Lange Commentary - Luke 18:1 - 18:8

Online Resource Library

Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | Download

Lange Commentary - Luke 18:1 - 18:8


(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)

This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

3. The Judge and the Widow (Luk_18:1-8)

1And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men [they] 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, åἰò ôÝëïò ] 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, ἆñá ] 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 ἐêäßêçóéò , Luk_18:7, might become their happy lot? The parable, according to this, is principally addressed to His disciples ( áὐôïýò , 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 evil—the fear of God and respect to men—neither one is able to move him to strict righteousness. He is destitute of the character of genuine Old Testament piety, öüâïòô . Èåïῦ , 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 ðáñïõóßá 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, ἐðὶ ÷ñüíïí , 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 widow’s 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.— Åἰò ôÝëïò , not tandem but incessantly, LXX = ìָðֵöִä ,— ὑðùðéÜæåéí , 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. Luther’s 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, êáὶ ìáêñïèõìåῖ ἐð ’ áὐôïῖò .—In the reading preferred by us it is not necessary to take êáß in the sense of êáßðåñ , quamvis, comp. Act_7:5; Heb_3:9, and elsewhere. With ìáêñïèõìåῖ 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 ìáêñïèõìßá stands directly in contrast with the ἑêäßê . ðïéåῖí ἐí ôÜ÷åé which, Luk_18:8, is promised in the most certain manner. ’ Åðß designates the ἐêëåêôïß as objects of a delay, in respect to which, according to the Saviour’s 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 ìáêñïè . ἐð ̓ áὐôïῖò . 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 ἐêäßêçóéò runs here parallel with the Parusia of our Lord, at which His enemies are most deeply humbled. While this ðáñïõóßá 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 óõíôÝëåéá ôïῦ áὶῶíïò , 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? Ἆñá contains a certain intimation of doubt, which must stimulate His own so much the more strongly to remain, along with their praying, watchful also.— ôὴí ðßóôéí 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 ðáñïõóßá 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 God’s 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 her—as 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 ἐêëåêôïß . 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 ἔñ÷ïõ , 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 caprice—not from a fixed principle—and 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 God’s 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 God’s eternal will.—Without faith in God’s father’s 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 God’s door; 2. the faith that knocks at God’s door; 3. the patience that waits before God’s door; 4. the experience that goes in at God’s door.—F. Arndt:—Why should we persevere in prayer? 1. Grounds in us; 2. grounds in God.

Footnotes:

Luk_18:1.— Áὐôïýò . See Lachmann and Tischendorf, ad locum.