Luke 18

CHAPTER 18THEME: Parable of the unjust judge; parable of the Pharisee and the publican; Jesus blesses the little children; Jesus confronts the rich young ruler with five of the Ten Commandments; Jesus heals the blind man on entering JerichoBefore we begin this chapter, I want to say a word about our Lord personally. I believe that He was God manifest in the flesh. I also believe that He was not any less God because He was man. On the other hand, I believe He was not any more man because He was God. He was a perfect mana real man. Frankly, if you had been there in that day, you would have enjoyed His company.

It would have been a real privilege to be in His company and to hear His laughter. I don’t like any picture I see of Him; the artists never picture Him laughing, and I think He laughed many times. Our Lord was so human. In His presence you would have the best time you ever had. You know folk, I am sure, whom you love to be with. I know several preachers whose company I especially enjoy.

They sharpen my wits and my mental powers; yet they tell the funniest jokes I’ve ever heard. I think our Lord was good at that. We are coming to an incident that I am confident made many people smile.

Luke 18:1

He concluded chapter 17 with a discourse on the last days and the fact that He would be coming again. And He likened the last days to the days of Noah, that they would be difficult daysdays that would not be conducive to faith. So now He talks to them about a life of faith in days that are devoid of faith. That is the reason it is so pertinent for this hour. We are living in days, as He indicated, when men’s hearts are failing them for fear. What we have in this first parable is a pertinent paragraph on prayer for the present hour. Notice that He says He spoke a parable to them to this end; that is, for this purpose, that men should always pray, and not to faint. He opens two alternatives to any man who is living in difficult days. You and I will have to do one of the two. You will have to make up your mind which you are going to do. Men in difficult days will either faint or they will pray. Either there will be days of fear or days of faith. During World War II, when the bombing was so intense on the city of London, a sign appeared in front of one of the churches in London that read, “If your knees knock together, kneel on them!” That is practically a restatement of what our Lord has said, “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” It is the same thought that Paul put a little differently, “Pray without ceasing” (1Th_5:17). This does not mean you are to go to an all-day or all-night prayer meeting. Prayer is an attitude of the life. It is more an attitude of life than an action of the lips. Remember that Paul said to the Romans, “…the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom_8:26). That is, they cannot be put into our words. And many times we do not have the words to pray, but we are praying nonetheless. And it is the entire life that is behind the words which are spoken that makes prayer effective. There was a famous preacher, years ago in the state of Georgia, who had many very unusual expressions. One of them was this, “When a man prays for a corn crop, God expects him to say Amen with a hoe.” You can’t just stay on your knees all the time and pray for a corn crop. That’s pious nonsense. But to pray for the corn crop and then go to work is the thing our Lord is talking about in days when men’s hearts are failing them. “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”

Luke 18:2

PARABLE OF THE UNJUST JUDGEWhen He told this story about the unjust judge and the widow, it probably was well known to the hearers of that day. They knew exactly what He was talking about. The story goes like this: Now in this city there was a judge who was a godless fellow. He was an unscrupulous politician, scheming, cold, and calculating. Everything he did was for himself, as we shall see. Everything he did had to minister to his own advancement and satisfy his own ambition. He did not fear God. God had no place in this man’s thinking. And since he did not fear God, he had no regard for man. He had no respect for this widow at all. The widow likely was being beaten out of her little home. The mortgage was being foreclosed, and she was being treated unjustly. She went to this prominent judge, took her place in his office, and asked the secretary if she might talk to the judge. The secretary told her, “He’s very busy. If you will just tell me the nature of your complaint….” So the widow told her, “I’m just a poor widow. I live out here at the edge of town, and I’m about to lose my place. It is unfair and unjust, and I want to appeal to the judge.” The secretary went into the judge’s office and said, “There is a widow out there….” “Well, I can get rid of her in three minutes. I’m a politician, I know how to handle her. Let her come in.” She came in. He listened to her for three minutes. Then he said, “I’m sorry, but that’s out of my realm. I’d love to do something for you, but I am unable to do anything. Good day.” The next day when he came into the office, there was the widow. He hurried into his office, called his secretary in, and asked, “What’s that widow doing back?” “She says she wants to see you.” “You go back and tell her I am busy until lunch time.” “I’ve already told her that. But she brought her lunch. She says she will stay here as long as necessary.” She stayed all that day and didn’t get to see him. He thought he had gotten rid of her. But the next morning when he came in, there she was! She did that for several days, and finally he said, “I’ll have to do something about this. I can’t go on like this.” Notice that our Lord records what he said “within himself.”

Luke 18:4

The word weary is a very poor translation. I only wish it were translated literally. What he said was this, “I must see her lest she give me a black eye!” You see, he was thinking of himself. I don’t know if he meant a literal black eyewe are not told that the widow had threatened him! But the very fact that a widow is sitting in the judge’s office every day doesn’t look good. He had gotten into office by saying, “I’m thinking of the poor people,” but he wasn’the was thinking of himself. “And lest she give me a black eye, I’d better hear her.” To his secretary he said, “Bring her in.” This time he said to the widow, “I’ll give you legal protection.” That’s the parable.

Luke 18:6

Now, I have heard many Bible teachers say that this parable teaches the value of importunate prayer. Although I don’t like to disagree with men who are greater than I, that isn’t so. This is not a parable on the persistency or the pertinacity of prayeras though somehow God will hear if you hold on long enough. This is a parable by contrast, not by comparison. Parables were stories given by our Lord to illustrate truths. The word parable comes from two Greek words. Para means “beside” and ballo is the verb, meaning “to throw”(we get our word ball from it). A parable means something that is thrown beside something else to tell you something about it. For instance, a yardstick placed beside a table is a parable to the tableit tells you how high it is. A parable is a story our Lord told to illustrate divine truth. There are two ways He did this. One is by comparison, but the other is by contrast. Our Lord is saying, “When you come to God in prayer, do you think that God is an unjust judge? When you come to Him in prayer, do you think He is a cheap politician? Do you think God is doing things just for political reasons?” My friend, if you think this, you are wrong. God is not an unjust judge. If this unjust judge would hear a poor widow because she kept coming continually, then why do you get discouraged going to God who is not an unjust judge, but who actually wants to hear and answer prayer? Why are God’s people today so discouraged in their prayer life? Don’t you know, my friend, He is not an unjust judge? You don’t have to hang on to His coattail and beg Him and plead with Him. God wants to act in your behalf! If we had that attitude, it would change our prayer lifeto come in to His presence knowing He wants to hear. We act as if He is an unjust judge, and we have to hold on to Him or He will not hear us at all. God is not an unjust judge.

Luke 18:9

PARABLE OF THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICANNow our Lord gives another parable on prayer. This is a parable that is familiar to all of us. Oh, with what trenchant and biting satire He gave them this! But He didn’t do it to hurt them; He did it to help them. He said that two men went up to the temple to praya Pharisee and a publican. You could not get any two as far apart as those two men were. The Pharisee was at the top of the religious ladder. The publican was at the bottom. His parable wasn’t about publicans and sinnerspublicans were right down there with the sinners. The Pharisee was at the top, supposedly the most acceptable one to God. He went into the temple to pray, he had access to the temple, he brought the appointed sacrifice. As he stood and prayed, his priest was yonder in the Holy Place putting incense on the altar. This old Pharisee had it made.

Luke 18:11

Isn’t that an awful way to begin a prayer! And that is the way many of us do. You say, “I don’t do that.” Yes, you do. I hear prayers like that. Oh, we don’t say it exactly that way. We are fundamentalwe have learned to say it better than that. We have our own way of putting it, “Lord, I thank You I can give You my time and my service.” How I hear that! What a compliment that is for the Lord! Friend, we don’t get anywhere in prayer when we pray like that. God doesn’t need our service. The Pharisee said, “I thank thee, that I am not as other men”; then he began to enumerate what he wasn’t. “I’m not an extortioner” evidently there was somebody around who was an extortioner. “I am not unjust. I am not an adulterer.” Then he spied that publican way outside, and said, “And believe me, Lord, I’m not like that publican. I’m not like that sinner out there.” Then he began to tell the Lord what he did:

Luke 18:12

My, isn’t he a wonderful fellow! Wouldn’t we love to have him in our church! Our Lord said he “prayed thus with himself.” In other words, he was doing a Hamlet soliloquy. Hamlet, you know, goes off and stands talking to himselfand Hamlet is “off,” by the way; he is a mental case. Hamlet says, “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” And this old Pharisee is out there talking to himselfhe thinks he is talking to God, but his prayer never got out of the rafters. All he did was have a pep talk; he patted himself on the back and went out proud as a peacock. God never heard that prayer. The old publicanoh, he was a rascal. He was a sinner; he was as low as they come. He had sold his nation down the river when he had become a tax collector. When he became a tax gatherer, he denied his nation. When he denied his nation, as a Jew, he denied his religion. He turned his back on God. He took a one-way street, never to come back to God. Why did he do it? It was lucrative. He said, “There’s money down this way.” He became rich as a publican. But it did not satisfy his heart. Read the story of Levi; read the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19a publican’s heart was empty. This poor publican in his misery and desperation, knowing that he had no access to the mercy seat in the temple, cried out to God.

Luke 18:13

“God be merciful to me a sinner” does not adequately express it. Let me give it to you in the language that he used. He would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven, but he smote on his breast, and said, “O God, I’m a poor publican. I have no access to that mercy seat yonder in the Holy of Holies. Oh, if you could only make a mercy seat for me! I want to come.” Our Lord said that man was heard. Do you know why he was heard? Because Jesus Christ right there and then was on the way to the cross to make a mercy seat for him. John writes: “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1Jn_2:2). Propitiation means “mercy seat.” Christ is the mercy seat for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. The publican’s prayer has been answered. Actually, today you don’t have to ask God to be merciful. He is merciful. Many people say, “We have to beg Him to be merciful.” My friend, what do you want Him to do? He gave His Son to die for you. He says to the worst sinner you know, “You can come.

There is a mercy seat for you.” I have to admit to you that I had to come to that mercy seat. And if you are God’s child, you have come to that mercy seat where He died yonder on the cross for your sins and my sins. The penalty has been paid. The holy God is able to hold His arms outstretched. You don’t have to beg Him; you don’t have to promise Him anything because He knows your weakness; you do not have to join something; you do not even have to be somebody. You can be like a poor publican.

You can come and trust Him, and He will save you. God is merciful.

Luke 18:15

JESUS BLESSES THE LITTLE CHILDRENThe little children loved to be with the Lord Jesus. Even the disciples said, “Do not bring the little children to Him. Do not bother Him.”

Luke 18:16

The feeling was that small children were not too important. The Lord Jesus felt differently about children. They were not a bother to Him.

Luke 18:17

Children normally and naturally came to the Lord. He did not want the adults to keep them away from Him. God have mercy on any adult who keeps little children away from God. Concerning this subject, Luke has already said, “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones” (Luk_17:2). You see, the little ones will follow you. They have complete trust in you. They will do anything you want them to do. God have mercy on you if you don’t bring them to God! Children would normally come to Him. Someone may object, “But children have a fallen nature.” Yes, they do. But that little one has not reached the age of accountability; the only decision he can make is the decision that is suggested to him. That’s the nature of the little child. Of course, the little one will grow up and develop a will of his own. Then that’s when the trouble begins! But while he is still pliable, make sure that he comes to Christ.

Luke 18:18

JESUS CONFRONTS THE RICH YOUNG RULER WITH FIVE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTSThe account of the rich young ruler is also given in Mat_19:16-30 and in Mar_10:17-31. It is a wonderful story. In this account our Lord made inquiry into the conduct of the rich young ruler. The Lord Jesus Christ was leading this young man to see that if he recognized goodness in Jesus, it was because He was God. That is the reason Jesus urged him to follow. It would have led him to accept Jesus as the disciples had"…the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mat_16:16).

Luke 18:20

Jesus flashed on the young ruler the second section of the Ten Commandments which is labeled “probitas.” This section deals with man’s relationship with man. The first section has to do with man’s relationship to God and is labeled “pietas.” This young man could meet the second section, but not the first. He needed a relationship with God, which he evidently lacked. Riches stood in the way of this. The Law condemned this attractive young man. Riches were the stumbling block for him. For another man it might be something else. It is impossible for any man to get into the Kingdom of Heaven by riches or by any human means. Only God could put a camel through a needle’s eye, and only God can regenerate.

Luke 18:23

In spite of the lack and unwillingness in his life, it is said that Jesus loved him. Riches separated this young man from Jesus. Had he followed Jesus, he would have come to the cross for redemption, for Jesus was very close to the cross at this time. Who was this young man? I do not know who he was. You may be like him today, I do not know. Did he follow the Lord later on? We hope so. Will you follow the Lord? He loves you.

Luke 18:35

JESUS HEALS THE BLIND MAN ON ENTERING JERICHOBefore we look at this incident, I should mention that critics of the Bible find in this a contradiction, because Matthew speaks of two blind men, while Mark and Luke mention only one. However, if you will read this passage carefully, you will see that Matthew and Mark obviously refer to a work of healing as Jesus departed from Jericho. Bartimaeus, the active one of the two, the one who cried, “…Jesus, thou son of David…,” is specifically mentioned in Mar_10:46. The healing described by Luke, in verses Luk_18:40-43, occurred before Jesus entered Jericho. This man also used the familiar form of address, “son of David.” By addressing Jesus as the “son of David,” he acknowledged His kingship. He knew Jesus was able to heal him and so it was impossible to keep him quiet. He knew what he wanted, and he had great faith in Jesus. Jesus’ dealing with this blind man is tender and thrilling.

Luke 18:38

After he was healed, he followed Jesus with his eyes open. What will he see in a few days? He will see Jesus dying on the cross. Multitudes of people today with 20-20 vision have not yet seen Jesus’ death on the cross related to their lives and the forgiveness of their sins. If you have not yet done solook and live!