Again it's a long chapter (Luke 18), so again I'll split it. However, I'll split it a little differently to the way that some Bibles do - as far as I can see, the natural split is after verse 14. Jesus has just told a couple of parables, and we then move into a few stories. So for tonight we'll look at the parables.
The first parable is an interesting one. It's the parable of the persistent widow. Now, for many of us this will need little or no introduction - the story of a woman who keeps bothering an uninterested judge until he finally settles her case.
This story is probably too familiar. We lose the sense of scandal it conveyed to its early readers.
Scandal? That a judge would be so uncaring (of God and of people)? No - scandalous that a woman can be treated as having legal rights!
Remember, this is in the first century AD. A woman usually obtained access to legal systems through her principal male relative (in Greek, her "Kurios" - Lord!), who would usually be her father or her husband (or maybe her son). But this woman is a widow, and has nobody to go in to bat for her. So she tries to deal with the case herself.
What is the point of this situation?
It's a nice one, actually. The odds are stacked against her. She's a woman (no rights), a widow (no advocate to fight for her) and the judge has no compassion or spirituality. On paper, she's got nothing. But in fact she DOES have one thing - persistence.
The point of the parable is that even if the odds are stacked against you, persistence can pay off. Now, Jesus then brings up the fact that God actually cares about you - He's NOT an uncaring judge! - to contrast this situation.
THis does lead to an interesting question - how does persistence work with God? Doesn't He already know everything? How come someone praying over and over again achieves something?
A hard one, that. Worth thinking about some more (and praying persistently!).
Second parable: the Tax man and the Pharisee. One pround, one humble. One knowing the law and yet not doing it; the other not knowing the law, yet following it to the best of his ability.
The key to understanding this is understanding that God isn't interested in our ability to know and understand all the rituals. Oh, God is okay with ritual that's done from a loving and pure heart; but ultimately, if He was to choose, He would pick someone with the right heart attitude any day.
God isn't like we often think of Him, sitting there wanting to ensure we're all in the right club. He works by Grace. Oh, I believe that we Christians have been privileged to receive a special revelation of God; but even so, God is ultimately most interested in where our hearts are at.
One day we may be surprised at whom we meet in glory . . .
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