And shall not God at all avenge his elect, who cry to him day and night, and he bears long as to them?
The parable behind this verse puts a widow with no power next to a judge with no conscience. Then it asks a question about God. If even a careless judge finally acts, what will God do for people who are His own and who never stop calling on Him?
The unjust judge is not a portrait of God. He is the weakest possible case. The Lord uses him so no one can escape the conclusion about God.
It is an argument from the lesser to the greater. It no more treats the unjust judge as God than the unjust steward in Luke 16 stands for the disciple. Jesus would have us always pray and never lose heart, even when the answer seems slow and evil grows. Even the unrighteous judge would rather grant justice to the most friendless and feeble than be worn down by endless appeals. How much more will God not step in on behalf of His elect against their enemies!
The Lord does not rest the case only on God being better than the judge. He adds that the people crying are His own. God's own righteousness is also at stake, since He is going to judge the world.
In the parable there are two considerations. If the unjust judge hears and acts for the defenceless, whatever his motive may be, will not God? But this is far from all. God has His affections, not only His character, but objects of His delight. "And will not God give justice to His elect?" It can never suit the righteous God, who takes vengeance, to make light of evil. Nor can it suit Him to let the wicked go unpunished. For then how shall He judge the world? He notices the cry from the oppressed day and night, and it is the cry of His own elect.
The elect have nothing else to lean on. So the question becomes one of simple dependability.
God's elect, virtually helpless in a persecuting world, have only God to depend upon. Their cause is right, and God is absolute in justice and truth. Is He less dependable than a selfish judge? Let His own cry day and night to Him, never discouraged because the time seems long.
The judge delays, and God appears to delay too. But the reason behind each delay is opposite.
Then He shows how the judge turned a deaf ear to the poor widow. Now does not the Lord appear to do the same? It was the judge's wickedness — it is His glory, and His long-suffering. Why did the judge not answer? Because of his selfishness! Why does not the Lord come back? Because of His long-suffering. The Lord passes by, not willing that any should perish.
Commentators differ over who "them" means in the closing question, "Will he delay long over them?" The pronoun can be read two ways.
The word "them" means either the "elect" remnant, as one expositor takes it, or the adversaries. Field translates it: "He deferred His anger on their behalf" — that is, for the elect.
The widow's plea does not sound like Christian prayer. It fits God's people in other times — before the cross, and in a coming time of persecution.
"Give me justice against my adversary" is not Christian language. It was proper for saints before the cross, as the Psalms show. It will also be a fitting wish for those who are persecuted between the rapture and Christ's appearing. Christians look to be taken out of this scene, leaving their enemies behind them. Saints on earth after the Christian period can only look for deliverance when judgment falls on their persecutors.
Yet the cry itself is an act of faith, and God's delay has its own purpose.
There is real faith in crying to God day and night like this. If He delays, He is not slow about His promises, but is bringing souls to repentance so that they too might be saved. And there is perseverance until the answer comes.
Though the setting is a particular crisis, the Lord draws a universal duty out of it.
It is the more striking, because the circumstances are clearly limited, while what He draws from them is universal. The Lord is urging prayer, in view of the final trial. Yet He starts with a plain moral rule about the value of prayer at all times: men ought always to pray, and not lose heart. God will not be careless about the constant cry of His own elect. They look abandoned, and all the might of man is against them in their fiery trial. But the duty always remains true.
- Lesser to greater. The unjust judge is no picture of God. He is the worst case, chosen so the conclusion about God is unavoidable.
- His own. God acts not only because His character is just, but because the ones crying are the objects of His delight.
- Righteousness. He cannot make light of evil or leave the wicked unpunished — otherwise how would He judge the world?
- Delay. The judge put her off out of selfishness. God's silence is His long-suffering. He is not willing that any should perish.
- Always. The setting is a final trial. The lesson is for all time: keep praying, and never lose heart because the time seems long.
I say unto you that he will avenge them speedily. But when the Son of man comes, shall he indeed find faith on the earth?
The Lord has just promised that God will not ignore His elect who cry to Him day and night. The verse ties that certainty to a hard question. A promise of swift justice ends in a doubt about faith.
The unjust judge is not a picture of God. He stands at the low end of a comparison.
It is an argument from the lesser to the greater. It no more sees the unjust judge as God than the dishonest manager in Luke 16 stands for the disciple. Even the unrighteous judge would rather grant the rights of the most friendless and feeble person than listen to endless appeals. How much more will God step in on behalf of His elect against their enemies! It is true that He bears long as to His own; but He will avenge them soon, as everyone will admit when the blow falls.
The two delays look alike from the outside. Their reasons are opposites.
Now does the Lord not appear to do the same? It was the judge's wickedness — it is His glory, and His long-suffering. Why did the judge not answer? Because of his selfishness! Why does the Lord not come back? Because of His long-suffering. The Lord seems to pass by our prayers, as the judge passed by the poor woman. The Lord passes by, not willing that any should perish.
Notice what the Lord leaves certain here, and what He leaves open.
There is not the smallest doubt about the coming of the Son of Man to answer the cries of His elect. The only doubt is whether faith will be alive and active among them. The Lord asked the question, "Will He find faith on earth?" but He did not answer it. The inference seems to be that faith will be at a low ebb. That agrees with His own plain statement elsewhere: "the love of many will grow cold." Only if we always pray will we not faint.
Crying out under pressure is not the same as trusting God. Pain forces one cry out of a person. The other rests in God and expects Him to act.
He notices the cry from the oppressed day and night, and it is the cry of His own elect. "I tell you, He will give justice to them speedily." But will there be the faith that expects Him to act? Still, the question stands. When the Son of Man comes, will there be that faith on the earth, the faith that rests on God known in peaceful communion? Will it not rather be the cry of the righteous in bitterness of spirit, a cry forced out of them, and not the cry of desire?
Commentators differ here. Some read the word as personal trust. Others follow an older translation that reads "the faith" — the body of truth people can abandon.
This is not a creed or confession of faith drawn up by a denomination, sect or party. It is the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. It is the same faith our Lord asked about: "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find the faith on the earth?" It is the faith revealed in the Word of God. The heart of that faith is the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
The title matters. His coming for His people and His coming as Son of Man are not the same event.
When the Lord comes for His people, He does not come to the earth, but into the air. We meet Him there. As the Son of man He comes to the earth and finds unbelief and idolatry supreme.
That rules out one popular expectation about how history ends.
This is not the conversion of the world by the gospel. The Lord Himself asked the question, "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?" And when He does come back to the earth, no glad and delighted crowds will welcome Him.
The parable looks ahead to God's witnesses under pressure in Jerusalem. Even so, its lesson is not fenced off from ordinary readers.
The parable has its special application to the future oppression of God's witnesses who will then be in Jerusalem. Even so, as usual with this gospel, the instruction is general. It suits any and every kind of difficulty that may test people. Faith would be tested. If people looked to God, and not just to the blessing, they would not faint, even when no answer came.
- Cry — The elect cry day and night, and God notices. His answer is not in doubt.
- Delay — God's slowness is long-suffering, not the selfishness that made the unjust judge stall.
- Speedily — He bears long with His own, yet He will avenge them soon, and everyone will admit it when the blow falls.
- Question — His coming is certain; only faith is in doubt. The hint is that faith will be at a low ebb.
- Practice — Keep praying. Look to God and not just to the blessing, and you will not faint, even when no answer comes.