The Righteous Judge

Luke Chapter 18

LUKE 18:1-8

[Lk 18:1] Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, [2] saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. [3] “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ [4] “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, [5] yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’ “ [6] And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge *said; [7] now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? [8] “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

LUKE 18:1

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.

Not to lose heart

We must remember the context of the readings of the last few chapters in order to understand the framework of this reading. Remember that Luke writes for a Gentile audience. Quite often, he leaves out many topics that are heavy laden with Jewish symbolism. For this reason, Luke took all three of the Lord’s last trips to Jerusalem and combined them into one trip. He laid out for us – in these last few chapters – the difficult path of being a follower of Christ. He draws the stories to a crescendo in the chapter 17, showing how our Lord chided his disciples for their lack of faith and preaching on the horrors of the last days.

Then, Luke presents a more intimate view of our Savior. Our Lord, perhaps seeing the overwhelmed state of his followers, shifts gears and offers a lesson on hope. Yet, even as we read this chapter, we will see that it is not the false hope of worldly power or earthly comfort. It is the deeply patient hope of the persistent, a hope for those who endure.

It is one thing to endure “the rat race”; it is another thing to endure life at the deeper level of Christian commitment and persecution. Jesus spent everyday moving one intentional step closer to Jerusalem. He rose every morning and – after dedicating his life to the Father – he became an open book to others. Each day found him pressed upon and pried open and yet – even on his determined march to Golgotha – he remained vulnerable and humble.

He endured humility for our sake, modeling the heart of a true child of God. Does that resemble my walk as a Christian? Do I rise every morning and ask God to take me to the places where I will be the most humble or the most vulnerable? Do I understand that my walk should take me nearer to Jerusalem every day? In this reading, that is where hope is greatest, not in comfort, pride or self-righteousness but in dying to myself every day. That is the path of enduring hope.

LUKE 18:2-5

[2] saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. [3] “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ [4] “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, [5] yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’”

A judge who did not fear God and did not respect man

Here is the classic state of justice in some of the world. When judges “Do not fear God and do not respect man,” then justice is a mockery. Justice becomes an economic scale that slides in favor of the rich.

What is justice in my society? Can I say that justice – in my city, county, state or country – is based upon the respect of man and fear of God? Are leaders picked for modeling those qualities? Do I demand fairness and equality from my leaders? Am I banging on the doors of those who do not display it?

And what about my life, my relationships and my church? Have we rid ourselves of the sliding economic scale? Is my theology all wrapped in righteousness and belligerence; judgment and self-satisfaction or do I still leave some room for the fear of God? Whose mystery, greatness, and compassion are beyond my understanding? Does my faith make me more or less tolerant, more or less compassionate? Are my life, relationships and church community marked by its respect of all people or only those who serve my (our) interest and believe my (our) way? Is my door open to widows with no advocates? Do the most vulnerable of my community find justice at my door?

In Christ’s day, no one was more abused than the widows and the divorcees and they were preyed upon especially by the Religious Leaders [Matthew 23:14]!

Is it any different in our day? The fastest growing group of poor in our nation is among women whose husbands have abandoned them and their children. What would Jesus say to us? The answer to, “What would Jesus say to us?” is completely dependent upon what I say to those who are abandoned! Am I their advocate? Do they find my door open to them? Does my community not only include them, but also intentionally seek them out as Jesus did on his way to Jerusalem?

I pray we will not come before Jesus as a person that “does not fear God and does not respect man.”

LUKE 18:6-8

[6] And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge *said; [7] now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? [8] “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

“He will bring about justice for them quickly.”

The word for justice [G1557 Ekdikesis] is a dual-edged sword. It not only means to give justice but it also means to exact punishment. When we say, “life is not fair,” nine times out of ten it is because we (humans) have made it so. In most cases, either someone did not give justice or someone took it away. Christ’s justice will be given to those from whom it was stolen and exacted from those who withheld it from others. Upon which side of that coin will I be found? Have I – and my community – begun to practice his kingdom? Am I living out God’s will? Has His “kingdom come” into my relationships yet?

“However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

Here at the end of the story is the challenge of Jesus, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”  Jesus preaches a faith that is culturally unfamiliar to most of us. Faith is comforting to the enduring disciple; but faith should never make us comfortable. Faith is found in the follower who never stops pushing himself right to the very end. Faith is found in persistence, advocacy and the enduring quest for justice.

Like a muscle, faith grows with trials and atrophies with lack of use. It is comforting but not comfortable, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” One could also say; “When the Son of Man comes, will He find enduring disciples, persistent disciples. Will he find champions of widows and orphans?”  On that day, He promises to “bring about justice for them quickly.” Upon which side of that sword will the Lord find me? We I be demanding justice for others or will I be someone who is “brought to justice?”

Lord, please help me to choose the path of enduring hope.

PERFECTLY FORGIVEN

LUKE 18:9-14

[Lk 18:9] And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: [10] “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. [11] “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. [12] ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ [13] “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ [14] “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

LUKE 18:9

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt.

Trusted in themselves

In his writings on Narnia, C.S. Lewis refers to Jesus as the lion, Aslan. Throughout the series, the children attempting to follow Aslan remind each other that, “He is not a tame lion.”

 The closer Jesus gets to Jerusalem, the more we realize that “he is not a tame lion.”

 We can wish he was, we can project our preference for comfort and safety upon him, we can even pretend that he is proud of our theology and ritualism, but he is still not a tame lion.

 He is Jesus, Messiah, Son of the Most High God, Salvation to the Universe and – this is important to remember – he came to save us because we could not save ourselves.

 If there was another way, if we could save ourselves, by mental gymnastics and ritualistic acts, then the sacrifice of Jesus would have been the whim of a cruel God. What kind of Father would send His only Son to die if there was any other possibility of salvation?

 Sometimes, I think that the more we believe we are saved, the more endangered we are of “missing the mark” and the more we become like the Pharisee in this story. This religious leader was deceived by his own self-righteousness. Luke says we become like; “People who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.”

 The word he uses in the phrase, “trusted in themselves.” is peitho [G3982]. It means self-convinced or self-persuaded. In what ways am I a self-convinced or self-persuaded person? In what ways do my beliefs deceive me into supposing that practicing my rituals or elucidating upon my ideology can be my salvation? In what ways am I self-persuaded, convincing myself that I have a right to be in contempt or judgment of anyone?

 A true grasp of salvation – the kind offered by Jesus – must inevitably lead me to absolute humility. If I am to hold anyone in contempt, let it be myself. Let me hold myself in contempt for that which I have done to place Jesus upon the cross.

 I will never find salvation in pride or self-deception and I fear that we – Christians – are among the most self-deceived in the world. I fear that we – Christians – often act with the greatest contempt towards other denominations, other religions and anyone “unlike us.” That is the type of belligerence that led the Pharisee to say, “at least I am not like other people.”

 “Lord, help me discover the self-deceived and self-persuaded Pharisee in myself and liberate me – from my own arrogance.”

LUKE 18:10-12

[10] “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. [11] “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. [12] ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’”

“God, I thank You that I am not like other people.”

Here’s the key to the correct attitude of faith; I should become like those “other people.” I am closest to Jesus when I am most like the tax collector in this story and least like the Pharisee.

 When I visit the incarcerated, I never ask what they have done because it doesn’t matter to me. We are both sinners, we have both betrayed our God and others, we both will stand guilty in God’s court. I am like those “other people”; I am those “other people.”

 When Christ speaks about the one unforgivable sin [Luke 12:10]; he is speaking about denial – or blasphemy – against the Holy Spirit. It is an attitudinal sin, a denial of the need for the Holy Spirit in my life. The Pharisee in this story denied the need for the Holy Spirit in his life. He didn’t need the Holy Spirit to advocate for him; he was good enough through his own works. You cannot forgive a man who doesn’t believe he needs forgiveness.

 His attitude was blasphemous in two ways:

1. He was blasphemous towards the Trinity. By declaring himself good enough through his own works he was denying that he needed God’s Son to save him, God’s Spirit to guide him and God’s mercy to redeem him. You cannot forgive a man who doesn’t believe he needs forgiveness.

2. He was blasphemous towards God’s children. Anytime we place ourselves above another we deny God’s purpose [John 3:16-17].

 God’s purpose was always for us to be in unblemished relationship with Him. However this cannot be achieved without forgiveness and forgiveness is found to the degree we offer it to others [Matthew 6:12, 14-15, 33-35].

Can the command to forgive be any clearer? Can the sin of self-righteousness be any more evident? To live for giving is to live in the very breath (the Spirit) of God. To seek God’s forgiveness is to live each moment forgiving and to live for the purpose of giving. This can never be done with the attitude of the haughty Pharisee.

LUKE 18:13-14

[13] “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ [14] “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

“God, be merciful to me, the sinner!”

Here is one of the most important verses in the entire bible: “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” Examine this man’s attitude closely; for it is the attitude of eternal life.

He stands at the very back of the temple feeling unworthy to enter God’s presence and yet hungering for God’s forgiveness.

He won’t even lift up his eyes and lays prostrate at the back of the temple, broken before God. Face down upon the floor; this is one person who understands his true place in the universe.

He calls himself the sinner – not even a sinner – but the [G3588 ho] sinner. There is no self-delusion in this man. He lifts himself above no one else. In fact, he sees himself below all men.

Here is the person who experiences God’s mercy, the person that Jesus sets apart as an example of the “perfect” human – for he is perfectly forgiven.

“He who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The shocking thing for those gathered was that Jesus compared this lowly man with a holy man – and praised the sinner. Once again we see illustrated the upside-down viewpoint of Christ. The tax collector would be among the most hated class to the Jews; hated even more than their Roman occupiers. Tax collectors were Jews who extorted money for the Romans. Then, they would charge additional fees or penalties, as they desired. They were among the best educated of all the Jews (very few could actually read or write); yet they used their privilege to increase their own wealth and plunder their own people.

 The Pharisees, on the other hand, were the religious elite. Their very name, Pharisee [H6567 Parash] meant “the distinct ones” or the “separated ones.” They bragged about their rituals and their prayers. They sat in the privileged seats at gatherings and feasts. They considered anyone – who was not as devout as themselves – as unclean sinners. They would never admit to the privileges of their position or how most people could not afford to be so “religious.” Ninety-eight percent or more of the Jews had to scratch a living from a parcel of land that they did not own or work for shekels a day under the thumbs of those who hoarded vast resources. These Pharisee’s forgot their place; they forgot the role of the religious, which Jesus declared was to lift up the oppressed [Luke 4:18]

Instead of lifting up the poor, the Religious Leaders lifted up (exalted) themselves. Instead of releasing captives, they condemned them. Instead of restoring vision to a blinded people and setting free an oppressed nation, they oppressed the people with more religious rituals, temple taxes and laws that were unattainable for the starving masses.

 Do I set free, restore vision and release captives as part of my daily response to God? Or, am I among those who; “exalts myself and condemns the humiliated?”

For years I have told others that when the Lord calls us it is far better to be found with the lost than lost with the found. “Lord, help me be found with the sinners. Let me declare my proper place as nearest to the floor in humility. If I am ever to be exalted, let it be because of the forgiveness that you, my Lord, extended to me. Help me to be perfectly forgiven.

Like a Child

LUKE 18:15-42

15 And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. 16 But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 ”Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. “

18 A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 ”You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! 25 ”For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

28 Peter said, “Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You.”

29 And he said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.”

31 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 ”For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, 33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.” 34 But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

35 As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. 36 Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. 37 They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, 41 ”What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.

LUKE 18:15-17

Permit the children...

Our Lord makes two commands to the disciples as well as a strong rebuke.

1. Permit [G575 Aphiēmi], abandon, turn loose, “Set free the children on me.”

2. Hinder [G2697 Kōluō], restrain, “Turn loose the children on me and do not restrain them.”

Does that sound like your worship service? Instead of silencing children, do we build worship around them? Active, creative, engaging and participative? Music that gets children and teens up and moving. Do I ask younger people what would make the service more participative to people their age?

Jesus is not happy just to talk to the children, he has to touch them. Just as he tells the disciples to allow the children to rush forward, unrestrained. So he responds in like. When I think, “What kind of people do children love?” The answer comes back to me that children love sincerity. It is not about silliness and certainly not sarcasm. But sincere focus. Offering time to a child without being distracted.

Indeed, we could well say that if we spent the rest of our lives becoming a person that children loved we would be more like Jesus than if we spent the rest of our lives in university, becoming increasingly stodgy or having a plethora of sermons with amazing Greek references. Jesus was someone to whom children were drawn — even to his sermons — attended by thousands in open-air venues with some hiking days to hear his words. There was nothing stodgy or boring about his preaching.

LUKE 18:18-27

Why do you call me good?

Jesus seems to confront this young man [G18 Agathos], [G25 Agapaō], perhaps the young man came in a cocky manner. He tells Jesus that he has kept all the commandments already. He acts full of hubris and pride and Jesus was questioning him, not just his opinion. That would be like saying, “You think you’re so good, even I don’t consider myself good. Only God is good.”

Jesus’ confrontation of this young man doesn’t focus on behaviour, but on attitude. Why does Jesus ask this young man to give up all he has to the poor but he doesn’t ask this of Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus? The truth is, Jesus knows what each of us needs to give up in order to be free to follow him.

Notice also that Jesus doesn’t ask to redistribute the money for the young man. He must do it himself. “Give it to the poor and then follow me...”

What do I hold on to that holds on to me? What would Jesus ask me to give up in order to be free to follow him?

LUKE 18:31-34

All things which are written...

The “things which are written” are very unpleasant, no wonder the disciples either didn’t or wouldn’t understand them. What are the unpleasant things about following Jesus I want to ignore?

Jesus doesn’t leave the disciples guessing, “For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, 33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again [John 13:16-20].”

Our Lord — never one to mince words or lead astray — tells us that if the Master was subjected to difficulty, we will be as well. He tells us this at the same time he exemplifies servant leadership by washing the feet of the disciples.

LUKE 18:35-43

He kept crying out all the more

This is a great section about not allowing the power of peer pressure to keep us from calling out to Jesus — no matter what our circumstances. Obviously, this crowd was used to bossing the blind man around and they try to shout him down when he attempts to procure the attention of Jesus. It is a perfect illustration of heaven. In heaven, the neglected will be heard and the powerful will be silenced by wonder.

Which side of that equation will I be on? Leading the neglected to wonder or silencing them because of their shortcomings or physical and mental challenges?