A Widow and a Judge

Gospel: Luke 18: 1-8

Jesus gives us a lesson on prayer, and the image he provides to us is a remarkable one.  Consider the context: here we have a widow coming before a wicked judge asking him to defend her rights.  Widows were utterly helpless and powerless in ancient society.  As women they had no rights at all; they were utterly dependent upon men for the possession of rights as women and utterly dependent upon men for their basic needs as poor widows.  It is the perfect image of prayer!

Consider our own status before God - we are in every way like the widow before the judge.  Before God we are utterly helpless and powerless; we are without status, and we possess no rights whatsoever.  Whatever we are and whatever we have come entirely from God.  We rely completely upon God's mercy and beneficence for our rights and for our needs.  This is to be our posture of prayer before God at all times.  

We have a greater confidence in this matter than the widow does in hers.  She is dependent upon human beings, men who are wicked and uncaring toward women and toward the poor.  She wins her case by perseverance.  Our judge is an all loving and merciful God who is not cold and indifferent to us as human beings are.  If we place ourselves before God with this awareness of our status and dependence on God, all will be well.  And if we imitate God's mercy extended to others, how much the greater!