The Persistent Widow
Read the parable
- Luke 18:1-8 Primary account
Context
Luke states the purpose up front: Jesus told it "that men ought always to pray, and not to faint", following teaching on the sudden coming of the Son of man. Widows were the law's and the prophets' test case of vulnerability — without male advocate or economic power — and this judge "feared not God, neither regarded man", the exact opposite of the judge Jehoshaphat commands in 2 Chronicles 19. Her only weapon was refusal to quit; his motive for relenting is comic self-interest, "lest by her continual coming she weary me."
Meaning
The argument runs from the lesser to the greater: if even a shameless, godless judge finally grants justice to a persistent widow, how much more will God — who is righteous and loves his own — avenge his elect who cry to him day and night. Delay in answered prayer is not divine indifference; "he will avenge them speedily." The parable calls disciples to unfainting prayer through the long wait for Christ's return, and it closes with the searching question that turns the lens on us: "when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"
Go deeper
Two free lessons walk through the parables as a whole: The Parables of Jesus and Interpreting the Parables.