Parable of the Unjust Judge

The importunate widow, fresco in the Palace of Facets in Moscow

The Parable of the Unjust Judge (also known as the Parable of the Importunate Widow or the Parable of the Persistent Woman) is one of the parables of Jesus which appears in the Gospel of Luke. In it, a judge who lacks compassion is repeatedly approached by a woman seeking justice. Initially rejecting her demands, he eventually honors her request so that he will not be worn out by her persistence.

Quotes about

• Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
  “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
  And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
  • Gospel of Luke 18:1-8 NIV.

• In today's parable, Jesus says that God will not keep us waiting long, but will respond “promptly” to those who pray to him. But then, we immediately ask ourselves, why do so many of our prayers go unanswered? This is a serious and painful problem for believers, and we must beware of easy and simplistic answers. Jesus knew well that sometimes the fulfillment of prayer can be delayed, or even not happen at all, at least in our eyes. That is precisely why he told the parable of the widow, urging us to “pray always, without ever tiring.”
  If we cannot understand why God does not hear certain prayers, we can at least understand what a disaster it would be if He heard them all, every time. How many people have later blessed God for not hearing them when they asked for something, seeing what it would have deprived them of.
  • Raniero Cantalamessa, Gettate le reti. Riflessioni sui vangeli, Piemme, Casale Monferrato, 2001. ISBN 88-384-9498-3. Ch. III, p. 319.