 9:30; Joh 16:32), which implies not a direct contrast to the wicked judge, but gives reason for God’s delay in answering His elect (the faith development).
3. Kenneth E. Bailey, Through Peasant Eyes, pp. 127-141, thinks it relates to the soon-coming event of Passion Week, described in Luk 18:31-34. These disciples will need persistent prayer and faith development very soon.
4. This is faith in Christ or Christianity.
The emphasis may be on what believers are praying for. Are they asking God repeatedly for personal things or kingdom things? If personal things, then believers are more like the unrighteous judge than they want to admit.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
a parable. Both parables peculiar to Luke. Only here that the explanation is put first.
to this end, &c. Greek. pros (App-104.) to dein = to the purport that it is necessary, &c.
always. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus), App-6. = on alloccasions. perseveringly.
pray. Greek. proseuchomai. App-134.
not. Greek. me. App-105.
to faint = to lose heart, be discouraged, give in, or give up. Greek. egkakeo.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
1-8.] THE UNJUST JUDGE. This parable, though not perhaps spoken in immediate unbroken sequence after the last discourse, evidently arose out of it:-perhaps was the fruit of a conversation with the disciples about the day of His coming and the mind with which they must expect it. For observe that in its direct application it is ecclesiastical; and not individual, but by a legitimate accommodation. The widow is the Church; the judge, her God and Father in heaven. The argument, as in the parable of the steward , so in this of the , is fortiori: If such be the power of earnest entreaty, that it can win right even from a man sunk in selfishness and fearing neither God nor men, how much more will the right be done by the just and holy God in answer to the continued prayers of his elect: even though, when this very right is asserted in the world by the coming of the Son of Man, He may hardly find among his people the power to believe it-though few of them will have shewn this unweariedness of entreaty which the poor widow shewed?
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Shall we turn tonight to Luke, chapter 18.
Luke tells us that Jesus now
spoke a parable to them to this end ( Luk 18:1 ),
In other words, the purpose of the parable was to encourage people to pray and not to faint.
that men ought always to pray, and not to faint ( Luk 18:1 );
It is interesting to me that so often when people come, almost fainting over the dilemma that they are facing, that they are just breathless, at the end of the road. They’re desperate; they’re almost beside themselves as they begin to pour out. They’re just so full, they pour out all of the woes and the problems and the difficulties and all. And that release valve is popped, and it just comes out all over the place. And then you say to them, when they finally come to some kind of equilibrium, you say, “Well now, have you prayed about it?” “No, no, but we’ve got to do something. We can’t pray.” And yet, that’s exactly what the Lord is saying, “We ought to pray and not to faint.” You know, I have found that the Lord doesn’t give needless warnings.
Now many times when He warns I think that they are needless. I think, “Lord, You don’t need to talk to me about that. I’ve got that one wired, Lord. No problems there.” And yet, it is in that area where the Lord has given me warning that I ultimately end up in trouble. Because I didn’t listen; I didn’t think I needed the warning. As I read through the scriptures, I find that those things that the Lord warned the kings about were the very things that ultimately they got in trouble for. God knows. He knows what lies down the road. And He doesn’t warn us needlessly, nor does He exhort us needlessly. And in this parable, to the end that men ought always to pray and not to faint, that is the area where so many people have problems. They’re always fainting and not praying, just turning it around.
Now, in the parable, do not make the mistake of thinking of it in parallelisms because Jesus, first of all, speaks of a wicked judge. The Roman judges, or those that were appointed by the Roman government, were notoriously crooked. In fact, there’s a Greek phrase that means “the judge of honor.” But by just a slight change, the phrase is “the robber judge.” And so it was very common. And in the classical Greek you can read often this switching of the phrase; and rather than saying “the honorable judge,” they’d say “the robber judge.” Because they were so notoriously wicked. They said you could buy them with a pound of beef. They were just wicked men. And they used their position. And so Jesus is talking about this kind of a judge.
And He said,
There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man ( Luk 18:2-4 );
It shows what kind of a person he was.
Yet because this widow troubles me, will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she wears me out ( Luk 18:5 ).
She wearies me.
And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said ( Luk 18:6 ).
And then He gives His lesson in prayer. Now, I said be careful that you don’t get into parallelisms with this parable and think that this unjust judge represents God. That is not the case. Jesus often taught in parallels with sharp contrasts, and this is one of the those parables not of parallelism, but of sharp contrast. For surely He would not put God in the light of an unconcerned, unjust, judge, unfeeling. That’s the exact opposite of what He teaches us of the Father, who loves, who cares, and who is concerned. So this parable is one of contrast. The contrast is this: if a wicked man, hard, who neither regards neither God nor man, if he can be persuaded just because of the persistency of this little widow, in sharp contrast,
Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry unto him day and night, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily ( Luk 18:7-8 ).
Now Jesus isn’t really then teaching that you’ve got to persist in prayer and continue and continue and continue until you get your answer. He is saying that God will avenge speedily those who call unto Him. So, don’t in your mind draw the parallel, “This God is like this judge, and I’ve got to just keep pestering Him until I get what I want.” If your cause is right, if your cause is just, I believe that God is only waiting for you to open the door through prayer so that He can do what He’s been wanting to do the whole time. You see, I’m convinced, from the scriptures, that God knows what I really need long before I ever know it. God knows what I’m going to be needing six months from now. God knows what I’m going to be needing five years from now. Prayer is not really informing God of my needs. Jesus said, “Your Father knows what you have need of before you ever ask Him.” Yet, so often we think of prayer, we are informing God now of what my need is. “God, let me tell You what I need here. And I’m going to cue you in, Lord, so You can understand what I really need.” And I’m using prayer as a means to inform God. How ridiculous! God doesn’t need that I should inform Him of anything, for He knows everything. God loves me. He is my heavenly Father. His chief concern is my eternal good. Notice, eternal good, not my temporary good.
Now, there are some things that I may feel would be temporarily beneficial to me, but God knows that eternally they’d be damning to me. And so, I try to inform God of my temporal need, and all the while He knows my eternal need. Now, if I could by persistence, just by dogged persistence, by bugging God through prayer, break God down so He’ll say, “Oh, answer that nut! I’m getting tired of him calling!” then I could be bringing into my life all kinds of hurtful harmful things. And God loves me too much to be dissuaded from His perfect will for my life by responding to my prayers when they are not in accordance with His eternal plan.
I want to share something with you. I don’t want God to switch His plan as the result of my continued requests. I want God’s perfect will for my life, and prayer is not really intended to get my will done on earth. Prayer is intended to get God’s will done on earth, and so true prayer begins with the purpose of God, the plan of God, the will of God. And He makes that known to my heart, and I express it to Him in prayer. And by my expression in prayer, what I am actually doing is opening the door and giving God the opportunity to do what He’s been wanting to do, what He’s desiring to do, but will not do against my will. You see, God has given to you this business of free will, the power of choice. God will not violate that choice. Therefore, prayer opens the door for God to do those things that He desires to do in my life.
In the fifteenth chapter of John, that glorious chapter of the relationship between the believer and Christ, Jesus said, “You’ve not chosen Me, but I’ve chosen you and ordained that you should be My disciples. That you should bring forth fruit,” cause that’s that fruit-bearing chapter, “I’m the vine; you’re the branches;” “and that your fruit should remain. That, whatsoever you ask the Father in My name, He may,” notice, He “may,” not He “shall,” “He may give it to you.” You see, it opens the door that God may do now what He’s desiring to do. Your prayer has opened that door for God to act freely without violating your will. So, I am of the opinion that the wisest prayer any of us can ever offer to God is, “Lord, just work out Your complete perfect will in my life. Have Your way, Lord, in my life. Do for me what You want to do.”
I think that many times our prayers can be limiting God. We limit Him in our prayers. They’re putting the boundaries and the restrictions on God. Like the children of Israel who limited the Holy One of Israel, so we so often do that in our prayers. “Oh, Lord, I need a hundred dollars! I need it desperately, Lord. You know the bills are overdue, and I need a hundred dollars. God, please send a hundred dollars.” Why don’t you just say, “Lord, please send what you know I need”? Why limit Him to a hundred dollars? He may be wanting to give you a thousand. So there are sometimes when I think that being very specific is not so good. For years I prayed for a church of 250 people. I thought that was the ideal size, and oh, how I dreamed of pastoring a church of 250 people. I prayed for that number for years, limiting God. God had other things in mind. I didn’t know what He had in mind. Oh, that we would understand how much the Father loves us. Oh, that we would trust His wisdom in His dealing in our lives. Oh, that we could come to that place of total commitment of ourselves to Him, “Lord, You do what You want for Me. Lord, I rest in You.” I’m not making any demands on God. I’m not trying to command God. I’m not trying to sit on the throne and be sovereign myself. I’m not trying to get my will done on this earth. That’s not why I’m here, and that’s not the purpose of prayer. It’s to work in harmony with God, to get His program accomplished on this earth. It’s to link together with God and join with Him in His great program of reaching this world with the love of Jesus Christ. “God, Your will be done! Your purposes be accomplished. Use me as ever You see fit as Your instrument, Lord, to do Your work. Here I am, I’m available to You and whatever You want, Lord, for my life. Whatever You want to do in me, whatever You want to do through me, Lord, I’m available. Here I am. Your will be done.” Commitment!
Now, I don’t always understand the difficulties that I am going through. I don’t always understand my trials. There are times when I cry out of my distress. And yet, there is always that understood relationship that I have with God; that even though I don’t understand, Lord, Your particular working in my life at this moment, You just keep on working. Like my wife says, if I scream and yell and holler, “Don’t let me have another bite of chocolate.” And that’s pretty much, “Lord, if I scream and yell and holler, ‘Don’t do anything contrary to Your will,’ I don’t care how much I scream, how much I holler, Lord, Your will be done in my life. That’s supreme, that’s paramount.”
So, Jesus is not saying that God is like this unjust judge. He’s saying He’s totally unlike the unjust judge. But He’s illustrating by contrast. If a man who is so hardened, so callous, so crooked, that he has no regard for God or man, if he can be persuaded by the persistency of the little widow, shall not God avenge His children speedily? “Yes,” He said, “I say He will.”
But then Jesus asked an interesting question. He said,
Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth? ( Luk 18:8 )
We are told in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 24, one of the signs of the end of the age would be the iniquity in the earth abounding, causing the love of many to wax cold. That goes along with this question. I believe that we are living in the hardest period of history to live a consistent consecrated Christian life. I don’t believe that ever in history has there been more temptation placed so freely before men. Through the media, through the movies, through television, through magazines, we have been overexposed to sexual enticements. That area has been stimulated and aroused. And at the same time, there has been a deteriorating of the moral standards, a broad acceptance of relationships in the society in which we live. And I do not believe that ever in the history of man has there been such a broad exposure and a more difficult time to really live a truly committed life to Jesus Christ. And because the iniquity in the world is abounding, the love of many is waxing cold. And the question then that Jesus asked becomes very significant, “When I return, or when the Son of man comes, shall He find faith on the earth?” True, genuine faith and trust in His Word.
And he spake this parable unto certain of those which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and looked down on others ( Luk 18:9 ):
These are those people, and you’ve met them, that are so critical of everyone else. They are like Job said to his comforters, “Surely you are the people and wisdom is going to die with you.” People who are self-righteous, they feel no need of any help in that area. And they are critical, condemning and look down on everybody else. It’s interesting that Luke begins to explain to us the direction that the parables are taking. So, this parable is to those who trust in themselves, that they are righteous and despised others.
And there were two men who went up into the temple to pray; the one was a Pharisee, and the other was a hated publican ( Luk 18:10 ).
The word publican became synonymous with sinner, of the rankest sort, the tax collector, the crookedest man in town.
So the Pharisees stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as that publican over there. For I fast twice every week, I give tithes of everything that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, but he smote on his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. [Jesus said,] I tell you, this man, [that is, the publican,] went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted ( Luk 18:11-14 ).
I find it very difficult to not assume this pharisitical attitude when I look at our church. I am very prone to say, “Lord, I thank You that our church isn’t as other churches.” We don’t beg and dun the people for money. And just tell how wonderful we are. Because, really, in my heart I thank God that we’re not like a lot of other churches. I mean, that’s just plain honest. And I think we are better…. So, I have a problem with this parable. Yet, I realize my own need of God’s mercy. It’s not my righteousness, it’s not by the works of righteousness that I have done. I don’t ever come to God and say, “Now, Lord, look at what I’ve been doing for You. Look at the hours that I’ve put in this week. Look at the sacrifices that I have made.” Jesus talked to us about that last week, didn’t He? When the servant comes in, the master doesn’t say, “Sit down and eat.” He says, “Go fix me my meal, and then after I’ve eaten, you can eat. After you’ve done all these things, just say I’m an unprofitable servant.” So I never try to tell the Lord what I have done, nor come to the Lord on the basis of my commitment or what I have done, because that is a trap. It may bring me confidence at sometimes to come to God. But then most of the time, I feel no sense going to God; I haven’t done anything, or what I’ve done is negative. So I always come to God on the basis of His grace and His mercy towards me. Whenever I come to God it is always seeking His mercy. You see, justice is getting what you deserve. I never come to God and say, “Justice, God! I want justice!” I’m afraid I might get it. I come and I say, “Mercy, Lord! Mercy! God, be merciful!” For mercy is not getting what I deserve. But then I say, “Oh, God, grace!” Because that’s getting what I don’t deserve. So you see the fine difference between the three. Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what’s coming to you. And grace is getting what’s not coming to you…God just giving to you on the basis of His love and grace towards you. You don’t deserve it, but He’ll do it anyhow. “God be merciful to me a sinner!” And then, “Everyone that exalts himself shall be abased, but he that humbles himself shall be exalted.”
And so they brought unto him also infants ( Luk 18:15 ),
We brought little Jeffrey Draper tonight.
They brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and he said, Allow the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter in ( Luk 18:15-17 ).
I love to observe children. There is a beauty, there’s something almost sacred and divine surrounding that little child. There’s just such a purity. Sitting today at the table with some of my grandchildren, listening to them talk about the Lord, listening to them offer their prayers to God for the food and for every other item that they could think of while they’re praying for the food. In fact, one even forgot the food. But their beauty and the simplicity of their opening up their hearts to God; it’s just glorious. I love children. And there seems to be within a child a very keen sense of discernment. If I see a person that children shy away from and won’t go to, I become suspicious of that person. The same with a dog. If I see a person that a dog sort of…, I get suspicious. They seem to have a good sense of judgment. And Jesus said, “Unless you receive the kingdom as a little child, you’re not going to enter therein.” But Jesus was always interested in the children.
Mark tells us that when the disciples were keeping the people away from Him, bringing their children to Him, and when Jesus saw what they were doing, He was angry. He was upset. He rebuked His disciples; He was really upset with them. “Let those little children come to Me; don’t forbid them.” And He took them into His arms and He blessed them.
Now there was a certain ruler and they asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why do you call me good? there is none good, except one, and that is, God. You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother. And he said, All of these have I kept from my youth up. And when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet you lack one thing: sell all that you have, distribute unto the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: come and follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw how that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God ( Luk 18:18-27 ).
Now, again, let’s not misunderstand Jesus. For when this young ruler came and kneeled at Him and said, “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit this age abiding life?” He’s talking about a quality of life, not the quantity. A quality that he observed in Jesus. There’s something eternal about the way this Man lived. His life crossed the dimensions of time; they stretched into the eternal. “What must I do that I might have this age abiding, this quality of life that You possess?” And Jesus said, “Why did you call Me good? None is good, except One, and that is God.”
Now, do not jump to the conclusion that Jesus is saying, “I am not God.” For I think a careful observation and you’ll discover He’s saying just the opposite. You see, He is saying one of two things: He is saying, “I am no good,” or He is saying, “I am God.” So the question, “Why do you call Me good?” is to arouse and elevate the conscious level of this fellow’s mind. “Look, you’ve called Me good. Why did you call Me good? You’re looking for age abiding life. Now you call Me good. Why is it that you call Me good? You see, there is only One that is good and that is God. Why did you call Me good? Because what you see in Me, this quality that you are attracted to, this quality that you have discerned is that I am God.” You remember when Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus said, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah! Flesh and blood did not reveal this unto you, but My Father which is in heaven.” And as much He is saying unto this young fellow, “Look, you’ve had a divine revelation. Why did you call Me good? There’s only One good and that is God.” “That’s right! Could You…?” So, He’s trying to draw out now. “Hey, you’re coming along, getting warm, warmer, warmer…” Pulling him in, letting him really expand this awareness.
Then Jesus flashes across him the six commandments in the second table of stone. Those commandments that deal with man’s relationship with his fellow man, which constitutes righteousness. And as Jesus flashed across him the second table of the law, “Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, bear false witness, honor thy father and mother, don’t steal,” he said, “I have kept all of these from my youth up.” Mark tells us that he asked the question, “What lack I yet?” And Jesus, when He heard these things, said unto him, “You lack one thing. Go and sell all that you have and distribute to the poor. You’ll have treasure in heaven.” Now again, don’t misread this. Is Jesus saying that his lack was poverty? No, because we could all get in easily then. Go back. “Why do you call Me good? There’s only One good, that is God.” Now Jesus said, “Go,” and let’s leave out what He said at that point, just “Go.” And then He said, “Come, follow Me.” Now the essential word of Christ to this young man is, “Come, follow Me.” You see, your problem is, God is not at the center of your life. You have another focal point upon which your life is revolving. In his case, it was money, his riches. His life was revolving around his riches. His riches were at the center of his life. And Jesus touched the thing that was at the heart of his life, and He said, “You’ve got the wrong God. Follow Me. Get rid of that false god. Follow Me. If you want to be perfect, get rid of those idols, get rid of those things that are standing in the way, those things that are keeping you from total commitment. Follow Me, put Me at the center of your life.”
And so the Word of Christ would be the same to you tonight. It would be “Go,” and then He would put His finger in your life at that which is hindering you from completely following Him. Maybe it’d be selling that little sports car. Or getting rid of this, getting rid of that. To some, it might even be dropping out of your educational pursuits. If that’s become the center of your life and the chief focal point and your life is revolving around that, that’s the thing He’s putting His finger on and saying, “Look, you’ll never find it there; you’ll only find it when you follow Me. It’s not that these others then cannot be added and become a part of your life, but they should not and cannot be the center part of your life. I’ve got to be at the center of your life. Come, follow Me.”
The young man went away sad. Now it is wrong to assume that he was lost. I don’t know if we’ll meet him in heaven or not. It may be that he was sad at the thought of what he had to do next. It could be that he went to his accountant and said, “Hey, get rid of everything, distribute it to the poor. I’ll see ya later. I’ve got to follow a Man that I met today. Nothing else counts, but following Him.” Or it could be that he went away sad, thinking, “The price is too great. Can’t do it. I wish I had it, but I can’t pay that price.” And he had reason, then, to be sad. Jesus then said, “How hard it is for those who have riches, tough to enter into the kingdom of God.” Riches can be such a powerful god in a person’s life; they can get such a strong hold upon a person. They can possess you so quickly. The people said, “Lord, who then can be saved?” Of course, He talked about the camel going through the eye of an needle. And Jesus said, “With man, it is impossible.” Luke said He said, “All things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
Now, I get upset today when we travel to Israel and the guides will tell you about the subgate that they call the “eye of the needle.” This is a concocted story as are so many of the stories that the guides tell. They’re interesting. You know, they are paid to know and so they’ll tell you something, even if they don’t know. Because they’re expected to know. And I have looked at some of the various sites and I’ve had four or five explanations given to me of what caused it and all by the four or five different guides that we’ve had over a period of time. So they’re not really that authoritative. There’s just a awful lot of guesswork still in archaeology as to periods and times and datings and so forth. There’s just an awful lot of guesswork of what that really was, and what that was intended for. And they’ll tell you, “Oh, that was to do this or that.” And you know, as I said, they’ve got to have some answer. Like the guide who was showing the minister through the cathedral in Milan, St. Ambrose Cathedral there. And he showed him this case and the skull in the case, and he was assuring the people that that was Peter’s skull, that somehow it had been rescued when he was crucified and preserved and highly revered. One of the fellows spoke up and said, “Hey, we were down in the area of Rome the other day and in another cathedral and they showed us a skull. And they said that was Peter’s skull.” He said, “It was smaller than this one,” when he says, “Oh, yes, but that was when Peter was a boy.” So, they’ll have an explanation for you.
So, they point to a small little cut in the bottom of the gate, and they’ll say, “That’s the needle’s eye.” And it is small enough, that to get through the gate, to get through this little hole, there’s like a cat, things that they have in the house where the cat can come through and all. It’s like that. You get down and you can squeeze and crawl through the thing. You’d never get a camel through one of those things. But they say, “Oh, there was a subgate. And at night when they close the main gate of the city, if a guy arrives at the city late, the only way he can get in…they won’t open the main gate at night…so the only way you can get in is to take all of the baggage off the camel and you get him down on his haunches and you push the thing through. And with a lot of effort and a lot of work and a lot of strain, you can push him through the needle gate, or the “eye of the needle” gate. Wrong!
Jesus said, “With man it’s impossible.” You know, there are a lot of people that would like to believe a lot of struggle, a lot of effort, a lot of guts and drive and determination, you can save yourself. Wrong! You can’t save yourself. I don’t care how much pushing and pulling and effort you make, you can’t save yourself. With man, it is impossible. You can’t enter into the kingdom of heaven on your own works. With man, it is impossible. But thank God, with God all things are possible.
Now Peter said, Lo, Lord, we have left all and followed thee ( Luk 18:28 ).
We gave up our houses and homes and all.
And he said unto them, Verily, I say unto you, There is no man that has left house, or parents, or brothers, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake ( Luk 18:29 ),
Now notice that: “for the kingdom of God’s sake,”
Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting ( Luk 18:30 ).
The qualifying phrase is “the kingdom of God’s sake.”
Then he took unto him the twelve, and he said unto them, Behold, we’re going to Jerusalem, and all of the things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished ( Luk 18:31 ).
Now they are on the final leg of their trip to Jerusalem. They’re down at the Jordan River and they are now going to go on up to Jerusalem to the Feast of the Passover where the scriptures are to be fulfilled. Not the scriptures of the establishing of the kingdom as the disciples thought. Not the scriptures of sitting on the throne of David, but those scriptures that related to His being
delivered to the Gentiles, to be mocked, spitefully entreated, and spit upon ( Luk 18:32 ):
Jeremiah speaks of this mockery and the spitting, the plucking of His beard.
They shall scourge him ( Luk 18:33 ),
Isaiah tells us that in chapter 53,
and put him to death ( Luk 18:33 );
Isa 53:1-12 and Dan 9:1-27
and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things: this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken ( Luk 18:33-34 ).
They were blind to it. “Okay, fellows, we’ve got to go up to Jerusalem, that all of the scriptures concerning Me might be fulfilled.” “Alright, let’s get on with the kingdom!” And He then tells them what He’s referring to. “I’ve got to be delivered to the Gentiles, I have to be mocked, spitefully entreated. I’m going to be spit upon. I’m going to be rejected, I’m going to scourged, I’m going to be slain. But the third day I’ll rise again.” “Let’s go to Jerusalem, set up the kingdom.” So anxious were they. I am somehow encouraged by this though. These men that Jesus chose to be nearest to Him, these men that Jesus chose to establish the church were not spiritual giants. They were not perfect men. They did not have keen spiritual insight. They were people just like you and me. God uses ordinary people. God uses you if you’ll just let Him. And so here they were, they really didn’t understand what He was talking about. In fact, they were just miles apart in their thinking.
And so it came to pass ( Luk 18:35 ),
Now remember, He is on His way to Jerusalem. He’s coming first to Jericho, about eighteen to twenty miles from Jerusalem.
It came to pass, as he was come near to Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging ( Luk 18:35 ):
Now this obviously is not the one in Mark’s gospel, Bartimaeus, or the one in Matthew’s gospel, or the two. One, the account gives two blind men, one tells of Bartimaeus. And this is a different account however. For in this case, Jesus is entering Jericho and the other two blind men He met when He was leaving Jericho.
So as He was on His way to Jericho, “a certain blind man was sitting by the wayside begging.”
And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant ( Luk 18:36 ).
“What’s going on? What’s happening?” He couldn’t see.
And they told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by ( Luk 18:37 ).
Now he had heard of Jesus. I think that everyone who has some kind of a physical disability is attune to possible cures. Unfortunately, because of this deep desire to be cured, in the present day they often become victims of evil charlatans who promise them cures. And it’s amazing how a person who is desperate will hope for anything. And there are people who are willing to take advantage of that hope and give to them a false hope. But somehow he had heard of Jesus of Nazareth; the name registered.
And so he began to cry aloud, saying, Jesus ( Luk 18:38 ),
And used the Messianic title,
thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Then those that went before [those that were around him] rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more ( Luk 18:38-39 ),
Using now just the Messianic title,
Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, What do you want that I should do for you? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God: and all of the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God ( Luk 18:39-43 ).
Notice that. Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men that when they see your good works, they will glorify your Father which is in heaven.” If people are constantly coming up and praising you for being such a wonderful person and “you’re so marvelous, and you’re so this and that…” then you better take a quick self examination and find out how you’re letting your light shine–evidently in the wrong way, because it’s attracting attention to you. It’s bringing praises to you. “Let your light so shine before men that when they see your good works, they will glorify your Father which is in heaven.” And Jesus was somehow doing it that way. So when they saw this blind man able to see, following Jesus in the path, they glorified God. They praised God. They gave praise unto God. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Luk 18:1. And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Not to faint in their expectation of answers to their supplications, and therefore give up prayer; but to persevere in presenting their petitions at the throne of grace, because prayer is never lost labour. There may be a time during which God does not appear to answer prayer, but he will ultimately answer it; therefore, men ought always to pray, and not to faint in prayer. If they do not pray, they will faint in many ways. Their courage will faint. All their hope as to the future will faint, and fall into a dead swoon as it were. So, dear friends, you have your choice between praying and fainting. The doctrine our Saviour laid down was that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; and this is the parable which he related in illustration of that truth:
Luk 18:2. Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
He was a most unfit person to be a judge, as many in Eastern cities still are. They are ready enough to take bribes, but they are not so prompt in giving just judgments. They generally attend to the business of the rich and the powerful, but neglect the poor and needy. So was it with this judge, who feared not God, neither regarded man.
Luk 18:3. And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
Probably someone had come, and taken away from her the little bit of land that her husband had left her, upon the produce of which she and the children might have lived; and she could not get it back again. So she comes to the judge, and cries, Avenge me of mine adversary.
Luk 18:4. And he would not for a while
He had plenty of applicants who could pay him better than this poor woman could, so he disregarded her petition; but he little knew that, in her, he had to deal with a woman who meant to be heard, and who intended to press her suit until she won it. She was evidently a very determined character. Though a broken-hearted widow, yet she was not broken-spirited even though the judge refused for a while to attend to her plea.
Luk 18:4-5. But afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
She came again, and again, and again, and again; she would not leave off coming, for she meant to have the justice she sought, and she did get it. Now that is the way to pray, as if we would even weary God with our supplications, though we never can do so. It is impossible to weary him with earnest believing entreaties, yet we must show the same determination in prayer which this importunate widow manifested while pleading with the unjust judge.
Luk 18:6. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
He is unjust, but he is obliged to be just now. He is hard-hearted, but he is compelled to yield. The widow has conquered him, not by her money, but by her importunity. She is there so often that she troubles him, and he says he must give in, and grant her request.
Luk 18:7. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
He may seem to be slow about it; but when his people cry to him, he will hear them ultimately if he does not at once. Do not imagine that the children of God will always be laughed at, and downtrodden. God will yet arise, and take their side. They may be pushed into a comer for awhile, but they shall come out into a large room in due season, for God will certainly avenge his own elect.
Luk 18:8. I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
If anybody could find it, he would, for he creates it all, and he knows where to look for it; yet there is so little of it that even he, whose eyes can detect the faith that is as small as a grain of mustard seed, can scarcely find it. There is all too little real faith in the world; and those who think they have most of it, when they get into troubled waters, soon find they have not any to spare, and much that they thought was faith does not turn out to be so. O men, brethren, fathers, how little do we trust our God compared with what he deserves!
Luk 18:9-10. And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray;
They were both alike in going up to the temple, but they were very different in coming back from the temple. It is a very important thing to come to the house of God in a right state of heart; and it is a still better thing to go away from the Lords house really benefited and improved. These two men went up to the temple with the same object; each of them went there to pray. Both intended to pray, though they did not both do so; yet that was their ostensible object.
Luk 18:10. The one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
A tax-gatherer, one of the most hated people in Christs day, because none but the lowest class of Jews would collect taxes for the Romans; and as a general rule, they farmed the taxes, and greatly increased them by demanding of the people much more than was due. They were therefore held in the worst possible repute. I am not sure that tax-gatherers are the objects of much love anywhere; but, among the Jews, they were detested because they were collecting tribute for the Romans whom the conquered nation abhorred.
Luk 18:11. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
So it is evident that he noticed one person who was there, though I do not find that the publican took any notice of him. We can tell by this remark that the mind of the Pharisee was wandering from his supposed devotions. It is a bad sign in a so-called worshipper when he knows a great deal about other people who are in the Lords house. I have known many people, whose recollection, after a sermon, has been quite as much about who was there, and who was not there, as it has been about what was in the sermon, and what was not in it. So this Pharisees eyes went gadding about, and he spied out the poor publican; but, after a contemptuous reference to him, he returned to the catalogue of his own virtues and excellences:
Luk 18:12. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
There his prayer ended, and he stood in a most enviable state of contentment, delighted with himself, lost in the contemplation of his own ineffable purity. I think I see him in all his glory, yet I quickly turn to the other part of the temple, further away from the most sacred place, for there I behold the true worshipper.
Luk 18:13. And the publican, standing afar off,
Not afar off from the Pharisee only, but afar off from the sacred shrine, the innermost temple, as if unworthy to be there at all: the publican, standing afar off,
Luk 18:13. Would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
That throne of the Highest, as if even a glance from his unholy eyes might defile that sacred place. He bowed his eyes downward, as if to read in the earth the record of his sin; he did not dare to look up;
Luk 18:13. But smote upon his breast,
His heart smote him, and he smote upon his heart,
Luk 18:13-14. Saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
The great Lord and Master acts as he would have his true servants do. It was said of some of them that they turned the world upside down, and that is exactly what he does. He abases those who exalt themselves, and he exalts those who abase themselves; he lifts up the lowly, and casts down them of high degree in their own estimation; and so shall it be to the end of the world.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Luk 18:1. , moreover also) as regards the preparation for those things about to come to pass. Comp. Luk 18:8.- ) that is to say, as concerns that all-important subject, prayer.-, always) night and day; Luk 18:7.-, to pray) Two parables treat of prayer: the one here, in Luk 18:1, et seqq.; and the second in Luk 18:9, et seqq. The first teaches us to unlearn (overcome, lay aside) indolent faintness; the second, to unlearn confidence in ourselves: two extremes deserving to be noted. For the words, , to be faint or indolent, and , i.e. self-confidence, in a bad sense, are mutually opposed, Luk 18:1; Luk 18:9; even as confidence or trust, in a good sense, 2Co 3:4 ( ), and to faint, 2Co 4:1 ( ), Eph. 3 12, 13, are mutually opposed.- ,[195] not to faint) The cry of the elect ( ), Luk 18:7, is in consonance with this not-fainting. An example in point occurs, Luk 18:39 [the blind man near Jericho].
[195] ABDL so write the word; and not , as Rec. Text.-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Luk 18:1-8
26. THE UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGE
Luk 18:1-8
1 And he spake a parable unto them-Luke is the only writer that records this parable. It is thought that Jesus was still in Perea when he gave this parable, and that it grew out of the preceding conversation. It was given “to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint.” It is observed that Luke, more than any of the other writers, notices Jesus at prayer; he relates several parables of Jesus on prayer. (Luk 11:5-10; Luk 18:9-14.) The disciples of Jesus can pray at all times; they should pray at regular and stated times; there is no time when they may not pray. The spirit of prayer should be kept constant and alive by exercise. (1Th 5:17.) They should pray and faint not; they should not languish and fail and become discouraged because of opposition. It does not mean that one should be incessantly performing the act of prayer.
2 There was in a city a judge,-In a certain city there was a certain judge. According to the law of Moses, all the cities of Israel were to have their judges who were to administer justice without partiality. (Exo 18:21; Deu 16:18; 2Ch 19:6-7.) Jesus gave a very vivid picture of this judge; he “feared not God, and regarded not man.” He was an unprincipled man and reckless in his depravity; he stood in no awe of God-had no reverence and respect for God, neither did he have any mercy or respect for man. He acted contrary to all of the requirements of the law. (Exo 23:6-9; Lev 19:15; Deu 1:16-17.) To disregard and disrespect the law that God had given was to disrespect God.
3 and there was a widow in that city;-This parable brings the unrighteous judge into sharp contrast with the widow. The condition of widows was indeed desolate, helpless, and friendless; God has legislated in favor of the widow because man has been prone to impose upon them. (Exo 22:22; Deu 10:17; Deu 24:17; Deu 27:19; 1Ki 17:9; 1Ki 17:12; Mal 3:5; Mar 12:40.) This widow was without influence and unable to bribe; she had little to hope for from this wicked judge. She lived in the same city with him, and “came oft unto him” begging him to avenge her of her adversary; she was asking justice against those who had mistreated her; she was asking to be delivered from the oppression of her adversary.
4, 5 And he would not for a while:-The judge was unwilling to give her justice and put her off from time to time and refused to hear her petition. He finally came to a decision “within himself” that though he feared not God, nor regarded man, nevertheless, because the widow continued to trouble him, he decided that he would give her justice, “lest she wear me out by her continual coming.” He decided to give her justice because he did not want to be troubled longer with her; his reasoning was entirely selfish; not for her sake, nor for the sake of right, but in order to get rid of her, he would grant her petition. Even in doing right from such a motive, he loses by his selfishness the praise of a sense of justice. (Gal 6:9.) The judge feared lest her continued importunity might finally culminate in personal violence.
6, 7 And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge saith-It seems that Jesus paused in his discourse a moment so that due attention would be given to what he said. He asked them to reflect upon what the “unrighteous judge” had concluded to do this includes his motive, his selfishness, and his final actions. They should note the power of importunity even upon an unrighteous and faithless man, when applied by a weak and defenseless widow. Jesus then asks a question which carries the force of the truth that he wished to teach “Shall not God avenge his elect, that cry to him day and night, and yet he is longsuffering over them?” God is just, and it is impossible for him to reject or neglect his chosen people. The argument is “a fortiori,” which is establishing a stronger conclusion even than ordinary premises need to warrant us. If so wicked a judge would grant justice, how much more will the Judge of all the earth do right?
8 I say unto you, that he will avenge them speedily.-Jesus here, as he frequently does, draws his own lesson from his parable, and makes the proper application of it. “Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” It has been frequently argued as to whether this coming of the Son of man is to be understood to have reference to his final coming to judgment; or whether it may mean only that whenever he shall come among men to look for faith, he will find a lack of faith upon the earth. Some think that Jesus asked this question, meaning to convey that there would be little faith among men during the Christian age; others seem to think that he means to say that there will be but little faith on the earth when he comes the second time.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Two parables on prayer are here given. The first insists on its necessity as an alternative to fainting. The second reveals the secrets of prevailing prayer, namely, humility and a deep sense of need. The comparison of the two prayers offered in the Temple precincts will show in the case of the Pharisee a sense of self which almost excluded the consciousness of God, while in the case of the publican the supreme sense was of God. The fist was rejected. The other was justified.
It is significant that the three evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, show that the incidents of the blessing of the children and the rich young ruler were united. Of the children our Lord declared, “Of such is the Kingdom of God.” The character that proves citizenship is the character of childhood.
In dealing with the young ruler the truth was emphasized that only through the strait door of absolute renunciation of self is it possible for men to regain the child attitude toward life.
What follows reveals that this renunciation demands the way of the Cross. For a while these disciples shunned the shame and the pain of it. Ultimately, however, every man of them, save Judas, went into the realm of death with Jesus. The incident of the blind beggar reveals that fellowship in that Cross always results in compassion and willingness to help those in trouble.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
18:1-8. The Parable of the Unrighteous Judge. Comp. 15:8-10, 11-32, 16:1-9, 19-31, 17:7-10. The connexion with what precedes is close, and is implied in the opening clause; for naturally refers to the same audience as before. Had there been no connexion, would have been omitted: comp. 13:6. Godet appeals also to the formula ; but here the is not genuine. The connexion is, that, although the time of Christs return to deliver His people is hidden from them, yet they must not cease to pray for deliverance. Both here and 21:36 we ve the command to be unremitting in prayer immediately after a declaration that the hour of Christs coming is unknown; and the same connexion is found Mar 13:33. See Resch, Agrapha, p. 297.
1. . See on 5:36.
. Not merely the duty, but the necessity of perseverance in prayer is expressed; and prayer in general is meant, not merely prayer in reference to the Second Advent and the troubles which precede it. Only here and ver. 9 is the meaning of a parable put as the preface to it; and in each case it is given as the Evangelists preface, not as Christs.
. Comp. . (1Th 5:17). Grotius quotes Proclus ad Timum . See Origen, , 12.; Tert. De Orat. 29.; Lft. Epp. p. 81. On the other hand, we have the Jewish doctrine that God must not be wearied with incessant prayer. Tanchuma, fol. 15:3. A man ought not to pray more than three times a day. Hourly prayers are forbidden. Si quis singulis horis ad te salutandum accedit, hunc dicis te contemtui habere: idem ergo quoque Valet de Deo, quem nemo hominum singulis horis defatigare debet (Schttgen, 1:305).
The form is right here, and perhaps Gal 6:9; Eph 3:13; 2Th 3:13; 2Co 4:1, 2Co 4:16; but in six places some texts have . See Gregory, Proleg. p. 78. Ellicott makes mean to lose heart in a course of action, and to retire through fear out of it; but authority for any such word as seems to be wanting. Perhaps is not found earlier than Polybius. See Suicer.
2. . We are probably to understand a Gentile official. He had no respect for either the vox Dei or the vox populi, consciously (ver. 4) defying Divine commands and public opinion. See numerous parallels in Wetst., and contrast 2Co 8:21. The Talmud speaks of frequent oppression and venality on the part of Gentile magistrates; and for a striking illustration of the parable witnessed by himself see Tristram, Eastern Customs in Bible Lands, p. 228. Note the .
The idea of seems to be that of turning. towards a person, and so paying respect (20:13; Mat 21:37; Mar 12:6; 2Th 3:14; Heb 12:9). But as means I put to shame (1Co 4:14), may possibly have the notion of being abashed, having a felling of awe, before a person. In class. Grk. it is commonly followed by a gen.
3. . Typical of defencelessness: she had neither a protector to coerce, nor money to bribe the unrighteous magistrate. The O.T. abounds in denunciations of those who oppress widows: Exo 22:22; Deu 10:18, 24:17, 27:19; Job 22:9, Job 22:24:3; Jer 22:3; Eze 22:7, etc. Comp. Non, ita me dii ament, auderet facere hc vidu mulieri, qu in me facit (Ter. Heaut. v. 1:80).
. Continued coming, came often, ventitabat. The imperf. indicates her persistence.
. Give me a sentence of protection from; vindicate my right (and so protect me) from. Assere me jure dicundo ab injuri adversarii mei (Schleusn.). For the comp. 12:15, 58, 13:16, 20:46: it does not express the penalty exacted from the adversary, but the protection afforded from him, as in . The meaning is preserve me against his attacks rather than deliver me out of his power, which wo require . For comp. 12:58; Mat 5:25.
As often, the follows up the idea suggested by the in the compound verb: see on (4:35), and comp. also (6:13), (11:50, 51), (Joe 2:20; Dan 4:22, Dan 4:29, Dan 4:30, Theod.), etc. Here d has devindica me ab.
4. . The imperf. (A.aleph; A B D L Q R L) has more point than the aor. (A etc.): he continued refusing, just as she continued coming. With comp. . (Act 18:20); . (Rom 7:1; 1Co 7:39; Gal 4:1).
. Although I fear not God, implying that this is the actual fact (2Co 12:11), whereas would have put it as an hypothesis (1Co 8:5; , 1Pe 3:1). Win. 53:7. b, p. 554.
Perhaps its being given as a fact explains the use of rather than : or the coalesces with the verb, and thus escapes the influence of the : comp. 11:8, 14:26, 16:11, 12, 31; 2Co 12:11. Burton., 284, 469. But see Simcox, Lang. of N. T. p. 184.
. Nor yet, nor even: a climax.
5. . Yet because she trouble me. Comp. (11:8), where, as here., is followed by and . Both and are strong words, and express the mans impatience.
On the reading see Gregory, prolegom. p. 58.
. Unto the end, to the utter most easily passed in meaning to either continually or at last; and either of these makes sense here, according as we join with the participle or the verb or both. Either, by continually coming wear me out; or, at last by her coming wear me out; or, be forever coming and plaguing me. The first is best: it was her perpetual coming that was so trying. Both and are frequent in class. Grk. In LXX is frequent.
. From , which means (1) the part of the face below the eyes; (2) a blow there, a black eye; (3) any blow. Hence means (1) hit under the eye, give a black eye; (2) beat black and blue; (3) mortify, annoy greatly (1Co 9:27). Comp. (Aristoph. Pax, 541). There is no doubt that annoy greatly is the meaning here. Comp. Qui me sequatur quoquo eam, rogitando obtundat, enecet (Ter. Eun. iii. 5, 6). Meyer, Godet, Weiss and others advocate the literal meaning, and regard it as a mauvaise plaisanterie or an exaggeration on the part of the judge. But, as Field points out (Otium Norvic. 3. p. 52), the tenses are fatal to it. Lest at last she come and black my eyes for me would require . The judge was afraid of being annoyed continually, not of being assaulted once.
The Latin Versions vary much in their rendering both of and of : in novissimo (Vulg.), in novissimo die (q), in tempus (d), usque ad finem (e), usque quaque (1), in finem (r): suggillet (Vulg.), contringat (b ff2 q), molestior sit mihi (e), invidiam mihi faciat (1).
Strauss has pointed out similarities of feature between the parables of the Rich Fool, to the Friend at Midnight at Midnight, and the Unrightous Judge, especially with regard to the soliloquies in each case: , …, (16:3, 4); (18:4), One may admit that these are signs of a common origin, but that they are also signs of a Jewish-Christian, or indeed of an Ebionite source, is not so evident. He says that this mimic repetition, What shall I do? This will I do, is thoroughly Jewish. But as Christ was a Jew, speaking to Jews, there is nothing surprising in that. He says also that the Ebionites laid great stress on prayer, and inculcated a contempt for riches; and that two of the three parables do the one, while the third does the other. But assuredly the Ebionites were not peculiar in advocating prayer, not in despising riches, although in the latter point they went to fanatical excess. See Strauss, L. J. 41, p. 257, ed. 1864.
6 . The insertion indicates a pause, during which the audience consider the parable, after which Jesus makes a comment and draws the moral of the narrative. For of Christ see on 5:17 and 7:13; and for see on 16:8.
7. . This intensive form of the simple negative may be used in questions as well as in statements, and expresses the confidence with which an affirmative answer is expected: comp. Joh 18:11.Rev 15:4 is not quite parallel. The argument here is forliori, or (as Augustine, Qust. Evang. ii. 45) ex dissimilitudine, and has many points. If an unjust judge would yield to the importunity of an unknown widow, who came and spoke to him at intervals, how much more will a just God be ready to reward the perseverance of His own elect, who cry to Him day and night ? comp. the very similar passage Eccles. 35:13-18 [32:18-22], and the similar argument Luk 11:13. The treatment of the Syrophenician woman (Mat 15:22-28 ||) is an illustration of the text. With comp. the souls of the saints under the altar (Rev 6:9-11, ). In both cases it is deliverance from oppression that is prayed for.
. And He is long-suffering over them (RV.). This, and not (E), is the reading of almost all uncials and of other important authorities: et patiens est in illis (d e), et patientiam habebit in illis (Vulg.).
The exact meaning of the different parts of the clause cannot be determined with certainty; but the general sense is clear enough, viz. that, however long the answer to prayer may seem to be delayed, constant faithful prayer always is answered.
The chief points of doubt are (1) the construction of , (2) the meaning of , (3) the meaning of . (1) We need not join to , but may take it with , which is equivalent to of : the elect cry and He . (2) We need not give its very common meaning of is slow to anger: it sometimes means to be slow, be backward, tarry, and is almost synonymous with . Comp. Heb 6:15; Jam 5:7; Job 7:16; Jer 15:15; and the remarkably parallel passage Eccles. 35 [32.] 22, . So also may mean slow persistency as well as slowness to anger. Comp. 1 Mac. 8:4, and see Trench, Syn. liii. (3) This being so, there is no need to make refer to the enemies of the elect, although such loose wording is not impossible, especially if Lk. had the passage in Ecclus. in his mind. The words naturally, and in strict grammar necessarily, refer to the elect, and indicate the persons in respect of whom the slowness of action takes place. Comp. (Jam 5:7). The meaning, then, seems to be, And shall not Clod deliver His elect who cry day and n ht to Him, while He is slow to act for them? That is, to them in their need the of God seems to be (Rev 6:10), just as it does to the ungodly, when they see no judgment overtaking them (2Pe 3:1-10). But it is possible that means is not impatient. The unjust judge heard the widows frequent request with impatience and dislike. God listens to the ceaseless crying of His is saints with willingness and pleasure. In this sense is the opposite of , to be quick-tempered.
8. . Quickly, without delay; celeriter (a), confestim (d), cito (Vulg.). Although He bears long, and t suffering seems to delay, yet He really acts speedily. This interpretation is confirmed by Act 12:7, Act 12:22:18, Act 12:25:4; Rom 16:20; 1Ti 3:14; Rev 1:1, Rev 22:6. Other, prefer repente, inopinato. Thus Godet says, that although God delays to act, yet. when the moment comes, He acts swiftly, as at the Deluge and the destruction of Sodom. So Didon, lheure sonne, la Vengeance sera Foudroyante (J. C. Ch. 9. p. 614). In any case, the is placed last with emphasis.
. Howbeit (certain as the Messiahs deliverance of His people is, a sorrowful question arises) the Son of Man, when He come, will He find faith on the earth? The is not im Uebrigen (Weiss), nor seulement (Godet), but doch (Luther), cependant (Lasserre). Latin Versions have verum (d), tamen (b i l q), or verumtamen (Vulg.). Note the emphatic order, both . . and being placed before the interrogative practicle. Yet Syr-Sin. has, Shall the Son of man come and find.
Only here and Gal 2:17 (where some prefer ) is found in N.T. In LXX it a always followed by (Gen 18:13, Gen 18:26:9, 37:10; Jer 4:10), but without it is freq. in Sym. Latin Versions have numquid (b c i l q) or putas (Vulg.). See B lass on Act 8:30.
. The necessary faith, the faith in question, faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Saviour. Others prefer the faith which perseveres in prayer, or again loyalty to Himself, which is much the same as faith in Christ. The answer to this desponding question, which seems, but only seems, to call in question the success of our Lords whole mediatorial work, has been given by anticipation 27:26: the majority, not only of mankind but of Christians, will be absorbed in worldly pursuits, and only a few will endure to the end (Mat 24:12, Mat 24:13). No doubt is expressed or implied as to the coming of the Son of Man, but only as to what will find.
There is therefore no reason for conjecturing that the parable received its present from at a time when belief in the Second Advent was waning. Still is there for interpreting it of the Christian Church seeking, help from pagan magistrates against Jewish persecutors, and then concluding that it must have been composed after the time of S. Luke (De Wette). On the other hand, Hilgenfeld sees in the thirst for vengeance, which (he thinks) inspires the parable, evidence of its being one of the oldest portions of the Third Gospel.
9-14. Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. This s no connexion either with the parable which precedes it or with the narrative which follows it. The two parables were evidently spoken on different occasions and addressed to different audiences, the first to the disciples on a specified occasion, the second to the persons described in ver. 9 on some occasion not specified. They are placed in juxtaposition, probably because tradition assigned them to the same portion of Christs ministry (Hahn); or possibly because they both (but in very different ways) treat of prayer (Keil). That Lk. brackets the two parables for some reason is shown by the . But note the also, and see on 3:9.
The is genuine (A.aleph; B D L M Q R X L, Vulg.) although A etc. with several Versions omit.
9. As in ver. 1, this preface to the parable is the Evangelists: , , , and are all marks of his style. It is possible to take here as meaning with a view to, as in ver. 1, or against, as in 20:19. But it is much more likely that it means unto after because (1) this construction is specially common in Lk. and (2) we here have persons and not the substantial infinitive after : dixit autem et ad quosdam qui (vulg.). Syr-Sin. has against.
. They themselves were the foundation on which their confidence was built: 11:22; 2Co 1:9; Heb 2:13; Deu 28:52; 2Sa 22:3; Isa 8:17, Isa 12:2, etc. The Constructions , , and are less common. Grotius and others render because, making the righteousness a fact and the ground of their self-confidence; which is incredible. Comp. Pro 30:12; Isa 65:5. The Talmud inveighs against the Pharisaism of those who implore you to mention some more duties which they might perform.
. A strong word, common to Lk. and Paul: utterly despised, treated as of no account, 23:11; Act 4:11; Rom 14:3, Rom 14:10. Comp. Ps. Son 2:5.
. The rest, all others (RV.): comp. (ver. 11). The other of AV. and most English Versions has been silently altered into others by the printers: other means other folk, but means all other folk.
10. . They went up from the lower city to Mount Moriah, the Hill of the House, on which the temple stood. We are probably to understand one of the usual hours of prayer (1:10; Act 2:15, Act 3:1, Act 10:9).
11. . This perhaps indicates the conscious adopting of an attitude or of a conspicuous place: debout et la tte haute (Lasserre); aprs stre plac en vidence (Reuss); in loco conspicuo instar statut stans erectus (Valek.). Contrast ver. 13 and comp. vet. 40, 19:8; Act 2:14, Act 17:22, Act 27:21. The expression is peculiar to Lk. Standing was the common posture at prayer among the Jews (1Sa 1:26; 1Ki 8:14, 1Ki 8:22; Mat 6:5; Mar 11:25). See Lightfoot on Mat 6:5.
. These words probably follow (B L, Vulg. Boh. Arm. Orig.); but, even if they precede, they must be taken with (comp. 2 Mac. 11:13): infra so precabalur (e), apud se orabat (Vulg.). This use of is classical. Standing by himself would be , seorsum, which D here reads: comp. Act 28:16; Jam 2:17. The character of his prayer shows why he would not utter it so that others could hear.
. There is no prayer, even in form; he asks God for nothing, being thoroughly satisfied with his present condition. And only in form is this utterance a thanksgiving; it is self-congratulation. He glances at God, but contemplates himself. Indeed he almost pities God, who but for himself would be destitute of faithful servants.
. The rest of men (RV.), all other men, ceteri hominum (Vulg.). He is in a class by himself; every one else in a very inferior class. For other vainglorious thanksgivings used by Jews see Edersh. L. & T. 2. p. 291. Contrast S. Pauls declaration 1Co 15:9, 1Co 15:10, and see Schttgen, 1., p. 306. Noli in precibus bona tua enumerare.
, , . Gratias agit, non quia bonus, sed quia Bolus; non tam de bonis qu habet, quam de malis qu in aliis videt (Bernard, De Grad. Humil. 5:17). But there is no hint that he was lying in acquitting himself of gross and flagrant crimes. Such falsehood in a silent address to God is scarcely intelligible. His error lay in supposing that all other men were guilty of these things, and that he himself was not guilty of sins that were as bad or worse. Hillel had taught, Endeavour not to be better than the community, and trust not in thyself until the day of thy death. The , as often. The is pointed out to the Almighty as a specimen of a . .
12. He cites these good works as instances of the ways in which he is still further superior to other men. He is superior not only in what he avoids, but in what he performs. Characteristically he names just those things on which Pharisees prided themselves (Mat 9:14, Mat 23:23).
. Mondays and Thursdays. Moses was supposed to have ascended the mount on the fifth day, and to have come down on the second. For the sing. of in the sense of a week comp. Mar 16:9; 1Co 16:2. It is amazing that any should have taken this as meaning I fast twice on the sabbath, which would be unintelligible. The jejuno bis in sabbato of the Vulg. might mislead those who knew no Greek. The frequent statement that the Pharisees observed the second and fifth days as fasts all through the year (D. B.2 1:2. p. 1054), and held that this was enjoined by the oral Law, is without foundation: and those who make it are inconsistent in saying that this Pharisee boasts of works of supererogation. In that case he merely States that he keeps the Law in its entirety. The Mosaic Law enjoins only one fast in the year, the Day of Atonement. Other annuaj fasts were gradually established in memory of national calainities (Zec 8:19). Occasional fasts were from time to time ordered in seasons of drought and other public calamities, and these additional fasts were always held on Mondays and Thursdays. Thus, a five days fast would not last from Monday to Friday inclusive, but would be held on all Mondays and Thursdays until the five days were made up (see the Didache, 8:1; Apost. const. vii. 23, 1). But many individuals imposed extra fasts on themselves, and there were some who fasted on Mondays and Thursdays all the year round. Such cases would be commonest among the Pharisees, and the Pharisee in the parable is one of them: but there is no evidence that all Pharisees adopted this practice or tried to make it a general obligation (Schlrer, Jewish People in the T. of J. C. II. 2. p. 118; Edersh. L. & T. 2. p. 291; Wetstein and Lightfoot, ad loc.). The man, therefore, is boasting of a work of supererogation. What is told us about Jewish fasting in the N.T. (5:33; Mat 6:16, Mat 6:9:14; Mar 2:18; Act 27:9) is confirmed by the Mishna. Note that the Pharisee has dropped even the form of thanksgiving.
With comp. (17:4). The genitives in 24:1; Mat 2:14, 25:6, 28:13; Gal 6:17 are not parallel.
. Here again, in paying tithe of everything, he seems to boast of doing more than the Law required. Tithe was due (Num 18:21; Deu 24:22), but not of small garden herbs (Mat 23:23). There is something for which God owes thanks to him.
The rare form is found in B * here in place of the not very common or . WH. 2. App. p. 171. The simple is more usual.
. All that I get (RV.): qucunque adquiro (i q), qu adquiro (d). It was on what he acquired, not on what he possessed, that he paid tithe; on his income, not on his capital. All English Versions prior to RV. go wrong here with Vulg. (qu possideo), Luth. (das ich habe), and Beta. Possess would be . There is a similar error 21:19. Excepting Mat 10:9 and 1Th 4:4, the verb is peculiar to Lk. in N.T. (Act 1:18, Act 8:20, Act 22:28): it is freq. in LXX.
13. . Far from the Pharisee: nothing else is indicated. In his self-depreciation he thinks himself unworthy to come now in worship to one who must be a favoured servant of God. But we need not suppose that he remained in the Court of the Gentiles (Grot.), in which case the Pharisee in the Court of Israel would hardly have seen him. Comp. 23:49. The change from (ver 11) to perhaps implies less of a set, prominent position in this case. Vulg. has stans in both places; but Cyprian has cum stetisset for and stabat et for (De Dom. Orat. 6.). Comp. Tac. Hist. iv. 72, 4.
. The common explana would not lift up even his eyes, much less his hands and his face (1Ti 2:8; 1Ki 8:22; Psa 28:2, Psa 63:4, Psa 134:2), does not seem to be satisfactory. The strengthens the previous and need not be taken exclusively with, ; would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, much less adopt any confident or familiar attitude towards God. See Maldonatus, ad loc. Some Rabbis taught that it was necessary to keep the eyes down or to close them in praying (Schttgen, 1: p. 307).
. He continued to smite; tundebat (d), percutiebat (Vulg Comp. 8:52, 23:48. Om. after B L.
. Be merciful (Dan 9:19) to me the sinner. He also places himself in a class by himself; but he makes no comparisons. Consciousness of his own sin is supreme; de nemine alio homine cogitat (Beng.). For similar self-accusation comp. Psa 25:11, 40:12, 51:3; Ezr 9:6; Dan 9:8; 1Ti 1:15. The verb occurs elsewhere in N.T. only Heb 2:17, with acc. of the sin. In LXX it is not common. Psa 64:3, with acc. of the sin. Ps. 24:11, 77:38, Psa 78:9, with dat. of the sin. 2Ki 5:18, with dat, of the person, as here. The compound is the more usual word. The classical construction with acc. of the person propitiated is not found in bibl. Grk., because the idea of propitiating God is not to be encouraged. The propitiation acts on that which alienates God and not on God, whose love is unchanged throughout (Wsctt. on Heb 2:17, and Additional Note on 1Jn 2:2, Epp. of S. John, p. 83).
The Latin Versions have propitiare (c ff2 1), repropitiare (b), miserere (d), propitius esto (Vulg.). See Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 224.
14. . As often, this formula introduces an important declaration uttered with authority (7:26, 28, 9:27, 10:12, 24, 11:9, 51, 12:4, 5, 8, 27, 37, 44, 51, 13:3, etc.). Here Christ once more claims to know the secrets both of mans heart and of Gods judgments.
. The pronoun perhaps looks back to the contemptuous in vet. 11. This despised man went down justified in the sight of God, i.e. accounted as righteous, accepted. Comp. 7:35, 10:29, 16:15; Isa 50:8, 53:11; Job 33:32. The Talmud says, So long as the temple stood, no Israelite was in distress; for as often as he came to it full of sin and offered sacrifice, then his sin was forgiven and he departed a just man (Schttgen, 1. p. 308).
. The expression is one of comparison, and of itself does not exclude the possibility of the Pharisee being justified in some smaller degree. Comp. 13:2, 4. But the context perhaps excludes it. Thus Tertullian (Adv. Marcion. iv. 36), ideoque alterum reprobatum, alterum justificatum. Also Euthym. (ad loc.), , . Aug., however, points out that the Scripture does not say that the Pharisee was condemned (Ep. xxxvi. 4, 7).
The readings are various, but ( B L, Boh. Sah., Orig. Naz.) may be safely adopted: ab illo (Vulg.) is a misrepresentation of this, and (D) an amplification of it. The (min.pauc.) of Elz. is a gloss; which, however, may have helped to produce the common reading (A A G H K M P Q etc.), being changed to . If (Tisch., Treg. marg.) be adopted, it must be interrogative: I say to you, this man went down to his house justified-or did the other do so? Other Latin variations are pr illum pharisum (a), magis guam ille pharisus (b c e), to which some add qui so exaltabat (f ff2 i l q r). (Hofm. Kell) and (Hahn) are conjectures. See Blass, Gr. pp. 106, 139.
, … Verbatim as 14:2 (where see note), which Weiss pronounces to be its original position, while its appearance here is due to Lk. Why is it assumed that Jesus did not repeat His sayings?
The suggestion (Aug. Bede) that the Pharisee represents the Jews and the publican the Gentiles cannot be accepted. Nor need we suppose (Godet) that Lk. is here showing that the Pauline doctrine of justification was based on the teaching of Christ. There is nothing specially Pauline here. We are not told that the publican was justified by faith in Christ, but by confession of sin and prayer. The meaning is simple. Christ takes a crucial case. One generally recognized as a saint fails in prayer, while one generally recognized as a sinner succeeds. Why? Because the letters prayer is real, and the formers not. The one comes in the spirit of prayer,-self-humiliation; the other in the spirit of pride,-self-satisfaction.
15-17. Little Children brought to Christ. Mat 19:13-15; Mar 10:13-16. The narrative of Lk., which has been proceeding tindependently since 9:51, here rejoins Mt. and Mk. The three narratives are almost verbatim alike. Where Lk. differs either he has an expression peculiar to himself, as (ver. 15) or (ver. 16); or he and Mk. agree against Mt., as in (ver. 15), and (ver. 16), , … (ver. 17), where Mt. varies considerably in wording. Only in the before (ver. 16) does Lk agree with Mt. against Mk.
15. . The and are peculiar to Lk. For Mk. has and Mt. : for both have simply . Now people were bringing to Him even their babes, or their babes also, as well as sick folk. In any case must be rendered here as in 2:12, 16: comp. 1:41, 44; Act 7:19; 1Pe 2:2. AV. has babe, infant, and young child. Vulg. has infans throughout.
Mt. says more distinctly, . Blessing them is meant: comp. Gen 48:14, Gen 48:15.
The pres. subj. after imperf. indic. is a constr. that is freq. in LXX. It shows how the opt, is going out of use. But here it might be explained as expressing the thought of those who brought the babes, a thought put in a direct form for the sake of vividness: that He may touch for that He might touch. Win. 41. b. 1. a, p. 360.
Not because, as Chrysostom and Theophylact suggest they thought that little children were unworthy to approach Him; but because they thought it a waste of His time and an abuse of His kindness; or, as Jerome, followed closely by Bede, puts it, eum in similitudineum hominum offerentium importunitate lassari. On the first anniversary of their birth Jewish children were sometimes brought to the Rabbi to be blest.
Lk. has the imperf. in both places, : Mt. : Mk. .
16. . Even if with B we omit , this would mean that He called the children (with their parents), and then addressed the disciples. Mk. has Mt. simply .
. Cease to forbid. The wording is almost identical in all three narratives. Jerome and Euthym. (on Mat 19:14) point out that Christ does not say but , ut ostenderet non tatem regnare sed mores. It is not these children, nor all children, but those who are childlike in character, especially in humility and trustfulness, who are best fitted for the Kingdom.
17. Verbatim as in Mar 10:15. Mt. gives a similar saying on a different occasion (18:3, 4). The explains the : a child receives what is offered to it, in full trust that it is good for it, (Euthym.).
18-30. The Rich Young Ruler who preferred his Riches to the Service of Christ. Mat 19:16-30; Mar 10:17-31. In all three narratives this section follows immediately upon the one about bringing children to Christ. This young ruler is humiliated by being told that there is still a great deal to be done before he is qualified for . Thus the lessons supplement one another. The children, like the publican, are nearer the Kingdom than they could suppose themselves to be; the rich young man, like the Pharisee, is farther from it than he supposed himself to be. Those who can be benefited by being abased (9, 22), are abased; while those who cannot be harmed by being exalted (16), are exalted. Here again Lk. often agrees with Mk. in small details of wording against Mt., and only once ( in ver. 23) with Mt. against Mk.
18. . Lk. alone tells us this, and we are in doubt what he means by it. His being a as Mt. tells us (19:20, 22), is rather against his being a member of the Sanhedrin or a ruler of a synagogue. Weiss, Neander, and others conjecture that is an error, perhaps an inference drawn by Mt. from Christs charge, especially , … Certainly (which is wanting in the best texts of Mt.) does not seem appropriate to a . Yet Holtzmann supposes that has been added through a misconception of But the rich rulers self-confidence might easily make him pose as an older man than he really was. Keim seems to be nearer the truth when he says that the whole impression is that of an eager and immature young man (Jes. of Naz. v. p. 36). The statement of Mk., that he ran to Jesus and kneeled to Him (10:17), indicates youthful eagerness.
, …. See on 10:25, where the same question is asked. In Mt the good is transferred from Master to what, , ; and hence Christs reply is different, ; The ruler thought that by some one act, perhaps of benevolence, he could secure eternal life: he was prepared for great expenditure. Similar questions were discussed among the Rabbis: see Wetst. on Mat 19:16.
19. ; So also in Mk. In none of the three is there any emphasis on Me, which is an enclitic. There is no instance in the whole Talmud of a Rabbi being addressed as Good Master: the title was absolutely unknown among the Jews. This, therefore, was an extraordinary address, and perhaps a fulsome compliment The Talmud says, There is nothing else that is good but the Law. The explanation of some ancient and modern commentators, that Jesus is here speaking merely from the young mans standpoint, is not satisfactory. You suppose Me to be a mere man, and you ought not to call any human being good. That title I cannot accept, unless I am recognized as God.1 The young ruler could not understand this; and the reply must have had some meaning for him. His defect was that he trusted too much in himself, too little in God. Jesus reminds him that there is only one source of goodness whether in action (Mt.) or in character (Mk. Lk.), viz. God. He Himself is no exception. His goodness is the goodness of God working in Him. The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing. For as the Father hath life in Himself, even so gave He to the Son also to have life in Himself I can of Myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and My judgment is righteous, because I seek not My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me (Joh 5:19-30). Non se magistrum non esse, sed magistrum absque Deo nullum bonum esse testatur (Bede). There is no need to add to this the thought that the goodness of Jesus was the goodness of perfect development (see on 2:52), whereas the goodness of God is that of absolute perfection (Weiss on Mar 10:18).
. So also Mk. Here the article is wanting in B. The saying appears in a variety of forms in quotations. Justin has two: (Apol. i. 16), and , (Try. ci.). Marcion scams to have read , . In Hippol. Philosoph. v. 1 , and a similar reading appears four times in Clem. Hom. See Zeller, Apostelg.; pp. 32 ff., Eng. tr. pp. 105-119, and WH. 2. App. pp. 14, 15.
20. . Jesus securos ad Legem remittit; contrifos Evangelice consolatur (Beng.). This is, however, not the main point. Nothing extraordinary or not generally known is required for salvation: the observance of well-known commands will suffice.
Here Lk. exactly agrees with Mk., except that he places the seventh before the sixth commandment, and omits, as Mt. does, , which perhaps represents the tenth. In Rom 13:9, Jam 2:11, and in Cod. B of Deu 5:17 adultery is mentioned before murder. Philo says that in the second of the decalogue adultery is placed first as (De decem orac. xxiv., xxxii.,). In all three of the Gospels the fifth commandment is placed last and none of the first four is quoted. In Mt. they are in the same form as in Exo_20. and Deut, 5, … So also Rom 13:9. In Mk. and Jam 2:11, .
21. . Not so much a boast, as an expression of dissatisfaction. I wanted to be told of something special and sublime; and I am reminded of duties which I have been performing all my life. The reply exhibits great ignorance of self and of duty, but is perfectly sincere.
That it was possible to keep the whole Law is an idea which is frequent in the Talmud. Abraham, Moses, and Aaron were held to have done so. R. Chanina says to the Angel of Death, Bring me the book of the Law, and see whether there is anything written in it which I have not kept (Schoettg. 1. pp. 160, 161. See also Edersh. L. & T. 1. p. 536).
Here, as in Mat 19:20; Gen 26:5; Exo 12:17, Exo 20:6, we have the act. of : Mar 10:20; Lev 18:4, Lev 18:20:8, Lev 18:22, Lev 18:26:3, the mid. without difference of sense.
22. . Mk. has the striking , which is strong evidence that behind Mk. is one who was intimate with Christ. From , , and (5:27, 9:59) we may conjecture that this was a call to become an Apostle.
. Mk. has . Mt. transfers the words to the young man, ; Christ neither affirms nor denies the rulers statement of his condition. Assuming it to be correct, there is still something lacking, viz. detachment from his wealth. In what follows we have two charges, one to sell and distribute; the other to follow Christ; and the first is preparatory to the second. But we may not separate them and make the first the one thing lacking and the second the answer to in ver. 18. In we have a clear reference to , and this promise is attached to the first charge. The (comp. 6:30, 7:35, 9:43, 11:4) and the compound (11:22; Act 4:35; elsewhere only Joh 6:11) are here peculiar to Lk.
Mt., having transferred the words about lacking something yet to the rich young man, gives Christs reply in place of . These words cannot mean a perfection superior to the fulfilment of the Law, for no such perfection is possible (17:10). A misconception is point led to the distinction between the performance of duty and moral perfection, which has produced much error in moral theology. Clam. Alex. rightly says, (sic), , , , , (Strom. iii. 6, p. 537, ed. Potter). Neander, L. J. C. 226, Eng. tr. p. 367.
In class. Grk. this use of for is mostly poetical.
For (B A F etc.) A D L M P R D have from Mt. and Mk.) And for (B D) A L R have from Mt., and P, Vulg. Goth. have from Mk. The plur. is supported by in clis (a d e), but the article is doubtful.
23. . Stronger than (Mt. Mk.), to which Mk. adds the graphic (Eze 32:10; [Mat 16:3]). For comp. Mar 6:26, Mar 6:14:34; Mat 26:38. He wanted to follow Christs injunctions, but at present the cost seemed to him to be too great.
. The statement explains, and perhaps in some measure excuses, his distress. He possessed a great deal more than a boat and nets; and Peter, James, and John were not told to sell their boats and nets and give the proceeds to the poor; because their hearts were not wedded to them.
24. . All three have this adv., which occurs nowhere else in bibl. Grk. Clam. Alex. seems to allude to the saying when he writes (Strom. v. 5. p. 662, ed. Potter). Lk. omits the departure of the ruler, which took place before these words were uttered. Mk. alone records (10:24) the consternation which they excited in the disciples, and Christs repetition of them. It was perhaps largely for the sake of Judas that these stern words about the perils of wealth were uttered to them.
25. In the Talmud an elephant passing through the eye of a needle is twice used of what is impossible; also a camel dancing in a very small corn measure. See Lightfoot, Schttgen, and Wetstein, ad loc. For see small print on 5:23. The reading = cable here and Mat 19:24 is an attempt to tone down a strong statement. It is found only in a few late MSS. The word occurs only in Suidas and a scholiast on Aristoph. Vesp. 1030. Some would give the meaning of cable to (so Cyril on Mat 19:24), but no doubt the animal is meant. Others would make the needles eye into a narrow gateway for foot-passengers; but this also is erroneous. See Expositor, Ist series, 3. p. 369, 1876; WH. 2. App. p. 151. For , which occurs nowhere else in bibl. Grk., Mt. and Mk. have , and for Mk. has . Hobart claims both and as medical, the former with good reason (p. 60).
Celsus said that this saying of Christ was borrowed along with others from Plato. But the passage which he quoted from the Laws (v. p. 742) merely says that a man cannot be at once very good and very rich. There is nothing about a camel or a needle. Orig. Con. Cels. 6:16, 1. The saying in the Koran (7:38), Neither shall they enter into paradise, until a camel through the eye of a needle, is probably taken from the Gospels (Sale, p. 108).
It is specially to be noted that this hard saying about the difficulty of those who have riches entering into the Kingdom of God is in all three Gospels and not merely in the one which is supposed to be Ebionite in tone. Comp. Mat 6:19-21; Mar 12:41, Mar 12:42. Lk.omits the great amazement, (Mt.), (Mk.), which this second utterance on the impediments caused by wealth excited in the disciples.
The Latin translator of Origens comm, on Mat_19. has the following extract from a certain Gospel which is called According to the Hebrews. But neither this preface not the extract are in the Greek text of Origen. Dixit ad eum alter divitum, Magisterter, quid bonum faciens vivam ? Dixit ei, Homo, legem et prophetas fac. Respondit ad eum, Feci. Dixit ei, Vade, vende omnia qu possides et divide pauperibus et veni, sequere me. Coepit autem dives scalpere caput suum (sic), et non placuit ei: Et dixit ad eum Dominus, Quomodo dicis Legem feci et prosphetas ? quoniam scriptum est in lege Diliges proximum tuum sicut te ipsum, et ecce multi fratres tui, filii Abrah amicti sunt stercore, morientes pr fame, et demur tua plena est multis bonis, et non egreditur omnino aliquid ex ea ad eos. Et conversus dixit Simoni discipulo suo, sedenti apud se, Simon, fili Johann, facilius est camelum intrare per foramen acus quam divitem in regnum corum. See also the fragment quoted from the narrative of the man with the withered hand (Luk 6:8). These specimens explain why the Gospel according to the Hebrews was allowed to pass into oblivion. and it is difficult to believe that this Nazarene Gospel was the original Hebrew of our Mt. If it was, our Greek Evangelist must have been a most unfaithful translator (Salmon, Int. to N.T. p. 166, 5th ed.). We may add that he must have been a person of very superior taste and ability.
26. ; Not what rich man (Weiss), but what person of any description: Num 24:23. The whole world either possesses or aims at possessing wealth. If, then, what every one desires is fatal to salvation, who can be saved? The adds emphasis to the question, which arises out of what has just been said: Comp. 10:29; Joh 9:36; 2Co 2:2.
27. . This shows that ver. 25 means an impossibility, not merely something difficult or highly improbable. It is a miracle of grace when those who have wealth do not put their trust in it. Lk. omits the steadfast look () with which Mt. and Mk. say that this declaration was accompanied. He sympathizes with their perplexity and hastens to remove it.
Not only before proper names which begin with a vowel (Mt :28:15; Joh 1:40), but also in other cases, sometimes is found unelided; (19:7). This is commonly the case before : comp. Mat 19:26; Mar 10:27; Joh 5:34, Joh 5:41; Gal 1:12.
. Zacchus proved this (19:1-10). Comp. Zec 8:6; Job 42:2. For parallels from profane writers see Grotius and Wetstein on Mat 19:26. But and certainly do not mean hominum judicio and Dei judicio (Fri. Ew.). they refer to what each can do. Man cannot, but God can, break the spell which wealth exercises over the wealthy. Comp. 1:37; Gen 18:14; Jer 32:17, Jer 32:27; Zec 8:6.
28. . His being the one to speak is characteristic; but he does not speak in a spirit of boastfulness. Rather it is the reaction from their consternation which moves him to speak: spe ex verbis Salvatoris concepts (Bang.). He wants to be assured that Gods omnipotence has been exerted on their behalf, and that they may hope to enter the Kingdom. Mt adds ; Note the , which neither Mt. nor Mk. has.
29. . In all three: it is a declaration of great moment. Not only has God done this for the Twelve, but for many others: and every one who has had grace to surrender is sure of his reward. Lk. alone has , and alone omits , among the things surrendered. The omission is noteworthy in connexion with his supposed Ebidnitism.
30. . Jobs family was exactly restored; his goods were exactly doubled. The dramatic compensations of the O.T. are far exceeded by the moral and spiritual compensations of the Gospel: and it is evident from this passage that material rewards are included also. What is lost in the family is replaced many times over in Christ and in the Church. This would apply in a special way to converts from heathen families, who found loving fathers and brethren to replace the cruel relations who cast them out. Lk. and Mt. omit (but for no imaginable dogmatic reasons) the important qualification . He only is truly rich, said the Rabbi Meir, who enjoys his riches. The Christian sacrifices what is not enjoyed for what brings real happiness.
Mk. has . D supported by many Latin authorities (a b c d e ff2 i l q r, Cypr. Ambr. Aug. Bede) here has . Cyprian quotes the passage thrice, and each time has septies tantum in isto tempore. Wh. conjectures some extraneous source, written or oral. Vulg. and f have multo plura in hoc tempore.
Between (B D M, Arm.), which may come from Mk., and ( A P R etc.) it is not easy to decide. With comp. 23:41; Rom 1:27; Col 3:24; 2Jn 1:8. It is often used with . (Xen. Anab. vii. 7, 14; Her. 8:137, 6). Vulg. has et non recipiat.
. Note the contrast with : not merely in this world, but in this season. So also in Mk. Comp. (Rom 3:26, Rom 8:18), and (Heb 9:9), which means the same: see Wsctt.
. In the age which is in process of being realized. See on 7:19, and comp. Eph 1:21, Eph 1:2:7; Heb 6:5. Bengal remarks that Scripture in general is more explicit about temporal punishments than temporal rewards, but about eternal rewards than eternal punishments.
Millermarians made use of this promise as an argument for their views. It would be in the millennium that the faithful would receive literally a hundredfold of what they had given up for the Kingdoms sake: non intelligentes quod si in cteris digna sit refiromissio, in uxoribus appareat turpitudo; ut qui unam pro Domino dimiserit, et centum recipiat in futuro (Jerome on Mat 19:29).
Lk. omits the saying about last being first and first last, having already recorded it in a different connexion (13:30).
31-34. The Third Announcement of the Passion. Mat 20:17-19; Mar 10:32-34. For previous announcements (just before and just after the Transfiguration) see 9:22, 44. The raising of Lazarus should probably be placed here. The decree of the Sanhedrin for the arrest of Jesus had very likely already been passed when our Lord made this new announcement of His death. Apostolis spius dixit et indies expressius, ut in posterum testes essent prscienti iprsius (Grotius).
The (ver. 31) is the one item which Lk. and Mt. have in common against Mk. In several expressions in vv. 32, 33 Lk. agrees with Mk. against Mt. The the (see on 7:35, 9:43, 11:4), (see on 22:37), and all of ver. 34 are peculiar to Lk.s account.
31. . Took to Himself (9:28, 11:26; Act 15:39). The notion of taking aside, away from the multitude, is involved, but is not prominent. In class, Grk. it is freq. of taking a wife, a companion, an ally, or adopting a son. This announcement specially concerned the Twelve who were to accompany Him to Jerusalem. See the graphic account of their behaviour Mar 10:32.
. This is the regular expression for the utterances of prophecy: they are spoken by means of the Prophets. The Prophet is not an originating agent, but an instrument. But this is the only place in which the phrase occurs in Lk., who says little to his Gentile readers about the fulfilment of prophecy. Comp. Mat 1:22, Mat 1:2:5, Mat 1:15, Mat 1:23, Mat 1:4:14, Mat 1:8:17, Mat 1:12:7, Mat 1:13:35, etc. In Mat 2:17 and 3:3 is a false reading. Comp. Hag 2:2.-See Gould on Mar 10:33, Mar 10:34.
. Once more an amphibolous expression. It can be taken with either or . If with the former it may mean either by the Son of Man (which is not probable, for it is not what He does, but what others do to Him that is predicted), or unto the Son of Man (RV. Hahn, Nsgen). Comp. (Mat 13:14). But for this Lk. elsewhere has . . (22:37). It seems better to take the dat. with : for the Son of Man, i.e. prescribed for Him as His course (Weiss, Godet), or of the Son of Man (Vulg. Wic. Tyn. Cov. Cran. Rhem. AV. Alf.). Hence the ancient gloss in the text of D, .. Win. 31:4, p. 265. Green, p. 100.
32. . This is a new element of definiteness in the prophecy, and it almost carries with it, what Mat 20:19 distinctly expresses, that the mode of death will be crucifixion. It is said that this prediction has been made more definite by the Evangelist, who has worded it in accordance with accomplished facts. But, in that case, why were not 9:22 and 44 made equally definite? That Christ should gradually reveal more details is in harmony with probability. Lk., however, omits the high priests and scribes, and their condemning Christ to death before handing Him over to the heathen, although both Mt. (10:18) and Mk. (10:33) say that Jesus predicted these details on this occasion. Here Lk. alone has (11:45; Act 14:5; elsewhere twice).
33. . Mk. has the less accurate , which can hardly have been invented to fit the facts. While the prediction of His death might shake the disciples faith in His Messiahship, the prediction of His rising again was calculated to establish it.
34. . Comp. 2:50. Note the characteristic and . Lk. alone mentions the appeal to prophecy (ver. 31), and he alone states-with three-fold emphasis-that the Twelve did not at all understand. But Mt. and Mk. illustrate this dulness a apprehension by the request of the sons of Zebedee for the right and left hand places in the Kingdom, which Lk. omits. Their minds were too full of an earthly kingdom to be able to grasp the idea of a Messiah who was to suffer and to die: and without that they could not understand His rising again, and did not at first believe when they were told that He had risen. Their dulness was providential, and it became a security to the Church for the truth of the Resurrection. The theory that they believed, because they expected that He would rise again, is against all the evidence. Comp. 9:45.
. This was changed when He (24:45). For comp. 9:45, 10:21, 19:42; 2Ki 4:27; Psa 118:19?; Isa 40:27; Jer 39:17. This statement is not identical with either of the other two. It explains the fact that they not only did not understand any of this at the time, but did not get to know () the things that were said.
35-43. The Healing of Blind Bartimus at Jericho. Mat 20:29-34; Mar 10:46-52. This miracle probably took place in the week preceding that of the Passion.
The three narratives have exercised the ingenuity of harmonizers. Lk. and Mk. have only one blind man; Mt. again mentions two (comp. Mat 9:27). Lk. represents the miracle as taking place when Jesus was approaching Jericho; Mt and Mk. as taking place when He was leaving it. Lk. says that Jesus healed with a command, ; Mk. with a word of comfort, , ; Mt. with a touch, . Only those who have a narrow view respecting inspiration and its effects will be concerned to reconcile these differences and make each of the three verbally exact. These make many suggestions. 1. There were three different healings (Euthym, on Mat 20:34). 2. As Christ entered Jericho, Bartimus cried for help, and was not healed; he then joined a second blind man, and with him made an appeal as Jesus left Jericho, and then both were healed (Calvin and Maldon. Followed by Wordsw.). 3. One blind man was healed as He entered, Bartimus, and another as He left (Aug. Qust. Evang. 2:48). 4. One was healed as He entered and one as He left; and Mt. combines the first with the second (even Neander inclines to this, L. J. C. 236, note). 5. There were two Jerichos, Old and New, and Lk. means that Jesus was approaching New Jericho, Mt. and Mk. that He was leaving Old Jericho (Macknight), although there is no evidence that Old Jericho was still inhabited, or that Jericho without epithet could at this time mean anything but the city which was given by Antony to Cleopatra, and afterwards redeemed by Herod the Great (Jos. Ant. 15:4, 2, 4). See Stanley, Sin. & Pal. p. 310; also some good remarks by Sadler on Mar 10:46, to the effect that the inspiration of the Evangelists did not extend to minuti of this sort, and by Harvey Goodwin against forced explanations (Gosp. of S. Luke, p. 311, Bell, 1865). 6. See below on ver. 35. The narrative of Mk., who gives the name Bartimus and other details, is probably the most exact of the three. See Wsctt. Intr. to the Gospels, ch. 7. p. 367, 7th ed.
The attempts of Hitzig and Keim to use the name, which in Syriac may perhaps mean son of the blind, to discredit the whole narrative, are rightly condemned by comes Weiss (L. J. 2. p. 439, Eng. tr. 3. p. 222). Strauss suggests that the name comes from (ver. 39; Mar 10:48)and (Mat 20:31) (L. J. 71, p. 429, 1864). For other possible meanings see Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. ad loc..
35. . The translation, When He was not far from Jericho, i.e. as He had just left it (Grotius, Nsgen), is perhaps the worst device for harmonizing Lk. with Mt. and Mk. The meaning of is decisive; and there is the in addition. Both Herod the Great and Archelaus had beautified and enlarged Jericho, which at this time must have presented a glorious appearance (D.B.2 art. Jericho). It was here that Herod had died his horrible death (Jos. B. J. 1:33, 6, 7).
Note the characteristic and c. infin. See on 3:21, and comp. 2Sa 15:5.
In class. Grk. is not common, and usually has the dat. In bbl. Grk. it is very frequent; sometimes with dat., esp. in the phrase (Jam 4:8; Exo 19:22; Lev 10:3; Isa 29:13, etc.); sometimes with (Gen 45:4, 48:10; Exo 19:21, etc.); and also with (19:29, 24:28; Mat 21:1; Mar 11:1; Tob. 6:10 , 11:1). In N.T. is always intrans.
For ( B D L, Orig.) A P Q R etc. have . Comp. 16:3.
36. . The caravan of pilgrims going up to the Passover. See on 6:1 and on 11:29; also Edersh. Hist. of J. N. p. 255, ed. 1896. Leaving His place of retirement (Joh 11:54, Joh 11:55), Jesus had joined this caravan; and it is probable that He came to Jericho in order to do so. The crowd was there, according to all three narratives, before the miracle took place. This shows how untenable is the view of Keim, Holtzmann, and Weiss, that Lk. has purposely transferred the healing from the departure to the entry in order to account for the crowd at the meeting with Zacchus (19:3): the miracle produced the crush of people. But according to Lk. himself the crowd was there before the miracle.
. In N.T. is almost peculiar to Lk. (15:26, where see note; Act 4:7, Act 4:10:18, Act 4:29, etc.). Omitting with A B P etc. against D K L M Q R X, He enquired what this was, not what this possibly might be. Mat 2:4; Joh 4:52.
37. For see on 8:20; for see on 4:34 (Mk. here has , and Mt. omits the epithet); and for see on 11:42.
38. . Comp. 9:38, 17:13.
. This shows that he recognizes Jesus as the Messiah (Mat 9:27, Mat 9:12:23, Mat 9:15:22, Mat 9:21:9, Mat 9:15). It is not this which the multitude resent, but the interruption: comp. 5:15. They regard him as an ordinary beggar, asking for money. And Jesus was perhaps teaching as He went. Mk. tells us how the attitude of the people changed towards him, when they saw that Jesus had decided to listen to him. See Gould on Mar 10:47.
39. . Excepting Rom 16:25 and 1Co 14:28, 1Co 14:30, 1Co 14:34, the verb is peculiar to Lk. in N.T. (9:36, 20:26; Act 12:17, Act 12:15:12, Act 12:13). Mt. and Mk. have , which A Q R, Orig. read here.
. Note the change of verb and tense from While is specially an intelligent cry for help, is often an instinctive cry or scream, a loud expression of strong emotion. In class. Grk. is often used of the cries of animals. The two words are sometimes joined (Dem. De Cor. p. 271; Aristoph. Plut. 722). Mt. and Mk. have in both places, and Mt. has the aor. in both. The mans persistency is evidence of his faith, which Christ recognizes.
40. . See on ver. 11: the others have . Excepting in Mt. and Acts, where the verb is common, occurs here only in N.T. In LXX it is found only in the Apocrypha. Mk. here describes the mans casting away1 his and leaping up to come to Jesus, when the people had passed on to him Christs command. Christs making those who had rebuked him to be the bearers of His invitation to him is to be noted.
With the constr., instead of , comp. 12:36, 15:20, 17:12, 22:10, 53; Act 4:1, Act 21:17.
41. ; Not that Jesus gives him carte blanche (Godet) to have anything that he likes; but that He will make clear to the multitude that this is no ordinary beggar, but one who has faith to ask to be healed. For the constr. see on 9:54. Both Mt. (14:19, 20:34) and Lk. (19:5) use in both senses, look up and recover sight.
42. . The multitude had called Jesus the Nazarene, and had tried to silence the blind man. He had called Him the Son of David, and had persevered all the more. Mt. says that Jesus touched the eyes, but omits these words. Comp. 7:50, 8:48, 17:19.
43. . Mk. has Comp. 5:25, 8:44, 55, 22:60. Lk. alone records that the man glorified God, and that the people followed his example; comp. 9:43. The poctical word is not rare in LXX, but occurs in N.T. only here an in a quotation from Psa 8:2 in Mat 21:16. With comp (17:18; Rom 4:20; Rev 4:9).
It is worth while to collect together the characteristics of Lk.s style which are very conspicuous in this section, especially when it is compared with Mt. and Mk. In ver. 35 we have , c. infin., and (only here and 16:3); in ver. 36, (6:1, 13:22) and (15:26); in ver. 37, (8:20) and (11:42); in ver. 38, (3:4, 9:38, 18:38); in ver. 39, (9:36, 20:26) and ; in ver. 43, (5:25) and (7:35, 11:4). In all these cases, either other expressions are used by Mt. and Mk., or they omit the idea which Lk. thus expresses.
Found in Luke alone.
Tert. Tertullian.
Lft. J. B. Lightfoot,* Notes on Epistles of S. Paul.
Wetst. Wetstein.
A A. Cod. Alexandrinus, sc. v. Once in the Patriarchal Library at Alexandria; sent by Cyril Lucar as a present to Charles 1. in 1628, and now in the British Museum. Complete.
B B. Cod. Vaticanus, sc. 4. In the Vatican Library certainly since 15331 (Batiffol, La Vaticane de Paul 3, etc., p. 86).
D D. Cod. Bezae, sc. vi. Given by Beza to the University Library at Cambridge 1581. Greek and Latin. Contains the whole Gospel.
L L. Cod. Regius Parisiensis, sc. viii. National Library at Paris. Contains the whole Gospel.
R R. Cod. Nitriensis Rescriptus, sc. 8. Brought from a convent in the Nitrian desert about 1847, and now in the British Museum. Contains 1:1-13, 1:69-2:4, 16-27, 4:38-5:5, 5:25-6:8, 18-36, 39, 6:49-7:22, 44, 46, 47, 8:5-15, 8:25-9:1, 12-43, 10:3-16, 11:5-27, 12:4-15, 40-52, 13:26-14:1, 14:12-15:1, 15:13-16:16, 17:21-18:10, 18:22-20:20, 20:33-47, 21:12-22:15, 42-56, 22:71-23:11, 38-51. By a second hand 15:19-21.
. Cod. Zacynthius Rescriptus, sc. viii. In the Library of the Brit. and For. Bible Soc. in London. Contains 1:1-9, 19-23, 27, 28, 30-32, 36-66, 1:77-2:19, 21, 22, 33-39, 3:5-8, 11-20, 4:1, 2, 6-20, 32-43, 5:17-36, 6:21-7:6, 11-37, 39-47, 8:4-21, 25-35, 43-50, 9:1-28, 32, 33, 35, 9:41-10:18, 21-40, 11:1, 2, 3, 4, 24-30, 31, 32, 33.
Win. Winer, Grammar of N.T. Greek (the page refers to Moultons edition).
Burton. Burton, N.T. Moods and Tenses.
Vulg. Vulgate.
L. J. Leben Jesu
RV. Revised Version.
Trench, Trench, New Testament Synonyms.
Syr Syriac.
Sin. Sinaitic.
M M. Cod. Campianus, sc. ix. In the National Library at Paris. Contains the whole Gospel.
X X. Cod. Monacensis, sc. ix. In the University Library at Munich. Contains 1:1-37, 2:19-3:38, 4:21-10:37, 11:1-18:43, 20:46-24:53.
AV. Authorized Version.
Boh. Bohairic.
Arm. Armenian.
Orig. Origen.
Edersh. Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.
D. Smiths Dictionary of the Bible, 2nd edition.
Cod. Sinaiticus, sc. iv. Brought by Tischendorf from the Convent of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai; now at St. Petersburg. Contains the whole Gospel complete.
WH. Westcott and Hort.
Luth. Luther.
Grot. Grotius.
Beng. Bengel.
Wsctt. Westcott.
Euthym. Euthymius Zigabenus.
Aug. Augustine.
Sah. Sahidic.
G G. Cod. Harleianus, sc. ix. In the British Museum. Contains considerable portions.
K K. Cod. Cyprius, sc. ix. In the National Library at Paris. Contains the whole Gospel.
Tisch. Tischendorf.
Treg. Tregelles.
1 So Cyril, ad loc., , , , ; and Ambrose, Quid me dicis bonum, qwem negas Deum? Non ergo so bonum negat, sed Deum designat. See also, Jerome, Basil, Epiphanies, etc. Maldonatus and Wordsworth follow.
Hippol. Hippolytus.
Clem. Hom. Clementine Homilies.
F F. Cod. Boreeli, sc. ix. In the Public Library at Utrecht. Contains considerable portions of the Gospel.
Goth. Gothic.
Cypr. Cyprian.
Ambr. Ambrose.
Wic. Wiclif.
Tyn. Tyndale.
Cov. Coverdale.
Rhem. Rheims (or Douay).
Alf. Alford.
Maldon. Maldonatus.
Wordsw. Wordsworth (Chr.)
Jos. Josephus.
Hist. of J. N. History of the Jewish Nation.
1 In Syr-Sin.Timai Bar-Timai rose and took up his garment, and came, to Jesus. Comp. Joh 21:7. In Diatess. Tat. he asks for sight, that I may see Thee.
Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament
the Lesson for Dark Days
Luk 18:1-8
There are three phases in our Lords teaching about prayer-that of Mat 6:1-34, Luk 18:1-43, and the words of Joh 14:1-31; Joh 15:1-27. In Luk 18:1-8 He exhorts to uniformity and urgency. There is an aspect of prayer that we are in danger of overlooking when the skies are blue and the sun is shining, and that is, the need of holy violence.
This lesson is taught, in the parable of this paragraph, by a striking contrast which may be stated thus: If an unjust and ungodly judge will finally grant a just petition, out of base and selfish motives and merely to save himself from being worried by a defenseless and oppressed woman, how much more shall the just and merciful God hear the cry and avenge the cause of those whom He loves. If answers to certain prayers, which we have offered in an agony of tears, are slow in coming, we may be sure, either that the time is not ripe, or that He is going to do something better.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Importunate Prayer — Luk 18:1-17
And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. And they brought unto Him also infants, that He would touch them: but when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein- Luk 18:1-17.
It is very evident that the first parable has a definite dispensational aspect. God Himself is not an unjust judge but is put in contrast with such an one. The widow does not represent the Church of God, for the Church of God is not a widow. The Church is a virgin espoused to Christ; the marriage feast is to take place after we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The woman here undoubtedly represents Israel. She was called the wife of Jehovah, but because of her sins, unbelief, and spiritual adultery, she was separated from her rightful Husband, and abides in the world today as a widow. What suffering she has endured down through the centuries! During all these long years her earnest cries have gone up to heaven, that she might be avenged of her cruel adversaries. It might seem as though God is as indifferent as the unjust judge. He appears to have no regard for the sufferings of Israel, no interest in their sad experiences. There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. Her crying at first did not affect him; he was not concerned about her case. But afterwards he became tired of her incessant pleading for help, and he said, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. Now the Lord does not tell us that this is the attitude of God, but He explains that it was the attitude of an unjust judge who had no fear of God. How much more will God hear His children, for He is deeply interested in all their trials. He cannot turn a deaf ear to the cry of the afflicted, but in due time He will avenge His own elect. These are the elect of Israel, not of the Church. The cries of Gods elect have been going up to Him day and night, and the time is coming when He will answer their cries. Jesus said, I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? This is a remarkable question. It suggests that instead of the whole world becoming converted, the great bulk of mankind will be found in opposition to God when Christ returns. This is in accordance with what is elsewhere revealed. At the coming again of the Son of Man to set up His kingdom of righteousness, He will avenge Israel of those nations that have persecuted her.
Though this is the dispensational teaching, it is evident from the first verse that the Lord Jesus meant us to get something more out of it for our own souls blessing, for we read, And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. This is a message for everyone of us. Oftentimes when we cry to God in distress or trouble there seems to be no answer; yet all the time His heart is deeply concerned about us, and we are not to cease to pray; nor, because we do not get the answer immediately, are we to give up in despair. We need to remember that God is working out certain counsels in connection with His great plan that runs through all the ages, which may necessitate that some time must elapse before our prayers are actually answered. We find a very significant illustration of this in the tenth chapter of Daniel. We read the prophet prayed about a certain thing for three full weeks, twenty-one days, and during those three weeks he ate neither bread nor meat, nor drank wine. One can imagine how he must have felt as the hours lengthened into days, the days into weeks, and the weeks went on until three had passed. Then at the end of the twenty-one days, he tells us there appeared to him an angel sent direct from the High Court of heaven. The angel said to him: From the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one-and-twenty days. It is a most remarkable thing-something I would not believe if it were not in my Bible-that God actually heard the prayer of Daniel the first day he began his supplication, and He dispatched an angel to tell him that his prayer was heard, but the angel was twenty-one days fighting his way through the fiends of the upper air to get down to Daniel to bring the answer to him. The prince of the kingdom of Persia was not the earthly ruler who sat on the throne of Persia, but an evil angel who sought to control the kings heart and to thwart the plan of God. In the New Testament Satan is called the prince of the power of the air. We are taught that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. So this angel from heaven was twenty-one days in conflict with the evil powers before he could get to Daniel. Then he said, When I leave you I have to go and face the prince of Grecia. That was another evil spirit seeking to control the heart of the Grecians. This is a marvelous thing, and it gives us an idea of what goes on in the unseen world, and explains in a very large measure why the answers to many of our prayers seem so long delayed. Perhaps we have been praying for mother, for daughter, for husband, or some other loved one who is still unsaved, and we wonder why God has allowed so much time to elapse ere answering our petition, but there is a conflict going on in the unseen world. Do not give up praying. By your importunate intercession you are putting yourself over on the side of God in this conflict, and He will hear His own elect in due time, who cry unto him night and day.
The second parable is designed to impress upon us the true attitude we should take before God when we come to Him in prayer. And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. We cannot come to God on the ground of our own righteousness; we have no title to approach Him in that way. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in His sight. We can come to God only as confessed sinners, recognizing that all He does for us must be on the ground of grace. These two men had gone to the temple which God had ordained as a house of prayer for all men. One was a Pharisee, a self-righteous man, giving himself credit for exceptional merit. Significantly we read: He prayed with himself. That is, his prayer never went up to God at all; it went no higher than the ceiling, because he was simply speaking of his own goodness. Yet it was a prayer of thanksgiving. Is it not right to come to God with thanksgiving? We are taught again and again that is the way we should approach God. But notice this man was not thanking God for what grace had done for him; he was thanking God for what he himself had done, and that is the wrong attitude. When I approach God my heart should be filled with thanksgiving because of what He has done for me, recognizing that everything I have comes by divine grace. But this man said, I thank Thee for my own goodness; I thank Thee I am not as other men are. You, perhaps, would not use the same language, but do you approach God in that attitude? I thank Thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers. Then the Pharisee looked and saw the publican standing there, and he said, Or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. Surely these things are all good, but no man has a right to plead his own goodness as the reason why God should hear his cry. And, actually, most of his prayer was just pretence, claiming a righteousness he did not possess.
The publican stood afar off, conscious of his un-worthiness. He would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Literally, it might be translated, God be propitiated to me, the sinner. Calvarys cross was the answer to that prayer when the Lord Jesus became the propitiation for our sins. This man, recognizing he needed propitiation, cried to God for that which he knew he did not deserve, but which must come to him by grace if it was to come at all. And Jesus said, This man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
In which mans company are you found? Do you stand with the Pharisee, trying to make out a case for yourself? or with the publican, acknowledging you are a sinner, and that your only hope is in the propitiation which God has provided?
In the next verses we have a beautiful scene. We have enacted a picture of the right attitude of soul in which God delights. And they brought unto Him also infants, that He would touch them: but when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them. The disciples felt that the parents were only troubling Jesus, He could not afford to waste His time with children, but the disciples did not know His heart. He is interested in all; and so He rebuked His disciples, and called the parents to Him and said, Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Children, in simplicity, believe what you tell them of the Lord. These are the ideal members of the kingdom, who simply take Him at His word. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. That used to trouble me. Though I knew I was saved, yet when I came to that verse and the kindred one in Matthew, I used to wonder if I had qualified in this way: I am not like a child; I am not as innocent as a little child; I have not the same hopeful attitude toward life as little children. How can I, a sinner by practice, ever get back to the comparative purity and goodness of a little child? Then I noticed that Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children He called and the child came. That is what He means when He says, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.
It is when we heed His blessed call and come to Him in unquestioning faith that we enter the kingdom. It is this alone that puts us on praying ground and entitles us to bring all our troubles and perplexities to Him, and He has promised to undertake for us.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Luk 18:1-2
I. This parable does not teach us to pray. There is no need that it should. Like the belief in a God, the moral sense of right and wrong, the hope of immortality, the expectation of a judgment, prayer seems as much an instinct of the soul as breathing, eating, drinking are instinctive actions of the body, which we need neither to be told, nor to learn, to do.
II. It teaches us how to pray. The point here is the fervour and frequency, the constancy and perseverance, or what has been called, in one word, the importunity of prayer. This implies, at least on our part, stated daily praise. To omit prayer is to go to battle, having left our weapons behind us in the tent; is to go to our daily labour without the strength imparted by a morning meal; is to attempt the bar where breakers roar and rocks hide their rugged heads without taking our pilot on board.
II. The parable teaches persevering prayer. It is hard, fainting work-praying. It is harder to pray than to preach. We do not believe what we profess, nor feel what we say, nor wish what we ask; or, if we do, we do not take the right way of getting it. And how can we expect God to answer prayer when He sees, what we ourselves might see, that we are not earnest? If we were we would be urgent, praying in the house, by the way, on our beds, at our business-prayer sounding or silent, a constant flowing stream. By constant dropping the water wears a hole in the hardest stone. And who, as he sat on a jutting crag, amid the spray of the roaring, flashing cataract, has not marked how by her constant flow the river has polished its rugged sides, and worn out smooth runnels for its streams. So, as it is only perseverance in grace that can carry us up to heaven, it is only perseverance in prayer that can bring its blessings down. Such is the plan of redemption, the ordinance of God. “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”
T. Guthrie, The Parables in the Light of the Present Day, p. 126.
References: Luk 18:1-5.-H.W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 125; vol. xxxii., p. 214. Luk 18:1-8.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv., No. 856; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 346; vol. xiii., p. 331; H. Calderwood, The Parables, p. 147; A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 51; A. Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, p. 117; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 7. Luk 18:1-14.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 382.
Luk 18:3
The Church’s Widowhood. That the Church is, nay must be, in a state of widowhood appears from such things as these:-
I. The Father’s purpose concerning her. That purpose has great things in store for her, in the ages to come; but at present her lot is to be weakness, poverty, hardship, and the endurance of wrong. Through much tribulation she must enter the kingdom.
II. Her conformity to her Lord. He is her pattern, not merely as to character, but as to the whole course of life. In Him she learns what her lot on earth is to be. He, the rejected One, even among His own, she must be rejected too; He, the hated One, she must be hated too. Better treatment than He met with she is not entitled to expect: nor should she wish to have.
III. Her standing by faith. It is the world’s unbelief that so specially makes it the world; so it is the Church’s faith that makes her what she is, the Church. As one believing in a kingdom to come, she shakes herself free from the entanglements of time. She becomes a stranger here, having no continuing city, but satisfied with the tent of the desert, till she reach the city of habitation.
IV. The condition of the world out of which she is called. It is an evil world. It lieth in wickedness, and her calling is to come out from it, and, like Noah, to condemn it. She has nothing in common with it. All is uncongenial.
V. Her prospects. She is an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ Jesus. An everlasting kingdom, an unfading crown, an eternal weight of glory-these are her prospects. What has she, then, to do with a world where all these are unrecognised, nay, despised or disowned? In her orphanage, or strangership, or widowhood, she still moves before us as the separated, rejected, lonely one, in the midst of an unfriendly world, that far outnumbers her, and that feels itself strangely incommoded and made uncomfortable by the presence of one who sets light by all the precious and pleasurable things of earth, having her eye and her heart fixed upon something more glorious, of which the world knows nothing.
H. Bonar, Short Sermons, p. 376.
References: Luk 18:3-5.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. vii., p. 81. Luk 18:4.-Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 199. Luk 18:5.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. iv., p. 32. Luk 18:6.-Homilist, vol. v., p. 284.
Luk 18:6-7
I. What is the central thought of this parable? The answer to this question is obvious. The central thought of the parable is the advantage to be derived from importunity in prayer. And the general fact which the story conveys is this: with man importunity will succeed, when the power of justice or affection would wholly fail. No one, I suppose, can doubt that there are many cases in which this is true, and so far the parable presents no difficulty.
II. But it is quite otherwise when we come to ask-What lesson is the parable meant to teach? What parallel is here drawn between the dealings of men with each other and the dealings of God with men? It is no merit, but a fault, in the selfish friend or the unjust judge, that importunity is needed to wring from them that which should have been given to love or justice. How can we argue that because importunity has succeeded with the selfish men, and that altogether by acting on their selfishness, it will therefore succeed with one whose nature is wholly different? A selfish man is teased into granting a request to save himself from personal annoyance. Does this afford any probability that an unselfish man can be similarly influenced. Yet certainly this seems to be the argument of the parable. Here is the only a fortiori argument drawn from the parable which appears to be admissible: we may expect importunate prayer to succeed better with God than with man, not because the means used is stronger in the one case than in the other, but because it has no resistance to overcome. Delay in granting the petition there may be; even ultimate refusal there may be; but both are dictated by the wise mercy of God; and the obstacles by which the selfishness of humanity blocks the way of the petitioner find no place with Him.
J. H. Jellett, The Elder Son and Other Sermons, p. 68.
Reference: Luk 18:7.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 97.
Luk 18:8
I. Notice the peril-that of losing faith. Now, faith in reference to questions of revelation has three degrees, and only the last represents it in its completeness, though, indeed, as things go now we are apt to accept even, and only the first, with a sort of thankful surprise. (1) First, there is faith in a personal God, Maker and Owner of the universe, who, in the far distant past, in the mystery of His infinite power and wisdom, summoned everything into being. What theology calls by the cold name of Deism is, however, far beyond the reach of some thinkers now. Because science cannot discover God, reason is pertly bidden to treat Him as if He could not be discovered. (2) Then there is another table-land, whereon faith recognises, not only the being of God, but also His government; refuses to suppose that, exhausted with the labours of creation, He has ever since left the universe to take its own course, or, if after a fashion governing it, handcuffed by His own laws. (3) The third and final stage of Christian faith is, where the spirit of man worships the God of the creeds. God, that is, revealed and reconciled in His Incarnate Son, who, after He had perfected our redemption by His death, rose from the grave, and went back to heaven, from whence He sent His Holy Spirit to build up His Church among men, until in the end of the days He comes back with His holy angels to judge both the quick and the dead. It is this faith-with a few all of it, with many some of it-that seems now to be perishing out of our midst, so as already to justify the Saviour’s mournful question, “When I come back who will there be to believe on Me?
II. Such is our peril, but what is our safeguard? (1) We must each do the work given him to do, each be at his post. Let us more thoroughly master, more minutely examine, more devoutly study, more sincerely Love, the great doctrines of our religion, never treating them as if they were something to be ashamed of, unfit for reasoning men and this superior time. (2) Then let us use, and enjoy, and deepen our faith by sharing it with others. The brightest, and bravest, and strongest, and blessedest souls, are those which feel their religion a trust; their faith a profession before many witnesses; their warfare not only fighting for themselves, but contending for their Master; their crown, when it comes to them from the King’s hand sparkling beyond the brightness of the firmament, with the precious salvation of a brother’s soul.
Bishop Thorold, Good Words, 1880, p. 60.
I. Faith may mean no more than an assent to what is told. But the true account of faith is this-a belief in every revelation made by God, an acceptance of Divine grace in every mode and channel through which it is conveyed.
II. Why should Christ look for faith above all spiritual graces on His return? Because faith is the organ by which we accept both revelation and grace. Therefore, so far as His influence on man is concerned, Almighty God depends upon our faith. It is a condition of the success of His work; it is the only force which we can employ to frustrate His infinite power.
III. You cannot pray unless you have faith that the thing you want is in the hand of God to give.
IV. Besides men’s faith in prayer, Christ’s words point to their ready will to welcome Him on His return.
C. W. Furse, Sermons at Richmond, p. 85.
I. Christ will come again after His Resurrection in three different senses:-(1) He will come again finally, and in the highest sense, when this world shall end, and we shall all rise to judgment; (2) He will come to each one of us finally, in the highest sense, when we each of us receive His call to die; (3) He has come more than once, and I believe He will come more than once again, not finally, nor in the highest sense, either to all mankind or to each individual, but in a lower sense, and affording a sort of type or image of the higher: I mean, when He comes to bring upon the earth, or on some one or more nations, a great season of suffering, in which “the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low.” In this sense, He is said to have come when he destroyed Jerusalem; in this sense, also, He came more than three hundred years afterwards, when He destroyed the empire of Rome.
II. Now let us mark His own question. “When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith upon the earth?” And let us see what would be the answer to it, supposing that His coming in each one of the three senses which I have spoken of should be near, even at the doors. (1) May we for a moment be allowed to conceive the unspeakable awfulness of His coming in the highest sense of all? Should we then be filled with fear in our inmost hearts, as if certain death were coming upon us? or should we look up to Him whom we beheld amidst the blessed company of His saints and angels, as to one whom we have long known, long loved, long desired to see? (2) What would be our feelings were God to come in our generation in the lower sense of the term, if He were to visit this nation with a season of great misery, with famine and pestilence and war? Blessed are they who, like the three men in Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace, walk in their souls unhurt amidst the furnace of evil times, because the Son of God is with them. (3) When the Son of man cometh to us at death, shall He find faith in us? If we have no faith in Him now, we shall have none when He cometh; the lamp is not burning in us, but gone out. And when the cry strikes our ears that the Bridegroom is coming it will be too late to kindle it again; for while we are vainly going about to buy the oil, He comes, and they who are ready-not who hope to be ready by-and-by-can alone go in with Him to the marriage.
T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. v., p. 15.
References: Luk 18:8.-A. P. Stanley, Church of England Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 229; J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 2nd series, p. 66; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. viii., p. 242. Luk 18:9.-F. W. Robertson, The Human Race and Other Sermons, p. 36; C. Jones, Church of England Pulpit, vol. x., p. 543. Luk 18:9-14.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 346; Ibid., vol. iv., p. 478; Ibid., vol. xiii., p. 332; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 81; R. C. Trench, Notes on the Parables, p. 500; H. Calderwood, The Parables, p. 79; A. B. Bruce, The Parabolic Teach ing of Christ, p. 312.
Luk 18:10-13
There are five points in which the Pharisee and the publican agree; there are five points in which they differ, and there are five special lessons which the incident urges upon the attention of all men in all ages.
I. The points in which they agree are obvious. (1) They had the same object. Their object was to pray. (2) They got to the same place. Two men went up into the Temple. They met on common ground; they both spoke in the Temple. (3) They were in the Temple at the same time. That is clear from the fact that the Pharisee said with a contemptuous side-nod of his lofty head, “or even as this publican.” (4) They addressed the same God. (5) Each of the men talked about himself. Each described his own case.
II. Look next at the five points of dissimilarity. (1) The one was self-satisfied, the other was self-discontented. Not one word of self-depreciation escapes the lips of the Pharisee; not one word of self-praise is uttered by the publican. (2) The Pharisee was socially contemptuous, the publican was self-condemned. The Pharisee made short work of other men. He detached himself from society, standing loftily above it, and awarding to it the most self-complacent maledictions. The publican made no reference to other men. He was filled with self-shame and self-sorrow. The question lay between himself and God, not between himself and other men. (3) The one lived in duty; the other hoped in mercy. He only truly lives who lives in hope of the mercy of God. The Pharisee showed a well-brushed coat, the publican pointed to a wounded heart. (4) The Pharisee saw separate points of excellence, whereas the publican was stunned by the condition of the whole character. (5) The one was flippant, the other was reverent. Where there is no reverence, there can be no worship.
III. What are the lessons which the incident urges upon the attention of men in all ages? (1) That self-righteousness is unrighteousness; (2) that self-trust is practical atheism; (3) that social contempt is not personal piety; (4) that self-boasting goes before destruction: (5) that man’s only standing-ground before God is the ground of God’s sovereign mercy.
Parker, City Temple, vol. i., p. 145.
References: Luk 18:10.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 428; A. P. Stanley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 136; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. x., p. 219; R. S. Browne, Sussex Sermons, p. 153; Bishop Lightfoot, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 65. Luk 18:10-14.-Homilist, new series, vol. iii., p. 158; vol. iv., p. 465. Luk 18:11.-J. Keble, Sermons for Sundays after Trinity, part i., p. 406; H. P. Liddon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxii., p. 113. Luk 18:12.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 236; A. Plummer, Church of England Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 207. Luk 18:13.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv., No. 216; J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 7th series, p. 65; 4th series, p. 199; G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines of Sermons, p. 245; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 74; R. Scott, University Sermons, p. 182.
Luk 18:14
Self-Righteousness.
I. We are not saved from the danger of self-righteousness by our full knowledge and hearty recognition of the doctrines of grace. The Pharisee did not dream of taking to himself the credit of the excellence which he supposed himself to have attained to. He acknowledged it to be all God’s work in him. He carries with him the spirit of trusting to himself that he is righteous, and despising others, at the very moment that he is thanking God who has made him to differ from them.
II. Righteousness is not self-righteousness. The irreligious man is apt to set down as self-righteous every one who can claim to be better than he pretends to be. There is nothing wrong in being righteous, or in doing good works. The only thing to be frightened about is, if the righteousness be not real, or the works not truly good. The less the real righteousness, the greater the danger of self-righteousness.
III. The best practical rule for avoiding the dangers which arise from comparing ourselves with others is to strive to keep ever before our minds as our rule of life, the character of Him who gave us an example, that we should follow in His steps. There is no example, but one, which may not mislead us-mislead us even when we have succeeded in arriving at the standard we aim at, or in going beyond it. There is but One in striving to resemble whom we can never be led astray; One whose character the more closely we study and the more thoroughly we love, the more nearly we approach to be perfect, even as our Father which is in heaven is perfect. The contemplation of such an Example, and the contrast which you know yourself to be, cannot but deepen your sense of sin, and drive you to the supplication-“God, be merciful to me sinner.
G. Salmon, Non-miraculous Christianity, p. 187.
References: Luk 18:14.-R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions, p. 243; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. v., p. 31. Luk 18:15, Luk 18:16.-J. Vaughan, Sermons to Children, 3rd series, p. 72. Luk 18:15-17.-Shepherd, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 309. Luk 18:15-27.-A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 251.
Luk 18:16
I. One sense in which this text is true is, that the great company of those who are indeed the Saviour’s people is made up of those who resemble little children in certain distinctive features of their character. The Church Militant, and far more the Church Triumphant, consists of such as these unsophisticated ones, fresh from God who is our home-their birth, perhaps, for what we know, a sleep and a forgetting; and the heaven they came from still around them in their infancy, as a poet of the purest inspiration has sung-such in temper, in disposition, in character. Of all things you could point to in this world, the thing that could give you the best idea of the essential spirit that is most childlike, is the spirit of an innocent and happy little child. Like teachable, like humble, like gentle, like affectionate, like confiding-should all true Christians be. Even worldly genius has told how beautiful it is to see something yet of the child’s warm heart in the man with hoary hairs; something of the unspoiled freshness of infancy and its home-bred simplicity, abiding still with one who has seen the great world, and borne an honoured part in its conflicts and toils; one of those who, as St. Paul would have it, in malice are children, but in understanding are men.
II. There is another sense in which these words may be taken, which may well be cherished by most of our firesides. I believe that we may take these words of our Saviour in their literal meaning, as implying that the kingdom of God, the assembly of redeemed souls in heaven, is in great measure made up of little children. All that die in infancy are saved, and half the human beings born into this world die in infancy. If the entire human race should be gathered, sanctified, and forgiven, before the throne above, still each second one there would never have known more of this sinful and sorrowful world than comes within the brief experience of early childhood.
“God took them in His mercy, as lambs untasked, untried;
He fought the fight for them; He won the victory, and they are sanctified.”
A. K. H. B., Graver Thoughts of a Country Parson, 3rd series, p. 141.
References: Luk 18:16.-Sermons for Boys and Girls, p. 102; Outline Sermons to Children, p. 171; S. A. Brooke, Christ in Modern Life, p. 275. Luk 18:17.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv., No. 1439; E. W. Shalders, Christian World Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 3. Luk 18:22.-E. R. Conder, Drops and Rocks, p. 249. Luk 18:25.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. iii., p. 369. Luk 18:27.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. xvi., p. 233. Luk 18:28-30.-H. B. Bruce, The Training of Twelve, p. 262. Luk 18:29.-H. P. Liddon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 153. Luk 18:30.-Phillips Brooks, Twenty Sermons, p. 316.
Luk 18:31
Why Christ suffered.
I. The answer to this question is very simple. He suffered as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. It was the ultimate and perfecting act of His obedience, to carry down into death that death-sentenced nature which He had taken into the Godhead; to subject His Divine Person to the dark-and to us utterly mysterious-contact with the actuality of death; and to put by His almighty power of casting off from Himself the sentence of death which He bore about Him. This is why Christ died; that He might in His own Body, as the Second Head and including Representative of mankind, pay the penalty of death which rested on that manhood which was summed up in Him. The Godhead of our blessed Lord is an element absolutely necessary to the belief of even the least portion of the benefits and effects of His death. If a man do not firmly and clearly hold that, he has not a notion of what is meant by the doctrine of Christ’s atonement for sin. His entire oneness with the Father lies at the very root of all.
II. I proceed to our second enquiry. Granted, that it was necessary for Christ to submit to death in order to the taking away of the sin of the world, why did He die as He did? First I say in answer, that we cannot tell how much of deep humiliation and desertion and anguish was absolutely necessary, in the covenant which infinite wisdom arranged, to make that death the full and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world. The analogy of the Redeemer’s whole life leads us to the humble inference that nothing less than such an amount of self-denial, and endurance of pain, and contradiction of sinners, was enough for the accomplishment of His mighty purpose, even in its hidden and unfathomable recesses, where it flowed forth from unity with the Father’s will. (2) But if we look at this same matter from another and a human point of view, even to us there may be made plain and full and sufficient reason why these sufferings should have been undertaken. Our blessed Lord sums it up for us in a few simple words “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.” These stupendous sufferings of the Son of God were undertaken to put away sin; the sin of the world; the sin of each man; and they were undertaken that each man might be mightily constrained by the power of the Divine love shown in them, to take up the freedom thus purchased for him; to see himself complete in Christ his satisfaction before God; to live as Christ’s freeman, prevailing over and conquering sin, and daily renewed with God.
H. Alford, Sermons on Christian Doctrine, p. 166.
Luk 18:31-36
I. The announcement by Christ of His approaching sacrifice was the announcement of the solution to the enigma which all the ages of mankind had been endeavouring to solve-how to obtain peace with a justly offended God. The need of such a propitiation combined with a deep sense of human misery, runs through all heathen religious systems; all have their legends of a bygone golden age, when gods and men lived in closer union, when the earth brought forth of its own accord all that could minister to man’s requirements or delight, and universal justice prevailed among mankind. All religions have been occupied with the sense of sin, its origin and its abolition. Under the deep sense of the need of reconciliation, the heathen of old thought that they could actually of themselves do what would atone for their sins. We see in their sacrifice a strange admixture of what is highest and what is lowest, a miserable delusion, and yet a near guess at the true solution of the problem that they were unable to solve.
II. The sacrifice of Christ at once sanctioned and abolished all the sacrificial worship that preceded it; and, as a matter of history, we find that after the sacrifice of Christ, animal sacrifice with shedding of blood came suddenly to an end, while henceforth sacrificial terms and expressions began to group themselves round one Person and one Head-the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. And this faith affords a wondrous confirmation of the death of Christ as the true atonement for the sins of the whole world, we cannot understand sacrifice rightly until we survey from the height of Golgotha; until we seek to understand it from this point of view, we are like the disciples in the text, who, when our Lord spoke of His approaching sacrifice, “understood none of these things.”
R. Baker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 81.
References: Luk 18:31.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ii., p. 89; J. M. Neale, Sermons in a Religious House, vol. ii., pp. 321, 331; H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 49. Luk 18:31-34; A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 282. Luk 18:34.-Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times,” vol. viii., p. 60; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 211; J. Keble, Sermons for Holy Week, p. 1. Luk 18:35.-Homilist, vol. v., p. 52. Luk 18:35-43.-T. Birkett Dover, The Ministry of Mercy, p. 196; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 56. Luk 18:36.-Parker, Christian Commonwealth, vol. vi., p. 539. Luk 18:36-37.-J. Stoughton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. v., p. 113. Luk 18:37.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv., No. 906; Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvii., p. 95. Luk 18:41.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. xii., p. 80. Luk 18:42.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xx., No. 1162; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 89; J. Keble, Sermons from Septuagesima to Ash Wednesday, p. 191. Luke 18-F. D. Maurice, The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, p. 277.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 18
1. The Unjust Judge and the Avenging of His Elect. (Luk 18:1-8)
2. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. (Luk 18:9-14)
3. The Little Children and the Required Lowliness. (Luk 18:15-17)
4. The Rich Young Ruler. (Luk 18:18-27)
5. Rewards Promised. (Luk 18:28-30)
6. The Renewed Prediction of His Suffering, Death and Resurrection. (Luk 18:31-34)
7. The Blind Man near Jericho Healed. (Luk 18:35-43.)
Luk 18:1-8
The parable of the unjust judge is closely connected with the preceding announcement of His second coming. When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? Apostasy and darkness will rule the day. But a faithful remnant of His people, His elect, will suffer and cry day and night to Him for help and deliverance. His coming will avenge them. The resources in those days will be prayer, as prayer is always the resource of the Saints of God. In the Psalms the Spirit of God has recorded the prayers of the suffering Jewish Saints during the great tribulation.
Luk 18:9-14
This parable also is found only in Luke. It is a continuation of the great subject of this Gospel, that the lost are saved and the self-righteous rejected. Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. The self-righteous Pharisee trusted in himself; pride and self-conceit are expressed in his prayer. He speaks of a negative goodness not as other men and then he speaks of his good works, which are even more than God demanded in His law. God did not demand tithes of all possessions. The Publican did not lift his eyes to heaven. His prayer was more than asking for mercy. It means literally translated, God be propitiated towards me, the sinner. He felt the need of a sacrifice. It is interesting to note that the Greek word be merciful to is found only once more in the New Testament. In Heb 2:17 it is applied to our Lord making reconciliation.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Chapter 21
The Parable Of The Unjust Judge
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God is our Saviour. We live by the merit of his imputed righteousness, the efficacy of his sin-atoning blood, and the power of his omnipotent grace. And our great Saviour was and is in all things our example. Let none imagine that his life was nothing more than an example. Yet, we must never fail to see that he is the example by which we must seek to pattern our lives (1Pe 2:21-24).
He says, I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done (Joh 13:15). He shows us by example how to love God and one another. He shows us by example how to suffer patiently, committing ourselves unto our God. He shows us by example how to live in this world by faith, believing God and serving him. In all things, Christ himself is the pattern we are to follow.
As in all other things, our blessed Saviour was supremely exemplary in prayer. When he exhorts us to continue in prayer and to pray without ceasing, he is only telling us to do as he has done. If ever there was a man who might have no need to engage in prayer, it would have been the God-man. He was never defiled with the sins that constantly beset us. He had no lusts of the flesh warring in his members. He is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. He knew no sin, did no sin, and had no sin. He walked with God perfectly, in complete obedience to the Fathers will, ever doing those things that please him, always glorifying him in thought, in word, and in deed. Add to that the fact that this man, the God-man, had (even while he walked on the earth) in his possession all omnipotence as God, and you cannot help being astonished that he is the supreme example of faith and prayer.
Prayer
Luke tells us, as he introduces the parable of the unjust judge, that the lesson, the message of the parable is just this: Men ought always to pray, and not to faint! As one of the old writers put it, He hangs the key at the door. So the first thing we see in this parable is this word of instruction about prayer. Men ought always to pray and not to faint.
The subject of prayer is one that always arouses my interest, though it always causes me to blush with shame. I fear I know very little about it. Prayer is the life breath of the believing heart. J. C. Ryle was exactly right when he wrote, Here it is that religion begins. Here it flourishes. Here it decays. Prayer is one of the first evidences of conversion (Act 9:11). Neglect of prayer is the sure road to a fall (Mat 26:40-41). Our Saviour says, Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.
In this parable the Lord Jesus instructs us in the matter of prayer by telling a story. It is a story about a poor, needy widow, who obtained justice from a wicked judge simply because she would not leave him alone until she got what she needed from him. She would not leave him alone, because she was in a pinch. She had to have what he alone could give her. She would not leave him alone, because she had no one else to whom she could turn for help. She got what she needed by the sheer force of her importunity. The judge said, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her (I will see that she gets justice), lest by her continual coming she weary me.
The Saviour tells us the meaning of this in Luk 18:6-8. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. He says, The day is soon to come when the Lord God will avenge his chosen. He will do that which is right and just for them and with them. He will satisfy all their needs, all the cravings of their souls, for which they continually cry unto him day and night. He will not put them off forever. He will avenge them speedily.
If the constant, importunate cries of this widow stirred up the heartless judge to avenge her of her adversary, how much more shall the cries of our hearts to our God stir up our heavenly Father, the Judge of all the earth who must do right, to avenge us of our adversary the devil!
Pray Always?
But is it possible for us to pray always? There are some who take these words very literally and vainly imagine that they are praying as they try to constantly repeat the words of scripted prayers, usually rubbing their magical prayer beads as they do. That is the whole notion behind monastic and cloistral religion. Needless to say, that is not what our Lord is teaching here. Such religious insanity, self-righteousness, and idolatry is not prayer.
Our Lords words here, Men ought always to pray, simply mean that we ought always to live looking to our God in faith, constantly carrying our needs and our hearts desires to him. Our Master gives us similar instructions in other places (1Th 5:17; Col 4:2; Heb 4:16).
We are to continue in prayer. That is the sense of our Lords doctrine in Luke 18. He does not tell us to pray all the time. That would be impossible. He is telling us to live in the spirit and attitude of prayer and fellowship with God. Again, I am not suggesting that we neglect the act of prayer, or fail to spend time alone with God in prayer. Not at all. Let us pray more and pray frequently about all things.
Watch in the same. Let us ever be watchful over our souls and watchful for one another in prayer, ever looking to our God for mercy and grace. How we need to take care to be watchful, lest we sleep. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving (Col 4:2). To live in watchful prayer and faith is to live with thankful hearts before God (1Th 5:16-18). It is the will of God that we rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks to him in everything. Whatever our present situation is at anytime is the will of God for us (Rom 8:28). We should rejoice and give thanks always (Php 4:4-6).
Rejoice in prosperity or adversity. Pray always. Live prayerfully, trusting the Lord. Let praise, prayer, and thanksgiving constantly rise from our hearts to our God. Let us place such high value upon Christ, his righteousness, his boundless grace, his blood atonement, and life eternal from him, in him and with him that nothing in this life overshadows Gods unspeakable gift. How can I complain about anything when I am an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ?
Our Lord Jesus does not require that we be constantly engaged in the exercise of prayer, but that we always live prayerfully. By all means, spend much time in the exercise of prayer, but more, importantly, live prayerfully.
Faint Not
Let us never weary of faith. Let us never get tired of living upon the bounty of our God, of coming to the throne of grace. Can you imagine the hungry widow becoming weary of going to the barrel God constantly filled and getting food for her and her son? Yet, our flesh is so opposed to all that is good for our souls that our Lord constantly reminds us that we must watch, and pray, and faint not! Why are these admonitions so often repeated and in so many ways? Because they are admonitions we need, and need constantly!
Our Lord is not telling us in the parable that if we have a great desire, if we want something bad enough, we ought to just keep asking God for what we want until he gives it. James tells us plainly that such praying is praying amiss (Jas 3:3).
God never promised to gratify our lusts, not even when our lusts appear to be good and reasonable desires. We do not twist Gods arm in prayer, forcing the Almighty to bow to our will! In prayer we pour out the groans of our hearts to him and bow to his will. Have you no groans, groans for which you cry unto God day and night, groans created in you by his grace, groans that will not allow you rest until they are fulfilled? Of course you do, if you are Gods. I do, too.
We groan for freedom from sin. We groan that we might be conformed to Christ. We groan for our lack of love for God our Saviour, our lack of faith before him, our lack of commitment and devotion to him who loved us and gave himself for us. How we groan before our God for an end of strife, for peace, and an end to sorrow and sighing, toil and temptation, pain and causing pain, grief and causing grief!
In the parable of the unjust judge our Lord tells us to never quit seeking Gods grace, to never quit living by faith, looking to him and looking for him (Php 3:7-14; Heb 12:14). His grace will prove sufficient and satisfactory, even when he denies us what we crave for ourselves. Our Lords promise, the promise drawn from the parable of the unjust judge is just this. As that unjust judge avenged that helpless widow of her adversary, so too our heavenly Father will soon avenge us of our adversary (Rom 16:20; Rev 22:4-7). At the appointed hour, the God of Glory, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ gave him the glory he promised him. And at the appointed hour, he will give us the glory he has promised us. Let us therefore pray always and faint not (Heb 10:35-39; Hab 2:3).
Election
The second thing we see in our Lords explanation of this parable is the fact that there is an elect people in this world, loved of God and the objects of his constant care. The Lord Jesus declares that God will avenge his own elect, who cry day and night unto him. I tell you, he says, that he will avenge them speedily.
Gods elect are his own special, peculiar people, whom he has loved with an everlasting love. We are his by his own sovereign good will and pleasure, chosen in his Son Jesus Christ unto everlasting life and salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. He will avenge them of their adversary and vindicate them before all worlds at the last day, right all wrongs concerning them, do them justice, and deliver them into his heavenly kingdom and glory. And he will do so in accordance with absolute, strict justice, through the merit and efficacy of Christs obedience, death, and intercession.
A Bag, A Book, A Bottle
Like this poor widow, they cry unto him day and night. He hears our cries, puts our tears up in his bottle. In a word he cares for us and takes care of us at all times, in all our needs, and forever.
God takes great care to comfort his people in their many trials and sorrows in this world. He commands his preachers to have for one of their goals the comfort of his people. He says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Here are three things described in the Word of God that should be of great comfort to every believer.
The Lord God has made a bag for our sins. Job said, My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity (Job 14:17). In ancient times, when men died at sea, their bodies were placed in a weighted bag, which was sewn together and sealed. Then they were cast into the depths of the sea. That is what God has done with our sins. They are cast into the depths of the sea. When Christ died, by his one sacrifice for our sins, which were imputed to him, he put away all our sins. They were buried in the sea of Gods infinite forgiveness, put away, never to be brought up again. God Almighty will never charge us with sin, impute sin to us, remember our sins against us, or treat us any the less graciously because of our sin. That is forgiveness! Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
The Lord has also written a book for our names. Take heart, child of God. Your name is written in the book of God. Before the worlds were made, the Lord God inscribed the names of his elect in the Lambs book of life. In that book God has recorded not only the names of the chosen heirs of heaven, but also all things pertaining to them. In thy book all my members were written (Psa 139:16; Php 4:3; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8). The Lambs book of life is the book of Gods eternal purpose of grace, predestination, and election. The fact that our names are written in that book means that our salvation is a matter of absolute certainty, and that all things work together for our good by Gods arrangement to secure our predestined end, which is perfect conformity to Christ (Rom 8:28-30). When our Lord says, Rejoice because your names are written in heaven, he is telling us that we have nothing to fear. All is well for those whose names are written in heaven.
Moreover, the Lord God keeps a bottle for our tears. Thou tellest all my wonderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? … This I know; for God is for me (Psa 56:8-9). It was customary at ancient Egyptian funerals for mourners to have a small cloth or sponge to wipe away their tears. Then, they were squeezed into a small vial, a tear bottle, and placed in the tomb with the dead, symbolizing the care the mourners had for the one who had died. Even so, the Lord our God, our heavenly Father, our almighty Saviour, and our holy Comforter, tenderly cares for us. In all our afflictions he is afflicted. We are the very apple of his eye!
Could anything be more comforting in this world of sin, sorrow, and death? The Lord our God has put our sins in a bag and buried them, our names in a book to remember them, and our tears into a bottle to show his tender care for us. All this shows our Fathers care for his elect.
How we rejoice in Gods electing love! It is one of the sweetest, most blessed, most soul-cheering things revealed in the Book of God (Joh 15:16; Eph 1:3-6; 2Th 2:13-14). Election is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby, before the foundations of the world were laid, he has decreed in sovereign predestination to deliver the objects of his eternal love from sin, the curse of the law, and eternal damnation, and to deliver them unto eternal glory in, by, and with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Election is the guarantee of eternal salvation by Christ our Surety and the source of all spiritual and eternal blessedness. Little wonder that David danced before the ark when he thought about Gods election (Psa 65:4). Election calls for unceasing praise and thanksgiving to our God. Except God had chosen and called us, we would never have chosen and called on him. Except he had chosen us of his own good pleasure, unconditionally, we could never have been chosen, for we could never make ourselves worthy of his choice. Let the Arminian, the works-monger, the will-worshipper rail, and rant, and rave on. We rejoice in electing love! We bless God for the blessing wherewith he has blessed us. Eternal Election! We know and rejoice to sing with Josiah Conder …
Tis not that I did choose Thee,
For, Lord, that could not be;
This heart would still refuse Thee,
Hadst Thou not chosen me:
Thou, from the sin that stained me,
Hast washed and set me free,
And to this end ordained me,
That I should live to Thee.
Twas sovereign mercy called me,
And taught my opening mind,
The world had else enthralled me,
To heavenly glories blind:
My heart owns none before Thee,
For Thy rich grace I thirst
This knowing, if I love Thee,
Thou must have loved me first!
Are there any marks of election, any tokens by which I can know whether I am one of Gods elect? Indeed, there are! These marks are clearly laid down in Scripture. Election is inseparably connected with faith in Christ and conformity to his image (Rom 8:29-30). When Paul saw the working faith, and patient hope, and labouring love, of the Thessalonians, he knew their election of God (1Th 1:3-4.). Our Lord gives us this mark of election in the passage before us. Gods elect are a people who cry unto him day and night.
And, yes, God shall avenge us. He shall avenge his own elect, though he bear long with them. Perhaps these words refer to our adversaries, oppressors, and persecutors. They are vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction. The Lord God endures their wickedness with much longsuffering toward his elect, until the sufferings of his people are accomplished and the iniquities of these reprobate are full.
However, I think the words, though he bear long with them are most properly to be understood as referring to the elect. They might be better translated, and is longsuffering towards them. He delays the execution of vengeance upon the world of the ungodly until all his elect are gathered in from among them. Then, our Saviour says, I tell you, he will avenge them speedily (Luk 18:8; 2Pe 3:9; 2Pe 3:15).
A Solemn Question
The third thing we see in this passage is the fact that true faith will be a scarce and rare thing in the last day. Our Saviour shows us this by asking a very solemn question in Luk 18:8. When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? The answer is obvious. As it was in the days of Noah and Lot, so shall it be when the Lord Jesus comes again. In the days of Noah only eight souls entered into the ark. In the days of Lot only three were delivered from wrath and judgment. All the rest perished. So shall it be in the end of the world.
Dost thou believe on the Son of God? If you do, bless God for his free electing love and the gift of his grace upon you. If you believe, salvation and eternal life is yours in Christ. But, if you believe not the Son of God, the wrath of God abides on you and you shall never see life (Joh 3:36; Joh 8:24).
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
Wheresoever
See “Armageddon” Rev 16:14; Rev 19:17. (See Scofield “Rev 19:17”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
that: Luk 11:5-8, Luk 21:36, Gen 32:9-12, Gen 32:24-26, Job 27:8-10, Psa 55:16, Psa 55:17, Psa 65:2, Psa 86:3, *marg. Psa 102:17, Psa 142:5-7, Jer 29:12, Rom 12:12, Eph 6:18, Phi 4:6, Col 4:2, Col 4:12, 1Th 5:17
and not: Psa 27:13, Jon 2:7, Gal 6:9, Heb 12:3-5
Reciprocal: Gen 18:27 – I have Gen 18:31 – General Gen 32:26 – I will not Exo 17:11 – General Deu 9:14 – Let me 1Sa 1:12 – continued praying 1Ki 8:28 – Yet have thou 1Ki 18:43 – Go up 2Ki 6:33 – wait for the 2Ch 6:19 – Have respect Job 15:4 – restrainest Job 27:10 – will he always Psa 27:4 – seek Psa 80:4 – how long Psa 116:2 – therefore Psa 123:2 – so our eyes Isa 40:31 – not faint Isa 62:6 – keep Dan 6:20 – servest Joe 1:19 – to thee Mat 6:5 – when Mat 7:7 – and it Mat 15:25 – came Mat 20:31 – but they cried Mat 26:44 – prayed Mar 10:48 – but Mar 11:24 – What Mar 14:39 – he went Luk 11:8 – because of Luk 11:10 – General Luk 18:39 – but Act 1:14 – all Act 10:2 – and prayed Act 12:5 – prayer was made without ceasing Rom 1:9 – that 2Th 3:13 – be not weary 1Ti 5:5 – continueth Jam 5:16 – The effectual Rev 2:3 – hast not Rev 13:10 – Here
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
PRAY, ALWAYS PRAY
Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
Luk 18:1
I. The reality of prayer.Gods mighty men have been men steeped in prayer. There are some in this church who can look back and remember instances when in trouble they have kneeled down to pray, and have known that they have been heard. The burden of responsibility has been lifted from their shoulders, and they have gained peacethe peace which God alone can give.
II. The reflex influence of prayer.We are to put our trouble into words just as if He did not know anything about it, and while we are telling Him all about it we are telling ourselves that He knows all about it, and the time that we spend in telling Him what He already knows is not badly spent, as one might think. One might call this telling of our trouble the reflex influence which prayer has on us. There are certain things which we cannot tell to our fellow-men; they would not understand us if we did; and there are certain things so secret that we cannot tell them to our neighbour. In telling these things to God we become conscious that there is Someone to sympathise with us, Who knows all about us, and can feel for us. The Christian life should be one long act of prayer. We may live out our days in His presence. We may pray about everything. It is as possible to pray as it is to read, and write, and walk. We often say of a thing that we are thinking of and waiting for, that we are working at it night and day. That does not mean that we never rest, but that we give all our time and thoughts to it; and it is just the same with prayer. Men ought always to pray.
III. Desire a condition of prayer.Desire is a condition of prayerWhatever ye desire believe that ye shall receive, etc. How many pray and lack desire! How many men come to church and say, Lord, keep me from sin, and all the time they are indulging in some besetting sin; who as soon as they go out walk into the temptation; who say, Lord, set my thoughts on things above, and all the time they are setting their thoughts on making what they call their pile! Our prayers will not be efficacious until our desires go with them.
Rev. J. Pullein-Thompson.
Illustration
When Martin Luther was wrestling with a mans sin, he used to say, I have spent three hours of the day in prayer; and when Abraham Lincoln was in trouble he said, I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go; my own wisdom and the wisdom of all those around me seemed useless, and so I was driven to prayer.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
IN SPEAKING THE parable, with which this chapter opens, the Lord was continuing the same line of thought, as is shown by His application of the parable in verses Luk 18:7-8. When the kingdom arrives it will mean judgment for the evil-doers, but the days just before its arrival will mean tribulation for saints. Their resource will be prayer. Even an unjust judge will be moved to right the wrongs of a widow, if she is sufficiently importunate; so the saint may continue waiting upon God with the assurance of being heard in due season.
There is not the smallest doubt about the coming of the Son of Man to answer the cries of His elect. The only doubt is as to faith being found in lively exercise amongst them. The Lord asked the question, Shall He find faith on the earth? but He did not answer it. The inference seems to be that faith will be at a low ebb, which agrees with His own plain statement elsewhere that, the love of many shall wax cold. If we are right in believing that the end of the age draws very near, we shall do well to take this very much to heart, and stir ourselves up to faith and prayer. Only if we always pray shall we not faint.
The man who prays trusts in God. The trouble with so many is that they trust in themselves and in their own righteousness. To these the next parable is addressed. The Pharisee and the publican are typical men. The Lord takes for granted that Gods grace, which brings justification for men, was available, but shows that all depends on the attitude of the one who needs it. The Pharisee exactly represents the elder son of chapter 15, the rich man of chapter 16, the unrepentant thief of chapter 23. The publican represents the younger son, Lazarus, and the repentant thief.
With the Pharisee it was himself, his character, his deeds. With the publican, the confession of sin, and of his need of propitiation-the word translated, be merciful, is literally, be propitious. How full of significance is verse Luk 18:13 ! His position: afar off, indicating he knew he had no right to draw hear. His attitude: not lifting his eyes unto heaven,-heaven was no place for such a man as he. His action: smote upon his breast, thus confessing that he was the man who deserved to be smitten. His words: me, the sinner, for it is the rather than a here. The Pharisee had said, I am not as other men, smiting other men rather than himself. The publican hit the right man, and humbling himself was blessed.
How strikingly all this fits in with the special theme of this Gospel. Grace was there in abundance in the perfect Son of Man, but except there be on our side the humble and repentant spirit, we miss all that it offers.
The next incident, which Luke relates briefly in verses Luk 18:15-17, enforces just the same thing. Mere babes do not count in the worlds scheme of things, but of such the kingdom is composed. It is not, as we should have thought, that the babe must reach up to full-grown estate to enter, but that the full-grown man must reach down to the babes estate to enter. The former might have suited the law of Moses, but grace is in question here.
Again the next incident, concerning the rich young ruler, lays its emphasis on the same point. The Lord had just spoken of receiving the kingdom as a little child, when the ruler asks, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? His mind swung back to the works of the law, not knowing what Paul tells us in Rom 4:4, To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. Approaching on this basis, the Lord referred him to the Law, as regards his duty to his neighbour, and on his claiming to have complied from his youth up, He tested him further as to his relation to Himself. Come, follow Me. Who is this Me? That was the supreme question, on which everything hinged, whether for the ruler or for ourselves.
The ruler had addressed Him as Good Master, and this complimentary epithet the Lord had refused apart from the acknowledgment that He was God. In truth He was God, and He was good, and He presented Himself to the young man, bidding him relinquish what he possessed and follow Him-just as Levi had done some time before. Even the law demanded that God should be loved with all the heart. Did the ruler love God thus? Did he recognize God in the lowly Jesus? Alas, he did not. He might claim to have kept commandments relating to his neighbour; he utterly broke down when the first of all the commandments was in question. In his eyes his riches had in them greater value than Jesus.
With great difficulty does a rich man enter into the kingdom of God, since it is so difficult to have riches without the heart becoming absorbed by them to the exclusion of God. To those who thought of riches as tokens of Gods favour all this seemed very disturbing, but the truth is that salvation is impossible to man, yet possible to God. This brings us back to the point which is in question. The kingdom cannot be earned, much less eternal life. All must be received as gifts from God. And if, in receiving the gift, other things are surrendered, there is an abundant recompense both now and in the world to come.
This saying of our Lord, recorded in verses Luk 18:29-30, is a very sweeping one. In the present time there is manifold more for everyone who has given up good things of earth for the sake of the kingdom. Any difficulty we may have in understanding this is based upon our failure to appraise rightly the spiritual favours which make up the manifold more. Paul illustrates that saying for us. Read Php 3:1-21, and see how he reckoned up the spiritual wealth poured into his bosom after he had suffered the loss of all things. Like a camel stripped of every rag it had carried, he had passed through the needle gate, only to find himself loaded with favours on the other side.
All this would sound very strange to the Jewish mind, but the fact, which explained it all, was that the Son of Man was not at this time going to take the kingdom, but rather to go up to Jerusalem to die. So again at this point Jesus spoke of the death which was just before Him. The prophets had indicated that this was the way in which He would enter into His glory, though the disciples failed to understand it. And even though He thus again instructed them, they failed to take it in. Such is the power that preconceived notions can attain over the mind.
The Lord was now on His final journey to Jerusalem, and He approached Jericho for the last time. The blind man intercepted Him in faith. The crowd told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, yet he at once addressed Him as the Son of David, and asked for mercy. The rich ruler had asked what he should do, when the Lord had just spoken of the kingdom being received. The blind beggar said that he would receive when the Lord enquired what He should do to him. No transaction came to pass in the case of the ruler: a transaction was completed on the spot in the case of the beggar. The contrast between the two cases is very decisive.
The beggar received his sight, and, said the Lord, Thy faith hath saved thee. This shows that the transaction went deeper than the opening of the eyes of his head. He became a follower of the Jesus, who was going up to Jerusalem and to the cross; and there was glory to God, both on his part and on the part of all the beholders. An equally distinct case of spiritual blessing met the Lord when He entered and passed through Jericho.
If, at this point, Lukes Gospel be compared with Mat 20:29-34, and Mar 10:46-52, a serious discrepancy becomes evident. Luke most definitely places the cure of the blind man as Jesus approached Jericho, and the other two Evangelists as definitely place it as He left Jericho. With our limited knowledge it seemed impossible on this point to reconcile the different accounts. But during the last few years the archaeologists have been digging in the Jericho area, and have laid bare the foundations of two Jerichos; one, the old original city, the other, the Roman Jericho, a short distance off. The blind man understood the begging business and planted himself between the two! Luke writing for Gentiles, naturally has the Roman Jericho in his mind. The other Evangelists very naturally are thinking of the original city. We mention this to show how very simply what looks like an insuperable objection vanishes, when we know all the facts.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
1
The phrase to this end is in italics, but the thought is justified by the Greek text. Always and not to faint means to be always a praying disciple, and not hesitate or falter just because one’s prayer is not answered as soon as expected. Since the inspired writer tells us this parable was spoken for this purpose, we should not make comparisons of any other parts of it; they were spoken only to connect the story.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And he spake a parable unto them to this end; that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
[And not to faint.] The discourse is continued still; and this parable hath its connexion with Luke_17, concerning Christ’s coming to avenge himself upon Jerusalem; which if we keep our eye upon, it may help us to an easier understanding of some more obscure passages that occur in the application of this parable. And to this doth the expression not to faint; seem to have relation; viz. that they might not suffer their hopes and courage to languish and droop, upon the prospect of some afflictions they were likely to grapple with, but that they would give themselves to continual prayer.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
THE object of the parable before us, is explained by Christ Himself. To use the words of an old divine, “The key hangs at the door.”-“He spake a parable to this end; that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” These words, be it remembered, are closely connected with the solemn doctrine of the second advent, with which the preceding chapter concludes. It is prayer without fainting, during the long weary intervals between the first and second advents, which Jesus is urging His disciples to keep up. In that interval we ourselves are standing. The subject therefore is one which ought to possess a special interest in our eyes.
These verses teach us firstly, the great importance of perseverance in prayer. Our Lord conveys this lesson by telling the story of a friendless widow, who obtained justice from a wicked magistrate, by dint of sheer importunity.-“Though I fear not God, nor regard man,” said the unjust judge, “yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.”-Our Lord Himself supplies the application of the parable: “Hear what the unjust judge saith. Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them?” If importunity obtains so much from a wicked man, how much more will it obtain for the children of God from the Righteous Judge, their Father in heaven!
The subject of prayer ought always to be interesting to Christians. Prayer is the very life-breath of true Christianity. Here it is that religion begins. Here it flourishes. Here it decays. Prayer is one of the first evidences of conversion. (Act 9:11.) Neglect of prayer is the sure road to a fall. (Mat 26:40-41.) Whatever throws light on the subject of prayer is for our soul’s health.
Let it then be graven deeply in our minds, that it is far more easy to begin a habit of prayer than it is to keep it up. The fear of death,-some temporary prickings of conscience,-some excited feelings, may make a man begin praying, after a fashion. But to go on praying requires faith. We are apt to become weary, and to give way to the suggestion of Satan, that “it is of no use.” And then comes the time when the parable before us ought to be carefully remembered. We must recollect that our Lord expressly told us “always to pray and not to faint.”
Do we ever feel a secret inclination to hurry our prayers, or shorten our prayers, or become careless about our prayers, or omit our prayers altogether? Let us be sure, when we do, that it is a direct temptation from the devil. He is trying to sap and undermine the very citadel of our souls, and to cast us down to hell. Let us resist the temptation, and cast it behind our backs. Let us resolve to pray on steadily, patiently, perseveringly, and let us never doubt that it does us good. However long the answer may be in coming, still let us pray on. Whatever sacrifice and self-denial it may cost us, still let us pray on, “pray always”-“pray without ceasing”-and “continue in prayer.” (1Th 5:17. Col 4:2.) Let us arm our minds with this parable, and while we live, whatever we make time for, let us make time for prayer.
These verses teach us, secondly, that God has an elect people upon earth, who are under His special care. The Lord Jesus declares that God will “avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him.”-“I tell you,” He says, “that He will avenge them speedily.”
Election is one of the deepest truths of Scripture. It is clearly and beautifully stated in the seventeenth Article of the Church of England. It is “the everlasting purpose of God, whereby, before the foundations of the world were laid, He has decreed by His counsel, secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation, those whom He has chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation.” This testimony is true. This is “sound speech which cannot be condemned.” (Tit 2:8.)
Election is a truth which should call forth praise and thanksgiving from all true Christians. Except God had chosen and called them, they would never have chosen and called on Him. Except He had chosen them of His own good pleasure, without respect to any goodness of theirs, there would never have been anything in them to make them worthy of His choice. The worldly and the carnal-minded may rail at the doctrine of election. The false professor may abuse it, and turn the “grace of God into lasciviousness.” (Jud 1:4.) But the believer who knows his own heart will ever bless God for election. He will confess that without election there would be no salvation.
But what are the marks of election? By what tokens shall a man know whether he is one of God’s elect? These marks are clearly laid down in Scripture. Election is inseparably connected with faith in Christ, and conformity to His image. (Rom 8:29-30.) It was when Paul saw the working “faith,” and patient “hope,” and laboring “love” of the Thessalonians, that he knew their “election of God.” (1Th 1:3-4.) Above all, we have a plain mark, described by our Lord, in the passage before us. God’s elect are a people who “cry unto Him night and day.” They are essentially a praying people. No doubt there are many persons whose prayers are formal and hypocritical. But one thing is very clear,-a prayerless man must never be called one of God’s elect. Let that never be forgotten.
These verses teach us, lastly, that true faith will be found very scarce at the end of the world. The Lord Jesus shows this, by asking a very solemn question, “When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?”
The question before us is a very humbling one. It shows the uselessness of expecting that all the world will be converted before Christ comes again. It shows the foolishness of supposing that all persons are “good,” and that though differing in outward matters, they are all right at heart, and all going to heaven. Such notions find no countenance in the text before us.
Where is the use, after all, of ignoring facts under our own eyes,-facts in the world,-facts in the churches,-facts in the congregations we belong to,-facts by our own doors and firesides? Where is faith to be seen? How many around us really believe what the Bible contains? How many live as if they believed that Christ died for them, and that there is a judgment, a heaven, and a hell?-These are most painful and serious inquiries. But they demand and deserve an answer.
Have we faith ourselves? If we have, let us bless God for it. It is a great thing to believe all the Bible. It is matter for daily thankfulness if we feel our sins, and really trust in Jesus. We may be weak, frail, erring, short-coming sinners. But do we believe? That is the grand question. If we believe, we shall be saved. But he that believeth not, shall not see life, and shall die in his sins. (Joh 3:36; Joh 8:24.)
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Notes-
v1.-[And he spake a parable, &c.] Let it be noted that this parable is closely connected with the preceding chapter. After giving a fearful account of the sifting and tribulations which shall attend His own second advent, our Lord proceeds to urge on His people the importance of the habit of persevering in prayer as a preparation for the advent, and of not fainting under trial and giving up prayer in despair.
[Always to pray.] This expression does not mean that a man should be incessantly performing the act of prayer. It means that a man should constantly keep up the habit of prayer, and endeavour to be always in a prayerful frame of mind.
v2.-[There was in a city, &c.] As usual, there are various opinions about the primary purpose and application of this parable.
It is the opinion of many that the “widow” in the parable represents the Church, and the “adversary” the devil, or antichrist; the widow’s distressed state the whole condition of the Church between the first and second advents of Christ,-and her crying for help the groaning of creation for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Rom 8:19.)
Trench mentions a strange view of Vitringa’s, that the unjust judge represents the Roman Emperors, and the widow the early Church;-and a still stranger view of Irenus and Hippolytus, that the widow is the earthly Jerusalem, and the unjust judge antichrist.
My own impression is that the parable was meant simply to describe the duty of individual believers during the whole period of the present dispensation, and to encourage them to persevering prayer, by holding out the hope that God will at length plead their cause, when things seem at the worst.
[Which feared not God…regarded man.] This is a proverbial description of a thoroughly bad man in high office. Our Lord Jesus Christ, be it observed, knows that there are such men in high places, and will one day reckon with them.
The description has stumbled some commentators, and has been treated as a great difficulty. They have been offended at the idea of such a man as this judge standing in the position of a type and emblem of God. To avoid this seeming inconsistency, Theophylact mentions a strange and monstrous view held by some, that the words exactly describe God, since He is one who need not fear God, and is no respecter of men’s persons!
The difficulty raised appears to me thoroughly unreasonable. Both here, and in other places, we are not meant to draw an exact parallel between the person described and God. The one single point we are meant to notice is, that even an unjust and wicked man can be moved by importunity. And the inference pressed on us, is simply this, that if a wicked man is to be moved by importunity, much more is God.
Quesnel says, “We may make a good use even of the worst examples. Every thing serves to display the justice and goodness of God, either by way of conformity or opposition, either as lines which form the resemblance their of, or as shadows which heighten the lustre and liveliness of the colors.”
v3.-[A widow.] The helpless and friendless condition of a widow in Eastern countries and Bible times, should be carefully remembered. See Exo 22:22; Deu 10:18; Job 29:13; 1Ki 17:9, 1Ki 17:12.
v5-[Weary me.] The Greek word translated “weary,” is very peculiar. It signifies literally “to strike under the eyes.” Some have thought it very strange that a man in the judge’s position should use such language, and express any fear that a poor, weak, defenceless woman could trouble him so much as to require such a strong phrase. Yet a moment’s reflection will show us, that selfish, worldly, wicked men, are just exactly the persons who employ such violent expressions, in order to express their sense of annoyance even on trifling occasions. How often for instance people talk of being “tired to death,” or “worried out of their lives,” when there is nothing to justify the use of such language.
v6.-[The unjust judge.] The Greek words here mean literally “the judge of injustice.” It is precisely the same form of language, that is used in a previous chapter describing “the unjust steward.” Luk 16:8.
v7.-[Which cry day and night.] This is doubtless a proverbial expression, signifying a habit of continual prayer.
[Bear long.] The Greek word so translated is generally rendered “have patience,” “is long-suffering.” The remark of Pearce on the passage is worth reading. “The word is commonly used for delaying to punish a bad man. Here it has another sense, and signifies the delaying to help a good man. So Peter seems to use the expression, ‘long-suffering,’ when he says, ‘account that the long-suffering of God is salvation,’ that is, that though He delays long to save you, yet He will save you at the last.” (2Pe 3:15.)
v8.-[He will avenge them speedily.] This sentence points to the second advent of Christ. To our eyes it seems long delayed. But a thousand years in God’s sight are but as one day.
[When…Son of man…faith…earth.] These words are differently interpreted.
Some, as usual, can see in the “coming of the Son of man,” nothing but the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. They think the sentence means, when the Jewish polity is overthrown, the number of believers will be found very small.
Wordsworth maintains that “the earth” means the “world,” in contradiction to the children of light.
I am unable to see either view to be correct. I believe the view given in the Exposition is the true one. Our Lord teaches that there will be comparatively few true believers upon earth when He comes again. True faith will be found as rare as it was in the days of Noah, when only eight persons entered the ark, and in the days of Lot, when only four persons left Sodom. He is speaking, we must remember, in close connection with the account of the second advent, and His own vivid comparison of the days of Noah and Lot, with the day when the Son of man shall be revealed.
There is doubtless an implied lesson here, that persevering prayer is the secret of keeping up faith. Augustine says, “When faith fails, prayer dies. In order to pray, then, we must have faith; and that our faith fail not, we must pray. Faith pours forth prayer; and the pouring forth of the heart in prayer, gives steadfastness to faith.”
The unbelief of man on the subject of both advents is strikingly shown in the beginning of Isa 53:1, and of 2Pe 3:1-18.
Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Luk 18:1. Unto them, i.e., the disciples.
To this end, not in order that, but to show, that they (the disciples) ought always to pray. Comp. 1Th 5:17 : Pray without ceasing. The latter refers to the believers prevailing frame of mind; this, to unwearied petition for the same object believed to be in accordance with Gods will. It shows the conflict of prayer in the distressed and suffering disciple.
Not to faint, not to be discouraged. The danger of discouragement arises from the delay in receiving an answer, while the adversary continues to harass.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
There is no duty in Christianity, the practice of which our Saviour pressed upon us more frequently than this duty of prayer. To encourage his disciples, (and us in them,) to fervency, importunity, and perseverance in this duty, he propounds here the parable of an unjust judge, who was overcome by an importunate widow, to do her justice contrary to his own inclination.
From whence our Saviour argues, that if importunity will prevail with a sinful man, to grant petitions offered to him; how much more prevalent will such importunity be with the infinitely good God, to relieve the necessities of such as devoutly implore his help. And the force of the argument lies thus: “The judge in the parable was an inferior and subordinate judge, was an unrighteous and unjust judge, was a merciless and hard hearted judge; and yet, upon her importunity, he avenged her: how much more will the sovereign and supreme Judge, the holy and righteous, the merciful and compassionate Judge of all the earth, hear and help his praying people, and be the just Avenger of those that fear him”
From the whole note,
1. That prayer, or a liberty of making our requests known to God, is an inestimable favor and privilege. He that considers the nature of God, and the nature of man, cannot question it: God is a being of infinite fullness and perfection; a self- sufficient, and an all-sufficient good; and man an indigent, helpless, dependent creature, full of wants, and obnoxious to dangers.
2. That prayer is not only an inestimable privilege, but an indispensable duty. So solicitous is God for our welfare and happiness, that he makes our privilege our duty, by the authority of his command; so that we are at once ungrateful to God, and unjust to ourselves, in the most exalted degree, if we do not pray unto him, and spread our wants before him.
3. That this duty of prayer is not an occasional, but a constant duty: Men ought always to pray; that is,
1. At all seasonable times and fit opportunities. We are said to do it seasonably; now the seasons for prayer are morning and evening. As the morning and evening sacrifice was constant among the Jews, and the fire was always upon the altar, and never went out; so he that prays morning and evening, may be said to be instant in prayer, and to pray without ceasing.
2. Always to pray, is an endeavor always to keep the heart in a praying frame, and to be very frequent in offering up pious exclamations, and short mental prayers to God, as occasion shall offer; when in the field, in the shop, in the bed, when sleep departs, in the journey when alone. This may be done advantageously without loss of time, and acceptably without danger of hypocrisy, which too often mingles itself with our more set prayers.
Observe, 4. We must not only pray constantly, but pray fervently, yea, importunately; if we would pray successfully, we must cry to God as the widow to the judge: vehemency and importunity are both helps and ornaments to prayer; they both fortify and beautify our prayers; they pierce the heavens, and offer an holy violence to God: Tertullian says, “God delights in such importunity.”
Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? If by the Son of man’s coming we understand Christ’s coming in judgment against Jerusalem, then the sense is this; “That when he comes to take vengeance on the obstinate Jews, and to destroy their city, he will find but little faith, and patient waiting for help from God in the land of Judea, and consequently little importuning him with incessant cries and supplications as this poor woman did the unjust judge.”
If by the Son of man’s coming, we understand Christ’s coming to judge the world at the last day, then the sense is, “When he cometh, he will find but few faithful ones, comparatively speaking; he will find but few sincere and serious Christians, in whom the genuine effectws and fruits are found.”
Learn, that when Christ shall come to judgment, he will find comparatively very few whose hearts have not fainted, and very many, who through the power that temptation has upon the frailty of human nature are fallen away: When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Verily, but little faith, and few faithful ones.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Luk 18:1. And he spake, &c. . He also spake a parable to them. The particle , here used, plainly implies, that this parable has a relation to the preceding discourse, of which indeed it is a continuation, but which is improperly interrupted by the division of the chapters. There is in it, and in the following parable, a particular reference to the distress and trouble they were soon to meet with from their persecutors, which would render the duties of prayer, patience, and perseverance peculiarly seasonable. That men ought always to pray At all times, on all occasions, or frequently, (as the word , here rendered always, signifies, Joh 18:20,) and not to faint Under their trials, not to despond, or yield to evils, as , here used, signifies, so as to be wearied out by them, and cease from prayer, as unavailing to procure relief. It frequently happens, that after men have prayed for any particular blessing, they desist, because God does not immediately grant them their petition. To show the evil of this, and to recommend importunity and perseverance in prayer especially when we are in pursuit of any spiritual mercy or mercies, relating either to ourselves, our friends, or the church of God, the present parable is introduced. As delivered on this occasion, it seems to have been principally designed to inspire the disciples with earnestness and perseverance in their prayers for the coming of the Son of man to destroy the Jewish constitution, notwithstanding God should long defer the accomplishment of their desire. For this event is represented, not only here, but in several other passages of Scripture, as a thing exceedingly to be wished for in those days. The reason was, the Jews in every country were their bitterest persecutors, and the chief opposers of Christianity. See Luk 21:28; Heb 10:25; Jas 5:7; 1Pe 4:7. Independent of this, however, in the course of his ministry, our Lord often recommended frequency, earnestness, and perseverance in prayer, not because God is, or can be, ever tired out with our importunity; but because it is both an expression and exercise of our firm belief of, and confidence in, his power and goodness, without which it would not be fit for God to bestow his blessings upon us, nor would we be capable of receiving and using them. See on Mat 7:7-11; Luk 11:5-8. Of continual praying, see on 1Th 5:17.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3 d. Luk 18:1-8. The Widow and the Unjust Judge.
This parable is peculiar to Luke. The formula , Furthermore, hear this also, announces it as the conclusion of the whole discourse Luk 17:20 et seq.
Weizscker (p. 139) and Holtzmann (p. 132) think that the introduction, Luk 18:1, gives this parable a commonplace application (the duty of perseverance in prayer), which does not belong to the original idea of this discourse (the imminence of the Parousia). But is there not a very close correspondence between the duty of persevering prayer, and the danger which the Church runs of being overcome by the carnal slumber which has just been described in the preceding portraiture? The Son of man has been rejected; He has gone from view; the masses are plunged in gross worldliness; men of God are become as rare as in Sodom. What is, then, the position of the Church? That of a widow whose only weapon is incessant prayer. It is only by means of this intense concentration that faith will be preserved. But such is precisely the disposition which, Jesus fears, may not be found even in the Church at His return. The parable is therefore placed here most appropriately, and the introduction is in perfect keeping with its first intention. Comp. Luk 21:34-36, where we find the same ideas in correspondencethe danger of being spiritually overcharged in the last times, and the duty of unceasing vigilance and prayer. , to relax, to let go, not to hold determinedly to one’s rights, like the widow.
There lies at the foundation of this parable, as in those of the indiscreet friend and the lost sheep (chap. 11 and 15), an argument fortiori: Were God like this judge, He would not resist the Church’s believing prayer; how much less, being what He is! The condition of the Church after the Lord’s departure is like that of a widow, and of a widow deprived of her rights. The Lord has acquired for His own glorious prerogatives, which have not yet passed into the domain of facts, and the enjoyment of which, if they esteem them at their just value, they should claim without ceasing. (Luk 18:3): to deliver () by a judicial sentence (). This term does not therefore include the notion of vengeance, but that of justice to be rendered to the oppressed.
If , to disfigure the face, be taken in the weakened sense of importuning, it will be necessary to understand , to the end: Lest she importune me to the end (indefinitely). But Meyer prefers keeping the strict sense, both of the verb and of (at last): Lest she come at last to strike me. The participle , coming to me, decides in favour of this second meaning. There is in this saying a touch of pleasantry.
Ver. 6. Hear: for there is a lesson to be drawn even from this impious language.
Ver. 7. The continual crying of the elect recalls the ardent desire of believers to see one of the days of the Son of man, Luk 17:22.
The elect are those whom God has drawn by the calling of Jesus from the bosom of lost humanity, agreeably to the eternal plan of salvation.
If we read (Alex.), we must give this proposition the interrogative meaning: Will He not do right…, and will He be slow in their behalf, that is to say, to punish those who oppress them? But the sense which must thus be given to is not natural. It is much better, therefore, to read: , the meaning of which is (with ): Though He restrain His anger on account of His [oppressed] elect. God suffers with them (Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?); and therefore Jesus can say of God, that He restrains Himself on their account. If, then, He does not interpose immediately to deliver them, it is not from indifference; it is from long-suffering to their oppressors. Comp. 2Pe 3:9. It is nowhere said that the object of the unceasing cry of the elect is the punishment of their adversaries, which would not be in keeping with the figure of the parable; it is their own deliverance by their being put in possession of the heritage to which they are entitled. But God, it is true, cannot grant this petition without breaking the power of those who stand in the way of this act of justice. It is to this aspect of His answer that allusion is made by the .
, speedily, does not at all mean that the limit of divine forbearance is near, which would be inconsistent with the long interval of time announced in the words, days will come…(Luk 17:22). The word rather signifies, that the hearing once given, the deliverance will be accomplished with small delay, in the twinkling of an eye; comp. Rom 16:20 (where, too, we should translate not shortly, but very quickly). : I am not afraid of the Judge failing in His duty. The only thing which makes me anxious is this, lest the widow fail in hers. : not some faith in general, but the faith,that special faith of which the widow’s is an image, which, in spite of the judge’s obstinate silence and long apparent indifference, perseveres in claiming its right.
On the earth, in opposition to the Son of man who comes again from heaven.
We must here remember the sad picture of the state of humanity at this epoch (Luk 17:26-30). Is it not to such a state of things that Jesus also makes allusion, Mat 25:5 : And they all slumbered and slept?
Hilgenfeld and others find in this parable a thirst for vengeance, which corresponds rather with the furious zeal of the Apocalypse than the true Pauline feeling of Luke. This passage must therefore be one of those most ancient parts of our Gospel which Luke borrowed from a Jewish document. Others, like De Wette, see in it, on the contrary, the traces of a later period, when the Church had become the victim of persecution. But, 1. This alleged thirst for vengeance nowhere appears in the text. 2. Our passage is full of gentleness in comparison with expressions of indignation used by Paul himself (Rom 2:4-5; Rom 2:8-9; 1Th 2:15-16; 2Th 1:8). The spirit of this parable is therefore not in the least opposed to that of the Pauline Luke 3. There is allusion, no doubt, to the abnormal position of the Church between Christ’s departure and His return, but not to persecution strictly so called.
While Hilgenfeld affects to distinguish in this piece the originally Ebionite passages (Luk 17:1-4; Luk 17:11-19; Luk 18:1-8) from those which are of Luke’s composition (Luk 17:5-10; Luk 17:20-37; Luk 18:1-14), Volkmar (Evangel. Marcions, p. 203) maintains that the arrangement of the piece is systematic, and rests on the well-known Pauline triad: love (Luk 17:1-4), faith (Luk 18:5-19), hope (Luk 18:30 et seq.). But it is easy to see how forced it is to apply any such scheme to those different accounts.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Luke Chapter 18
But, in the presence of all the power of their enemies and oppressors (for there would be such, as we have seen, so that they might even lose their lives), there was a resource for the afflicted remnant. They were (chap. 18) to persevere in prayer, the resource, moreover, at all times, of the faithful-of man, if he understand it. God would avenge His elect, although, as to the exercise of their faith, He would, indeed, try it. But when He came, would the Son of man find this faith that waited for His intervention? That was the solemn question, the answer to which is left to the responsibility of man-a question which implies that it could hardly be expected, although it ought to exist. Nevertheless, should there be any faith acceptable to Him who seeks it, it will not be disappointed or confounded.
It will be observed, that the kingdom (and that is the subject) is presented in two ways among the Jews at that time-in the Person of Jesus then present (Luk 17:21), and in the execution of the judgment, in which the elect ones should be spared, and the vengeance of God be executed in their behalf. On this account, they were only to think of pleasing Him, however oppressive and at ease the world might be. It is the day of the judgment of the wicked, and not that in which the righteous will be caught up to heaven. Enoch and Abraham are more the types of the latter; Noe and Lot, of those who will be spared to live on the earth; only there are oppressors of whom the remnant are to be avenged.Luk 18:31 shews that they must think only of the judgment and connect themselves with nothing as men. Detached from everything, their only hope would be in God at such a moment.
The Lord then resumes, in verse 9 of chapter 18 (Luk 18:9), the description of those characters which were suitable to the kingdom, to enter it now by following Him. From Luk 18:35 [38] the great transition draws near historically. Verse 8, then, of chapter 18 (Luk 18:8), ends the prophetic warning with respect to the last days. The Lord afterwards resumes the consideration of the characters which befit the state of things introduced by grace. Self-righteousness is far from being a recommendation for entrance into the kingdom. The most miserable sinner, confessing his sin, is justified before God rather than the self-righteous. He that exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. What apattern and witness of this truth was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself!
The spirit of a little child-simple, believing all that he is told, confiding, of little importance in his own eyes, who must give way to all-this was meet for the kingdom of God. What else would He admit?
Again, the principles of the kingdom, as established by the rejection of Christ, were in full contrast with the temporal blessings attached to obedience to the law, excellent as that law was in its place. Goodness in man there was none: God only is good. The young man who had fulfilled the law in his outward walk is called to leave everything that he may follow the Lord. Jesus knew his circumstances and his heart, and put His finger on the covetousness that ruled him and was fed by the riches he possessed. He was to sell all that he had and follow Jesus; he should have treasure in heaven. The young man went away sorrowful. The riches that, in the eyes of men, appeared to be a sign of Gods favour, were but a hindrance when the heart and heaven came in question. The Lord announces at the same time, that whosoever should forsake anything that he prized for the sake of the kingdom of heaven should receive much more in this world, and, in the next, life everlasting. We may remark that it is only the principle which is here laid down in reference to the kingdom.
At last the Lord, on His way to Jerusalem, plainly tells His disciples in private that He was going to be delivered up, to be ill-treated and put to death, and then to rise again. It was the fulfilment of all that the prophets had written. But the disciples understood none of those things.
If the Lord was to make those who followed Him take up the cross, He could not but bear it Himself. He went before His sheep, in this path of self-denial and devotedness, to prepare the way. He went alone. It was a path which His people had not yet trodden, nor indeed could they till after He had done so.
Footnotes for Luke Chapter 18
38: The case of the blind man at Jericho is, as already noted, the beginning (in all the synoptical Gospels) of the last events of Christs life.
Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament
CHAPTER 15
THE UNJUST JUDGE AND THE INDEFATIGABLE WIDOW
Luk 18:1-8. This paragraph on the Lords second coming begins with the twenty-second verse of the seventeenth chapter, and runs through the eighth verse of the eighteenth chapter. Of course you know there is no significance arising from the division into chapters and verses, as it was never made by an inspired hand, but by men of quite modem date, whose knowledge of the Scripture was, to say the least, very ordinary, as in many instances they seriously mar the trend of truth by breaking up the connection. This is one of those noted cases where they have inserted the eighteenth chapter in the middle of this beautiful paragraph revelatory of our Lords return to earth. And He spoke to them a parable to the end that they themselves ought always to pray, and not to faint. The E. V. insertion of men, which you see by the italics is not in the original, is quite misleading; as you see our Savior is addressing His disciples directly, and here uses the definite pronoun, showing clearly that His disciples are the subject of the verb pray. As this passage is generally entirely misconstrued as to both the subject and the object of he prayer, I hope you will see the connection, and understand the deliverances of our Lord in this paragraph. N. B. The leading thought-in this paragraph is His second coming, while His disciples are the subjects addressed, because the world neither knows nor cares anything about either the first or the second advent. Having emphasized so forcibly the fact and the importance of His return, He now tells His disciples they should constantly pray for it, as E. V.,
ought always to pray, and not to faint, remembering that His disciples (as ought means) are under obligation i. e., it is our duty to Him as our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, glorious Lord, and coming King always to pray for His coming, and never to faint; i.e., never give way to indifference or despondency so that we cease to pray incessantly and importunately for the return of our ascended Lord. This conclusion is abundantly and transcendently sustained by the following parable, and consequently no mistake about it. Saying, There was a certain judge in a certain city, neither fearing God nor regarding man. You will see that this unjust judge emblematizes God Almighty in point of independency. Our Savior here gives us one of His grand a-fortiori arguments. And there was a widow in that city, and she continued to come to him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. While the unjust judge here, as to independency, represents God, the widow is the Church, which is constantly typified by a woman, and now in widowhood, because her Divine Husband has ascended up to heaven. Now this poor widow has an awful enemy i. e., the devil who troubles her incessantly. Ercheto, continued to go, is in the imperfect tense, showing an existing custom; i.e., this woman has been going night and day, and pleading with God to send Jesus back to the earth, that He may put the devil out, and reign without a rival. And he was not willing for a time; and after these things he said in himself, Even though I fear not God, nor regard man, because this widow giveth me trouble, I will avenge her, lest coming on forever she may smite me in the face. You see our translation is much stronger than the E. V. Hupopiadze is from hupopion, the cheek bone, and here in the verb form; so the literal meaning is, Hit me on the cheek-bone i. e., Smite me in the face; or to use an American phrase, Give me a black eye. This old tyrant, who neither fears God nor regards man, is so annoyed by the widow coming incessantly and pleading with him to deliver her from her intolerable adversary, that, though he really cares nothing about the matter, he finally concludes to grant her request, because he believes that if he does not, she will come on indefinitely, annoying the life out of him, and finally, becoming desperate, actually smite him in the face. In view of, these stringent considerations, he resolves to avenge her of her adversary, simply in order to get rid of her. Jesus is not only the plainest, but the most forcible Preacher the world ever saw. N. B. This is an a-fortiori argument, which always commands a sweeping and overwhelming conclusion; e.g., if this reckless old tyrant, centered all in self, would avenge this widow simply to get rid of her, how infinitely, inconceivably, and overwhelmingly conclusive the argument that our loving Heavenly Father, having all power in heaven and in earth, and at the same time full of kindness, pity, sympathy, and the tenderest Fatherly affection and superabounding in redeeming love, will certainly avenge the poor widowed Church, who, through the ages, continues to come, and under no circumstances will she be put off or relax her importunity, praying night and day to her Heavenly Father to send Jesus back to cast the devil out, because he torments her night and day, laying a thousand stratagems to capture her children and drag them into hell!
And the Lord said, Hear ye what the unjust judge says. And must not God execute vengeance in behalf of His own elect, who cry day and night unto Him, and lie suffereth long in their behalf? I say unto you that He will execute vengeance in their behalf quickly. Moreover, the Son of man having come, will He then find faith on the earth? We must leave everything where the Lord puts it. By this powerful a-fortiori argument He proves His own return to the earth, responsive to the prayers of His disciples, represented by this importunate widow, who is none other than the Church, bereaved of her ascended Lord, and during His absence suffering awful and intolerable harassment by the devil, who, knowing his time is short, is stirring earth and hell to get the regions of woe well populated before the Lord comes and casts him out. (Rev 20:3) Now you see that when the Lord comes, He will find but little faith on the earth. How is that? Why, everything must be left where Jesus put it. Do you not see that this question, which evidently involves a negative answer, warranting the conclusion that faith will be quite scarce on the earth when the Lord returns, winds up this paragraph of twenty-three verses on the Lords coming? Therefore you see it means faith appertaining to this subject; i.e., involving the conclusion that when the Lord comes, it will be an awful and shocking surprise to all the people on the earth, good and bad, with the exception of a few, represented by this importunate widow i.e., the true, holy Church of Christ who, in all ages has been praying for His return, living night and day in anticipation of His coming. To her it will be no surprise, as she will run to meet Him with a shout. After these tremendously urgent and stringent deliverances of our Lord on the subject of His second coming, admonishing all of His disciples to pray for it incessantly, and not to faint i. e., never waver nor hesitate, nor doubt the propriety of so doing–how strange that so few who claim to be the disciples of Christ are actually praying the Father to send Him down on the throne of His glory, that He may cast the devil out and reign forever! When they see this positive affirmation of Jesus to His disciples that they ought constantly to pray for His coming and never cease, how strange that we find even holiness people, not only neglecting to preach this glorious truth and pray the Father to send back His Son, but even attempting to lay an embargo on those who do preach these grand truths and pray for His corning! As we see here that very few will He find on the earth who have faith for His coming, and are consequently looking for Him, is not that sufficient inspiration to stir up every reader of these pages to aspire to a place in that small number who have faith in His coming, are praying for His return, and on the constant outlook?
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Luk 18:1. Men ought always to pray, and not to faint. We have continual wants, and God is always ready to hear. And as we must always be thinking of good or of evil, it is best to set the Lord always before us, and so to have our stated times of prayer, that the fire shall never go out on the altar of our heart. We should continue in prayer, because in many respects concerning particular blessings, the Lord hath just and wise reasons for delay, but he will surely answer in due time. If an unjust judge would avenge a helpless widow, shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry unto him daily? Here every word has weight. Shall the Father of mercies see his saints oppressed with grief and anguish, tempted of Satan and persecuted by the wicked, and for ever hold his peace? Oh no: he will come forth out of his place, and render tribulation to those that trouble them. Let us pray on, for we are sure to prevail. We have an advocate in the court of heaven, who will speedily honour the prayers of his saints.
Luk 18:8. Shall he find faith on the earth? As nations approach the crisis of destruction, they are seized with the spirit of error and infatuation, and grow inconceivably wicked; while, on the contrary, the few faithful ones grow more and more righteous. So it was when the Son of man came to punish Jerusalem by the Romans, and so it shall be when he comes to destroy the infidel hosts. Ezekiel 39. Revelation 19.
Luk 18:18. What shall I do to inherit eternal life? This passage has been considered in the notes on Mat 19:16.
Luk 18:35. A certain blind man, called Bartimeus, sat begging. The miracle of mercy wrought on this humble individual, in answer to his fervent importunity, should encourage us to persevere in prayer till we obtain the light and joy of reconciliation with God. See Reflections on Mark 10. and John 9.
REFLECTIONS.
The parable of the pharisee and the publican is replete with instruction. Christ having enjoined constant prayer, here corrects a false idea of devotion. The throne of grace is not a place for the suppliant of self- applause, but to glorify the riches of grace. The pharisee praised God, and justly too, that he was not guilty of any infamous crime; but it was to bestow a double encomium on himself, as not only free from vice, but excelling others in virtue. There is no reverence or invocation in his prayer, as in the examples of Abraham, Genesis xviii; of David in the Psalms, and of Elijah on mount Carmel. He occupied the first place in the temple, as indicative of his highest claims on heaven.
A pharisaical temper betrays the utmost ignorance of human nature, and of pure religion. The pharisee knew not that the concupiscence of his heart had broken all the precepts; he knew not that the defects of his piety needed atonement: he thought that heaven was his debtor, because his prayers, his alms and his fastings, exceeded the precepts. Yet with all his professional love to God, he despised the contrite publican, and had no love to poor sinners. The Lord therefore was deaf to his prayers, and dismissed him unnoticed, if peradventure some future adversity might discover the ignorance and pride of his heart.
Genuine conversion begins with a proper sight and sense of sin. The publican stood afar off. When he thought of God, he dropped his eyes; when he looked at himself, he blushed for his sin; and when he weighed his case, he smote upon his breast, and urged no plea but mercy, mercy to the worst of men. Jer 31:18. It is not only mercy that pardons, but it is the richest of mercy which provides a Saviour, and accepts his oblation.
When grace has brought a profligate to the place where he ought to be, heaven is delighted with his prayers, and accords to his soul an immediate answer of peace. This man went down to his house justified, as in Rom 3:4. Thus the truly penitent should never despair because of the greatness of their sin, but always expect an instantaneous pledge of pardon and of peace with God.
There is consequently great danger lest men should set out wrong in the way to heaven. Religion begins with a law-work on the mind, with conviction of sin, and with true repentance in the sight of God. We must approach the great tribunal solely through the Saviours merits; any reliance on alms, fastings, charities, and moral excellence will greatly embarrass our approach. All these good things must follow, as fruits of repentance, but never be named before God. The saints forget them, and say, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Luk 18:1-8. Parable of the Unrighteous Judge (Lk. only).There is a connexion with the preceding sayings; the Advent may be delayed, yet the disciples should incessantly pray for itit will surely come. The parable has a specific point, it is not simply an exhortation to prayer like Luk 11:5-8. There is a striking parallel with Sir 35:12-19, even to the idea of vengeance on enemies of the community and the faith. The parable is constructed on the a fortiori principle. God is not compared to but contrasted with an unjust judge. If the one yields to the persistency of an unknown widow, how much more will the other hear and answer His own chosen people, though it is not merely because they pray that He will punish the persecutor. Note the use of the Lord for Jesus in Luk 18:6, as in Luk 7:13, Luk 10:39, Luk 12:42, Luk 13:15, Luk 17:6, Luk 22:61. Cf. Luk 16:8 f.
Luk 18:5. wear me out: annoy or pester me, lit., hit me under the eye; buffet as in 1Co 9:27.
Luk 18:7. and he is long-suffering over them: either (a) will He delay His vengeance in their case? or (b) will He be tolerant towards them (the wicked)?
Luk 18:8 b. The note of encouragement is followed by one of warning. It is not enough to pray for the Parousia; see that you are ready for it. There is no doubt about the Coming, there is grave doubt about the state of the world at the Corning. Who shall stand when He appeareth?
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
GRACE PRODUCING PERSISTENT PRAYER
(vs.1-8)
This section connects with the subjects of chapter 17. We have seen in the four sections of that chapter that the gospel of grace produces in the believer a spirit that is (1) forgiving; (2) humble; (3) thankful; and (4) watchful. To complete this list, a prayerful spirit is now added.
Nothing should at any time discourage our consistency in prayer. The parable the Lord used as to this is most instructive. The judge He spoke of was in no way a commendable character, having no fear of God and unfeeling as regards men. Whether the woman who came to him had a just cause against her adversary is not told us, for likely this did not affect the judge one way or the other. He was simply not interested and therefore would do nothing for the woman at first. But when she continued presenting her case to him, he decided to give judgment in her favor, just so he would not be bothered by her any more. The Lord insists that he was unjust.
Notice, however that she was a widow with no husband to take up her case. Helplessly, she depended on the judge; and though unjust, he finally acted on her behalf, out of mere selfish motives.
God’s elect, virtually helpless in a persecuting world, have only God to depend upon. Their cause is right, and God is absolute in justice and truth. Is He less dependable than a selfish judge? Let His own cry day and night to Him, never discouraged because the time seems long, for He will speedily act on their behalf, though He bears long as to the injustice of others against them. Because He is long-suffering toward the ungodly, He uses this also to teach us longsuffering, yet at the same time He encourages constant prayer and supplication, which He will answer in proper time.
“Nevertheless,” He adds, “when the Son of Man comes, will He find really faith on the earth” (v.8)? This is His coming in power and glory at the end of the great tribulation. The godly remnant will have cried pleadingly to God. Will the Son of Man find the faith that has confidently expected an answer such as His coming brings? It is a question to exercise hearts to fully expect an answer.
THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX COLLECTOR
(vs.9-14)
Verse 9 introduces another subject which ends with verse 34, and is a summing up of things that have gone before, as in the presence of God, prior to the last great division of the book of Luke, which begins with verse 35. Verses 9 to 14 form a first part of the larger subject, which shows in four parts that people must have to do with God, and upon principles that cannot be ignored.
First (vs.9-14) one must have a righteousness far superior to that of the Pharisees. The Lord’s parable was spoken to those whose confidence was in their own self-righteousness and who therefore despised others, two things that go together. The Pharisee and the tax collector are put in total contrast. In fact, the Pharisees favored such contrast. The Pharisee prayed “with himself,” but addressed “God;” for his god was really himself, and his prayer is an expression of pride in not being like certain other men, including the tax collector. But what special merit is there in not being an extortioner, unjust, or an adulterer? Thousands of others avoid these things just because of the folly of them. The Pharisee prided himself also on missing two meals out of 27, and giving tithes of all his possessions. In his eyes these things so outweigh his sins that he did not even mention that he was guilty of any.
The tax gatherer however, stood afar off, his eyes cast down in self-judgment. He spoke of nothing whatever in his own favor (though possibly he might have had just as much to boast of as did the Pharisee). He pled only for mercy from God, confessing himself to be “the sinner” (JND). It is no question of how bad a sinner he was, but of the fact of being a sinner. Of course the fact was just as true of the Pharisee, but he chose to cover it up by talking about what sins he did not commit.
The Lord assures us that the man who faced facts honestly in the light of God’s pure truth went to his house justified, rather than the other. The seIf-righteousness of the Pharisee left him in a state of no righteousness whatever, not justified, but actually under condemnation. The honest self-condemnation of the tax collector resulted in God counting him righteous, for his being justified means just this, that God has imputed righteousness to him because he admittedly had none of his own, but had faith in the living God. Compare Rom 4:1-8. The Lord sealed this by re-affirming a principle so constantly outstanding throughout scripture, that one who exalts himself shall be abased, while he who humbles himself shall be exalted. Satan is a striking example of the first, while the Lord Jesus is the supreme example of the latter. This is the first principle of our having to do with God.
GRACE TO LITTLE CHILDREN
(vs.15-17)
Now, in this second section, added to a character humbling of oneself before God is a genuine concern for the most helpless and dependent of God’s creatures, for if we lack this we do not rightly know the heart of God. The disciples exposed their ignorance of God’s heart by rebuking those who brought infants to the Lord for His blessing by the touch of His hand. But it was the disciples who needed rebuke. He called those who brought the children (for it seems they were already going away because of the disciples’ rebuke) and encouraged the little ones to come to Him, “for of such is the kingdom of God.” So there is no question that families of believers have their place in the kingdom of God. We could not say the same of the Assembly of God, the Church, for all in the Church must be born again and indwelt by the Spirit of God.
The Lord concluded this subject with declaring that the kingdom, rather than for self-important men, is opened only to those who enter as little children. The lowliness of honest, dependent faith is imperative in the kingdom of God. In the kingdom one has to do with God, the kingdom being that sphere where God’s authority is paramount, therefore calling for a spirit of unquestioning subjection and obedience.
THE RICH YOUNG RULER
(vs.18-27)
These verses show that God must be first in priority. Our possessions of whatever sort must not be allowed to take His place in the heart. If we have not learned this, we have not learned aright the wonder of the grace of God. The ruler who questioned the Lord Jesus was concerned about inheriting eternal life and he recognized that there was in Christ a goodness that could not be denied. Yet it was not enough to realize that Christ is a good teacher. He needed to understand more than this concerning the Lord. So the Lord asked him why he called Him good, reminding him that only God is good. Of course Jesus is good because He is God manifest in flesh, but the ruler sadly discerned nothing of His true glory, for he was thinking, not of what God is, but of his own doings. But his doings could have nothing to do with inheriting eternal life: for this he must be born again. But the Lord did not speak of this: rather He referred to the standard God had given as regards people’s doings, that is, the ten commandments. The ruler knew these, but did not consider that he needed something outside of his own good works.
As to these commandments, he said he had kept them from his youth up. No doubt, compared to others he had done well in this regard. But how little he knew of his own heart in the sight of God! For like all others, he had sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23), but was insensible to this solemn fact.
The Lord did not tell him that he had come short: rather He used a wise method designed to awaken the man to a sense of his sin in such a way as to drive him back to the Lord. Because the ruler only thought of what he should do, therefore the Lord gave him something to do. Whatever may be the man’s virtues, the Lord told him he lacked one thing. That thing was a genuine faith in the person of Christ. It is faith that is sternly tested in the Lord’s instructions, to sell what he had, distribute the proceeds to the poor, and with confidence of treasure in heaven, follow the Lord.
If he thought of Christ only as a good teacher, we can understand him not responding favorably to this. He was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. Many indeed there are who choose their riches rather than the blessed Son of God. The Lord knew his riches were a hindrance and therefore spoke as He did. Whether or not the ruler later turned to the Lord we do not know, but he had been given enough to cause him serious exercise of heart.
The Lord warned His listeners of the danger of riches hindering one’s entrance into the kingdom of God. It was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (vs.25). The suggestion that the simile of a camel going through the eye of a needle had reference to a small gate through which a camel could not go without unloading may be rather attractive to some, but no reliable historian substantiates this concept. In fact, the Lord says it is impossible with men, but possible with God, indicating that this is naturally an impossibility. His hearers were astonished at His words, for riches were considered to be a sign of God’s favor in Israel, but such favor can easily be turned into an occasion for self-satisfaction. Riches are not a sign of God’s favor today.
FUTURE BLESSING BUT PRESENT SUFFERING
(vs.28-34)
In this section we see that a true recognition of God’s gracious supremacy will always result in the greatest blessing for mankind. The ruler needed this. Peter contrasted himself and the other apostles with the ruler by asserting that they had left everything to follow the Lord. The Lord Jesus however did not flatter Peter for this, but gave the solid assurance that anyone who leaves his own possessions or his natural relatives for the kingdom of God’s sake will receive many times as much even in this present world, and the infinite blessing of eternal life in the age to come. The Lord did not speak of material blessings, but that which is much more vital and valuable, as indeed is the present joy and blessing of the grace of the Lord Jesus, the sweetness of communion with Himself.
Although there is eternal blessing for the believer and also spiritual blessing in the present time, yet our present blessing will be mixed with suffering and rejection in this world. The Lord spoke to the twelve (vs.31-34), taking them aside. Jesus, the true Servant of God, would do nothing to avoid the suffering He foretold: He (and the disciples with Him) would go determinately to Jerusalem with the object of having all things accomplished that were written as to His sufferings and death. The Son of Man was taking His directions from His God and Father, in fullest obedience. The leaders of His own nation Israel would deliver Him into the hands of Gentiles, to be subjected to mockery, violence and contempt, then to be scourged and crucified.
The Lord’s words were clear and explicit, and no less clear was His addition, “and the third day He shall rise again.” Nor was it the first time He told them this. Compare chapter 9:21-22. Yet nothing of His sufferings, death and resurrection registered in their minds. Indeed, when He died, none of the disciples remembered even then His assurance that He would be raised the third day, though unbelievers remembered it (Mat 27:62-63). The disciples were blinded by their own natural preconceptions.
THE BLIND BEGGAR AT JERICHO
(vs.35-43)
Verse 35 begins the third and last great division of the book of Luke, as the Lord is about to present Himself in Jerusalem for the accomplishment of His matchless work of redemption. The blind beggar sitting by the wayside near Jericho is a striking reminder of the condition of Israel which only His sacrifice could posibly change. The Lord’s healing of the man is a picture of His healing the blindness of the remnant of Israel in the coming day when they turn to Him.
The noise of the crowd stirred the interest of this blind man, who is told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. But he did not use that term, for Nazareth was a place despised by the Jews. Rather, he cried out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (v.38). He recognized in Christ the glory of the true King of Israel, and he asked for nothing on the ground of his deserving it, but pled only for mercy. Such a cry is always sufficient to cause the Lord to stand still. He commanded that the man be brought to Him. Notice how God sees fit to reduce a sinner to such a state as to be dependent on the help of others, for pride must be broken down.
Then the Lord asked him what he wanted (v.41). It was useless for him to speak as the rich ruler had done, “What shall I do?” (v.18). He knew he could do nothing to give himself sight. Nor did he say, “Good Teacher,” but “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” He took his own place of helplessness, gave the Lord the supreme place of authority, and depended on His mercy. So it will be with the remnant of Israel in a coming day, a great contrast indeed to their present pride in “going about to establish their own righteousness” (Rom 10:3).
He was answered immediately by the amazing miracle of receiving his sight, a work which no other had ever done before this blessed Messiah of Israel had come (Joh 10:32). But as well as receiving his natural sight, he was told by the Lord that his faith had saved him. This went far deeper than his natural healing, for many were healed who showed no evidence of faith at all. The man’s soul was saved, for his faith was in the Lord Jesus. More than this, he was so attracted to the Lord that they followed Him, though this meant the long, steep climb to Jerusalem — about a 3,600 feet (1,100 meters) ascent in a distance of 13 miles (21km). The common people, seeing the great miracle, gave praise to God, as Israel yet will do.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse 1
To faint; to be discouraged.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
CHAPTER 18
Ver. 1.-He spake a parable unto them to the end that. Christ had said, at the end of the last chapter, that the Apostles and the faithful should suffer persecutions, in which they should wish for His presence that they might seek and receive help from Him. He now names a remedy for all their sufferings, prayer, for He both hears them and grants what they ask, for He teaches, directs, strengthens.
Always to pray. Hence the heretics called Euchit wished, but without reason, to be always praying and to do no manual work. But it is written, “If any man will not work, neither let him eat” (2Th 3:10). “Always” here seems to mean sedulously, perseveringly, diligently, assiduously as in other things, and at befitting times, especially when temptation, persecution, and affliction are hard at hand. It is impossible for us to pray always and at all times. We must have a time for eating, drinking, labouring, &c. The word “always” means, therefore, not continuance but perseverance in prayer: that is, that we should set apart fit times for prayer, and not cease to pray until we have obtained what we need and what we ask for. Our Lord adds, “and not to faint” or in the Greek “be weary.” The reason is that we daily meet so many difficulties and troubles that our whole lives appear to be one temptation and warfare. And as we are infirm and unable to overcome them we ought to ask help and strength from God through prayer. Thus our whole Christian life seems as it were one prayer. Again, “always,” that is frequently, at the hours appointed by the Church, that we may do nothing without prayer-nothing that we do not ascribe to the glory of God. Bede says, mystically, “He prays always who works for God always;” and the Gloss, “He prays always who lives virtuously always.” S. Chrysostom: “The Lord would have you to obtain by prayer that which He wishes to give you. The palace and the ears of princes are open to few. The ears of God are open to all who will.” He refers to Ecclus. 35:20. So the apostle, Eph 6:18; 1Th 5:17. See what I have said on those three passages, Climachus: Gradu xxviii.: “Prayer, if we regard its nature or quality, is the familiar conversation and union of man with God, but if we consider its force and efficacy it is the conservation of the world, our reconciliation with God, the mother, at once, and daughter of tears, the propitiation of sins, the bridge of escape from temptation, the bulwark against the attacks of afflictions, the destruction of war, the office of angels, the food of all spirits-future joy, continual action, the fountain of virtues, the reconciler and authoress of divine graces.” Not content, he speaks more highly, exaltedly, nobly still: “It is spiritual progress, the food of the soul, the illumination of the mind, the axe of despair, the demonstration of hope, the distinction of sorrow, the wealth of monks, the treasure of solitaries, the decreasing of anger, the mirror of religious growth, the index of our stature, the declaration of our condition, the signification of things future, the proof of the glory to come.” So the Church sings of S. Ccilia: She always bore the evangel of Christ in her bosom, and neither by day nor by night did she cease from divine conversation and prayer, and when the organs sounded Ccilia sang to the Lord, “Cleanse thou my heart, that I may not be confounded.” Valerian her husband found her on her bed praying, with an angel. By this increasing prayer she merited to be given to the angel for the preservation of her virginity, the conversion of her espoused husband Valerian, of Tiburtius and 400 others, and lastly a glorious martyrdom with them all.
Ver. 2.-Saying there was in a city a judge which feared not God. This judge was wicked, unjust, cruel, and godless, one who feared neither the vengeance of God, nor the ill-report of men, who cared nothing for his conscience or his character. For the wicked who have no fear of God are often deterred by the shame of men, from confessing those acts for which they are openly despised and considered godless and infamous. But this judge was moved by no fear of God or man, and therefore he had arrived, says Theophylact, at the summit of all wickedness.
Ver. 3.-And there was a widow in that city. Avenge me, that is, vindicate my right against my oppressor, and free my innocence; righteousness, substance, and character, which are brought to trial by my enemy who is powerful, and against whom I cannot stand. She did not ask for vengeance but only for justice, that she might be delivered from the violence of her adversary and get back her own.
Ver. 4.-And he would not for a while. Partly from his own wickedness and partly because he hoped for a great bribe from the opponent.
But afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, i.e., Although I am unjust and without scruple or shame yet because this widow is troublesome to me, I will avenge her of her adversary, and give her back her right, lest continually (in novissimo) coming she weary me out (sugillet me). The Syriac has “omni tempore;” the Arabic “semper.” Sugillo is properly to bruise the face and make it livid by blows. The Greek is . The metaphorical meaning is, firstly, to deafen the head and ears with noise, and many so understand it. The Syriac has, “Lest she continually trouble me.” The Arabic, “Lest she be always coming to trouble me.” S. Augustine (Ep. 121 to Proba): “She moved the unjust judge by her persistence to listen to her. Not that he was influenced by justice or mercy, but he was overcome by weariness.” So Bede, Euthymius, Lucas and others from the Greek. “As therefore this widow by the assiduity and importunity of her supplications conquered the judge, so do we overcome God. What fear cannot effect prayer can. Threats and the fear of punishment have not moved men to justice; but when the widow came as a suppliant, from a savage she made the judge humane. What then may we not conjecture of a beneficent God, if the widow by her prayers changed a judge who had been cruel before, into a humane one?” S. Chrysostom adds that Christ here wishes to show that the chief strength of prayer consists in turning unjust and cruel judges to piety and mercy. Sugillare, applied from the body to the mind, means to brand with a mark, to affect with disgrace, to accuse. Although this senseless judge regarded neither God nor man, he feared for himself and his office, lest he should be deposed from his judgeship, and deprived of honour and profit; he therefore gave the widow her due.
A1legorically, S. Augustine (Lib. ii. Qust. Evangel. qu. 45), says, “The widow is the Church, which seems desolate until her bridegroom Christ, who now bears her griefs in secret, return from heaven to judgment.”
In trope, “The widow,” says Theophylact, “is the soul which has put away her former husband. He was hostile to her because she came to God. God is a judge Who fears no one, and regards not the persons of men. The widow represents every soul that is desolate and afflicted, and who prays to the judge, that is God, to be delivered from her adversary. But because it is incongruous to compare God to the unjust and wicked judge, as Euthymius rightly says, from S. Chrysostom, we should rather say that it is Christ who is here spoken of; and not in comparison but as concluding from the less to the greater. That is: If the unjust judge were overcome by the importunity of the widow to change injustice into justice, and give her her rights, how much rather should God do this, who is most just, nay who is justice itself, punishing all injustice?” So S. Augustine above-S. Chrysostom and Theophylact-as will be clearly shown on verse 7.
Vers. 6, 7.-And the Lord said, hear what the, &c. “God,” says Theophylact, “is the leader, the judge and the vindicator of all righteousness.” So David on Psa 34:17, “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth.” The Arabic has, “Hear what the unjust judge said; and shall not God more rightly avenge His own elect who cry to Him day and night?” So Ecclus. 35:21, 22; Rev 6:9-10, where the souls of the slain for Christ cry to God demanding vengeance. They hear from Him that they must rest yet a little while until the number of their fellow servants is completed. See what I have commented on the place.
Morally. Behold how great is the dignity, the need, and the power of prayer. The need, that by it we may be delivered from all the temptations and tribulations by which we are every where, and always, surrounded. The dignity, because by means of prayer we converse with God, as do the angels. The power, because by it we overcome all adversities and hardships. “To pray always,” says S. Chrysostom (Book ii. of Prayer) “is the work of angels, who, wholly intent upon God, teach us while we pray to forget our human nature, and to have no regard to things present, but to conceive of ourselves as standing in the midst of angels, and performing the same sacrifice with them.” He adds, “Satan does not venture to come too near to a soul fortified by prayer, for he fears the strength and fortitude which prayer confers. Prayer supports the soul more than food supports the body.” And (Book i.), “As the sun gives light to the body, so does prayer to the soul. If it be a loss to a blind man not to see the sun, how much greater a loss is it to a Christian not to pray assiduously, nor to introduce the light of Christ into his soul by prayer! By it we attain to this end, that we cease to be mortal and of time. By nature we are mortal, but by pray and our life with God, we pass to the life immortal. For it is inevitable that he who holds communion with God, should come out superior to death and to all that is subject to corruption.”
Ver. 8.-When the Son of man cometh. He comes to the universal judgment, when He will deliver His elect, whom He ordered to be always ready and eager; and to await that day patiently, preparing themselves for it by prayer and good works. For that day will be sudden and unexpected like lightning, as He Himself has said (chap. xvii. 24). Christ gives the reason why we should always pray, and persevere in prayer; because from His long absence, faith will fail even in many who believe, so that they will either lose all faith or believe very feebly, scarcely thinking that He will return at all. Secondly, Christ here gives the reason, why many are not heard in prayer. Their faith begins to fail and they do not continue steadfast in prayer, nor await the coming of the Lord with patience as they ought.
Thirdly, Theophylact says, “He rightly connected His words on prayer with those on faith, for the base and foundation of all prayer is faith. He declared at the same time that few would pray, for faith would be found in few.”
Christ says this to add a fresh incentive to unceasing prayer, for by degrees faith is failing more and more, and offences and persecutions are therefore increasing.
Shall He find faith-perfect faith, that is; faith formed by certain confidence (fiducia) and love. “This,” says S. Augustine (tract xxxvi), “is scarcely found on earth, for the Church of the faithful is full of imperfect faith, and is, as it were, half dead.” Christ Him-self explains it so, S. Mat 24:12.
This will happen more especially; at the end of the world before the coming of Christ to judgment, when men shall eat and drink themselves over to pleasure and think not of the judgment, as Christ said, Luk 17:27; and S. Peter, 2Pe 3:3. That is, Christians will deny that He is coming to judgment, even when that coming is near at hand (2Peter 3:4). As if they had said, “Nature has made the world: the same Nature continues its course in the same tenor, and always will continue it. There is no God to destroy it: no Deity to judge us and our works, and to punish them.”
Ver. 9.-And He spake also this parable unto certain that trusted in themselves. Which, however, might truly happen, nay often has happened, so that it may be historical. The introduction to the parable shows its scope and the design of its introduction, namely, to rebuke the supremacy of the Pharisees, and their boasting and contempt of other men.
In the former parable Christ taught one condition of prayer-perseverance. In this He teaches another-humility, for the humble prayer is heard by God, the proud one is rejected, as Ecclus. xxxv. 21. See what has been said thereon. The Fathers thus connect these words with the preceding verse, that is with faith. S. Augustine (Serm. xxxvi.), on the words of the Lord that faith is not of the proud but of the humble, says, “Christ subjoins a parable on humility as opposed to pride:” Theophylact, “Because pride more than other feelings vexes the minds of men, He very frequently speaks of it.” The Gloss, “That no one, from what has been said, may flatter himself on his knowledge, or his confession of faith,” Christ shows that our works, and not our professions, will be judged by God, and amongst these He chiefly notes humility.
Ver. 10.-Two men went up. The one a Pharisee, with the pharisaical pride, puffed up and haughty. The other a publican, that is a sinner, and deprecating pardon. Publicans were held infamous by the Jews, nay, were termed Parisim-that is, public robbers, for, as Suidas says, from Jamblichus, “The life of a publican was one of open violence, on account of their exactions and unjust tribute, their unpunished robberies, their unprincipled conduct in business, and their unblushing usury.”
Ver. 11.-The Pharisee stood and prayed thus within himself. The Jews prayed partly kneeling and partly standing, when their prayer was longer than usual-sacrifice or psalmody. For in the temple there was no place to sit, except for the High Priest and king alone, as I have showed on Eze 46:2. The word “standing” is added here to show the pride of the Pharisee; he raised his head to heaven as if to dispute with God, or to claim and exact the measure of his merits. “For a humble man,” as Theophylact says, “is humble of aspect, but this Pharisee is seen to be proud both by his habit and bearing.” The Arabic reads, “The Pharisee stood praying.” The Pharisee, therefore, stood proudly. 1. As being secure and confident in his own merits, and as calling God to judgment. 2. He stood first, or among the first, near the altar. 3. He stood with his neck and face erect and fixed on heaven, as if heaven were his debtor. The publican, however, stood 1. Trembling and fearful, confessing his sins. 2. Afar off, at a distance from the altar, the last, or among the last. 3.With his face cast down towards the ground, not venturing to look up to heaven, showing his fear and penitence by the place in which he stood and by his appearance. Hence Bede says, allegorically, “The Pharisee is the people of the Jews, exalting their merits by the righteousness of the law. The publican is the Gentile confessing his sin apud se.” The apud se of the Pharisee is referred in the Syriac to “standing,” standing apud se-relying on himself, trusting to himself, insisting on his own merits and dwelling on them. The Syriac reads, “serveto.” Our version more rightly connects the apud se with “orabat.” He prayed with himself in his soul and mind, for the pride in his heart so puffed him up, that he would not pray or speak but with himself-he did not deign to do so before others. He prayed like the Pharisees outwardly, in a grave inflated pompous tone. Hence S. Basil on Isaiah ii. says, “He prayed a apud se not apud Deum-for he acted like himself when he fell into the sin of pride.”
He prayed-In his own way, for he did not pray to God, but he praised himself. S. Augustine (serm. xxxvi) on the words of the Lord according to S. Luke: “What did he ask of God? Seek from his own words. We find nothing. He went up to pray; he would not ask of God, but preferred to please himself, and heap insults on the devout publican as well.”
I thank Thee. “He is not blamed,” said S. Augustine (serm. xxxvi.), “because he gave thanks, but because he wished for nothing to be given to him. Whoever says ‘I justify myself,’ is worse than the Pharisee who proudly called himself righteous, but who also gave thanks to God.”
“He gave God thanks,” says S. Bernard (de Grad. Humil.), “not because he was good, but because he was alone: and not so much for the good which he had himself, as for the evil which he saw in others. He had not cast out the beam from his own eye, and he recounts the motes in his brothers’ eyes. For he says ‘unjust’-‘extortioners.'”
I am not as other men. He should at least have said “as many others,” for what does “other” mean, but all men except himself? “I,” he said, “am righteous, the rest are sinners;” that is, I alone am righteous, all the rest are wicked. The proud man, to exalt himself the more, especially despises and depreciates others.
S. Gregory (lib. xxiii. Moral. c. 7) describes four species of pride in this Pharisee. The first is, when men think that they have good, e.g., virtue a se. The second, when they ascribe this to their own merits. The third, when they think that they have that which they have not. The fourth, when they wish to be singular, and therefore despise and speak evil of others. The three last of these are clearly shown in the proud and false righteousness of this Pharisee. The first appeared in him because he ascribed his righteousness, not to God but to his own works, and said of God, with the Pagan, “Let God give me strength, let Him give me wealth, I will order my mind myself.” “If, in fine,” says Theophylact, “he had believed that it was the gift of God that he had graces not his own (aliena), he would not have held other men in contempt, remembering, that even he himself was naked as far as regards his own virtue.”
Even as this publican.-“See,” says an Interlineator on S. Augustine, “how the vicinity of this publican was the occasion of greater pride to the Pharisee.” The Syriac has, “Nor as this publican,” supply, “am I a public sinner.” Of his pride, he judges rashly and falsely that the publican was wicked, when in truth he was a penitent and justified. The Pharisee sinned therefore, 1. In judging rashly; 2. In despising the publican; 3. In reviling and insulting him, for he casts up to the publican his sins. S. Chrysostom in the Catena: “All human nature did not satisfy his contempt, but he attacked this publican. Whoever reproaches others, commits many offences. 1. He makes the other worse, for if he is a sinner he who is rebuked rejoices to find a partner in his wickedness; if righteous, he thinks highly of himself. 2. He harms the Church; for his hearers revile it. 3. He causes God to be blasphemed. 4. He makes the other more shameless, and engenders hate towards his rebuker. 5. He renders himself obnoxious to punishment.
S. Bernard (de Gradib. Humil.): “The Pharisee, while rejoicing in himself, insults other men beyond measure. David does otherwise. He says, ‘All men, are liars.’ He excepted no one, lest he should deceive him; for he knew that all have sinned, and have need of the glory of God. The Pharisee deceived himself alone, when he excepted himself from the common reproach, lest he should be excepted from mercy. The Pharisee makes light of mercy while he dissembles his misery. The Prophet says, as well of himself as of all others, ‘All men are liars.’ The Pharisee admits it of all men but himself. ‘I am not,’ he said, ‘as other men.'”
I fast thrice in the week. In Sabbato. This is ‘by synecdoche, the chief day of the week being put for the whole week, which is called sabbatum. Hence the Arabic, “I fast two days in every week.” Theophylact says that “the Pharisees fasted on the second and fifth days;” but he gives no authority for it.
I give tithes of all that I possess. Not only of the first-fruits which the law compels, but, for my desire for a higher and a willing service, I give tithes of all things whatever, as flesh, eggs, fish, to which I am not bound. This Pharisee had branded other men as if they were adulterers and unjust, while he himself alone was pure and just. He would prove himself pure by his fasts, which are the mother of purity, and to be just by his giving tithes of everything. “As regards impurity,” says Theophylact, “he makes boast of his fasting, for from luxury comes wantonness. Against usury and injustice he brings forward his giving tithes of every thing that he possessed. ‘So far am I,’ he said, ‘from usury and unfair dealing, that I put aside what is my own.”‘ So S. Ephrem, in Catena.
Morally. S. Gregory here observes (Homily vii. on Ezekiel): “The Pharisee, who published his fasts and gave tithes, thanked God, as if his guardianship were on the watch throughout the circuit of his whole city; but because he had not noticed one opening, that of pride in himself, there the enemy took possession of him. While therefore he was silent on what he ought to have declared, he unhappily spoke of that on which he should have held his peace; and through his pride, his merits, if he had any, were diminished, for while he held humility in contempt, he augmented his sins.”
Ver. 13.-And the publican, standing afar off. The publican did not resent the insult offered by the Pharisee, nay, he admitted it, confessed it, and sought pardon for it with patience. He was, therefore justified before the Pharisee. S. Chrysostom, in his Homily on David and Saul, says, “The publican accepted the disgrace and washed it out. He acknowledged his sins, and laid them down. This accusation was to be his remission, and his enemy was changed involuntarily into his benefactor. How many labours ought that publican to have undergone, fasting, sleeping on the ground, watching, bestowing his goods on the poor, sitting long in sackcloth and ashes, that so he might lay aside his sins? But when he did none of these things, by a mere word he was rid of all his sin; and the insults and reproaches of the Pharisee, which seemed to overwhelm him with contumely, bought him a crown of righteousness, and that without toil, without labour, and without long delay.”
Standing afar off. Afar from the altar and the holy place, for he thought himself unworthy of these from his sins. He was not so very far off though, but the Pharisee was able to point to him, and he to hear the Pharisee.
He would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven. He dared not, from modesty, humility, and reverence. He would not so much as lift his eyes, as if thinking himself unworthy to look to that heaven which was the abode of the glorious God, who was offended at sins. Wherefore with eyes cast down to the ground, he humbled himself. So S. Cyril in the Catena.
S. Theophylact gives the cause of his thinking himself unworthy of the heavenly vision; and S. Augustine: “That he might be looked upon by God, he looked not upon himself. He dared not look up. Conscience weighed him down. Hope lifted him up. Again he showed by his posture that he had sinned against the Heavenly Host, that is against the Angels whose inspirations he had resisted; against the Saints, whose prayers he had made of no avail; against God Himself, whose commandments he had broken.”
But he smote on his breast. His breast, in which was his heart, that is his will, which is its own cause and origin of all sins. “He struck and beat it,” says Euthymius, “as if to exact punishment from it: and to show that because of it he was worthy himself of stripes.” The beating of the breast is a sign of penitence and a contrite heart. Hence this was formerly the act of one who confessed and was penitent, and it is so still. To beat the offending breast is both an ancient and modern custom of Christians. S. Augustine in his 8th Sermon “On the Words of the Lord according to S. Matt.,” says, “At this ‘Confiteor’ you beat your breasts. What is this but to confess what is lying hid in them, and by a visible blow to chastise an invisible sin? Why do you do this, but that you hear ‘Confiteor tibi Pater.’ Therefore our accusation of ourselves in our confession is the praising of God. For we confess ourselves to be sinners, but God to be without sin, holy and good. We therefore ask pardon of Him. The Pharisee, from his proud and unreal prayer, was the more defiled with sin. The publican was more righteous than the Pharisee, not directly and simply, but indirectly and negatively; for indeed he was righteous, but the Pharisee was unrighteous, and he returned to his house even more so than he came out.” “For,” says Euthymius, “he who so condemned himself was justified by God;” and S. Paulinus (Eph. lviii.), “What righteousness built up, that pride pulled down. The publican, from a contrite heart, was accepted as an accuser of himself, and obtained pardon from his confession of sins, from the degree of his humility; that holy Pharisee (holy as the Jews are holy) bearing away the pack-load of his sins from his boast of holiness.” S. Bernard (serm iii. de Annunc.): “The Pharisee returned empty because he pretended to be full. The publican, who emptied himself, and took pains to show that he was an empty vessel, carried away the greater grace.”
“Humility,” says S. Chrysostom, “brought the thief into Paradise before the Apostles. But if humility has such power when close upon the offence, what can it not do when united to righteousness? And if pride, united to righteousness, can depress, what will it do when united to sin? Better are sins with humility than innocence with pride,” says Optatus. (Cont. Donat. B. ii.)
Ver. 15.-And they brought unto Him also infants, that He should touch them. And by touching might bless them. Christ confirms the doctrine of humility by His own example. “Infants,” says the Gloss, “are brought to the Master of Humility, that innocence and the age of simplicity might be shown to belong to grace.”
Ver. 16.-Suffer the little children to come unto Me. The Arabic: For the kingdom of God is theirs who are like them”-not in infancy but in innocence, simplicity, humility. So Bede. “He does not say theirs, but such as they, meaning their manner of life, not their age.” And S. Ambrose: “It is not childhood, but the goodness of that simplicity which emulates child-like innocence, that is meant; for it is not a virtue not to be able to sin, but not to will to do so.” I have explained the rest on Mat 19:13 and following.
Ver. 35.-And it came to pass as He, &c. Of this blind man restored to sight I have treated. Mat 20:30.
Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary
18:1 And {1} he spake a parable unto them [to this end], that men ought always to pray, and not to {a} faint;
(1) God will have us to continue in prayer, not to weary us, but to exercise us; therefore we must fight against impatience so that a long delay does not cause us to quit our praying.
(a) Yield to afflictions and adversities as those do who have lost heart.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. The parable of the persistent widow 18:1-8
Jesus continued His instruction to the disciples about His return. He told them a parable designed to encourage them to continue praying while they lived in the interval before His second coming. Luke mentioned widows more than all the other Gospel evangelists combined (Luk 2:37-38; Luk 4:25-26; Luk 7:11-17; Luk 18:1-8; Luk 20:45-47; Luk 21:1-4; cf. Exo 22:22-24; Deu 14:28-29; Deu 16:9-15; Psa 146:9; Isa 1:17; Isa 1:23; Jer 7:6; Act 6:1; 1Ti 5:3-10; Jas 1:27).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The audience for this parable was the disciples (Luk 17:22). Luke identified Jesus’ reason for giving it clearly. He wanted to encourage them to continue praying and not to grow discouraged. The reference to "all times" or "always" (not continuously, but in all circumstances) indicates that the interval between Jesus’ present ministry and His future return is in view (Luk 17:22-37; cf. Luk 18:8). This was, then, instruction concerning what the disciples should do in the inter-advent period in view of Jesus’ second coming. When He returns, Jesus will balance the scales of justice. In the meantime disciples need to continue expressing their faith in God by requesting His grace.
"Jesus’ teaching goes beyond that of the Jews, who tended to limit the times of prayer lest they weary God. Three times a day (on the model of Dan 6:10) was accepted as the maximum." [Note: Morris, p. 262.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
lete_me Luk 18:1-14
Chapter 11
CONCERNING PRAYER.
WHEN the Greeks called man , or the “uplooking one,” they did but crystallize in a word what is a universal fact, the religious instinct of humanity. Everywhere, and through all times, man has felt, as by a sort of intuition, that earth was no Ultima Thule, with nothing beyond but oceans of vacancy and silence, but that it lay in the over-shadow of other worlds, between which and their own were subtle modes of correspondence. They felt themselves to be in the presence of Powers other and higher than human, who somehow influenced their destiny, whose favour they must win, and whose displeasure they must avert. And so Paganism reared her altars, almost numberless, dedicating them even to the “Unknown God,” lest some anonymous deity should be grieved at being omitted from the enumeration. The prevalence of false religions in the world, the garrulous babble of mythology, does but voice the religious instinct of man; it is but another Tower of Babel, by which men hope to find and to scale the heavens which must be somewhere overhead.
In the Old Testament, however, we find the clearer revelation. What to the unaided eye of reason and of nature seemed but a wave of golden mist athwart the sky “a meeting of gentile lights without a name” now becomes a wide-reaching and shining realm, peopled with intelligences of divers ranks and orders; while in the centre of all is the city and the throne of the Invisible King, Jehovah, Lord of Sabaoth. In the breath of the new morning the gossamer threads Polytheism had been spinning through the night were swept away, and on the pillars of the New Jerusalem, that celestial city of which their own Salem was a far-off and broken type, they read the inscription, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord.” But while the Old Testament revealed the unity of the Godhead, it emphasized especially His sovereignty, the glories of His holiness, and the thunders of His power. He is the great Creator, arranging His universe, commanding evolutions and revolutions, and giving to each molecule of matter its secret affinities and repulsions. And again He is the Lawgiver, the great Judge, speaking out of the cloudy pillar and the windy tempest, dividing the firmaments of Right and Wrong, whose holiness hates sin with an infinite hatred, and whose justice, with sword of flame, pursues the wrong-doer like an unforgetting Nemesis. It is only natural, therefore, that with such conceptions of God, the heavens should appear distant and somewhat cold. The quiet that was upon the world was the hush of awe, of fear, rather than of love; for while the goodness of God was a familiar and favourite theme, and while the mercy of God, which “endureth for ever,” was the refrain, oft repeated, of their loftiest songs, the love of God was a height the Old Dispensation had not explored, and the Fatherhood of God, that new world of perpetual summer, lay all undiscovered, or but dimly apprehended through the mist. The Divine love and the Divine Fatherhood were truths which seemed to be held in reserve for the New Dispensation; and as the light needs the subtle and sympathetic ether before it can reach our outlying world, so the love and the Fatherhood of God are borne in upon us by Him who was Himself the Divine Son and the incarnation of the Divine love.
It is just here where the teaching of Jesus concerning prayer begins. He does not seek to explain its philosophy; He does not give hints as to any observance of time or place; but leaving these questions to adjust themselves, He seeks to bring heaven into closer touch with earth. And how can He do this so well as by revealing the Fatherhood of God? When the electric wire linked the New with the Old World the distances were annihilated, the thousand leagues of sea were as if they were not; and when Jesus threw across, between earth and heaven, that word “Father,” the wide distances vanished, and even the silences became vocal. In the Psalms, those loftiest utterances of devotion, Religion only once ventured to call God “Father;” and then, as if frightened at her own temerity, she lapses into silence, and never speaks the familiar word again. But how different the language of the Gospels! It is a name that Jesus is never weary of repeating, striking its music upwards of seventy times, as if by the frequent iteration He would lodge the heavenly word deep within the world’s heart. This is His first lesson in the science of prayer: He drills them on the Divine Fatherhood, setting them on that word, as it were, to practise the scales; for as he who has practised well the scales has acquired the key to all harmonies, so he who has learned well the “Father” has learned the secret of heaven, the sesame that opens all its doors and unlocks all its treasures.
“When ye pray,” said Jesus, replying to a disciple who sought instruction in the heavenly language, “say, Father,” thus giving us what was His own pass-word to the courts of heaven. It is as if He said, “If you would pray acceptably put yourself in the right position. Seek to realize, and then to claim, your true relationship. Do not look upon God as a distant and cold abstraction, or as some blind force; do not regard Him as being hostile to you or as careless about you. Else your prayer will be some wail of bitterness, a cry coming out of the dark, and losing itself in the dark again. But look upon God as your Father, your living, loving, heavenly Father; and then step up with a holy boldness into the child-place, and all heaven opens before you there.”
And not only does Jesus thus “show us the Father,” but He takes pains to show us that it is a real, and not some fictitious Fatherhood. He tells us that the word means far more in its heavenly than in its earthly use; that the earthly meaning, in fact, is but a shadow of the heavenly. For “if ye then,” He says, “being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” He thus sets us a problem in Divine proportion. He gives us the human fatherhood, with all it implies, as our known quantities, and from these He leaves us to work out the unknown quantity, which is the Divine ability and willingness to give good gifts to men; for the Holy Spirit includes in Himself all spiritual gifts. It is a problem, however, which our earthly figures cannot solve. The nearest that we can approach to the answer is that the Divine Fatherhood is the human fatherhood multiplied by that “how much more” a factor which gives us an infinite series.
Again, Jesus teaches that character is an important condition of prayer, and that in this realm heart is more than any art. Words alone do not constitute prayer, for they may be only like the bubbles of the children’s play, iridescent but hollow, never climbing the sky, but returning to the earth whence they came. And so when the scribes and Pharisees make “long prayers,” striking devotional attitudes, and putting on airs of sanctity, Jesus could not endure them. They were a weariness and abomination to Him; for He read their secret heart, and found it vain and proud. In His parable {Luk 18:11} He puts the genuine and the counterfeit prayer side by side, drawing the sharp contrast between them. He gives us that of the Pharisee, wordy, inflated, full of the self-eulogizing “I.” It is the prayerless prayer, that had no need, and which was simply an incense burned before the clayey image of himself. Then He gives us the few brief words of the publican, the cry of a broken heart, “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” a prayer which reached directly the highest heaven, and which came back freighted with the peace of God. “If I regard iniquity in my heart,” the Psalmist said, “the Lord will not hear me.” And it is true. If there be the least unforgiven sin within the soul we spread forth our hands, we make many prayers, in vain; we do but utter “wild, delirious cries” that Heaven will not hear, or at any rate regard. The first cry of true prayer is the cry for mercy, pardon; and until this is spoken, until we step up by faith into the child-position, we do but offer vain oblations. Nay, even in the regenerate heart, if there be a temporary lapse, and unholy tempers brood within, the lips of prayer become paralyzed at once, or they only stammer in incoherent speech. We may with filled hands compass the altar of God, but neither gifts nor prayers can be accepted if there be bitterness and jealousy within, or if our “brother has aught against” us. The wrong must be righted with our brother, or we cannot be right with God. How can we ask for forgiveness if we ourselves cannot forgive? How can we ask for mercy if we are hard and merciless, gripping the throat of each offender, as we demand the uttermost farthing? He who can pray for them who despitefully use him is in the way of the Divine commandment; he has climbed to the dome of the temple, where the whispers of prayer, and even its inarticulate aspirations, are heard in heaven. And so the connection is most close and constant between praying and living, and they pray most and best who at the same time “make their life a prayer.”
Again, Jesus maps out for us the realm of prayer, showing the wide areas it should cover. St. Luke gives us an abbreviated form of the prayer recorded by St. Matthew, and which we call the “Lord’s Prayer.” It is a disputed point, though not a material one, whether the two prayers are but varied renderings of one and the same utterance, or whether Jesus gave, on a later occasion, an epitomized form of the prayer He had prescribed before, though from the circumstantial evidence of St. Luke we incline to the latter view. The two forms, however, are identical in sub stance. It is scarcely likely that Jesus intended it to be a rigid formula, to which we should be slavishly bound; for the varied renderings of the two Evangelists show plainly that Heaven does not lay stress upon the ipsissima verba.
We must take it rather as a Divine model, laying down the lines on which our prayers should move. It is, in fact, a sort of prayer microcosm, giving a miniature reflection of the whole world of prayer, as a drop of dew will give a reflection of the encircling sky. It gives us what we may call the species of prayer, whose genera branch off into infinite varieties; nor can we readily conceive of any petition, however particular or private, whose root-stem is not found in the few but comprehensive words of the Lord’s Prayer. It covers every want of man, just as it befits every place and time.
Running through the prayer are two marked divisions, the one general, the other particular and personal; and in the Divine order, contrary to our human wont, the general stands first, and the personal second. Our prayers often move in narrow circles, like the homing birds coming back to this “centered self” of ours, and sometimes we forget to give them the wider sweeps over a redeemed humanity. But Jesus says, “When ye pray, say, Father, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.” It is a temporary erasure of self, as the soul of the worshipper is absorbed in God. In its nearness to the throne it forgets for awhile its own little needs; its low-flying thoughts are caught up into the higher currents of the Divine thought and purpose, moving outwards with them. And this is the first petition, that the name of God may be hallowed throughout the world; that is, that men’s conceptions of the Deity may become just and holy, until earth gives back in echo the Trisagion of the seraphim. The second petition is a continuation of the first; for just in proportion as men’s conceptions of God are corrected and hallowed will the kingdom of God be set up on earth. The first petition, like that of the Psalmist, is for the sending out of “Thy light and Thy truth;” the second is that humanity may be led to the “holy hill,” praising God upon the harp, and finding in God their “exceeding joy.” To find God as the Father-King is to step up within the kingdom.
The prayer now descends into the lower plane of personal wants, covering (1) our physical, and (2) our spiritual needs. The former are met with one petition, “Give us day by day our daily bread,” a sentence confessedly obscure, and which has given rise to much dispute. Some interpret it in a spiritual sense alone, since, as they say, any other interpretation would break in upon the uniformity of the prayer, whose other terms are all spiritual. But if, as we have suggested, the whole prayer must be regarded as an epitome of prayer in general, then it must include some where our physical needs, or a large and important domain of our life is left uncovered. As to the meaning of the singular adjective we need not say much. That it can scarcely mean “tomorrows” bread is evident from the warning Jesus gives against “taking thought” for the morrow, and we must not allow the prayer to traverse the command. The most natural and likely interpretation is that which the heart of mankind has always given it, as our “daily” bread, or bread sufficient for the day. Jesus thus selects, what is the most common of our physical wants, the bread which comes to us in such purely natural, matter-of-course ways, as the specimen need of our physical life. But when He thus lifts up this common, ever-recurring mercy into the region of prayer He puts a halo of Divineness about it, and by including this He teaches us that there is no want of even our physical life which is excluded from the realm of prayer. If we are invited to speak with God concerning our daily bread, then certainly we need not be silent as to aught else.
Our spiritual needs are included in the two petitions, “And forgive us our sins; for we ourselves also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation.” The parenthesis does not imply that all debts should be remitted, for payment of these is enjoined as one of the duties of life. The indebtedness spoken of is rather the New Testament indebtedness, the failure of duty or courtesy, the omission of some “ought” of life or some injury or offence. It is that human forgiveness, the opposite of resentment, which grows up under the shadow of the Divine forgiveness. The former of these petitions, then, is for the forgiveness of all past sin, while the latter is for deliverance from present sinning; for when we pray , “Bring us not into temptation,” it is a prayer that we may not be tempted “above that we are able,” which, amplified, means that in all our temptations we may be victorious, “kept by the power of God.”
Such, then, is the wide realm of prayer, as indicated by Jesus. He assures us that there is no department of our being, no circumstance of our life, which does not lie within its range; that
“The whole round world is every way Bound with gold chains about the feet of God,”
and that on these golden chains, as on a harp, the touch of prayer may wake sweet music, far-off or near alike. And how much we miss through restraining prayer, reserving it for special occasions, or for the greater crises of life! But if we would only loop up with heaven each successive hour, if we would only run the thread of prayer through the common events and the common tasks, we should find the whole day and the whole life swinging on a higher, calmer level. The common task would cease to be common, and the earthly would be less earthly, if we only threw a bit of heaven upon it, or we opened it out to heaven. If in everything we could but make our requests known unto God that is, if prayer became the habitual act of life we should find that heaven was no longer the land “afar off,” but that it was close upon us, with all its proffered ministries.
Again, Jesus teaches the importance of earnestness and importunity in prayer. He sketches the picture for it is scarcely a parable of the man whose hospitality is claimed, late at night, by a passing friend, but who has no provision made for the emergency. He goes over to another friend, and rousing him up at midnight, he asks for the loan of three loaves. And with what result? Does the man answer from within, “Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee”? No, that would be an impossible answer; for “though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth” {Luk 11:8}. It is the unreasonableness, or at any rate the untimeliness of the request Jesus seems to emphasize. The man himself is thoughtless, improvident in his household management. He disturbs his neighbour, waking up his whole family at midnight for such a trivial matter as the loan of three loaves. But he gains his request, not, either, on the ground of friendship, but through sheer audacity, impudence; for such is the meaning of the word, rather than importunity. The lesson is easily learned, for the suppressed comparison would be, “If man, being evil, will put himself out of the way to serve a friend, even at this untimely hour, filling up by his thoughtfulness his friend’s lack of thought, how much more will the heavenly Father give to His child such things as are needful?”
We have the same lesson taught in the parable of the Unjust Judge {Luk 18:1}, that “men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” Here, however, the characters are reversed. The suppliant is a poor and a wronged widow, while the person addressed is a hard, selfish, godless man, who boasts of his atheism. She asks, not for a favour, but for her rights that she may have due protection from some extortionate adversary, who somehow has got her in his power; for justice rather than vengeance is her demand. But “he would not for awhile,” and all her cries for pity and for help beat upon that callous heart only as the surf upon a rocky shore, to be thrown back upon itself. But after wards he said within himself, “Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming.” And so he is moved to take her part against her adversary, not for any motive of compassion or sense of justice, but through mere selfishness, that he may escape the annoyance of her frequent visits lest her continual coming “worry” me, as the colloquial expression might be rendered. Here the comparison, or contrast rather, is expressed, at any rate in part. It is, “If an unjust and abandoned judge grants a just petition at last, out of base motives, when it is often urged, to a defenseless person for whom he cares nothing, how much more shall a just and merciful God hear the cry and avenge the cause of those whom He loves?”* (*Farrar.)
It is a resolute persistence in prayer the parable urges, the continued asking, and seeking, and knocking that Jesus both commended and commanded {Luk 11:9}, and which has the promise of such certain answers, and not the tantalizing mockeries of stones for bread, or scorpions for fish. Some blessings lie near at hand; we have only to ask, and we receive – receive even while we ask. But other blessings lie farther off, and they can only be ours by a continuance in prayer, by a persistent importunity. Not that our heavenly Father needs any wearying into mercy; but the blessing may not be ripe, or we ourselves may not be fully prepared to receive it. A blessing for which we are unprepared would only be an untimely blessing, and like a December swallow, it would soon die, without nest or brood. And sometimes the long delay is but a test of faith, whetting and sharpening the desire, until our very life seems to depend upon the granting of our prayer. So long as our prayers are among the “maybes” and “mights” there are fears and doubts alternating with our hope and faith. But when the desires are intensified, and our prayers rise into the “must-be’s,” then the answers are near at hand; for that “must be” is the soul’s Mahanaim, where the angels meet us, and God Himself says “I will.” Delays in our prayers are by no means denials; they are often but the lengthened summer for the ripening of our blessings, making them larger and more sweet.
And now we have only to consider, which we must do briefly, the practice of Jesus, the place of prayer in His own life; and we shall find that in every point it coincides exactly with His teaching. To us of the clouded vision heaven is sometimes a hope more than a reality. It is an unseen goal, luring us across the wilderness, and which one of these days we may possess; but it is not to us as the wide-reaching, encircling sky, throwing its sunshine into each day, and lighting up our nights with its thousand lamps. To Jesus, heaven was more and nearer than it is to us. He had left it behind; and yet He had not left it, for He speaks of Himself, the Son of man, as being now in heaven. And so He was. His feet were upon earth, at home amid its dust; but His heart, His truer life, were all above. And how constant His correspondence, or rather communion, with heaven! At first sight it appears strange to us that Jesus should need the sustenance of prayer, or that He could even adopt its language. But when He became the Son of man He voluntarily assumed the needs of humanity; He “emptied Himself,” as the Apostle expresses a great mystery, as if for the time divesting Himself of all Divine prerogatives, choosing to live as man amongst men. And so Jesus prayed. He was wont, even as we are, to refresh a wasted strength by draughts from the celestial springs; and as Antaeus, in his wresting, recovered himself as he touched the ground, so we find Jesus, in the great crises of His life, falling back upon Heaven.
St. Luke, in his narrative of the Baptism, inserts one fact the other Synoptists omit that Jesus was in the act of prayer when the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended, in the semblance of a dove, upon Him. It is as if the opened heavens, the descending dove, and the audible voice were but the answer to His prayer. And why not? Standing on the threshold of His mission, would He not naturally ask that a double portion of the Spirit might be His that Heaven might put its manifest seal upon that mission, if not for the confirmation of His own faith, yet for that of His fore runner? At any rate, the fact is plain that it was while He was in the act of prayer that He received that second and higher baptism, even the baptism of the Spirit.
A second epoch in that Divine life was when Jesus formally instituted the Apostleship, calling and initiating the Twelve into the closer brotherhood. It was, so to speak, the appointment of a regency, who should exercise authority and rule in the new kingdom, sitting, as Jesus figuratively expresses it {Luk 22:30}, “on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” It is easy to see what tremendous issues were involved in this appointment; for were these foundation-stones untrue, warped by jealousies and vain ambitions, the whole superstructure would have been weakened, thrown out of the square. And so before the selection is made, a selection demanding such insight and foresight, such a balancing of complementary gifts, Jesus devotes the whole night to prayer, seeking the solitude of the mountain-height, and in the early dawn coming down, with the dews of night upon His garment and with the dews of heaven upon His soul, which, like crystals or lenses of light, made the invisible visible and the distant near.
A third crisis in that Divine life was at the Transfiguration, when the summit was reached, the border line between earth and heaven, where, amid celestial greetings and overshadowing clouds of glory, that sinless life would have had its natural transition into heaven. And here again we find the same coincidence of prayer. Both St. Mark and St. Luke state that the “high mountain” was climbed for the express purpose of communion with Heaven; they “went up into the mountain to pray.” It is only St. Luke, however, who states that it was “as He was praying” the fashion of His countenance was altered, thus making the vision an answer, or at least a corollary, to the prayer. He is at a point where two ways meet: the one passes into heaven at once, from that high level to which by a sinless life He has attained; the other path sweeps suddenly downward to a valley of agony, a cross of shame, a tomb of death; and after this wide detour the heavenly heights are reached again. Which path will He choose? If He takes the one He passes solitary into heaven; if He takes the other He brings with Him a redeemed humanity. And does not this give us, in a sort of echo, the burden of His prayer? He finds the shadow of the cross thrown over this heaven-lighted summit for when Moses and Elias appear they would not introduce a subject altogether new; they would in their conversation strike in with the theme with which His mind is already preoccupied, that is the decease He should accomplish at Jerusalem and as the chill of that shadow settles upon Him, causing the flesh to shrink and quiver for a while, would He not seek for the strength He needs? Would He not ask, as later, in the garden, that the cup might pass from Him; or if that should not be possible, that His will might not conflict with the Father’s will, even for a passing moment? At any rate we may suppose that the vision was, in some way, Heaven’s answer to His prayer, giving Him the solace and strengthening that He sought, as the Father’s voice attested His Sonship, and celestials came forth to salute the Well-beloved, and to hearten Him on towards His dark goal.
Just so was it when Jesus kept His fourth watch in Gethsemane. What Gethsemane was, and what its fearful agony meant, we shall consider in a later chapter. It is enough for our present purpose to see how Jesus consecrated that deep valley, as before He had consecrated the Transfiguration height, to prayer. Leaving the three outside the veil of the darkness, He passes into Gethsemane, as into another Holy of holies, there to offer up for His own and for Himself the sacrifice of prayer; while as our High Priest He sprinkles with His own blood, that blood of the ever lasting covenant, the sacred ground. And what prayer was that! how intensely fervent! That if it were possible the dread cup might pass from Him, but that either way the Father’s will might be done! And that prayer was the prelude to victory; for as the first Adam fell by the assertion of self, the clashing of his will with God s, the second Adam conquers by the total surrender of His will to the will of the Father. The agony was lost in the acquiescence.
But it was not alone in the great crises of His life that Jesus fell back upon Heaven. Prayer with Him was habitual, the fragrant atmosphere in which He lived, and moved, and spoke. His words glide as by a natural transition into its language, as a bird whose feet have lightly touched the ground suddenly takes to its wings; and again and again we find Him pausing in the weaving of His speech, to throw across the earthward warp the heavenward woof of prayer. It was a necessity of His life; and if the intrusive crowds allowed Him no time for its exercise, He was wont to elude them, to find upon the mountain or in the desert His prayer-chamber beneath the stars. And how frequently we read of His “looking up to heaven” amid the pauses of His daily task! stopping before He breaks the bread, and on the mirror of His upturned glance leading the thoughts and thanks of the multitude to the All-Father, who giveth to all His creatures their meat in due season; or pausing as He works some impromptu miracle, before speaking the omnipotent “Ephphatha,” that on His upward look He may signal to the skies! And what a light is turned upon His life and His relation to His disciples by a simple incident that occurs on the night of the betrayal! Reading the sign of the times, in His forecast of the dark tomorrow, He sees the terrible strain that will be put upon Peter’s faith, and which He likens to a Satanic sifting. With prescient eye He sees the temporary collapse; how, in the fierce heat of the trial, the “rock” will be thrown into a state of flux; so weak and pliant, it will be all rippled by agitation and unrest, or driven back at the mere breath of a servant-girl. He says mournfully, “Simon, Simon, behold. Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not” {Luk 22:31}. So completely does Jesus identify Himself with His own, making their separate needs His care (for this doubtless was no solitary case); but just as the High Priest carried on his breastplate the twelve tribal names, thus bringing all Israel within the light of Urim and Thummim, so Jesus carries within His heart both the name and the need of each separate disciple, asking for them in prayer what, perhaps, they have failed to ask for themselves. Nor are the prayers of Jesus limited by any such narrow circle; they compassed the world, lighting up all horizons; and even upon the cross, amid the jeers and laughter of the crowd, He forgets His own agonies, as with parched lips He prays for His murderers, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
Thus, more than any son of man, did Jesus “pray without ceasing,” “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” making request unto God. Shall we not copy His bright example? shall we not, too, live, labour, and endure, as “seeing Him who is invisible”? He who lives a life of prayer will never question its reality. He who sees God in everything, and everything in God, will turn his life into a south land, with upper and nether springs of blessing in ceaseless flow; for the life that lies full heavenward lies in perpetual summer, in the eternal noon.