A parable of Jesus

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

If even a corrupt judge yields to a widow who will not quit, how much more will a loving God answer his children who keep praying.

Where and to whom Jesus told it

Luke tells us the purpose of this parable before Jesus tells it: that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. It comes amid Jesus' teaching about the coming of the Son of man and the long, hard interval his disciples must live through before that day, a time when justice will seem delayed and prayers unanswered, and the temptation to give up will be strong. The parable is medicine against that fainting.

The two figures are drawn to make the sharpest possible contrast. The judge neither feared God nor regarded man, a portrait of corrupt, callous power. The widow was among the most vulnerable people in that society, with no husband to defend her and little standing to press her case. Between them there is no leverage but one: her sheer, unrelenting persistence.

The parable

There was in a city a judge, Jesus says, which feared not God, neither regarded man; and there was a widow in that city, who 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.

Then Jesus draws the lesson by contrast, not comparison. Hear what the unjust judge saith, he says; and shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. The argument runs from the lesser to the greater: if even a corrupt judge, moved by nothing but annoyance, will finally grant justice to a persistent stranger, how much more will the righteous God, who loves his people as his own elect, answer their day-and-night crying. He ends with a searching question: Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

What it means, and how it has been misread and rightly read

This parable is easily misread as teaching that God is reluctant like the judge, and that prayer works by wearing him down, as though persistence were a way of nagging a grudging deity into action. But Jesus argues by contrast, not likeness. God is nothing like the unjust judge. The point is that if persistence prevails even with the corrupt and uncaring, it will surely be heard by a loving Father who is eager to help.

Read rightly, the parable is not chiefly about the mechanics of getting answers but about persevering faith through delay. Its aim, stated at the outset, is that we should always pray and not faint. The delay is real, and it tests faith; the widow keeps coming precisely because she has not given up. Jesus' closing question shows what is truly at stake: not whether God will act, for he surely will, but whether we will keep praying and trusting until he does, or lose heart and abandon the crying before the answer comes.

The heart of God and the kingdom

This parable reveals a God utterly unlike the unjust judge, a Father who loves his people as his own elect and who is not annoyed by their crying but moved by it. If the widow could count on nothing but a corrupt man's irritation, how much more can we count on the God who hears his children day and night. His delays are never indifference; behind them is a love the parable sets in the sharpest relief against the judge's callousness.

It reveals, too, that God's justice is certain even when it seems slow. He will avenge his elect, and speedily, though the timing is measured by his wisdom and not our impatience. The long bearing is not reluctance but the outworking of purposes we cannot yet see, and the God who bears long with us will surely, at the right hour, set all things right.

What it asks of us

This parable calls us to persevere in prayer, especially when answers are delayed and faith grows weary, and above all through the long wait for Christ's return and the righting of all wrongs. Persistence here is not about pestering God but about a faith that keeps coming, keeps trusting, keeps crying out, refusing to conclude from the silence that God does not hear.

It speaks to the exact moment when we are tempted to give up, when we have prayed long and seen nothing and begin to wonder whether prayer means anything at all. To that weariness Jesus says, pray on, and do not faint. And his closing question turns the parable back on us as a challenge: to be found, when the Son of man comes, still praying, still believing, among the elect who cry day and night and do not lose heart.

How it points to Christ

Jesus is the righteous Judge who will come to set all things right, the very opposite of the unjust judge of the parable, and he is also our advocate who ever lives to make intercession for us. Because of him we come to God not as a friendless widow before a hostile court but as beloved children before a Father who delights to hear us. He teaches us to pray and prays for us, so that our persevering cry is never in vain, and he will surely reward the faith that keeps crying until he comes.

Frequently asked questions

What does the parable of the persistent widow mean?

Jesus told it 'that men ought always to pray, and not to faint' (Luke 18:1). If even an unjust judge yields to a widow's persistence, a loving God will surely answer his people who keep crying out to him. It teaches persevering prayer through delay.

Does this mean we must wear God down with prayer?

No. God is the opposite of the unjust judge. The parable argues from lesser to greater: if persistence moves a bad judge, how much more readily will a good God respond. The persistence is for our faith, not to change God's reluctance.