Tuesday, March 18

God Is Not Unjust, Knock

Tuesday, March 18

Luke 18:1-8

Not everyone has a favorable view of the God of Scripture, or of any deity for that matter. In the Parable about prayer beginning in chapter 18 of Luke, God compares Himself with an unrighteous judge. This judge is probably the worst-case scenario of a judge; he is about the least qualified to be judging. He neither fears God nor respects men. So if this judge is not intimidated by God and does not care about men, why should he render justice?

This unrighteous judge does it simply because he cares about his own ease. “I will give her justice so that she will not wear me out continually coming to me.” (Luke 18:5)

God, of course, cares about people; He is the antithesis of this selfish, uncaring judge. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus will soon stretch out His arms and plead for the people who have impaled Him unjustly to a cross. And as Paul says about Christ to the young pastor Timothy, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” (II Tim. 2:13). In other words, it is impossible for God to not believe that He is God!

Obviously, this unrighteous judge’s failures to fear God and to respect men are complete opposites of the character of the true God Who cares for people and acts like God.

The point is Jesus uses the worst-case scenario to prove that even the worst judge would hear a persistent widow. (Typically, widows were considered to be near the bottom of the ancient power ladder.)

Although it may seem like God is not listening or acting within our desires or timeframe, Jesus asserts God does hear prayer, and He acts quickly. Yet Jesus concludes the parable with a cautionary note: our faith should not primarily rest upon our perception of the speed or manner in which the Lord answers prayer. Verse 8 concludes that even though God does act with speed, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

Luther asserts that God answers prayer in His own way and time. We trust Him because He loves us and is faithful to whom He asserts He is “Faithful!” So we should knock often, trusting that our prayers are heard because God is no unrighteous Judge. Instead, He is the One Who cares and takes our blame. Pray to Him often!