Luke 18
A widow wears down a corrupt judge; a tax collector goes home justified; a ruler cannot give up his wealth and goes away sad.
Summary
The parable of the persistent widow illustrates the necessity of prayer without ceasing by analogy with a corrupt judge. A widow, who has no resources to bribe or connections to influence, repeatedly appears before a judge who neither fears God nor cares about people, demanding vindication against her adversary. The judge resists until her persistence makes him capitulate — lest by her continual coming she wears him out (the Greek verb literally means to give a black eye). If an unjust judge eventually grants justice because of persistence, how much more will God give justice to those who call to him, and quickly. The question ends the parable: when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector follows. Two men pray at the temple. The Pharisee's prayer catalogues his distinction from others and his religious practice. The tax collector stands at a distance, will not raise his eyes, beats his breast, and asks for mercy. Jesus's verdict: the tax collector, not the Pharisee, goes home justified. The parable is framed explicitly against those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.
When people bring infants to Jesus for him to touch them and the disciples prevent it, Jesus calls the children to him and says whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. A ruler asks about inheriting eternal life; Jesus traces back through the commandments, and the ruler says he has kept them since youth. Jesus says one thing remains: sell all that you have, distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow. The ruler is very rich and goes away sad. The disciples' perplexity prompts the camel and the needle's eye teaching — it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom — and Jesus's response to their question of who then can be saved: what is impossible with man is possible with God. Peter notes that the disciples have left their homes and followed him. Jesus answers with a promise of return in this life and eternal life. A third passion prediction follows, the disciples still not understanding. At Jericho a blind man calling out from the roadside — Son of David, have mercy on me — is silenced by the crowd but shouts louder, is brought to Jesus, and receives his sight. He follows, glorifying God.
- Luke 1Chapter 1 opens with a formal literary preface — Luke addresses a certain Theophilus and claims to have investigated everything carefully, setting himself apart as a self-conscious historian among the gospel writers.
- Luke 2Chapter 2 contains the nativity scene that dominates Western cultural memory of the gospels: the census under Quirinius, the journey to Bethlehem, the birth, the manger, the swaddling cloths, the angels appearing to shepherds in the fields at night.
- Luke 3Luke situates John's ministry with extraordinary chronological precision — the fifteenth year of Tiberius, the governorship of Pilate, the tetrarchies of Herod and Philip and Lysanias, the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas.
- Luke 4The Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness for forty days, where the devil offers him bread, political authority over all the kingdoms of the world, and divine protection — and is refused at each turn with a quotation from Deuteronomy.
- Luke 5By the Lake of Gennesaret, the crowds press against Jesus and he steps into Simon's empty boat to teach.
- Luke 6The chapter opens with two Sabbath controversies: the disciples pluck grain as they walk through fields, and Jesus defends them by citing David's eating the showbread when his men were hungry.
- Luke 7Three distinct episodes give chapter 7 its range.
- Luke 8Chapter 8 moves quickly across a range of narrative modes.
- Luke 9Chapter 9 is a turning-point chapter.
- Luke 10Jesus sends out seventy (some manuscripts say seventy-two) in pairs ahead of him into every town and place he intends to visit, with instructions similar to the twelve's but addressed to a larger group and a longer journey.
- Luke 11The chapter opens with Jesus praying in a certain place; when he stops, a disciple asks him to teach them to pray as John taught his disciples.
- Luke 12With ten thousand pressing around him, Jesus addresses the disciples first: beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
- Luke 13Some report to Jesus about Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
- Luke 14Jesus goes to eat at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees on the Sabbath, watched carefully by those present.
- Luke 15The Pharisees and scribes grumble that this man receives sinners and eats with them.
- Luke 16Chapter 16 contains two of Luke's most difficult parables.
- Luke 17The chapter opens with warnings about causing stumbling — better to have a millstone around your neck and be thrown into the sea — and the obligation to rebuke and forgive a brother who sins seven times in a day and repents each time.
- Luke 18Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow to teach that they ought always to pray and not lose heart: a widow in a city where a judge neither fears God nor respects people keeps coming to him demanding justice against her adversary; he eventually grants it not because of justice but because she is wearing him out.
- Luke 19Jericho contains the Zacchaeus scene, unique to Luke: a chief tax collector who is wealthy and short climbs a sycamore tree to see Jesus over the crowd.
- Luke 20Chapter 20 is a series of confrontations in the temple.
- Luke 21Looking up at those putting gifts into the treasury, Jesus observes that a poor widow puts in two small copper coins — the smallest unit of currency — and says she has put in more than all of them, because they gave from their abundance and she from her poverty gave everything she had.
- Luke 22Satan enters Judas Iscariot and he goes to the chief priests to discuss how to betray Jesus.
- Luke 23The assembly brings Jesus to Pilate, accusing him of perverting the nation, forbidding tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be king.
- Luke 24Very early on the first day of the week, the women — Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and others — bring spices to the tomb and find the stone rolled away.