Luke 18:1-8 - The Unjust Judge.

It is vitally important that when reading a verse or passage in the Bible, we interpret it with respect to its context. In history, those who have built doctrines on verses ripped screaming and bleeding from their context have been the cause of great confusion - not to mention heresies! This is especially true when reading the parables of Christ. An interesting example is the Parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8). It must be understood that the function of a parable is to make a point. In this case, Jesus draws a parallel between a woman constantly asking the judge to execute justice and His disciples constantly asking God to execute justice. However, we must be careful not to over-extend this parallel. Just because the judge in the parable normally couldn't care less about man and is generally disinterested in justice, does not imply that God is the same. The fact that the judge "did not fear God" either, clearly indicates the limitation of the judge as a picture of God. The parable also does not teach that if we keep hassling God for what we want we will eventually get it. The context clearly indicates that Christ is referring to persistence in prayer as it relates to requesting justice: "And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly" (Luke 18:7-8a). God never promises to satisfy our wants.