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BURIED TREASURE: Exploring The Parables Of Jesus

by J. W. Jepson, D.Min.

Copyright © 1997 by J. W. Jepson

All rights reserved, including the right to grant the following permission and to prohibit the misuse thereof:

The Author hereby grants permission to reproduce the text of this article, without changes or alterations*, as a ministry, but not for commercial or non-ministry purposes.

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13.

KEEP ON PRAYING

Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. --Luke 11:5-8

There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city: and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.

--Luke 18:2-6

KEEP ON PRAYING

In a neighborhood where we lived a number of years ago there was a boy who delighted in ringing our doorbell just once and then running. By the time we opened the door, he was gone.

Probably you have answered the telephone after only the third or fourth ring to discover that the party just hung up. You got there just in time to hear a "click" and the dial tone. Aggravating, isn't it? You assume that it must not have been important, or else they would have kept on ringing.

Jesus taught much about prayer. One point about prayer is so important He gave two parables on it, both recorded in Luke. One is the parable of the Persistent Friend (see Luke 11:1-13). The other is the parable of the Insistent Widow (see Luke 18:1-8).

Although each parable has its own emphasis, both carry the same basic message: If you have a petition, keep on praying. Don't give up.

Both focus on the character of God and both use a contrast to illuminate His character. God never sleeps, and He is always just.

First, we look at the scene in Luke eleven. It is the middle of the night. A traveler arrives at the house of a friend. Courtesy demands that the guest be fed, but the host is out of bread.

Where can he get bread this time of night? Oh, yes a friend down the street always has bread. So he goes to his door and knocks.

"Lend me three loaves," he asks. Sure enough, the friend has the loaves, but he refuses to disturb his children who are sleeping around him.

"Stop giving me trouble," he orders. But the man at the door refuses to leave.

"Look, friend; I need bread," he persists. "You have bread, and I'm not taking 'no' for an answer. If you don't wake up the kids, I will--and probably the whole neighborhood."

"Importunity" is what the Bible calls it. It means being overly persistent, troublesomely urgent, and that without apology or a sense of shame. Today we call it just plain gall.

He got his loaves, not because of friendship but because of persistence.

And he got all three. He did not reduce the request to one or two,. That would have made no difference, except to disgust the man of the house. If we are going to be persistent, let us go all the way. Settle for nothing less. Make waking up the children worthwhile!

Then Jesus said to the disciples, "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened" (Luke 11:9,10).

God is not like the man in that house. Our Father never sleeps. He is aliways eager to give. So then, if sincere persistence will obtain what we need from a sleepy-eyed friend, how much more will our loving, generous Father in heaven give His children what they need? How much more? That is our Lord's question.

But He told us to ask; He told us to seek; He told us to knock.

Then Jesus approached the subject from another direction. He told about a mistreated widow who came to a corrupt judge for justice. She had no money for a bribe; neither did she have social or political leverage. Nevertheless, she cried, "Avenge me of mine adversary!"

The wicked judge figured if he just ignored her, she would go away and leave him alone. But he underestimated this woman. She had one weapon--insistence--and she aimed it at his desire for ease.

She kept coming back, allowing him no rest. At last he caved in. "This widow troubleth me," he moaned, using the same boxing term that Paul did in 1 Corinthians 9:27. In other words, "I've had all I can take. If I don't help her, she will beat me down."

The widow got what she came for, and she did it by sheer insistence. She wanted justice, and she refused to be denied!

Here again we must remember that God is the very opposite of that unjust judge. In this parable, as in the former, Jesus used a sharp contrast to highlight the character of God.

To understand the parable of the Insistent Widow (also called the parable of the Unjust Judge), we must keep in mind that the Lord spoke it in reference to His second coming. "Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8). That is, will He find this kind of determined faith?

We believe we are living in the closing days of this age, and we expect Jesus to return soon. In these last days many believers are suffering persecution. Some languish in slave labor camps and prisons. Sin and injustice abound. It is easy for many people to question God, even to blame Him. "How long will God let this go on?" they ask. "When will He avenge His own of their adversaries?"

Jesus tells us to be patient. It is a necessity that we pray and not lose heart. We are told to "account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (2 Peter 3:15).

God is merciful and exercises amazing patience with the wicked, "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:8). But the day will come. The trumpet will sound, and our deliverance will come speedily!

So pray on, Christian friend. Do not give up. The righteous Judge stands at the door (James 5:9).

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14. What Do You Say To A Starving Soul?

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