Prayer and Authority (16) Persistent Widow

These principles for resisting evil are illustrated in parable of the Persistent Widow. Jesus told this parable to encourage people not to give up when they are praying (Luke 18:2-4). The woman kept coming to the judge with her plea. For some time, he refused her to hear her case. Eventually, he got tired of her nagging, so he agreed to give here justice.

This parable has been misunderstood. People assume that the judge represents God, and that if they keep coming to him, he will eventually give in. This is an abysmal view of God. The judge himself said that he did not “fear God or care about men” (v.7). This is not a good description of God, so we insult him, if we assume that it does. The description of the judge fits the devil perfectly. This is a better way to interpret the parable.

Jesus gave the interpretation of the parable.

Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly (Luke 18:6-9)

.Jesus promised that God will bring just to his people quickly. He is the very opposite of the unjust judge, so he does not need to be nagged. This proves that the parable is not advising people to persist in pleading and begging God to give them what they what they want.

The parable perfectly describes our dealings with the forces of evil. Justice is on our side, because the cross was a legal victory for us. The devil is a cheat, just like the unjust judge. He does not “fear God or care about people,” so he will hold out as long as he can, but in the end he has to surrender to a just case.

Persistence is the key to successful resistance.

Persistence will never persuade God to change his mind, but it will wear the enemy down and force him to surrender.

When we reject the enemy’s first attack, he will come back with another. If his first suggestion does not cause us to worry, he will try something different. He had three goes against Jesus, before he gave up, so we keep going for quite a while against us. We do not need persist to change God’s mind, but we will have to persist in the truth to wear down the enemy.