Luke 18:1-6I like grits. It amazes me to say that, but the truth is that once I tried them I enjoyed them. In the spring of 2003 I was in Alabama to get my license for being a pastor and I was surrounded by southerners who kept insisting I try grits. I eventually did, and I believe my exact words at the time were “I’ll try them just to get you to shut up.”
In today’s passage we have a teaching very similar to the one in Luke 11. What was the reason for this teaching? What do we know about the judge? What did the widow want? What did the judge eventually do? Why does Jesus emphasize the judge’s words in verse 6?
The passage spells it out right at the beginning. Jesus was teaching a lesson about having makrothumia in prayer. He wanted the disciples to know that they should pray and never give up in their prayers. They need to be persistent in their asking.
But this story has a slight twist. We already have a lesson on persistence in prayer in Luke 11. What is different here is the judge. He is a non-believer. He does not fear God and he does not care for people.
Why does Jesus include such a character in his lesson? Perhaps the judge represents all non-believers in the world, all the Gentiles and the pagans that the disciples would encounter in their own ministries.
he judge eventually does what is right and good, not because it is the right thing to do and he knows it. He doesn’t have a conversion of the heart because he believes in God, nor is he a merciful man.
He does what is right and good simply because the widow exhibited makrothumia. She was persistent, relentless, unceasing in her pursuit of what is ultimately good.
Why do I like grits? It isn’t because of the way they look, and they really have no appetizing aroma when they cook. I like them because I tried them, and I tried them only because of the persistence of others.
Ultimately, it will benefit others if they have a relationship with Jesus Christ. We know that. But they do not. And we can’t expect them to wise up to the truth if the truth is not already in them.
How can we get others to try God, to visit a place of worship, to read a Bible passage or two? They won’t do it on their own, but they may do it if we persist in inviting them to meet God. We need to be patient in our prayers for others, and patient in our attempts to spread the good news of God. Our evangelism requires makrothumia.
DAILY CHALLENGE: If you have invited someone to worship with you, and they turned you down, invite them again.
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