Hear … – Give attention to this, and derive from it practical instruction.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 6. Hear what the unjust judge saith.] Our blessed Lord intimates that we should reason thus with ourselves: “If a person of such an infamous character as this judge was could yield to the pressing and continual solicitations of a poor widow, for whom he felt nothing but contempt, how much more ready must God be, who is infinitely good and merciful, and who loves his creatures in the tenderest manner, to give his utmost salvation to all them who diligently seek it!”

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

6-8. the Lorda nameexpressive of the authoritative style in which He interpretsHis own parable.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And the Lord said,…. The Lord Jesus Christ, who delivered out this parable to his disciples:

hear what the unjust judge saith; and take encouragement from hence to be frequent and importunate in prayer with God; for if such a cruel, merciless, and unjust judge is to be wrought upon by importunity to do justice, who has no principle to influence him, how much more will not God, who is a just judge, the judge of widows, and of the oppressed, a God of great mercy and compassion, who delights in the prayers of his people, knows their cases, and is able to help them, and who has an interest in them, and they in him? how much more will not he regard their importunate requests, and arise, and save them much such like reasoning this is used by the Jews:

“says R. Simeon ben Chelphetha, an impudent man overcomes a good man, or a modest man, (by his importunity,) how much more the goodness of the world itself q?”

that is, how much more will a man, by his continual prayer, prevail with God, who is goodness itself? And they have another saying r, that agrees with this:

“says R. Nachman, impudence (i.e. importunity) even against God is profitable.”

The application of this parable follows:

q T. Hieros. Taaniot, fol. 65. 2. r T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 105. 1.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The unrighteous judge ( ). The judge of unrighteousness (marked by unrighteousness), as in 16:8 we have “the steward of unrighteousness,” the same idiom.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

The unjust judge. Lit., the judge of injustice. See on ch. Luk 16:8.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And the Lord said,” (eipen de ho kurios) “Then the master said,” to his disciples, whom He was instructing, interpreting what he had said in the parable.

2) “Hear what the unjust judge saith.” (akousate ti ho krites tes adikias legei) “You all give heed to what that unjust judge says,” in his behavior, and final decision on the matter particularly, just what his conclusion was.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

CHRISTS COMING AND THE ECLIPSE OF FAITH

Luk 18:6-8.

THE parable of the Importunate Widow is often quoted, but practically always with the purpose of illustrating importunity in prayer. The main object for which it was spoken is seldom so much as mentioned! People stop in the midst of the verse and utterly omit the Masters words, Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? The fact remains, however, that the concluding sentence of this parable holds its most important truths. Let me state three of them in order, and emphasize by discussion; The Certainty of the Second Coming, The Occasion of the Second Coming, and The Query Concerning the Second Coming.

THE CERTAINTY OF THE SECOND COMING.

It is a matter of definite Scripture teaching. A modern seminary professor raises the question: Will Christ come again? The New Testament long since answered that questionin fact, the answer fell from the lips of the Lord HimselfI will come again. When, therefore, He speaks in this text, He assumes that that question is settled and talks of what will take place when the Son of Man cometh. The strangest aspect of modern infidelity is found in the attempt of men to retain the New Testament at all, while denying the doctrine of the Lords Return. The very seminary professor who raises this question and answers it in the negative admits that the promised return is on practically every page of the New Testament Scriptures; and his famed co-professor, while denying millennial hopes as a millennial mirage, consents that such was the vivid expectancy of the ancients, by whom he means the Old Testament writers, and the plain hope of the New Testament writers if we are to accept at face value their most lucid statements.

A sincere minded modernist recently admitted, If I believed in the utter authority and Deity of the Bible, I should be compelled to come to your conclusions concerning the Second Coming. If this is not a matter to be determined by Biblical statements, then, pray, from what source shall we bring our decision regarding it? To admit that the Bible teaches the Lords Return and then to deny the Return, is to dispense with the Book itself, and introduce into ones personal thinking that eclipse of the faith to which our text refers.

It is a doctrine most often asserted. Premillennialists have taken pains to count the number of texts in which this promise appears in some form, and they give us the result in three figures. Even postmillennialists, while dissenting from the numbers suggested and scorning that method of Scripture testimony, are nevertheless compelled to consent to its repeated presentation in both Old and New Testament. If multiplied references to a doctrine do not determine its certainty, emphasize its relative importance and elucidate its real intent, then, pray, why study Scripture at all? It is little wonder that Christ, as His ministry draws to a close, should imagine any further discussion of His promised Return needless. In so far as they had accepted Him as both Master and Lord, a single clear statement of truth was the end of controversy, while His repeated assertions concerning any matter of faith gives it the place of a fundamental. In our Continent-wide work, conservative postmillennialists who have attended conferences have been well-nigh as warm in their commendations of what has been said as were the people convinced from a premillenarian standpoint, and the only criticism they have made was wide of the marknamely, that the Lords Return was not a fundamental. If a doctrine of such importance, to which so much of Scripture has been devoted and which relates itself to every conceivable feature of Christian thinking and living is not a fundamental, then what must enter into any conception to make it basal truth?

In this text the Master assumes the matter settled once for all. Some years ago the Dean of a Divinity School, speaking before a State Convention, said, In Christianity nothing is now settled. The new view opens every possible question to debate and leaves it to the future for determination. A man from the same school recently speaking tells us that all religions are in the melting pot, and the context proves that he puts Christianity with the rest. But when Christ stood in the midst of men and spake, He dealt with no uncertainty; He waited for the result of no experiments. He never hinted that what he declared as truth must be tested by time before it should be believed. On the contrary, He spake as one having authority concerning all doctrines on which He delivered His soul. He uttered the word and it stood fast. It is 2,000 years too late to open the question, Will Christ come again? The man who proposes to debate that is 2,000 years behind the time; yea, rather more than 3,000, for it was Christ who spoke by the mouth of the Prophets, as surely as He spake by His own lips. That is why the Psalmist could say, Thy word was in my tongue. The Deity of Jesus Christ determined, the certainty of the Second Coming is forever settled in Heaven, for He hath spoken, I will come again. But this Scripture presents a second suggestion:

THE OCCASION OF THE SECOND COMING.

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 (Luk 18:7-8).

In the light of this context our text involves three things regarding that occasion: The judgment of His peoples opponents; the justification of His peoples plea, and the promise of a speedy sentence.

The judgment of His peoples opponents. Throughout the Word of God, Abrahams seed are known as the people of the LordHis own elect. Again and again the flood of the Old Testament is used as a type of judgment in the Lords Return. Christ said,

But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the Coming of the Son of Man be.

For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noe entered into the ark,

And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the Coming of the Son of Man be (Mat 24:37-39).

Noah was Gods chosen one in the antediluvian days. His very relationship to the Lord, his becoming the subject of special promises and the exponent of prophecy, made him to be at once rejected and scorned by unbelievers about him. The world that then was, hated alike the child of God, the Word of God and the Will of God. The flood came, and took all away. So shall also the Coming of the Son of Man be. Gods people have been in the world and it has treated them evilly. They have been opposed and persecuted, and as He appeared in the flood for the judgment of the wicked and justification of Noah, so He will come again to avenge His people and judge the world in righteousness. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not; and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord, thy God, in the midst of thee, is mighty; He will save; He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing. * * And again, Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I mil get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. It is a truth that the final judgment of the lost will be postponed until the millennium ends, but it is also a truth that the judgment of Judahs oppressors and of Israels enemies waits nothing but the reappearance of their King.

In reading this parable, people often apply it to the Church. In one sense the children of Abraham by faith share in the fulfillment of every promise made to the children of Abraham by flesh; but the primary application of this promise is to Gods ancient people for whose avenging He will surely come.

His reappearance will be the justification of their plea. In spite of their unbelief, they have desired a King, and in spite of their blindness, they have prayed for the light, and in spite of their crucifixion of the true Christ, they have yearned for Israels Messiah. Every sin necessitates a judgment and the crime of all the centuriesthe crucifixion of Christcould not escape the wrath of a righteous God; and yet the grace of God is such that it is impossible for Him to keep a continuously deaf ear to the prayer made in sincerity. It is a truth that the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy. And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed; her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer, She had no comforter, and yet her cry, O Lord, behold my affliction, will not be disregarded. Her confession, I have rebelled against His commandment, when made in penitence, will move the heart of God. Her pathetic plea, I am in distress; my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled, when finally voiced, will bring the avengers blessing and the Lord will not cast her off for ever. God will yet make good His promise, Behold I will take the Children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation * * and one King shall be King to them all. There shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: nor shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions * * and David My servant shall be King over them; and they * * shall dwell in the land, * * even they, and their children, and their childrens children for ever. Oh, what an hour when He shall come!

The avenging of the Lords elect waits the reappearance of Gods Son to sit in power and judge in equity. That is another occasion of His back-coming.

The imminence of it all is here suggested. I tell you that I will avenge them speedily. That word does not determine the time. It leaves the day of Israels recovery and of her opponents judgments to be determined by God Himself, but it enheartens believing Israelites with the blessed hope, as His phrase in an hour when ye think not or the day of the Lord draweth nigh causes the Gentile convert to enjoy a blessed expectancy. A Jew, therefore, who believed on Scripture perfectly, could join the Christian Gentiles in singing:

So I am watching quietly every day.Whenever the sun shines brightly, I rise and say,Surely it is the shining of His Face!And look into the gates of His high place beyond the sea, For I know He is coming shortly to summon me.And when a shadow falls across the window of my room, Where I am working my appointed task,I lift my head to watch the door, and ask if He is come: And the angel answers sweetly in my home,Only a few more shadows, and He will come.

THE QUERY CONCERNING THE SECOND COMING.

Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? (Luk 18:8).

Shall He find faith on the earth? That is a question that amazes one! If I were a postmillennialist, that question would more than amaze me; it would stagger me. If I had believed and taught that when Christ came all men on the earth would entertain faith, and the millennium would have been in full force upon the earth a thousand years, I should look upon such a question as little short of foolish. If I knew no distinction between the Church and the Kingdom, and did not realize that the first was only a partial evangelization of the world, and the second was its full and final subjugation, I should at this very question join in the opinion of those ancients who judged Jesus beside Himself. But, knowing full well that the Bible prophesied an apostacy on the part of Christendom; knowing full well that it predicts a denial of His Deity, a derision of His shed Blood, and a scoffing of His Second Coming for the last days, I find this question in harmony with a fuller study of the Word. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there be a falling away first. Faith will wane as the age draws to its close; and when the Church of God is caught up to meet the Lord in the air, the world will have a period of utter infidelity. The darkness of those days will comport perfectly with the tribulation of prophecy, and the distress of that time will be commensurate with the prevalent skepticism. The brief space that precedes the reappearance of Christ in this world will be the darkest the world has seen since God demanded of its enveloping darkness, Let there be light! Has not the Apostle said, This know, that in the last days perilous times shall come, For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.

Are not those days approaching? Is not the shadow already on the sun? Does not the eclipse of faith increase? Are not men turning by tens of thousands to old wives fables, the fable of an Annie Besant, the fables of a Kate Tingley, the fables of a Mary Baker Eddy, the fables of the Modernist, the fables of the Federationist? I read recently the statement of a man who said, When I was preparing for the Gospel ministry, I came face to face with the question as to whether the Bible was the Word of God. So impressed was I by the vital and primary importance of that question that I laid aside all other studies and gave myself to the undivided and concentrated attention of its settlement. Every known difficulty was faced, every doubt analyzed, every inquiry pursued to the farthest point of investigation possible to me. Not only my life work, but my life itself depended upon the outcome, and before I could take another step in the direction of what I thought my calling that question must be settled.

And that is the vital question today, for minister and layman alike. Have we a Bible? Have we a basis of an intelligent faith? Have we a revelation upon which to feed? Have we a God in whom to trust? It may sound strange to be asking questions like these after twenty centuries of Christian teaching, but the very crisis to which we have come demands the determination of that subject. He spoke the truth who said, The time has come when there must be lines of discrimination between those who love the truth and those who are hostile to it. If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a myth, the man who believes that must stand on that side, and I on this, for I cannot stand with him. If he affirms that the Scripture assertion, without the shedding of blood is no remission, is both futile and foolish (as some who sit in professors chairs have done), then the Christian must determine whether to stand against them or fall himself into infidelity. The hour has struck, the breaking up of Christendom has begun, the rock of division is erected, and that Rock is Christ.

He had his eyes upon an apostate Christendom when he raised this question, When the Son of Man cometh shall He find faith on the earth? Already we can begin to understand; already we can begin to see why He so spake. The most amazing spectacle that angels have ever witnessed, since they began their study of mans conduct on the earth, is the sight of the church wearing the Name of Jesus Christ managed and manipulated by men who insist upon retaining His Name while tearing to shreds His Bible, and disputing the sagacity and certainty of His speech, and even His very God-head. The shadows increase; the eclipse grows; the day of the Lord draweth nigh.

What shall have displaced it? When Christ raised that question, Shall He find faith on the earth? He knew perfectly well that men would not put away the great doctrines of the Book without providing a substitute for the same. He knew perfectly well that for Christthe God, they would substitute Jesusthe ethical preacher; that for His Virgin Birth they would substitute natural generation from Joseph; that for His miracles they would substitute mental manipulation; that for His shed Blood they would substitute the spirit of self-sacrifice; that for His resurrection from the grave they would substitute an ethical idealism; that for His sure Word of Prophecy they would substitute twentieth century philosophy; that for His Blood bought Church they would substitute a federation of Christendom, and that for the great commission they would substitute a scheme of world-improvement.

When I was a younger man and preached these prophecies, I was in grave doubt whether I should live long enough to see them converted into history. I stand all amazed at the rapid march of events. I am at once astounded, and yet steadied in my Scriptural faith, by the thought that history is running today with the force of a Niagara into the deep, sure channels of prophecy. A few years ago when I published a book entitled The Crisis of the Church, my complacent world-improvers called it a wolfs cry. Now they are all talking of the crisis to which the ages have come, and are creating a federation of forces with which to solve the new problems. They talk of a new age; they talk of a new obligation; they talk of a new revelation; but it is the same old age coming to its close; and it is the same old obligation resting more heavily, and the only way to meet the demands of the first and discharge the burden of the second, is by the same old Revelation.

In the last ten years we have seen movement after movement. Each one has been heralded in stentorian tones; each one has been guaranteed by stupendous sums of gold; each one has been vocalized by a circle of Ciceros, and each in turn has proven itself a spasm that passed and left the world improved in nothing.

The most colossal of them all was known as The Interchurch World Movement. It was fostered by men of international repute; it was backed by almost unthinkable millions; its machinery turned spindles in every part of the earth. The hum of them was so loud that hardly any other sounds could be heard. Its organizations were out of number; its orators demanded every platform and sought to coerce every pulpit. Its objective was nothing short of the establishment of a world civilization, modeled somewhat after the mind of Jesus; and amazement took hold of every advocate of this new scheme at the sight of a man who was unwilling to surrender his convictions and join the crowd. But some of us believed that to join any crowd in which the authority of the Book was debated; that to join any crowd in which the Deity of Christ was distrusted and the efficacy of His Blood was derided, was nothing short of spitting in the face of the God whose breath made the Book possible, trampling underfoot the holy Blood wherewith we were sanctified, freshly crucifying and putting to an open shame the Christ who loved us and on Calvary gave Himself as our substitute.

Personally, we have no objection to affiliating with Christians of other denominations. We have done that since the day when our college life commenced. We made deliberate choice of a college of another denomination for education, and have never had occasion to regret it. In our first pastorate we planned and led a movement for a union meeting of all the churches in the city, under Mr. Moody. Twenty-three years ago we founded the Northwestern Bible Training School on an interdenominational, though strictly evangelical basis. The choicest friends we have in the world, the best beloved brethren I have in Christ, belong quite as often to fellowships that wear other denominational labels as they belong to my own.

But we could not consent to that wider movement, the Inter-church, in which special loyalty to the authority of the Bible was demanded of no initiate; confidence in the Virgin Birth was not required of any participant; trust in Calvarys Blood was never so much as mentioned among its leaders, and the Scriptural Return of the Lord Jesus was more often excoriated and scoffed than it was entertained as that Blessed Hope which the Bible describes.

The century is one of peculiar personal freedom! Men who want to do so may go on making their contributions of time and thought and cash to churches, Y.M.C.A.s, colleges, universities, theological seminaries, and the rest, without so much as asking for what they stand; but as for us, our time, our thought, our money must follow our conviction, and only those individuals, those enterprises and institutions that hold to the utter authority of the Bible, the certain Deity of Christ and the final fulfillment of prophetic Scripture, can receive the same.

In my reading recently I came upon a thought that is worthy of consideration. The crisis hour to which we have come will admit of no false movements. Since the morning stars sang together, the ages have seen no moments of such importance, and such divergence as the present. Men who think correctly now will have part and lot in placing the crown of authority destined for the brow of Christ; the men who think falsely now will put additional thorns in the crown of the suffering Son of God. Men talk about a civilization as dominated by the Spirit Christ. That is not the need of the hour! Civilization that professes to be Christian cannot save, else Germany would not be in mortal agony, enduring the curses of its own unbelieving course and culture. Any program that proposes the mere exaltation of civilization despises the prophecy of Daniel to the effect that the civilization of this age will yet be ground to powder and driven from the face of the earth as the chaff of the threshing floor scatters with the rising of the evening winds.

Opposing prophets now stand at the parting of the ways, and every man must make up his mind to which of them he will pay attention. On the one side we have a prophet of God who, like another John the Baptist, points always to Jesus the Christ; and while pointing to Him, properly names Him the Lamb of God. On the other side we have the Modernist, like Pontius Pilate, pointing to the same Man, but seeing in Him none other than Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary; and His exclamation voices His creed, Behold the Man!

When John the Baptist said to two of His disciples, Behold the Lamb of God, they followed Him and became themselves disciples of Jesus, and devoted servants of His will; and when Pontius Pilate pointed to Him and said, Behold the Man, the people that heard him laid hands on Him, took Him out and crucified Him. The centuries have in no sense affected this custom; the people who see in Jesus the Lamb of God the Fathers anointed One, become His true disciples, and the glad servants of His gracious will; but the people who see in Jesus only the man from Nazareth, the example in ethics, the adjudicator of labor difficulties, the moral example to be copied, by their own definition crucify Him afresh and put Him to an open shame. The first are the true representatives of Christ and the Church; the second are the exponents of modern civilization and culture. The first preach at home and abroad for the purpose of making converts to Christ by the regeneration of the Holy Ghost; and the second enter the same fields for the purpose of advancing civilization, affecting a world-improvement and giving the crown to accomplishment in the name of Christianity.

Choose ye this day which you will have! Tomorrow your time of choice will have passed and the clear cry of the advancing Christ will have brought this age to an end, disproving the false philosophies of those who scorn His promised Return, to establish in the world a reign of righteousness, produced not by the propagation of culture but by the personal rulership of the Lord Himself. In that day two great classes will be found. One of them will ascend into the air to meet the Lord, drawn up by the affinities of a mutual affection; and the other will be found face buried in the dust of the very world they thought to improve, and their cry will not be to the crowned Lord, but rather to the rocks and mountains, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

(6) The unjust judge.Literally, the judge of injustice, as with the unjust steward in Luk. 16:8, the usual adjective giving way to the stronger, more Hebraic idiom of the characterising genitive.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

6. The unjust judge Of just so relentless and hard a face does the Judge of all the earth appear to the prayer of his Church through different ages.

How long does wickedness triumph in the earth, and the righteous cause fail to advance! How tardy the extension of religion, and through what severe trials does the Church and holy truth have to struggle!

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says,”

Jesus then said to His disciples, ‘listen well to what this unrighteous judge says’. We can compare here the use of ‘unrighteous’ with regard to the estate manager in Luk 16:8. In both cases it indicates that they were unscrupulous and did their own thing. They looked at things from a worldly viewpoint. They were not God-like. So in order to get over a powerful point Jesus was not averse to using such people as illustrations, for it often made the point that He was seeking to get over clear cut, while at the same time the reference to ‘unrighteous’ is a warning against applying it too literally to God.

The point being made here is that the widow’s constant pleas can be compared in some ways with genuine intercessory prayers to God, because they were effective in obtaining from the object of those pleas a ready and complete answer. The underlying lesson is that of persistence. But because he was ‘unrighteous’ we are to recognise that his reasons for giving way were totally unlike those of God. God does not respond to our prayers because He is weary of them. Nor will we get our own way by wearing Him down. In fact elsewhere He has stressed that He does not answer people’s prayers just because of their ‘much speaking’ (Mat 6:7). What He does guarantee to hear are genuine prayers concerning matters which are His concern, which because they matter a great deal to the suppliant, are persistent. And what Jesus is urging here is that we continue constantly with such prayers. This is not speaking of prayers just for ourselves. It has in mind prayers for what is right, prayers concerning the wellbeing, and spiritual growth and protection of His people.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The moral of the story:

v. 6. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.

v. 7. And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them?

v. 8. I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?

The Lord Himself, in pointing out the lesson, brings out the contrast strongly: on the one hand, the judge of unrighteousness, whose ideas of justice were not only hazy, but who knew no justice, whose character was the essence of selfishness; on the other, the just and loving God, whose aim is not only to do justice, but to show mercy to all His works; the one yielding grudgingly and merely to escape being bored; the other finding His delight in showing mercy and in yielding to the entreaties of His own. Truly, God will provide vindication for His elect, for those that believe on Him through the power of His means of grace. But He wants them to continue in prayer, in calling to Him, day and night. He may be leisurely in coming to the help of His saints, He may delay help for a while; but when His hour comes succor which He renders comes suddenly. It is a speedy and glorious deliverance which they experience. The question of God’s hearing prayer is therefore beyond doubt, but the certainty of faith in the case of the people earth is not so absolute. With all the temptations of the last days surrounding them, it be a very serious question, from the standpoint of men, whether faith in Jesus Christ as Messiah of the world will still be found at that time. It will surely be a matter of God’s power and mercy to keep His elect in the faith until the end.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Luk 18:6-7 . Hear what the unrighteous judge ( , see on Luk 16:8 ) says! But God, will He not , etc. In this contrast lies the conclusion that the , on which that worthless judge decided in respect of the perseveringly praying widow who was so troublesome to him, is the more certainly to be expected from God in respect of the elect, who are so dear to Him, and who so constantly cry to Him for the final decision. On in a question, see Winer, pp. 449, 454 [E. T. 634, 642].

According to the reading . (see the critical remarks), the most simple explanation is: but God, will He not fulfil the avenging of His elect, and does He tarry [222] for their sakes ? and is it His concern, in reference to them, to delay His interposition, or postpone His aid? See Sir 32:18 . Comp. Maldonatus, Grotius, Bornemann in the Stud. d. Schs. Geistl . 1842, p. 69 f, Bleek. In respect of the delay which nevertheless, according to human judgment, does occur, Grotius rightly observes: “illud ipsum tempus, quamvis longum interdum ferentibus videatur, re vera exiguum est imo momentaneum, unde to dixit Paulus, 2Co 4:17 .” According to Bengel and Ewald, . is connected hebraistically with : and over them He is forbearing ; whereby the delay of the would be derived from the patience with which God still allows to His elect further time for more perfect sanctification (2Pe 3:9 ). According to the construction, this would be harder, and in its meaning less in correspondence with the subsequent . The Recepta would have to be understood: will He not fulfil, even although He delays in reference to them? [223] that is to say, with that of them; , Theophylact, not, with Hassler (in the Tb. Zeitschrift , 1832): since He is still patient towards them, i.e. does not lose patience as that judge did. For, apart from the incorrect view of the use of the , the thought itself is unsuited to the doctrinal narrative, since it was actually through the judge’s loss of patience (rather: his becoming annoyed) that the of the woman was brought about. Moreover, de Wette is wrong in remarking against the reading , and its meaning, that if the thought that God delays were removed, the parable would have no meaning at all, since . corresponds to the . , Luk 18:4 . Therein is lost sight of the fact that the example of the unrighteous judge teaches e contrario (see already Augustine, Serm . 36) the procedure of God.

The consists in the deliverance from their enemies who are punished at the Parousia , and in their own exaltation to the salvation of the Messiah’s kingdom for which they are chosen. Comp. Luk 21:22 . The idea of this enters so essentially into the texture of the New Testament eschatology, that in various forms it runs through the entire New Testament, and hence it is not easily to be seen why it should be regarded as standing apart from the views of our evangelist, and should remind us of the fiery zeal of the apocalyptic writer (Kstlin, Hilgenfeld). Comp. preceding passages in Luke (Luk 1:51 ff., Luk 1:71 ff.).

[222] The expression corresponds to the idea of the , which includes within it the punishment of the enemies.

[223] Lange is wrong in saying: although even over them He rules high-mindedly (and therefore inscrutably).

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1557
THE IMPORTUNATE WIDOW

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. Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

THERE is no duty more strongly enforced in Scripture than that of prayer: nor is there any which needs to be more impressed upon the conscience. To those, who have never engaged in this duty with real spirituality of mind, it may appear easy to be performed; but they, who are most earnest in the discharge of it, find many difficulties to combat with. To encourage us to persevere in spite of all those difficulties, our Lord spake the parable before us [Note: ver. 1.].

We shall consider,
I.

What the unjust judge said

There was a widow labouring under some heavy oppression
[Sin has universally armed men against their fellow-creatures. The world is full of robbery and oppression of every kind [Note: Psa 74:20.]; and they who are most defenceless usually suffer the greatest injuries. Every one is ready to take advantage of the fatherless and the widow. It is their comfort, however, that, if they have enemies on earth, they have a friend in heaven [Note: Psa 68:5.].]

She went to a magistrate to redress her grievances
[The appointment of magistrates is a rich blessing to the community, and they ought to be regarded with much respect and gratitude. We should not indeed be going to law about every trifle. We should rather settle our disputes, if possible, by arbitration; but under the widows circumstances, it was right to solicit the magistrates interference.]
The judge, for a long season, would pay no attention to her request
[The judge happened to be of a most abandoned character: he had no fear of the holy, omniscient, almighty God: he did not even regard the good opinion of mankind. Thus he had no rule of conduct but his own caprice or interest. Surely, next to a vicious minister, there can be no greater curse to a neighbourhood than such an abandoned magistrate as this. We have reason to bless God, however, that though such characters are too common, they are rarely to be found among the magistracy. No wonder that such an one was deaf to the cries of equity and compassion.]
At last, however, he acknowledged himself overcome by her importunity
[He gloried in his contempt of all laws human and divine [Note: ver. 4.]; but he could not bear the constant entreaties of the widow: he was afraid of being wearied or even stunned [Note: , obtundat me.] with her cries. He therefore, purely to get rid of her interposed on her behalf, and did that for his own ease, which he should have done from a better motive. Thus, alas! he proclaimed his own shame; but declared, in a very striking manner, the efficacy of importunity.]

His speech, impious as it was, may be rendered profitable to our souls:

II.

The improvement suggested by our Lord

Our Lord makes a twofold application of the subject

1.

In a way of instruction

We all, in a spiritual view, resemble this helpless widow
[We are beset with enemies both within and without: our conflicts with indwelling corruption are great and manifold. We have moreover to contend with all the powers of darkness [Note: Eph 6:12.]; nor have we in ourselves any strength to resist our adversaries [Note: Joh 15:5.].]

But God, the judge of all, will help us if we call upon him
[God has promised to hear the supplications of his people [Note: Mat 7:7-8]: he has declared that he will cast out none who come to him. He may indeed for wise reasons delay his answers to prayer: he may bear so long with us as to make us think he will not hear; but he will never fail to succour us in the fittest season.]

This may be strongly deduced from the preceding parable
[The widow was a stranger not at all related to the judge; but we are Gods elect, his favoured and peculiar people. The unjust judge was not interested in granting her petition; but Gods honour is concerned in relieving the wants of his people [Note: Joh 14:13.]. We may even address him in the language of holy David [Note: Psa 74:22.] . There was little hope of prevailing with such a merciless and unjust judge; but we have to go to a loving, and compassionate Father [Note: Joe 2:13.]. The widow moreover had none to intercede for her; but we have a righteous and all-prevailing advocate [Note: 1Jn 2:1.]. She was in danger of irritating the judge by her entreaties; but the more importunate we are, the more God is pleased with us [Note: Pro 15:8. Psa 72:7.]. She, notwithstanding all her difficulties, obtained her request. How much more then shall we, who, in lieu of her difficulties, have such abundant encouragements! Surely this deduction is as consoling as it is plain and obvious, and our Lord, with peculiar earnestness, confirms it [Note: He first appeals to us, and then adds, I tell you, &c.]: nor can that be justly deemed tardy, which comes in the fittest season.]

2.

In a way of reproof

There is but little of such importunity to be found; nor is this to be wondered at, since there is so little faith on the earth

[Faith is that principle from whence earnest prayer proceeds. If we believe the declarations of God, we must feel ourselves weak and helpless: if we credit his promises, we shall acknowledge his readiness to help us: and if we believe the reality and importance of eternal things, we shall most earnestly seek help from God; nor shall we be unwilling to wait till he see fit to answer us. But how little is there of such faith in the world! How few are faithful to the convictions of their own conscience! How few maintain this holy constancy and fervour in prayer! How few can be truly called a people nigh unto God!]

If Christ should now come to judgment, would he find this faith in us?

[Some live without any acknowledgment of God in prayer: they seem to have forgotten that there will be a day of judgment: others engage statedly in their accustomed round of duties, and satisfy themselves with an unmeaning recital of certain words. There are others also who under the pressure of affliction will cry to God, but are soon weary of a service in which they have no pleasure. Few, very few, it is to be feared, resemble the importunate widow. Few pray, as if they thoroughly believed the efficacy of prayer. If Christ should now come, would he find faith in us? He will surely inquire as well respecting our faith, as our works; and if we have not the faith that stimulates us to prayer, he will appoint us our portion with the unbelievers.]

Address
1.

Those who live without prayer

[Such persons are as devoid of reason as they are of piety. What madness is it to neglect heaven when it may be obtained by such means! And how will such thoughtless sinners ere long bewail their folly! We cannot but address them as the mariners did the sleeping prophet [Note: Jon 1:6.].]

2.

Those who pray only in a formal manner

[Formal services are far from being pleasing and acceptable to God: they tend, for the most part, only to deceive our own souls. God requires us to worship him in spirit and in truth [Note: Joh 4:23-24.]. Let us then remember the awful declaration of our Lord [Note: Mar 7:6-7.].]

3.

Those who, after praying for a season, become remiss again

[See whether it be not the love of earthly things that hath hindered you. If so, repent and do your first works, and turn unto your God [Note: Rev 2:5.]: but perhaps you faint merely through the discouragements you meet with [Note: Psa 77:7-9. Pro 13:12.]. Let the remembrance of the importunate widow revive your hopes. Justify God, as the Psalmist did in similar circumstances [Note: Psa 22:2-3.], and renew your application to him in dependence on his gracious promise [Note: Hab 2:3.].]

4.

Those that have received gracious answers to prayer

[Let not the goodness of God to you become an occasion of pride. God was not first moved by any worthiness in your petitions; but he stirred you up to ask, because he had before determined to give. If this view of things be humiliating, it also affords much encouragement. Every believing prayer may be considered as a pledge of the blessings asked [Note: Psa 6:9.]. Adopt therefore the pious resolution of the Psalmist [Note: Psa 116:2.]; so shall your prayers terminate in everlasting praises.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

(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?

Now our Lord most blessedly makes application of the parable. Hear (saith Christ), hear what the unjust judge saith. As if Jesus had said, Hear, my poor afflicted redeemed ones, what an unfeeling judge saith, when overcome by the ceaseless and unremitting importunity of a poor widow, and take comfort and encouragement in all your approaches to the throne. After such an instance as this, never never despond. And shall not God avenge his own elect? There is an uncommon beauty and strength in the expression, His own elect. Not simply an elect, but God’s elect; not only a chosen seed, but God’s chosen, and which God delights to call his own. Not simply a people set apart, and set apart for God, but set apart by God himself. His own elect. I cannot say enough in endeavouring to point out to the people of God the blessedness, and the peculiarity of the expression. His own elect. They are his. And they are his choice, his elect. And they are so before all others, and in preference to all others. And the Father gave them to his dear Son, not only before all others, and in preference to all others, but as a choice manifestation of his love. In short, his own elect. Reader! pause over the blessed thought, for it is a very blessed thought! and learn, that amidst all the cavils and disputes of infidels, that God hath an elect, and which are specially and personally his own. And learn, at the same time, that though they are God’s elect, yet are they as this poor widow was, much oppressed by the adversary; yea, they have many adversaries: and do not forget also, that as they are God’s own, God cannot but regard them.

And (saith Jesus) shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? Shall this time-serving wretch, this unjust judge, be at length overcome to do, what he delighted not to do; and shall not God do that, which is his glory and his pleasure to do? Shall this poor widow prevail with an unjust judge, and shall not the married wife of Jesus prevail with a just Father? Shall a cruel unfeeling man be at length overcome, and shall not a merciful tender God be gracious? Is it possible to suppose, that she, who had no one to speak for her, and no interest in the mind of this earthly judge to aid her petition, should yet at length by importunity succeed; and shall not the poor of Jesus’s family be successful who have Christ to speak for them, and have in the very bosom of God our Father an advocate in his own everlasting love, which in Christ must ensure their acceptance? Yea, saith Jesus, (thus putting a blessed positive emphasis upon it,) I tell you, he will avenge them speedily. But, Reader! what a humbling thought is it at the close of the parable in the Lord’s question, when Jesus saith; Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the earth? It is a kind of question which carrieth with it its own answer, as if he had said; No! he will not. For, notwithstanding all the covenant faithfulness and promises of God in Christ Jesus, who is there that lives up to the enjoyment of the whole by faith? Reader! what a reproach is it to the truly regenerated soul, that Jehovah’s word and oath, with all Christ’s precious salvation, should be so little rested upon by faith?

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.

Ver. 6. Hear what the unjust judge saith ] Hic paria non inter se conferuntur, sed minus cum maiore, saith Beza.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

6. ] On . . . see above, and on ch. Luk 16:9 .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 18:6-8 . The moral . . , cf. . ., Luk 16:8 .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

the unjust judge = the judge of injustice. Greek. adikia. App-128.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

6.] On . . . see above, and on ch. Luk 16:9.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Luk 18:6. , said) after having interposed a proper (requisite) pause, for the purpose of sharpening the attention of His hearers.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Reciprocal: Luk 12:18 – General Luk 16:8 – unjust

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

6

The strength of this verse will be better realized by emphasizing unjust. Even that kind of a judge was finally moved to action because the widow insisted.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Luk 18:6. The unjust judge, lit, the judge of unrighteousness. This is emphatic to lead to the conclusion in Luk 18:7.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Luk 18:6-8. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith If the repeated, importunate cries of the afflicted do at length make an impression on the hearts even of men so wicked as to glory in their impiety, injustice, and barbarity, they will much more be regarded by God; most gracious, who is ever ready to bestow his choicest blessings, when he sees his creatures fit to receive them. Arguments of this kind, taken from the feeling goodness, or even from the imperfections of men, to illustrate the superior and infinite perfections of God, were often made use of by Jesus, and with great success, in working the conviction designed. Such appeals force their way directly into mens hearts, bear down all opposition, and make a lasting impression. And shall not God avenge his own elect, &c. So the true disciples of Christ are continually termed in the New Testament, being chosen of God to be his peculiar people instead of the Jews, whom he rejected because they rejected Christ: who cry to him day and night

A just description this of Gods real people; though he bear long with them Though God may bear long with the wicked, and seem deaf to the cries which his people send up to his throne day and night for deliverance, the just view which he has of their affliction will, in due time, move him to punish severely their enemies. Though this was spoken, as has been intimated above, with a particular reference to the destruction of the Jews, described in the preceding prophecy, yet the sentiment expressed is applicable to all cases in which Gods people are oppressed by their enemies. I tell you, he will avenge them speedily Or rather, suddenly; for so may signify. Besides, Scripture and experience teach us, that in most cases punishment is not speedily executed against the evil works of evil men; but that when the divine patience ends, oftentimes destruction overtaketh the wicked as a whirlwind, and by its suddenness becomes the more heavy. To understand the passage thus, removes the seeming opposition between this clause and the end of the precedent verse, the reconciling of which has given rise to several strained criticisms, and probably to the various readings found there; not to mention, that it agrees exactly with the subject in hand, the destruction of the Jewish nation having been represented by our Lord in this very discourse, as what would be exceeding sudden and heavy. See Luk 17:24. Macknight. Thus also Dr. Doddridge: It is plain God might wait long, and yet at length execute a speedy and sudden vengeance. Compare Psa 73:19; Hab 2:3; and especially Sir 35:18; to which Grotius supposes there is an allusion here. Several other interpretations of the passage have been proposed, but none of them appear to be so probable as this, nor to be justified by the text. When the Son of man cometh Namely, to execute judgment on the Jewish nation; shall he find faith on the earth? Or rather, in the land; namely, the land of Judea; the word often signifying, not the earth in general, but some particular land, or country, as in Act 7:3-4; Act 7:11, and in numberless other places. The believing Hebrews were evidently in great danger of being wearied out with their persecutions and distresses. Or, by faith here may be meant the belief of the particular truth which Christ had been inculcating, namely, that God would, in due time, avenge his elect, and signally punish their oppressors; and the question may imply, that when Christ should come for that purpose, faith in his coming would be in a great measure lost. Accordingly, it appears from 2Pe 3:4, that many infidels and apostates scoffed at the expectation of Christs coming, which the godly in those days cherished.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jesus proceeded to apply the parable for His disciples. Listening carefully to the judge’s words was important because only then could the disciples see that Jesus was teaching by contrast. God would never respond to a cry for help as this judge did. In view of His character disciples can count on Him giving them the protection they need. The term "elect" is a reminder that He has chosen those who call to Him (cf. Mat 22:14; Mar 13:20; Mar 13:22; Mar 13:27). This is another reason He will respond to their call. The widow was a stranger to the unjust judge. Moreover Jesus said He would not delay to give the protection His disciples need.

Though God has allowed some disciples who call on Him for help during persecution to die, He nevertheless gives added grace to them (cf. 2Co 12:9). The justice He will provide speedily is protection from the attacks of spiritual opponents (Luk 18:3). It is justice because the disciple is suffering unjustly when he or she stands for Jesus and consequently experiences persecution.

"God longs to vindicate the saints, and he will do so. When he does, his justice will be swift and sure, and our suffering will seem short-lived compared to the glory to follow. In the meantime he protects us." [Note: Bock, Luke, p. 455.]

Jesus’ final question suggests that there will be comparatively few on the earth who have remained faithful and who believe that He will return (Luk 17:22 to Luk 18:1). [Note: See David A. Mappes, "What Is the Meaning of ’Faith’ in Luke 18:8?" Bibliotheca Sacra 167:667 (July-September 2010):292-306.] The Second Coming is in view, not the Rapture. The phrase "Son of Man" links this question with Jesus’ former teaching about His return (Luk 17:22; Luk 17:24; Luk 17:26; Luk 17:30). This is all the more reason disciples need to keep praying. Prayer not only secures God’s help during persecution, but it also demonstrates faith in God.

This parable then is an encouragement for disciples who experience opposition for their faith during the inter-advent age. We should continue to ask God for protection from those who oppose us for our commitment to Jesus Christ. God will respond speedily by giving us the help that we need. This will result in the continuing demonstration of faith in God when He is visibly absent from the world during this period. The parable is an exhortation to persevere in the faith rather than apostatizing (i.e., turning away from it). God will vindicate His elect at the Second Coming (cf. Psa 125:2-3; Rev 6:9-11). That will be His ultimate answer to these prayers of His people, but immediate help before that coming is primarily in view in this parable.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)