WILL JESUS FIND FAITH ON THE EARTH WHEN HE COMES?

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:1–8)

We often disconnect verse 8 from verses 1-7. Jesus teaches about being persistent in prayer followed by a rather awkward statement on his coming and whether or not he will find faith on the earth. The parable's meaning is obvious: the widow persisted in requesting justice from the unrighteous judge. She got her justice because of her persistence, not because the judge cared about justice. She wore him out with her constant requests that he finally caved in, seeing that she was not going to give up until he granted her request. Jesus then contrasts the judge with God to make the point that the Supreme Judge of the universe is not like this earthly judge - he is good and gracious and will not be slow in answering their pleas for justice. 

But what does the final statement have to do with the parable? First, it has to do with prayer. The widow's faith was evident in her persistent pleas. When Jesus makes this final statement what he is saying is will the Son of Man find his people in a persistent state of prayer? This is a convicting point. Will Jesus break through the clouds and find us sleeping or keeping watch? (Luke 22:46) If we truly have faith, why then is prayer so neglected by a majority of Christians? What an indescribable privilege we have in Christ Jesus: access to the Throne of Grace. But if Jesus cracks the sky today, how many of us will be on our knees? And of those on their knees, how many of us will be seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness? The cry for justice is a cry for God to make things right in the world; to rid it of all evil, sin and oppression. How many of us put the kingdom first? How many of us agonize over the flood of injustice in the world? We have a two-fold problem: we are often half-hearted about prayer, and when we do pray, we often pray about secondary concern. 

Faith is demonstrated in actions, not merely acknowledging something is true. When Jesus comes, will he find faith on the earth? Will he find us on our knees seeking his kingdom and His righteousness to conquer the world?  In other words, will he find us on our knees praying and pleading for his appearance to make everything that is wrong with the world right?  That's up to us!