The persistent widow - the upside down parable? Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:1-8  Gospel reading for Sunday 17th October

The parables of Jesus continue to intrigue and fascinate and surprise us with twists and turns we may have missed many times over. This little parable is a classic example, with one of the best twists that I have come across for a while.

I suppose the usual interpretation of this story may be along these lines:

•  The judge who really couldn't be bothered with the widow's problem (even though we get the impression that she had a valid issue of justice), finally gives in because the widow keeps pestering him. How much more then will God hear our prayers if we repeatedly and persistently take our requests to Him? A big tick for commitment, repetition and discipline in our prayer life. Some also suggest that the point is not that God is corrupt, but that He is likely to respond.  

After digging around, I'm not so certain about that line of thinking.

Is it perhaps a bit odd to associate God with an unjust judge who has no real concern for treating people with dignity and respect? Does it also seem a bit strange that this promotes an image of God who answers prayer if we keep on nagging Him, to the point that if we nag long enough, almost regardless of what we are nagging about we will get it?

So what about this ... Let's see what happens when we turn the parable upside down! What if WE are the judge, and GOD is the nagging widow?

"We ourselves are the unjust judge who neither fear God or respect people. We are dominated by our egos and generally looking for what is in it for us. We are really stubborn in our self seeking. But God is persistent in love for us. God is the hound of heaven who wears us down, like the widow, by persistently pursuing us. Eventually, we yield and let God enter our lives and guide us to do the right thing. In this interpretation we see God as persistent in trying to break down our defenses. We see prayer as allowing this pursuing God to enter our lives and challenge us to change our self destructive behaviour."*

I really like this alternative interpretation, because I think it gives us a better picture of who God is and how He operates. It follows on neatly from Luke 15 too, where in "the Lost" parables we see God taking the initiative to seek us out.

Note that this upside down view also gives us a completely different (and more appropriate?) perspective of prayer. In this mode of thinking, prayer does not make demands on God, but places us in readiness for, alert to and listening for the "demands" that God may be making of us!

Nev

Some additional thoughts on the prayer theme in Luke's Gospel

We note that in Luke's Gospel there is a siginficant emphasis on prayer. The parables below that have prayer as a key theme, are all unique to Luke:

• The Friend at Midnight (11:5-8 -- following the Lord's Prayer)
• The Widow and the Judge (18:1-8)
• The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (18:9-14) which follows immediately on from this week's reading,

while in the five events listed below that are also recorded in other gospel accounts, Luke adds a unique comment about Jesus praying:

• Jesus is praying at his baptism before heavens open (3:21)
• Jesus spends the night praying to God before selecting the twelve (6:12)
• Jesus is praying before he asks the disciples, "Who do the crowds/you say that I am?" (9:18)
• Jesus is praying on the mountain before the transfiguration. (9:28, 29)
• Jesus is praying before the disciples ask him to teach them to pray. (11:1)

A possible reason for this special emphasis on prayer, lies in the fact that the addressee of Luke's Gospel is Theophilus. He despite his Greek name, was thought by some to have been a Roman official who may not have known how to pray. Luke clearly emphasises the importance of prayer both for Jesus and his followers.

*Gerry Pierse,  from Sundays Into Silence: Reflections on the Sunday Gospels in the Light of Christian Meditation. Claretian Publications.