The record of the Gospel of Luke is quite inclusive. After covering a number of matters in chapter seventeen, especially matters related to the kingdom of God, Luke goes on in chapter eighteen to cover several more points: the teaching about persistent prayer (vv. 1-8); the teaching about the entrance into the kingdom of God (vv. 9-30), a teaching that includes humbling ourselves (vv. 9-14), being like a little child (vv. 15-17), and renouncing all and following the Man-Savior (vv. 18-30); unveiling His death and resurrection the third time (vv. 31-34); and healing a blind man near Jericho (vv. 35-43). In this message we shall consider the Lord’s teaching about persistent prayer.
As the Savior was going from Galilee to Jerusalem, He was training His followers to know the economy of God concerning the jubilee. The jubilee is actually Christ as the embodiment of God for our enjoyment. Such words cannot be found in the Gospel of Luke. Nevertheless, this underlying thought is there: the jubilee, which is the kingdom of God, is Christ as the embodiment of God for our enjoyment.
For the sake of the jubilee, it was necessary for Christ to die to accomplish an all-inclusive redemption and then enter into resurrection. Through His all-inclusive redemption Christ has fulfilled the requirements for us to be released from every kind of bondage. Now we can be released from the bondage of sin, Satan, the world, the self, and the old creation. We need to see that it was necessary for Christ to die to set us free from this bondage. Then it was necessary for Him to be resurrected to bring us positively into the enjoyment of the divine inheritance. This inheritance is the Triune God processed to become the all-inclusive Spirit for our enjoyment.
This understanding of the underlying thought concerning the jubilee in the Gospel of Luke is not according to the concept of the natural mind. On the contrary, this understanding is in accord with the revelation given in the New Testament, especially that in Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation. In other words, the New Testament books from Acts to Revelation are an explanation, definition, and development of the vision in Luke concerning Christ’s death accomplishing full redemption to set us free from all negative things and His resurrection bringing us positively into the enjoyment of the Triune God, who, having been processed, is the all-inclusive Spirit for our enjoyment. This is the jubilee.
While the Lord was on the way to Jerusalem with His disciples, they had no idea what was happening or what was being taught to them by the Man-Savior. As we read the account of that journey, we see many different instances, and hidden in certain of these instances are a number of puzzling points.
We have seen that in chapter sixteen the Lord tells the disciples the parable of the unrighteous steward. Now in 18:1-8 He gives them another parable, the parable of an unrighteous judge. The unrighteous steward in chapter sixteen signifies us as the Lord’s stewards. As we shall see, the unrighteous judge in chapter eighteen refers to the righteous God. Therefore, the Lord used two parables, one denoting us and the other denoting God.
The unrighteous steward signifies us serving the Lord, and the unrighteous judge signifies God avenging us. To some degree at least, we have covered the parable of the unrighteous steward. In this message we shall seek to cover the problem presented by an unrighteous judge being used to signify the righteous God.