Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge

Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge

 

Luke 18:1-8 『And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of my adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect him, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?』

The Bible says, “Life is like grass that sprouts in the morning,” and “It’s like sleeping for a little while.” It also says, “Even if our lives are seventy or eighty, they are gone in an instant.” However, humans think in their minds that they will live forever. Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” This means “prepare for judgment,” but people don’t seem to have that mindset at all. They have a vague idea, “If I believe in Jesus, I will go to heaven.”

When it is said, “The widow should go before the unjust judge and get her revenge,” the believers think of these words as “a prayer clinging to God.” The Bible says in Hebrews 11:13-16, “The country to which we must return is the kingdom of God.” These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded. of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God : for he hath prepared for them a city.』

Home means “I lived there,” and the human spirit comes from God, but the reason people do not think that home is God’s country is because they do not know the fact.

In order for a believer to return home, he must know that the human spirit came from God. When God distributed the land of Canaan to the Israelites, he said in Leviticus 25:23, “The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine, for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.”

It could be that God is speaking about the land of Canaan, or believers can think that God is speaking about this world. If we say that the land of Canaan is a stranger, Israel came from Egypt, so Egypt becomes their homeland. It makes no sense to say that Egypt is our hometown. So, I am a stranger to this land.

Looking at the words in Hebrews 11:13-16 above, the ancestors of Israel looked upon God's promise from afar and testified that they were "strangers to this land." In other words, this means that there is a hometown to which one must return. If we are talking about Ur of the Chaldees, which Abraham left, there is a chance to return, but it is not that place. Not even Egypt. In the book of Hebrews, it is said that the better country is “in heaven.” The meaning of “better” refers not to this earth, the material world, but to the kingdom of God, the spiritual world.

Every spirit in life is a traveler who comes from the kingdom of God, stays for a while, and then must return. Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; The flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” In Ecclesiastes 12:7, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God.” He said, “Who gave it.” The body returns to the earth, and the spirit returns to the kingdom of God.

However, most believers say that “the subject of one’s mind” is a mind that originates from the flesh. In the Bible, the source of the carnal mind is expressed as the old man. Since this old man originates from the flesh, the spirit can be revived only when the flesh dies. What God saves is the spirit. The spirit should not be in the body, but in the spirit world. However, it is unnatural for the spirit to be in the body. Because the spirit is trapped in the body. Even in the Bible, it is expressed as “trapped in prison.” The purpose of Jesus coming to the world was “to free those who were imprisoned.”

In John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth,” it is said that God is spirit. Since God is spirit, he is in the kingdom of God. Humans also have a spirit. In Luke 8:55, it is said that the daughter of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, died, but her spirit returned when Jesus brought her back to life. 『And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.』 According to Jesus' words in John 6:63, "The spirit is dead." “The spirit is dead” means “the relationship with God has been broken.”

The world in which humans live is called the material world. God created the spirit in the kingdom of God, so why is this spirit not in the kingdom of God but in the material world, the earthy body? In other words, the spirit is trapped in the body. If the spirit is in the kingdom of God, it is free, but if the spirit is trapped in the dirt, it is not free. However, Jesus said that he would free those who were imprisoned. The spirit comes out of the body when the body dies, but the spirit cannot come out of the body while alive in this world, but it can find freedom through Jesus Christ. When “the old self, which originated from the flesh and the sins committed from heaven,” die on the cross with Jesus, the dead spirit rises and returns to the kingdom of God in a spiritual body that is resurrection.

The mind of the spirit is different from the mind that comes from the flesh. The words 『you must deny yourself』 mean that this spirit mind is different from the mind in freshness. The words 『you must deny yourself』 mean to deny the cardinal mind that comes from this fresl. Because, the cardinal mind that comes from fresh has a greed to become like God. This means denying this mind. Because what is in this freshness is the greed (sin) of wanting to be like God.

God put his spirit into the dust and he became human. From the spirit's point of view, this means that this land is a stranger. The phrase “God put it in the dust” means “the spirit was confined in the dust.” In 2 Corinthians 12:4, the Apostle Paul confesses, 『How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.』 Paradise is explained by humans on earth. Paul expressed that it was an indescribably good place. However, the spirit trapped in the material world and in the earthen human being is trapped in darkness.

Through the parable of the unjust judge and the widow, Jesus said, “Cry out, will you not grant the favor of the elect?” The resentment of the chosen ones is the “evil heart of thinking that they can become like God.” The widow symbolizes someone who has left God, Satan plays the role of a prosecutor, and Jesus plays the role of a lawyer. However, the judge is also Jesus. Since Jesus acts as both a lawyer and a judge, this means that he is not fair. It was expressed as unrighteous.

The sinner continues to ask “Jesus Christ, the lawyer and judge,” to repent of his mistakes and forgive his sins. So, as a lawyer, Jesus died to redeem a sinner (a widow), and as a judge, he raised a dead sinner (death on the cross) and made him a righteous person (resurrection).

A believer's greatest wish on earth should be to return to God, and the Bible does not say, "Pray for the world's blessings and do well," but "Pray to return to the kingdom of God." In order to return with Jesus, a believer must believe that he died on the cross with Jesus and was resurrected with Christ. In Luke 18:8, Jesus said, “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.” Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? 』Today, most believers do not believe in present resurrection. Because they see with their physical eyes, they believe that the body dies and is resurrected. So they have no heavenly life. However, “the widow who harassed the unjust judge” will receive resurrection life in heaven.