Chapter XVIII.
On the persuasion to devotion, two things are presented.
1. And he spoke also a parable to them etc. After the refutation of Jewish curiosity in scrutinizing future things, there follows here the persuasion to devotion in requesting divine assistance. And since devoted prayer is prayer pleasing to God, in which there is at once fervor of affection and humility of self-assessment, therefore this part has two sections: in the first of which, by a parabolic example, he leads to persistence in prayer; in the second, however, to reverence in prayer, at the passage : And he said to certain ones etc.
To the persistence of prayer, therefore, He moves [them] by introducing the parable of the judge and the widow: concerning the description of which, first is introduced the reason for introducing the parable; second is added the introduction of the parable itself, at the words : There was a certain judge; third, He subjoins the application of the parable introduced, at the words: And the Lord said. 2. (Verse 1.). First, therefore, as to the reason for introducing the parable, He says: And He spoke also a parable to them. Now it should be noted that this parable is not to be understood through a metaphor of likeness, because the judge of the city was in no way likened to God, who is to be entreated; but rather it is to be understood through unlikeness and by way of contrast, so that the Lord, as it were, from the lesser leads by the hand to recognizing the efficacy of prayer; hence here person is not compared to person, but case to case. And this is what Bede says in the Gloss: "Note that the Lord sets forth parables either according to likeness, as about the man who had two sons, who bears the person of God; or according to unlikeness, as about the unjust judge, who in no way bears the person of God." — He therefore introduces this parable to persuade [them of] the persistence of prayer; for which reason He adds: That they ought always to pray and not to lose heart; which ought to be understood so that always does not distribute for every part of time, but for the appointed hours, according to what is said in the Psalm following the prophetic institution: "Seven times a day I have given praise to You." And the Church observes this manner; hence the Gloss: " Always, at the canonical hours daily according to the custom of the Church." — Or always to pray is here understood such that prayer is always either in the mouth through petition, or in the heart through desire, or in works through preparation. For he who does good things disposes himself to this end, that his prayer ought to be heard; and according to this it is said in First Thessalonians 5: "Pray without ceasing"; there the Gloss says: "He always prays who always does good; for the good desire itself is prayer; and if the desire is continuous, the prayer is continuous." And this is what Bede says here in the Gloss: "He always prays who always does good, nor does he cease to pray unless he ceases to be just"; therefore Sirach 18: "Be not hindered from praying always, and be not afraid to be justified even unto death"; and 29: "Shut up alms in the bosom of the poor, and it shall pray for you," etc. This, however, is understood concerning the opportunity of necessity. But if it is understood concerning the opportunity of fittingness, then one ought always to pray, that is, to have recourse to prayer most frequently and most urgently. Hence Jerome: "Frequent prayer extinguishes the assault of vices"; while urgent prayer obtains pardon for sins, according to that saying in Sirach 3: "He who loves God shall entreat for his sins, and in the prayer of days he shall be heard," etc.
3. And therefore it is useful to pray always for ten reasons, namely because it obtains the relaxation of the divine sentence, as is apparent in the case of Hezekiah, Isaiah thirty-eight: "Hezekiah prayed to the Lord and said: I beseech you, Lord, remember, I ask, how I have walked before you"; and afterward it is added that the Lord revoked the sentence of death; and Wisdom eighteen: "A blameless man hastened to pray for the peoples, bringing forth the shield of his ministry, prayer, and alleging supplication through incense, he withstood the wrath."
- The remission of guilt committed: Matthew seventeen: "This kind of demon is not cast out except by prayer and fasting"; upon which passage Jerome says: "By fasting the plagues of the body are healed, by prayer the plagues of the mind"; the Psalm: "I said: I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord, and you forgave the impiety of my sin"; and afterward: "For this shall every holy one pray to you," etc.
The repulsion of spiritual combat: Matthew twenty-six: "Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation"; and 1 Maccabees four: "Those who were with Judas sounded the trumpet, and the nations were crushed and fled," etc. - The restoration of the power of nature: James five: "The prayer of faith shall save the sick and shall raise him up," etc.; and Sirach thirty-eight: "My son, in your sickness do not despise yourself, but pray to the Lord, and he himself will heal you."
The preservation of peace in time; 1 Timothy two: "I beseech that first of all supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be made, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and chastity," etc.
The guarding of tranquility of conscience; Philippians four: "Be anxious for nothing, but in every prayer and supplication let your petitions be made known before God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, shall guard," etc. - The enkindling of divine grace: as a figure of which it is said of Elijah in 3 Kings eighteen: "I will invoke the name of my Lord, and the God who shall answer by fire, let him be God." Whence in Acts one it is said that "they were persevering unanimously in prayer"; and afterward: "When the days of Pentecost were completed, there appeared to them parted tongues," etc. - The illumination of heavenly wisdom: an example of which is found in Solomon in 3 Kings three, where it is said that he prayed and sought wisdom, which he also obtained; and James one: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all abundantly."
The opening of the heavenly gate, which by the power of prayer is closed to the wicked and opened to the good: James five: "Elijah was a man like us, subject to suffering, and he prayed in prayer that it would not rain upon the earth, and it did not rain for three years and six months. And again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain."
The acquisition of eternal reward: Matthew 6: "But you, when you pray, enter into your chamber, and having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you"; Psalm: "For you, my God, have heard my prayer; you have given an inheritance to those who fear your name"; and Ecclesiasticus, last chapter: "I will praise the name of the Lord continually and will praise it in confession, and my prayer was heard."
Now in figure of these ten efficacies, the sun is read to have gone back ten degrees at the prayer of Hezekiah, in Fourth Kings 20. From which it is gathered that prayer prevails over lower nature, prevails over the power of heaven, commands spiritual nature, draws the Holy Spirit, inclines the Son of God, and appeases the eternal Father, and through this in a certain way has dominion with respect to all things.
4. (Verse 2). There was a certain judge, etc. After the reason for introducing the parable, there is here subjoined the introduction of the parable itself: concerning whose expression three things are introduced, namely the hardness of the judge, the persistence of the poor woman, and the efficacy of prayer.
First, as to the hardness of the judge, he says: There was a certain judge in a certain city, who did not fear God, on account of the hardness of heart which causes one not to fear God, according to that passage of Isaiah 63: "You have hardened our heart, lest we should fear you." Such hardened ones do not fear God but rather despise him; in whose person, Job 21: "Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?" and 22: "As if the Almighty could do nothing, they esteemed him." Such are those who say that of Deuteronomy 32: "Our hand is exalted, and not the Lord, has done all these things." — And because pride accompanies hardness, therefore he adds: And he did not reverence man, on account of the arrogance of mind. Whence he was of the number of those of whom Wisdom 2 says: "Let us oppress the just poor man and let us not spare the widow, nor reverence the gray hairs of the aged of much time." To such Isaiah 33 says: "Woe to you who plunder! Shall you not yourself also be plundered? And you who despise, shall you not yourself also be despised? When you have finished plundering, you shall be plundered, and when, wearied, you cease to despise, you shall be despised."
5. (Verse 3). Second, as to the persistence of the poor woman, he adds: But there was a certain widow in that city; a widow, namely, deprived of the comfort of a husband; and such are especially to be assisted, according to that passage of Isaiah 1: "Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the orphan, and defend the widow." To such, justice ought to be rendered more readily, because they are less able to defend themselves and are more frequently oppressed; and therefore Ecclesiasticus 4: "Deliver him who suffers injury from the hand of the proud." "In judging, be merciful to orphans as a father, and as a husband to their mother; and you shall be as an obedient son of the Most High, and he will have mercy on you more than a mother."
Concerning this widow, then, who needed the judge's protection on account of the oppression of the wicked, he adds: And she kept coming to him, saying: Vindicate me against my adversary, through the rigor of just judgment; and this indeed was just for such a person: Ecclesiasticus twenty-one: "The prayer of the poor shall reach from his mouth to the ears, and judgment shall come to him speedily," namely from God; and thirty-five: "He will hear the prayer of the one who is wronged; nor will he despise the prayers of the orphan, nor the widow, if she pours forth words of groaning. Do not the tears of the widow run down her cheek, and is not her cry against him who causes them to fall? For from the cheek they ascend even to heaven." And yet they do not reach the hardened heart of man.
6. (Vers. 4.). Whence he adds: And he was unwilling for a long time, on account of the faithlessness of his hardened mind; whence he was of the number of those of whom Isaiah one says: "Your princes are faithless, companions of thieves. They all love gifts, they pursue rewards. They do not judge for the orphan, and the cause of the widow does not come before them"; and Jeremiah five: "They have not judged the cause of the widow, they have not directed the cause of the orphan," etc.
7. Third, as regards the efficacy of prayer, he adds: But after these things he said within himself: Although I do not fear God nor regard man, through the boldness of heart, on account of which he was like that proud man of whom Job fifteen says: "He ran against God with neck erect and was armed with a fat neck." Whence he was also of the number of those of whom it is said in the Psalm: "Destruction and unhappiness are in their ways," etc.
8. (Vers. 8.). Yet, because this widow troubles me, through the persistence of prayer, which conquers all things, according to that passage in Judges fourteen concerning the wife of Samson, who "wept before him during the seven days of the feast, and at length on the seventh day, since she was troublesome to him, he explained it." On account of which, above in chapter eleven: "And he from within should answer: Do not trouble me, for my children are with me in bed." "And if he shall continue knocking, I say to you, even if he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs."
So also this judge is overcome by importunity; whence he adds: I will vindicate her, according to the demand of her right; for this is the office of a judge, to relieve the oppressed and to punish the oppressors: Numbers thirty-one: "The Lord spoke to Moses: First avenge the children of Israel upon the Midianites, and so you shall be gathered to your fathers." This the judge ought not to do out of hatred of the person, but out of love of justice, as Mattathias, of whom First Maccabees two says: "His fury was kindled according to the judgment of the Law, and leaping upon him he slew that man."
Now this judge did not exercise vengeance out of zeal for the law, but to avoid the weariness of petition; and therefore he adds: Lest in the end she come and wear me out, by the frequency of her crying. Bede: " In the end, that is, lest coming again and again she strangle me with her wearisome outcries." Whence the Gloss says that " sugillo is derived from suga, drawn from the lamiae, that is, I strangle." For lamiae kill infants and suck their blood, and thereby suffocate and kill by strangling. Therefore one is said to be worn out who is afflicted by words and arguments with such great weariness that from the weariness blood is sucked out and diminished. Whence the sense is: wear me out, that is, suck my blood, like the lamiae, of whom it is said in Lamentations chapter four: "The lamiae have bared their breasts, they have nursed their young."
9. (Vers. 6.). And the Lord said etc. After the reason for introducing the parable and the introduction of the parable itself, there follows here the application of the parable as introduced : concerning which three things are set forth. For human attention is aroused, confidence is raised up, and distrust is reproved.
First, therefore, with respect to the arousal of attention, it is said: And the Lord said: Hear what the unjust judge says, that is, consider the response of this judge, in which one must consider indeed how great is the efficacy of persistent prayer, because persistence begot annoyance, and annoyance extorted justice. Whence although he had a heart of stone, he was nonetheless moved by the frequency of petitions, so that in him that poetic saying is verified:
"A drop hollows out a stone, not by force, but by falling often."
Although there was iniquity in him, he was nonetheless compelled to render justice by the widow's importunate persistence; from which we understand that if the persistence of petition softened a most hardened judge and inclined a most unjust one to render judgment, how much more powerfully will it incline a God who is merciful and just. Whence Chrysostom: "Not such a judge, lacking the faithfulness of love, compelled by weariness — nor can his zeal be praised here — but if he, with whatever disposition, avenged the widow, God the judge will most certainly avenge the injury done to his own." From this the efficacy of persistent prayer is shown in a wondrous way, because he who neither feared God nor cared for the regard of man nor loved justice was overcome by the widow through her importunate persistence in petitions.