Scripture Readings: Exodus 17.8-13; 2 Timothy 3.14-4.2; Luke 18.1-8
“There was a judge in a certain city who neither feared God nor respected human beings. A widow in that city kept coming to him and saying: ‘Take up my case. Give me my just rights against my opponent.’ For a while the judge refused but finally he said to himself, ‘I neither fear God nor respect people, but this widow—she is wearing me out. I will settle her case justly lest in the end she disgrace me.’” – Luke 18.3-5
When Luke writes the third gospel about A.D. 85, many Christians are wondering when and if Jesus will come again in glory. The parable of the persistent widow offers a model for these believers. She persists in seeking justice in the face of a callous judge. She’s not the nagging widow we once labeled her but a model of keeping on keeping on, a relentless activist. Justice is her purpose.
In the gospel Jesus also holds up the woman as an example of praying always and not losing heart. What justice does our nation and world most need? For example, our times call us to persist in ending the mass incarceration of black men who as felons after prison can’t ever vote or get jobs with any ease. Read Michelle Alexander’s 2010 book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.
What justice do you seek? What evils does the judge represent that Christians must resist? Whose persistence do you admire?
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