And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?
Verse 1 begins and He told them..., so the question is "Who are they?" From the preceding passage, it is the disciples. What He wanted them, and us, to get from this parable is the need to persist in our prayers - not giving up on them, or on God. This is one of those parables which is both a comparison and contrast. We are to be like the widow in our persistence, but God is not like this judge in His character. In fact, it is the very character of God that should prompt us to be even more persistent than she was: God is good, just, loving, and always watching and listening. The last sentence almost seems disjointed, like Jesus has switched gears from prayer to faith, but He has not. They are connected. If we really believe, we will be praying when He comes - always praying, day and night, not knowing when He will come.
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