Read or listen The Gospel of Luke, chapter 18 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

The widow and the unworthy judge - Luke 18:1-8

This is not really a parable, , but rather a story describing opposites. God is not like the unworthy judge, but his opposite.

In Israel, every city had to have a judge (Deuteronomy 16:18-20). The judge in the story was unworthy and lacked the essential qualifications for office: the fear of God and respect for man (2 Chronicles 19:6-7). When he finally administered justice, it was for purely selfish reasons.

Jesus taught that a Christian has a constant connection with God, not just during certain times of prayer, as in Islam (five daily prayer times) and Judaism (Dan 6:10, at most three times a day so as not to trouble God too much).

"Will he delay long over them?" (verse 7) / "Would he delay his help?" can also be translated as "even if he seems to delay his help." Help comes when it is time, not always when we would like it. Even if help seems to delay, it will come, so there is no reason to be discouraged (verse 1). In this delay, we can also see God's love and call to his opponents: he gives more time for conversion and repentance.

At the end (verse 8) there is a reference to the fact that although the gospel must be preached to all nations (Matthew 28:18-20), there are only a few who accept God's call. A large part of the seeds sown fall on bad ground, where the plant does not begin to grow. But that should not discourage us either. If you give up on faith and prayer, the journey stops.

The Pharisee and the Publican - Luke 18:9-14

The two men in the story are representatives of two groups of people. The Pharisee represents hypocritical, self-righteous people. He considered himself better than others, as the Jewish historian Josephus says the Pharisees did, and he actually was more pious than others, if things are measured by human standards.

The Pharisee in the story prays to God so that people can see and hear him pray. It says a lot about him that he had nothing to ask of God. He already had everything he needed, and now he was showing off his own excellence to others. He not only fulfilled the requirements of the law, but he exceeded them. The law required fasting only once a year, on the great Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:29), but he fasted twice a week. The Pharisee also paid tithes when he bought food, because one of the farmers might have left them unpaid. The Pharisee was pleased with himself.

Instead, the publican was desperate, he didn't even lift his eyes when he prayed. He just left his case in God's hands. He had nothing to offer God except his sins.

However, the publican was justified, declared righteous. In Greek, the word is in the passive, which describes God's work. Instead, the Pharisee had justified himself and remained outside the work of God. This was precisely the difference between the two: their attitude towards themselves and God was different, which also led to God's different attitude towards them.

Jesus and children - Luke 18:15-17

After a long time, Luke tells something that we also find in Mark's Gospel. The previous shared narrative was Luke 11:14-26 and Mark 3:22-27, so now Luke's long "addition" ends.

Mark and Matthew use the word children (paidia) in their accounts, but Luke uses the word infants (brefee) in that passage. So the question was about very young children. They were also suitable for Jesus. One does not have to grow up to enter the kingdom of God, quite the opposite (verse 17). The exemplary nature of children is not their innocence, as is often explained, but their trusting faith. They receive the kingdom of God without hesitation.

The cost and reward of following Jesus - Luke 18:18-30

The rich official resembles the Pharisee described above. Both thought they had fulfilled the entire law. In Judaism, there were so-called "tau people", who had fulfilled the law to the last letter. Tau is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet (compare also Paul: Phil 3:5-6 "my righteousness based on the law was flawless").

But the rich man sensed that he was not worthy of the kingdom of God. Jesus showed him his "Achilles heel," his weak point. He was unable to fulfill even the first commandment's obligation to love God above all else. Jesus showed him what bound him to this time and world.

Some have tried to ease the difficulty of the rich man's salvation by explaining that there was a gate in Jerusalem at that time called "The Eye of the Needle," through which a camel could only pass with difficulty, without any burdens. Some have wanted to change the word "camel" to "rope," which are almost identical words in Greek. But verses 26-27 show that Jesus said something that his listeners found impossible: the largest known animal of that time through the smallest hole of that time.

Therefore, salvation does not depend on man, but on God. There is no help from human works (Phil 3:7-9).

..."not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith..."
(Phil. 3:9)

Apparently Peter felt that the disciples had fulfilled the requirement that Jesus had set for the rich man, so he asked Jesus about their reward. Jesus replied that a Christian can enjoy his faith already in this time, but it must always be remembered that the final goal of faith is outside this time (compare 1 Cor 15:19). Eternal life is obtained by grace. It cannot be earned.

The final warning - Luke 18:31-34

For the third and final time, Jesus warned his disciples about the painful journey that lay ahead of him. It was only a day's journey from Jericho to Jerusalem, so Jesus' earthly journey was coming to an end.

The disciples did not understand Jesus' words. It was not easy for them to understand it, because we, who look at the same things from the perspective of fulfillment, do not want to understand what really happened to Jesus in Jerusalem. God's ways are mysterious and often completely different from our pre-expectations, which is why they are sometimes very difficult to understand and accept.

"-- For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."
(Isaiah 55:8-9)

Confession of the blind man - Luke 18:35-43

Just before Jerusalem, Jesus publicly acknowledged himself as the Messiah for the first time. Some wanted to silence the politically dubious and dangerous cry of the blind man, but this time Jesus allowed it to be heard. The time had come when the rest of the prophecies about the Messiah would begin to be fulfilled, including those that spoke of his suffering, so there was no longer any reason to keep Jesus' Messiahship a secret.