Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” 

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

This is a story where it’s easy to miss the depth of Jesus’ challenge to his original audience. We know this judge has no respect for God or the people he is appointed to serve. The plaintiff is a widow, and this is significant because in the Hebrew Scriptures the command to love one’s neighbor as oneself is repeated twice but the command to love the widow, stranger, and orphan (the most vulnerable in any community) is repeated more than 35 times. But this widow is no object of pity; the judge appears worried she will physically hurt him so he reluctantly sides with her, if only for his own protection.

We might jump to the conclusion that this is a parable about being persistent in prayer. But we should not read the unjust judge as anything like God, who will eventually relent to our pleas. Rather, a key to unlocking this story is Jesus’ question at the end: will there be faith on earth? Jesus raises this question because he recognizes that injustice (exemplified by the judge) is a painful threat to faith in God. Put differently: injustice functions as a counter-witness to the Gospels and inspires despair, which never comes from God.

How many people question the existence of God because of the extent of sin and suffering in the world? Or are tempted to doubt in God’s love for them because of cruelties in life? I’m reminded of Gandhi who was asked whether his nonviolent resistance was inspired by Jesus of Nazareth and responded: “I like your Christ but I do not like your Christians because they are not like your Christ.” Jesus asks his followers not to lose faith as they cry out for justice. He also reminds us that our commitment to justice inspires faith in others.

—Marcus Mescher is associate professor of Christian ethics at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the author of The Ethics of Encounter: Christian Neighbor Love as a Practice of Solidarity (Orbis 2020).

We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to end war;
For we know that You have made the world in a way
That man must find his own path to peace.
Within himself and with his neighbor.

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end starvation;
For You have already given us the resources
With which to feed the entire world,
If we would only use them wisely.

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to root out prejudice;
For You have already given us eyes
With which to see the good in all men,
If we would only use them rightly.

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end despair,
For You have already given us the power
To clear away slums and to give hope,
If we would only use our power justly.

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end disease;
For You have already given us great minds
With which to search out cures and healing,
If we would only use them constructively.
Therefore we pray to You instead, O God,
For strength, determination and will power,
To do instead of just pray,
To become instead of merely to wish.

—Rabbi Jack Reimer