Teachings on preparedness and the coming of the Son of Man

18:1 Then Jesus told them a parable to show them they should always pray and not lose heart. 18:2 He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. 18:3 There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' 18:4 For a while he refused, but later on he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, 18:5 yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out by her unending pleas.'" 18:6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! 18:7 Won't God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay long to help them? 18:8 I tell you, he will give them justice speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" 18:9 Jesus also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else. 18:10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. 18:12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.' 18:13 The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!' 18:14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." 18:15 Now people were even bringing their babies to him for him to touch. But when the disciples saw it, they began to scold those who brought them. 18:16 But Jesus called for the children, saying, "Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 18:17 I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it." 18:18 Now a certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18:19 Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 18:20 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'" 18:21 The man replied, "I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws since my youth." 18:22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 18:23 But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was extremely wealthy. 18:24 When Jesus noticed this, he said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 18:25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." 18:26 Those who heard this said, "Then who can be saved?" 18:27 He replied, "What is impossible for mere humans is possible for God." 18:28 And Peter said, "Look, we have left everything we own to follow you!" 18:29 Then Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of God's kingdom 18:30 who will not receive many times more in this age - and in the age to come, eternal life."

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Luke 18:1-30 shows the kind of heart God approves in those who await his kingdom: persistent faith in prayer, humble repentance, childlike reception, and wholehearted loyalty to Jesus. It also warns that self-righteousness and attachment to wealth can keep a person from entering the kingdom.

Website-Ready Commentary Main Point: Luke 18:1-30 shows the kind of heart God approves in those who await his kingdom: persistent faith in prayer, humble repentance, childlike reception, and wholehearted loyalty to Jesus. It also warns that self-righteousness and attachment to wealth can keep a person from entering the kingdom. Commentary: Jesus gives four connected scenes here, not a random set of sayings. Together they show how people are to live while waiting for God’s justice and while facing the call to enter his kingdom. First, Jesus tells the parable of the widow and the unjust judge to teach that his disciples must keep praying and must not lose heart. Luke states that purpose plainly. The widow keeps coming because she needs justice against her adversary. The judge is corrupt. He does not fear God or care about people. Yet even he finally acts because her repeated appeals wear him down. Jesus’ point is not that God is like this judge, or that believers can pressure God into doing what they want. The point is one of contrast. If even an unrighteous judge finally responds, then God will certainly bring justice to his own people, his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night. The issue is the vindication of God’s people, not a general formula for getting results through repeated prayer. When Jesus says God will give justice “speedily,” he does not mean there is never any waiting, since the whole parable assumes delay and the temptation to give up. He means that when God’s vindicating action comes, it will come decisively and without further postponement. The closing question, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” turns the focus onto the hearers. The real question is not whether God will be faithful, but whether people will continue in trusting prayer while they wait. Next, Jesus tells a parable aimed at those who were confident in their own righteousness and looked down on others. That target matters. The issue is not merely bad manners or pride in general. It is false confidence before God, and that false confidence shows itself in contempt for others. The Pharisee’s prayer sounds thankful, but it is really self-congratulation spoken in God’s presence. He measures himself against other sinners and lists his religious achievements. The tax collector, by contrast, stands far off, will not even lift his eyes to heaven, beats his breast, and asks for mercy. His posture and his words show that he knows he is guilty and has no claim on God. Jesus says it is this man, not the Pharisee, who goes home justified. That means he is declared righteous before God, not merely that he feels better or gains social acceptance. Jesus grounds this verdict in a kingdom principle: everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. Right standing before God belongs not to the self-approving worshiper, but to the humble sinner who pleads for mercy. Then people bring even infants to Jesus. The disciples rebuke them, likely treating such little ones as unimportant. Jesus corrects them. He says the kingdom of God belongs to such as these, and whoever does not receive the kingdom like a child will never enter it. This is not sentimental praise of childish innocence or simplicity. In this context, children represent dependence, low status, and the posture of receiving rather than achieving. Jesus moves from saying the kingdom belongs to such people to saying one must receive it this way in order to enter it. The kingdom is not mastered, earned, or claimed by status. It is received by those who come needy and dependent. That leads directly into the rich ruler. He asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus first challenges his use of the word “good,” not because Jesus denies his own goodness or authority, but because he forces the man to think seriously about God’s standard of goodness and about what it means to address Jesus in that way. Jesus then cites commandments dealing with human relationships. The ruler claims he has kept them from his youth. Jesus does not treat that answer as sufficient. Instead, he exposes the man’s true problem: “One thing you still lack.” He must sell what he has, give to the poor, and follow Jesus. This is not a softened call to be a little more generous. Nor should it automatically be turned into the same command for every believer in every circumstance. Here Jesus is exposing the man’s ruling attachment. His sadness shows that wealth is his real master. The command reveals that his obedience is incomplete because his heart is divided. Jesus then draws out the larger lesson: how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. The image of a camel going through the eye of a needle is deliberate impossibility language. It is not meant to be explained away as a narrow gate or a difficult but manageable task. The point is that riches create a humanly impossible obstacle when they become a rival source of security and allegiance. The disciples understand the seriousness of this, so they ask, “Then who can be saved?” In this section, entering the kingdom and being saved belong together. Jesus answers, “What is impossible for mere humans is possible for God.” Salvation is not achieved by moral effort, social standing, or material advantage. It requires God’s action. Finally, Peter points out that the disciples have left what they had to follow Jesus. Jesus does not rebuke that statement. Instead, he promises that no one who has left home, family, or other securities for the sake of God’s kingdom will fail to receive many times more in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life. This promise must not be turned into prosperity teaching. Jesus is not guaranteeing a worldly life of ease or luxury. He is assuring his followers that losses endured for the kingdom are seen by God and will not go unrewarded. There is real kingdom-centered recompense now, and there is eternal life in the age to come. Taken together, these scenes show what readiness for God’s kingdom looks like. It appears in prayer that keeps trusting God through delay, in repentance that abandons self-vindication and seeks mercy, in childlike dependence that receives rather than boasts, and in discipleship that is willing to surrender wealth and other earthly securities in order to follow Jesus. Key Truths: - God is not reluctant like the unjust judge; he will surely vindicate his people in his time. - Faith in this passage includes persevering trust expressed through continued prayer. - Justification is God’s verdict given to the humble sinner who pleads for mercy, not to the self-righteous person. - The kingdom must be received with dependent, childlike humility, not claimed by status or achievement. - Wealth can become a rival lord that blocks wholehearted obedience to Jesus. - What is impossible for man is possible with God, so salvation depends on God’s power, not human merit. - Jesus promises real reward for costly discipleship, but this is not a guarantee of earthly prosperity.

• God is not reluctant like the unjust judge
• he will surely vindicate his people in his time. - Faith in this passage includes persevering trust expressed through continued prayer. - Justification is God’s verdict given to the humble sinner who pleads for mercy, not to the self-righteous person. - The kingdom must be received with dependent, childlike humility, not claimed by status or achievement. - Wealth can become a rival lord that blocks wholehearted obedience to Jesus. - What is impossible for man is possible with God, so salvation depends on God’s power, not human merit. - Jesus promises real reward for costly discipleship, but this is not a guarantee of earthly prosperity.

• Do not read the widow parable as a technique for pressuring God into granting requests. - Do not reduce the Pharisee and tax collector to a vague lesson about being nicer or less proud
• the issue is a person’s standing before God. - Do not sentimentalize childlikeness into innocence or simplicity
• the emphasis is dependence and receptivity. - Do not weaken the rich ruler account into a mild call for moderate generosity. - Do not turn Jesus’ promise of multiplied return into prosperity teaching.

These scenes cohere around the kind of posture the kingdom requires while God's justice is still awaited. The widow's repeated appeal concerns vindication, not a general technique for getting results. In the temple, the decisive question is who leaves under God's favorable verdict, and Jesus gives that verdict to the man who pleads for mercy rather than to the man who recites his distinctions. The children then embody the dependent reception the kingdom requires, which throws the ruler's failure into sharper relief: he cannot receive what must be received because wealth has become a competing security. Misreadings usually arise when childlikeness is sentimentalized, humility is reduced to a personality trait, or the danger of possessions is softened.

- Keep praying for God’s justice and help even when the answer seems delayed. - Examine whether your prayers are truly dependent on God or subtly shaped by self-display. - Welcome the lowly, dependent, and socially unimpressive, since Jesus places them near the center of kingdom life. - Test whether money, possessions, or social security compete with your loyalty to Christ. - When following Jesus brings loss, interpret that cost in light of his promise rather than by present deprivation alone.

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