Luke 18:1. And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
«Not to faint» in their expectation of answers to their supplications, and therefore give up prayer; but to persevere in presenting their petitions at the throne of grace, because prayer is never lost labour. There may be a time during which God does not appear to answer prayer, but he will ultimately answer it; therefore, «men ought always to pray, and not to faint» in prayer. If they do not pray, they will faint in many ways. Their courage will faint. All their hope as to the future will faint, and fall into a dead swoon as it were. So, dear friends, you have your choice between praying and fainting. The doctrine our Saviour laid down was «that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;» and this is the parable which he related in illustration of that truth:
Luke 18:2. Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
He was a most unfit person to be a judge, as many in Eastern cities still are. They are ready enough to take bribes, but they are not so prompt in giving just judgments. They generally attend to the business of the rich and the powerful, but neglect the poor and needy. So was it with this judge, who «feared not God, neither regarded man.»
Luke 18:3. And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
Probably someone had come, and taken away from her the little bit of land that her husband had left her, upon the produce of which she and the children might have lived; and she could not get it back again. So she comes to the judge, and cries, «Avenge me of mine adversary.»
Luke 18:4. And he would not for a while
He had plenty of applicants who could pay him better than this poor woman could, so he disregarded her petition; but he little knew that, in her, he had to deal with a woman who meant to be heard, and who intended to press her suit until she won it. She was evidently a very determined character. Though a broken-hearted widow, yet she was not broken-spirited even though the judge refused for a while to attend to her plea.
Luke 18:4-5. 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.
She came again, and again, and again, and again; she would not leave off coming, for she meant to have the justice she sought, and she did get it. Now that is the way to pray, as if we would even weary God with our supplications, though we never can do so. It is impossible to weary him with earnest believing entreaties, yet we must show the same determination in prayer which this importunate widow manifested while pleading with the unjust judge.
Luke 18:6. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
He is unjust, but he is obliged to be just now. He is hard-hearted, but he is compelled to yield. The widow has conquered him, not by her money, but by her importunity. She is there so often that she troubles him, and he says he must give in, and grant her request.
Luke 18:7. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
He may seem to be slow about it; but when his people cry to him, he will hear them ultimately if he does not at once. Do not imagine that the children of God will always be laughed at, and downtrodden. God will yet arise, and take their side. They may be pushed into a comer for awhile, but they shall come out into a large room in due season, for God will certainly avenge his own elect.
Luke 18:8. I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
If anybody could find it, he would, for he creates it all, and he knows where to look for it; yet there is so little of it that even he, whose eyes can detect the faith that is as small as a grain of mustard seed, can scarcely find it. There is all too little real faith in the world; and those who think they have most of it, when they get into troubled waters, soon find they have not any to spare, and much that they thought was faith does not turn out to be so. O men, brethren, fathers, how little do we trust our God compared with what he deserves!
Luke 18:9-10. And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray;
They were both alike in going up to the temple, but they were very different in coming back from the temple. It is a very important thing to come to the house of God in a right state of heart; and it is a still better thing to go away from the Lord's house really benefited and improved. These two men went up to the temple with the same object; each of them went there «to pray.» Both intended to pray, though they did not both do so; yet that was their ostensible object.
Luke 18:10. The one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
A tax-gatherer, one of the most hated people in Christ's day, because none but the lowest class of Jews would collect taxes for the Romans; and as a general rule, they farmed the taxes, and greatly increased them by demanding of the people much more than was due. They were therefore held in the worst possible repute. I am not sure that tax-gatherers are the objects of much love anywhere; but, among the Jews, they were detested because they were collecting tribute for the Romans whom the conquered nation abhorred.
Luke 18:11. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
So it is evident that he noticed one person who was there, though I do not find that the publican took any notice of him. We can tell by this remark that the mind of the Pharisee was wandering from his supposed devotions. It is a bad sign in a so-called worshipper when he knows a great deal about other people who are in the Lord's house. I have known many people, whose recollection, after a sermon, has been quite as much about who was there, and who was not there, as it has been about what was in the sermon, and what was not in it. So this Pharisee's eyes went gadding about, and he spied out the poor publican; but, after a contemptuous reference to him, he returned to the catalogue of his own virtues and excellences:
Luke 18:12. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
There his prayer ended, and he stood in a most enviable state of contentment, delighted with himself, lost in the contemplation of his own ineffable purity. I think I see him in all his glory, yet I quickly turn to the other part of the temple, further away from the most sacred place, for there I behold the true worshipper.
Luke 18:13. And the publican, standing afar off,
Not afar off from the Pharisee only, but afar off from the sacred shrine, the innermost temple, as if unworthy to be there at all: «the publican, standing afar off,»
Luke 18:13. Would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
That throne of the Highest, as if even a glance from his unholy eyes might defile that sacred place. He bowed his eyes downward, as if to read in the earth the record of his sin; he did not dare to look up;
Luke 18:13. But smote upon his breast,
His heart smote him, and he smote upon his heart,
Luke 18:13-14. Saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
The great Lord and Master acts as he would have his true servants do. It was said of some of them that they turned the world upside down, and that is exactly what he does. He abases those who exalt themselves, and he exalts those who abase themselves; he lifts up the lowly, and casts down them of high degree in their own estimation; and so shall it be to the end of the world.