Luke 18

Luke 18 is the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the teachings and a miracle of Jesus Christ. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.

This parable appears only in the Gospel of Luke, and is also known as the Parable of the Unjust Judge and the Parable of the Importunate Widow. Luke's introductory wording (verse 1) states that the parable is intended to show Jesus' disciples "that they should always pray and not give up" or "not lose heart". The King James Version enjoins the disciples "not to faint". It tells of a judge who "did not fear God and did not respect man", who is repeatedly approached by a poor widow who is seeking justice. Initially rejecting her demands, he eventually honors her request to avoid being worn out by her persistence. This parable is found immediately prior to the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (also on prayer) and is similar to the parable of the Friend at Night, recorded in Luke 11. Methodist commentator Joseph Benson notes that the separation of chapter 18 from chapter 17 "improperly interrupts" Jesus' discourse regarding the "coming of the kingdom", arguing that the forthcoming persecution "would render the duties of prayer, patience, and perseverance peculiarly seasonable". Anglican churchman Henry Alford argues that while it is "not perhaps spoken in immediate unbroken sequence after the last discourse", it probably "arose out of it: perhaps [it] was the fruit of a conversation with the disciples about the day of His coming and the mind with which they must expect it". In modern translations, the widow's request is for "justice". Traditionally her plea for εκδικησον με (endikeson me) has been translated as "avenge me". The Revised Standard Version sees her requesting "vindication". Benson states that "the word properly signifies 'to judge a cause', and defend the injured judicially from the injurious person. The English word avenge, therefore, does not exactly hit the sense here intended, although, as Dr. Campbell observes, in the application of the parable, Luke 18:7 (KJV): And shall not God avenge his own elect?, "it answers better than any other term". Confident in his religiosity, the Pharisee asks God for nothing, and thus receives nothing. On the other hand, publicans were despised Jews who collaborated with the Roman Empire. Because they were best known for collecting tolls or taxes (see tax farming), they are commonly described as tax collectors. The parable, however, does not condemn the publican's occupation (cf ), but describes the publican as one who "recognizes his state of unworthiness before God and confesses his need for reconciliation".

Each of the three synoptic gospels tells of Jesus healing the blind near Jericho, as he passed through that town, shortly before his passion. Mark tells only of a man named Bartimaeus (literally "Son of Timaeus") being present, as Jesus left Jericho, making him one of the few named people to be miraculously cured by Jesus. Matthew has a similar account of two blind men being healed outside of Jericho, but gives no names. Luke tells of one unnamed blind man, but ties the event to Jesus' approach to Jericho rather than his departure from there. These men together would be the second of two healings of blind men on Jesus' journey from the start of his travels from Bethsaida (in Mark ) to Jerusalem, via Jericho. It is possible, though not certain, that Bartimaeus heard about the first healing, and so knew of Jesus' reputation.