Chapter Eighteen
Lk. 18:1. He also told them a parable about the need to always pray and not lose heart,
Since the Lord mentioned sorrows and dangers, He also offers the remedy for them. This remedy is prayer, and not simply prayer, but constant and fervent prayer.
Lk. 18:2. saying: in a certain city there was a judge, who neither feared God nor regarded man.
Lk. 18:3. In that same city there was a widow, and she, coming to him, kept saying: defend me from my adversary.
Lk. 18:4. But for a long time he was unwilling. Yet afterward he said to himself: Though I neither fear God nor regard man,
Lk. 18:5. But, because this widow does not give me rest, I will defend her, so that she may not come anymore to trouble me.
All this, he says, is to happen to the people of that time, but against this, prayer provides great help, which we must constantly and with patience offer, keeping in mind how the persistence of the widow swayed the unjust judge. For if constant entreaty softened him, who was full of all manner of wickedness and ashamed neither before God nor before men, how much more shall we not incline to mercy the Father of compassions, God, even though He delays for the present? Notice that not being ashamed before men is a sign of great wickedness. For many do not fear God, but are at least ashamed before men, and therefore sin less. But whoever has ceased to be ashamed even before men has reached the height of wickedness. Therefore the Lord also placed afterward: "and was not ashamed before men," speaking as if to say: the judge did not fear God, and what am I saying, did not fear God? — he displayed even greater wickedness, because he was not ashamed even before men.
Lk. 18:6. And the Lord said: hear what the unjust judge says.
Lk. 18:7. God, shall He not avenge His elect, who cry out to Him day and night, though He is long-suffering over them?
Lk. 18:8. I tell you that He will give them protection shortly.
This parable teaches us, as we have said many times, that we should not lose heart in our prayers, just as it is said in another place: which of you, having a friend, will send him away if he comes and knocks at night? For if for no other reason, then because of his importunity he will open to him (Luke 11:5, 8). And again: "What man is there among you who, when his son asks him for bread," and so on? (Matt. 7:9). By all these things the Lord impresses upon us the constant practice of prayer.
Some attempted to expound this parable as thoroughly as possible and ventured to apply it to reality. The widow, they said, is the soul that has rejected her former husband, that is, the devil, who for this reason became an adversary, constantly attacking her. She comes to God, the Judge of unrighteousness, who, that is, condemns unrighteousness. This Judge fears not God, for He alone is God, and has no other whom He might fear, and regards not man, because "God does not show partiality to man" (Gal. 2:6). Upon this widow, upon the soul constantly asking God for protection from her adversary the devil, God has compassion, since her persistence overcomes Him.
Let whoever wishes accept such an understanding. It is conveyed only so that it would not remain unknown. The Lord merely teaches us by this the necessity of prayer and shows that if this judge, lawless and full of every malice, took pity because of the unceasing request, how much more will God, the source of all righteousness, quickly grant protection, even though He is longsuffering and seemingly does not listen to those who ask Him day and night. Having taught us this and shown us that at the time of the end of the world one must make use of prayer against the dangers that will then occur, the Lord adds:
Lk. 18:8. But will the Son of Man, when He comes, find faith on the earth?
By His interrogative manner of speech showing that few believers will be found at that time. For the son of lawlessness will then have such power that he would deceive even the elect, if it were possible (Matt. 24:24). Concerning that which is found rarely, the Lord customarily uses the interrogative form of speech. For example: "Who is the faithful and wise steward?" (Luke 12:42). And here, indicating the same thing, namely that those who preserve faith in God and trust in one another will then be very few in number, the Lord employed the aforementioned question.
Urging to prayer, the Lord rightly added a word about faith, since faith constitutes the beginning and foundation of all prayer. For a person will pray in vain if he does not believe that he will receive what is asked for his benefit (James 1:6–7). Therefore the Lord, teaching to pray, also mentioned faith, covertly making known that few would then be able to pray, since faith would then be found in not many. Thus the Lord, coming on the clouds, will not find faith on earth, except perhaps in a few. But He will then produce faith. For, even if unwillingly, all will confess that "Jesus is Lord... to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:11), and if one must call this faith rather than necessity, there will remain none among the unbelievers who would not believe that the Savior is only the one whom he formerly blasphemed.
Lk. 18:9. He also spoke the following parable to some who were confident in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Lk. 18:10. Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector.
The Lord does not cease to destroy the passion of pride with the most powerful arguments. Since it disturbs the minds of people more than all other passions, the Lord teaches about it frequently and at length. So now too He heals its worst form. For self-love has many branches. From it are born: conceit, boasting, vainglory, and the most pernicious of all — pride. Pride is the rejection of God. For when someone ascribes his good qualities not to God but to himself, what else does he do but deny God and rebel against Him? This God-opposing passion, against which the Lord arms Himself as an enemy against an enemy, the Lord promises to heal with the present parable. For He speaks it to those who were confident in themselves and did not ascribe everything to God, and who therefore also despised others, and He shows that righteousness, even though it may be admirable in other respects and bring a person close to God Himself, yet if it admits pride, it casts a person down to the lowest degree and makes him like the devil, who sometimes assumes the appearance of being equal to God.
Lk. 18:11. The Pharisee, standing, prayed thus with himself: God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Lk. 18:12. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all that I acquire.
The opening words of the Pharisee resemble those of a grateful man, for he says: I thank Thee, God! But his subsequent speech is filled with utter madness. For he did not say: I thank Thee that Thou hast kept me from unrighteousness, from robbery, but what? — that I am not such. He ascribed perfection to himself and to his own strength. But to condemn others — how is this characteristic of a man who knows that everything he has, he has from God? For if he were convinced that he possesses the goods of others by grace, then without doubt he would not have disparaged others, bearing in mind that he too, with respect to his own strength, is equally naked, and is clothed with a gift by mercy. Therefore the Pharisee, as one who ascribes his accomplished deeds to his own strength, is arrogant, and from this he went so far as to condemn others. The Lord indicates the arrogance and absence of humility in the Pharisee also by the word "standing." For the humble man has a humble bearing as well, but the Pharisee displayed vanity even in his outward conduct. It is true that of the publican too it is said "standing," but see what is added further: "he would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven." Therefore his standing was at the same time a bowing down, whereas the Pharisee's eyes and heart were both lifted up to heaven.
Look also at the order that is presented in the Pharisee's prayer. First he said what he is not, and then he enumerated what he is. Having said, "I am not such-and-such, as other men," he also puts forward various virtues: "I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of all that I acquire." For one must not only turn away from evil, but also do good (Ps. 33:15). And first one must depart from evil, and then proceed to virtue, just as when wishing to draw clean water from a muddy spring, you must first clean out the filth, and only then can you draw clean water. Note also that the Pharisee did not say in the singular: I am not a robber, not an adulterer, like others. He did not allow even in mere words a shameful name to be applied solely to his own person, but used these designations in the plural, about others. Having said, "I am not such as others," he contrasted this with: "I fast twice a week," that is, two days a week. The Pharisee's speech could have a deep meaning. Against the passion of adultery he boasts of fasting. For lust is born of sensual excess. Thus he, afflicting his body with fasting, was very far from such passions. And the Pharisees truly fasted on the second day of the week and on the fifth. Against the designation of robbers and oppressors the Pharisee contrasted the fact that he gives a tenth of all that he acquires. Robbery, he says, and the inflicting of injuries are so abhorrent to me that I give away even what is my own. In the opinion of some, the Law commands tithing in general and for all time, but those who investigate it more deeply find that it prescribes a threefold tithe. You will learn about this in detail from Deuteronomy (Deut. 12, Deut. 14), if you pay attention. Such was the conduct of the Pharisee.
Lk. 18:13. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying: God, be merciful to me a sinner!