Bible Reading: Luke 18:1-8
Dear Friends
Luke in this week’s reading 18: 1-8, introduces the parable by telling us that Jesus shared this story to teach the disciples about persistence in prayer. Great, so far so good. But then there’s this character, the unjust judge. And in reading the larger context of the story it’s hard not to see the unjust judge as representing God in some way. I mean, the analogy seems clear: as the woman beseeches the judge, so also are we to beseech God. But that can’t be, can it?
That God is like an unjust judge? It doesn’t seem right. But maybe parables aren’t analogies. And maybe this parable isn’t only about persistence in prayer in general. Let me try to explain.
The phrase we translate as, “this woman keeps bothering me” is more literally translated, “this woman has blackened my eye.” That is, by beseeching him over and over again for justice and by refusing to settle for anything less than an equitable resolution, this widow has shamed him and, in this sense has given the judge a black eye.
And so maybe part of this parable is about the need to cry out for justice. In fact, maybe Jesus especially in Luke’s Gospel is inviting us to imagine that that’s what prayer is about: not simply asking for our personal needs to be met, not only holding up those we love and who are in need, but also that prayer is about asking for justice, about crying to those in authority until all are treated equitably.
Which brings me to the end of Jesus’ parable. As it turns out, Jesus isn’t comparing God to an unjust judge. If an unjust judge can be shamed into giving justice, Jesus is saying, then how much more will the God of righteousness bring justice to all of God’s children. So, here’s my question: what happens to our conception of prayer when we imagine that its beginning and end is meant to be a means by which to ask for justice? I don’t know about you, but I think that if I take this seriously, my prayers are going to look a little different.
Solomzi