Jesus Compares Faithfulness to a Loud, Fierce Woman

Have you ever had to advocate for yourself or for someone you love in a hard situation? One where you felt you had big, important needs, but were dealing with injustice, lack of awareness or lack of care? What emotions did that bring up for you?

Jesus, teaching his friends about prayer and faith, told them a story about a woman - a widow, likely someone without status or many resources or connections - who faced a situation just like that.

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1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 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? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Luke 18:1-8

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Faith, according to Jesus, can look like a marginalized woman advocating for herself, demanding over and over again (and not politely) that justice be done. How radical and how encouraging that Jesus would hold up this loud, fierce woman as an example when so often those on the margins are told to be quiet, make do, to not need or demand too much!

How does this story challenge you and your ideas of what faithfulness can look like?

• Do you ever struggle with getting loud yourself or with receiving thoughtfully the impassioned pleas of those who have felt unheard for too long? Do you resonate more with the widow who needs to know that God values her voice and is on her side, or with the judge who needs to learn to listen better, to act more justly, with more care?

• How does it shift things to remember that God is always moving toward the disadvantaged and forgotten?

• Are there situations today, this week, where you could practice showing up differently for the people in your life?

You’re invited to take a few breaths, remember you are loved, and talk with Jesus about these things.