New Testament : The Persistent Widow
The Persistent Widow explained? The parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18:1–8) is part of a series of illustrative lessons Jesus Christ used to teach His disciples about prayer. Luke introduces this lesson as a parable meant to show the disciples “that they should always pray and never give up” (verse 1, NLT).
The parable of the widow and the judge is set in an unnamed town. Over that town presides an unjust judge who has no fear of God and no compassion for the people under his jurisdiction. In the Jewish community, a judge was expected to be impartial, to judge righteously, and to recognize that judgment ultimately belongs to God (Deuteronomy 1:16–17). Thus, the judge in this story is incompetent and unqualified for the job. Justice was not being served.
Most have felt that we have been overlooked, neglected, or abused. Most of us have felt rejected a time or two. Of and by themselves, these feelings are not wrong. But, again, we must beware, because these feelings can begin to generate pride. Such a thing fed Helel’s feelings about himself. They simmered in him and made him angry, and he desired to assert his will to control the governance of all that was happening. “I will ascend to heaven,” he said, and he tried to. We see the pattern here; we can see the process involved from beginning to end.
Before I finish up with the story, I just want to let you guys know that we’re really glad that you’re here. Please do stick around to the end of the video. If you’d like to receive a free coloring page of the illustration that you’re seeing drawn in this video. Also, if you guys have been enjoying this video so far, please do consider liking this video as well as subscribing to our channel. It would mean a bunch to us. All right, let’s get back to the story a long time ago, God told me that he wanted me to share about him with everyone that I met. Initially, I was really afraid to do this and I didn’t know how, but I trusted God and I stepped out and I decided that I was going to share with everyone that I saw about Jesus. I started sharing day after day after day, but I didn’t find anyone that was interested in the message, but God told me to keep going and not give up. About six months later, I finally found someone that was interested in Jesus and they chose to accept Jesus into their life and make him their there, you know, that was one of the greatest days of my life. When we continue to be persistent in what God has for us, as well as spending time in prayer, God will do amazing things in our life, but it’s not easy to get there. Persistence. Isn’t an easier fun thing, but it’s something that has a great reward. Discover additional information on the The Persistent Widow video on YouTube.
The purpose of the parable is to encourage Christians to persevere in their faith against all odds. But it also has two applications for those who work in positions of leadership. First, the juxtaposition of a corrupt judge with a just God implies that God’s will is at work even in a corrupt world. The judge’s job is to do justice, and by God, he will do justice by the time the widow is finished with him. Elsewhere, the Bible teaches that the civil authorities serve by God’s authorization, whether they acknowledge it or not (John 19:11; Romans 13:1; 1 Peter 2:13). So there is hope that even in the midst of systemic injustice, justice may be done. A Christian leader’s job is to work toward that hope at all times. We cannot right every wrong in the world in our lifetimes. But we must never give up hope, and never stop working for the greater good[1]in the midst of the imperfect systems where our work occurs. Legislators, for example, seldom have a choice of voting for a good bill versus a bad bill. Usually the best they can do is to vote for bills that do more good than bad. But they must continually look for opportunities to bring bills to a vote that do even less harm and even more good.