Did Jesus Teach That Our Prayers Are Bothersome to God? (Luke 18)
This article is part of the Tough Passages series.
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And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
—Luke 18:1–8
ESV Expository Commentary
Three New Testament scholars offer passage-by-passage commentary through the narratives of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, explaining difficult doctrines, shedding light on overlooked sections, and making applications to life and ministry today. Part of the ESV Expository Commentary.
Is God Like an Unjust Judge?
In Luke 18 Jesus tells of a judge who does not fear God or respect human beings. Judges have authority and power and social status. The Torah calls upon them to rule justly: “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor” (Lev. 19:15). In addition, the fundamental requirement for all in Israel was to fear the Lord (Deut. 6:13, 24; 10:12, 20; 1 Sam. 12:24; Eccles. 12:13; Job 28:28; Prov. 1:7), for those who fear him worship him alone. Because he feared God, Nehemiah did not oppress the people financially (Neh. 5:15); in contrast, those who speak against the deaf or mistreat the blind do so because they do not fear the Lord (Lev. 19:14).
Since the judge does not fear God, he does not respect people, especially those who, like the widow, are poor and disadvantaged. As we read in Exodus 22:22, “You shall not mistreat any widow.” Indeed, the Lord “executes justice for . . . the widow” (Deut. 10:18). Deuteronomy 27:19 calls a curse upon those who pervert the justice that widows deserve (cf. Isa. 1:17, 23; 10:2; Jer. 7:6; 22:3; Zech. 7:10). The judge, however, since he does not fear God or respect people, does not care about what the Torah requires. The widow, however, is indefatigable, and she repeatedly petitions him for justice.
The judge, however, continues to refuse her request. He acknowledges what we saw in Luke 18:2: he neither fears God nor respects people. He does not care, therefore, about the widow’s rights or the justice of her case. Still, he eventually decides the case rightly on her behalf because the widow will not leave him alone; she keeps bothering him about the case until he gives her justice. Why does the judge finally do so (cf. Luke 11:8)? Because the widow will “beat [him] down” if she keeps coming to him. The verb translated “beat down” (Gk. hypōpiazō) is translated various ways: “wear me out” (CSB, NASB, NET, NRSV, RSV, ASV); “weary me” (KJV); “attack me” (NIV). Some understand the verb literally (the ESV and NIV could be taken this way); the judge fears that the widow will give him a black eye, that she will end up punching him in the face or resorting to some other physical violence. It seems unlikely, however, that the judge would fear physical violence from a widow. The verb, then, should be taken metaphorically—but metaphorically of what? Others say that the judge fears getting a “black eye” in the eyes of the community, of being shamed for his behavior. The problem with this reading is that we have already been told that the judge does not respect people; he does not care what they think of him. The best option, then, is represented by most translations: the judge is growing weary of his encounters with the widow. Her persistence day after day is wearing him out, and it is easier on him to grant her request than to keep dealing with her.1 He is tired of being bothered day after day.
Jesus proceeds to apply the parable to his hearers. He argues from lesser to greater: if the unrighteous judge who despised God and mistreated people granted justice when petitioned, then God will certainly grant justice to his elect who voice their concerns to him day and night (cf. Rev. 6:10). The reference to “day and night” fits with Luke 18:1 and the behavior of the widow. It fits with verse 1 because those who do not lose heart continue to pray “day and night”; it fits with the widow because she was not deterred despite the reluctance of the judge to grant her request.
Is the parable teaching that God is like the judge, that we must continually petition before he finally hears our requests and answers our prayers? Certainly not. We have seen that the argument is from the lesser to the greater: God is not reluctant to give, as the judge was. He longs to give to his children. Still, the parable clearly teaches that believers are to “cry” out to the Lord “day and night” for justice. Believers are to continue to voice their desire for justice, for the coming of the kingdom—not because God is hesitant to grant our requests but precisely because he promises to answer our prayers.
We can count on one thing: God will ultimately answer our prayers for justice.
Indeed, God is not like the unrighteous judge, for he will not delay in answering our prayers. The meaning of the verb “delay long” (Gk. makrothymei) is intensely debated, however.2 A number of interpretations opt for understanding it to mean that God hears requests patiently, but such readings fail because they do not fit the context of God’s vindicating the elect. The clause in which the verb appears is taken as concessive by some interpreters: God will vindicate his disciples even if he seems to be slow and patient in responding to them. Such an interpretation makes sense and is a possible solution, but it does not fit the next verse, which says that justice will come soon. Furthermore, it is scarcely evident in Greek that the word “and” (kai) introduces a concessive clause.3 Does the verse teach that God will grant justice “soon,” or does it mean that he will grant justice “speedily” in the sense that when justice is carried out it will happen quickly? The notion that justice will be speedy when it comes does not fit the parable, nor does it make much difference to those who are suffering.4 The point is not that God’s justice will happen fast when the Son of Man comes (as if he will come from heaven at a high speed!) but that he will intervene soon on behalf of his own (cf. Bar. 4:25). The Lord is not like the unrighteous judge; he does not have to be badgered repeatedly before answering our requests.
Still, there is a tension built into the text that is certainly intentional. Jesus concludes by asking whether Jesus as the Son of Man will “find faith on earth” when he comes. When we consider that the previous text addressed the future coming of the Lord and this text closes with a reference to the coming of the Son of Man, it seems fair to infer that the justice believers pray for will not be theirs until Jesus returns. We pray “Your kingdom come” (Luke 11:2). But his coming may not occur for a while! Indeed, two thousand years have now passed. How does it make any sense to say that God will vindicate his elect soon? But the tension is infused into the text itself, for there would be no need to fear losing heart in prayer if it was answered soon. The emphasis on continuing in prayer and not losing heart suggests that the answer will not come as soon as we might hope.
So to conclude the story about whether our faith will persist points in the same direction. There would not be any question about our faith enduring if the Son of Man returned soon. On the one hand, the Son of Man will return soon and vindicate his own. On the other hand, believers must continue to pray, must beware of becoming discouraged and losing heart, and must persist in faith until the Son of Man returns. Luke does not give us a key to unlock the tension but leaves the readers in the midst of such tension and complexity. Probably the best answer canonically is found in 2 Peter. From the Lord’s perspective his coming is soon, since one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, but for us as human beings the time before the Lord returns can seem interminably long (2 Pet. 3:8–9).
Pray to the End
People may be mistreated by parents, spouses, children, friends, coworkers, or employers. Such things can make life unbearably hard and painful. Some believers might be discriminated against socially because of their faith. Whatever it may be, we are prone to discouragement and despair.
We are reminded always to pray and not give up, because God is faithful. He will accomplish his will and purpose concerning us. Since answers to prayer do not invariably come soon, we may lose heart. But we have seen that the best answer to our dilemma is to say that from God’s perspective the answer to prayer is soon. A thousand years are to him as one day or as a watch in the night. But from our perspective, answers to prayer may take an agonizingly long period of time. It feels as if God will never answer.
So, on the one hand, we can be confident that the Lord will answer our prayers. He will draw near to us and bring justice. And yet the answers to our prayers can seem far off to us, and so we are tempted to give up and to stop praying. Luke encourages us, then, to pray always. We should not become practical atheists who cease to hope in God. If we stop praying, it is because we are beginning to think that God is not faithful, that he does not care, that he will not really help us out. But the real issue is not whether God is faithful but whether we are faithful. We can count on one thing: God will ultimately answer our prayers for justice. As we are waiting for him to answer, we might lose heart. Jesus is not questioning here whether, when he returns, any will believe. He knows who will believe, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church. No, his point is more personal: When Jesus returns, will you be trusting in him? Will you pray to the end and never give up?
Notes:
- So Darrell L. Bock, Luke 9:51–24:53, BECNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1996), 1449-1450; David E. Garland, Luke, ZECNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 710.
- The various options here and the solution are indebted to Bock’s discussion (Luke 9:51–24:53, 1451–1454), though I do not interact with all of the interpretations proposed (he lists twelve). Furthermore, Bock emphasizes present deliverance unduly, when the focus in the text is eschatological.
- Garland opts for the concessive reading (Luke, 711–712). The same objection applies to those who claim that kai here means “because,” for the word does not mean “because.” Nor is it clear that God is limiting the persecution of believers in this present age. A clear reference to those persecuting the church is lacking.
- Cf. Bock, Luke 9:51–24:53, 1454–1455.
This article is by Thomas Schreiner and is adapted from the ESV Expository Commentary: Matthew–Luke (Volume 8) edited by Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar.
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