And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. That phrase is usually not applied to a person in a positive manner. Usually, if employers get their wish, the squeaky wheel gets replaced. Not so here, as Jesus says. The squeaky wheel is the person who is persistent in prayer to God, the righteous judge. Jesus had just given a parable to that effect when the widow wears down the unjust judge. If the unjust judge relents in the face of ceaseless asking, just think how God will react to ceaseless prayer. Then, as an aside, he asks if there is anyone who even has that much faith. He did not wait for an answer.
This is a lesson for us all who pray when we find the time, which is rarely, and when we really need something, which is way more often than we pray. Perhaps this aside from Jesus is the real punchline of this passage. He calls us to be like the persistent widow when it comes to our prayer life and we more resemble the man who respects neither man nor God. We get bothered when preachers drone on week after week that we should stress daily Bible reading and daily prayer. The question Jesus asked is one we can tackle today as if he asks us every day. Will he find faith on earth? In this case, the spotless Lamb…
Gets the glory.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church