The Parable of the Persistent Widow
18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 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? 8 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?”
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
The Little Children and Jesus
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’[Exodus 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20]”
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
28 Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; 33 they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
A Blind Beggar Receives His Sight
35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
39 Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord, I want to see,” he replied.
42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
NOTES:
18:1–14 The particularly Lucan material in the travel
narrative concludes with two parables on prayer. The first (Lk 18:1–8) teaches
the disciples the need of persistent prayer so that they not fall victims to
apostasy (Lk 18:8). The second (Lk 18:9–14) condemns the self-righteous,
critical attitude of the Pharisee and teaches that the fundamental attitude of
the Christian disciple must be the recognition of sinfulness and complete
dependence on God’s graciousness. The second parable recalls the story of the
pardoning of the sinful woman (Lk 7:36–50) where a similar contrast is
presented between the critical attitude of the Pharisee Simon and the love
shown by the pardoned sinner.
18:5 Strike me: the Greek verb translated as strike means
“to strike under the eye” and suggests the extreme situation to which the
persistence of the widow might lead. It may, however, be used here in the much
weaker sense of “to wear one out.”
18:15–19:27 Luke here includes much of the material about
the journey to Jerusalem found in his Marcan source (Lk 10:1–52) and adds to it
the story of Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1–10) from his own particular tradition and the
parable of the gold coins (minas) (Lk 19:11–27) from Q, the source common to
Luke and Matthew.
18:15–17 The sayings on children furnish a contrast to the
attitude of the Pharisee in the preceding episode (Lk 18:9–14) and that of the wealthy
official in the following one (Lk 18:18–23) who think that they can lay claim
to God’s favor by their own merit. The attitude of the disciple should be
marked by the receptivity and trustful dependence characteristic of the child.
18:22 Detachment from material possessions results in the
total dependence on God demanded of one who would inherit eternal life. Sell
all that you have: the original saying (cf. Mk 10:21) has characteristically
been made more demanding by Luke’s addition of “all.”
18:31–33 The details included in this third announcement of
Jesus’ suffering and death suggest that the literary formulation of the
announcement has been directed by the knowledge of the historical passion and
death of Jesus.
18:31 Everything written by the prophets…will be fulfilled:
this is a Lucan addition to the words of Jesus found in the Marcan source (Mk
10:32–34). Luke understands the events of Jesus’ last days in Jerusalem to be
the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, but, as is usually the case in Luke-Acts,
the author does not specify which Old Testament prophets he has in mind; cf. Lk
24:25, 27, 44; Acts 3:8; 13:27; 26:22–23.
18:38 Son of David: the blind beggar identifies Jesus with a
title that is related to Jesus’ role as Messiah (see note on Lk 2:11). Through
this Son of David, salvation comes to the blind man. Note the connection
between salvation and house of David mentioned earlier in Zechariah’s canticle
(Lk 1:69). See also note on Mt 9:27.
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