Luke 18 Study Notes

18:1 This parable speaks to the common tendency to give up and stop praying before receiving an answer from God.

18:2-3 This judge was not a religious or compassionate man. A widow in that culture was almost helpless. Her only hope was that her persistent plea for justice would be granted.

18:4-5 Though the judge was unprincipled and unwilling to grant the widow’s request (perhaps he was waiting for the widow to offer a bribe), he eventually caved in and granted her justice because she was persistent and he knew she would soon wear him out.

18:6-8 Jesus intends to make a contrast between the unjust judge and God. Unlike the unjust judge, God will not only grant justice to his children who are praying consistently but will act swiftly in doing so. The last part of v. 8 refers to the fact that at the time just before Christ’s second coming, genuine faith will be rare on earth (Mt 24:12-13).

18:9 The following parable focuses on a Pharisee (vv. 10-11). The phrase some who trusted in themselves describes the self-righteous outlook of the average Pharisee (vv. 11-12,14).

18:10-14 There were times around the morning and evening sacrifices at the temple when people could pray, although private prayer at other times was allowed. The Pharisee apparently kept the requirements of the Mosaic law and beyond (giving a tenth of earnings was all that was required). He was proud of his actions and his religious superiority to people such as the tax collector. By contrast, the tax collector knew that, as a sinner, he deserved only God’s wrath. Jesus emphasized that God’s justification is available to the humble, while the self-exalting will be brought low.

18:15-17 Jesus’s disciples apparently thought his time was too precious to be taken up with infants. Jesus responded that little children coming to him demonstrate the kind of childlike faith that is necessary to enter the kingdom of God.

18:18-23 The ruler was under the impression that eternal life could be earned by works (what must I do). Jesus shifted the focus by asserting that goodness only comes from God. Either the ruler had kept all the commandments listed in v. 20 or Jesus preferred not to argue about that. The latter is most likely, especially since Jesus’s follow-up command revealed that the man was more interested in wealth on earth than treasure in heaven (where he would have eternal life). His unwillingness to distribute his wealth to the poor kept him from becoming Jesus’s disciple.

18:24-27 Jesus contradicted the conventional wisdom that those with wealth were blessed by God and would certainly be in his kingdom. A camel trying to go through the eye of a needle was apparently a proverbial saying for what was impossible; this explains the question from Jesus’s hearers. His response was that people cannot be saved by their own efforts but only by salvation that comes by God’s grace.

18:28-30 After hearing the earlier discussions, Peter—as spokesman for the apostles—indicated that they had done precisely what Jesus had instructed the rich ruler to do in v. 22. They had left everything and followed him. Jesus replied that not only would they have eternal life in the age to come, but they would also be greatly blessed in this life. To leave wife and children means itinerant ministry, not divorce or abandonment of domestic responsibilities.

18:31-34 This is the third major prediction of Jesus’s death. The first is 9:21-22; the second is 9:43b-44. This is the most detailed of the three. As with the second prediction, the disciples did not understand. As is true through the entire middle portion of Luke’s Gospel, the movement of the narrative is toward Jerusalem. The only passage in the OT prophets that deals with the Son of Man is found in Dn 7:13 and its context. However, there are several major prophecies about the sufferings of the Messiah, notably Ps 22 and Is 53. Handed over and rise on the third day give a preview of Luke’s narrative from 22:63 to 24:12. The disciples did not understand what Jesus meant about these things until after his resurrection (24:25-27,44-46).

18:35-43 In Lk 17:11, Jesus apparently crossed the Jordan River to the east near the border between Galilee and Samaria. Now he crossed back to the west opposite Jericho. When the blind man inquired about the crowd, he was told only that Jesus of Nazareth (a Galilean village of little significance), was near. There is nothing messianic about such an identification. However, when he cried out that Jesus was the Son of David (see Mt 1:1), he was confessing Jesus as Messiah. His faith became the basis for his healing. His cry, have mercy on me, prompted Jesus to restore his sight. It is ironic that the formerly blind man, who now became a disciple of Jesus, could see immediately, while the twelve apostles had no insight into where Jesus and his ministry were headed (see note at vv. 31-34).