Jesus Asks a Question: “Will the Son of Man find faith on the earth when He returns?”
Jesus Asks a Question: “Will the Son of Man find faith on the earth when He returns?”
The Grand Inquisitor. Messiah Jesus was a Master of asking questions: some were open-ended, others were very pointed; some were out of curiosity, others were challenging; some seemed rhetorical, others seemed painfully obvious; some were to reveal Himself, others were to guide the other into self-understanding; some were intentionally provocative, others were to kick-start a conversation; some questions were asked to explore a topic to deepen understanding and stretch toward the truth; some were leading questions that He designed to suggest a particular answer, and others were questions in response to questions asked of Him; some were hypotheticals to stimulate the imagination, other questions were used by Him as stepping stones to think logically from one point to the next. Jesus used questions to dignify the listener, letting that person know that He is taking that person seriously and listening carefully. Many of His questions were acts of friendship and used to pursue a more profound intimacy with someone. Jesus asked very few yes-no questions, and since time was usually irrelevant for Him when He was with people, He rarely asked a “when” question. Several biblical scholars have studied the gospels with Christ’s questions in mind, and they have literally counted a total of 307 questions in His various conversations and teachings. It seems that a worthy spiritual exercise when considering the many questions of Jesus is that we ask ourselves… should I take His questions personally, as if He was asking us that question right now?
The Question. “Nonetheless, when the Son of Man returns, will He find this kind of persistent faithfulness on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).
This a difficult and hard to hear question asked of His disciples. Was Jesus’ question an exaggerated poke at the disciples to inspire them to trust Him and continue praying? Was His question one of those hypotheticals that lawyers are famous for, to stimulate the thinking of the listeners? Was it prophetic, with Jesus expecting a decline in faith towards the end? Was it another classic rhetorical question to put “ants in the pants of faith” as Frederick Buechner would say?
The Context. This puzzling question of Jesus is at the tail end of His parable about the persistent widow and the unjust judge in Luke 18:1-8. Jesus told this parable immediately after conversations with both the Pharisees and his disciples about the coming Kingdom of God. His comment and parable are about prayer, both for present needs and for the 2nd Coming of the Lord. Jesus tells here an amusing story to his audience to inspire persistence and faith in their prayer life. The audience was probably a mixture of disciples and Pharisees, the common religious person and the religious elite, all of whom could use some wisdom on prayer.
THE JUDGE. He was a recognized power figure in society. During this time period, there were municipal authorities assigned by either Herod or the Romans. They were not Jewish, were not held to religious standards, and were generally pagan in their values. Jews considered these unpopular “village-judges” ignorant, arbitrary, dishonest, but still with the kind of authority they had to accept and deal with. These judges were not inclined to handle their duties in a just manner, and they didn’t care about public opinion. The judge in Jesus’ story would have been immediately recognized as one of these pagan judges, since he didn’t fear God and didn’t respect anyone.
THE WIDOW. She was the opposite extreme from the judge, powerless and vulnerable, weak and in low standing in the community, not at all influential in society, and without an advocate in the courts. Her situation appears hopeless from the beginning. In society at that point in history, men always advocated for women in the courts. Widows would not even be allowed in the courtroom. In this case, the widow was advocating for herself before the judge, which means that there was no male in her family to advocate for her. She was utterly alone, with no husband, son, uncle, cousin, brother to plead her case. She was desperate and alone. Despite her low standing, she feels she has been victimized and continues to plead her case before the judge. She wants his attention, and she won’t give up till she has justice. She pesters and badgers the judge, persistently demanding his attention to her case. She is insistent that the judge defend her against her adversary, and she won’t be ignored. It’s interesting that, in a traditionally patriarchal culture, Jesus puts a woman into the heroic role in the story. Women were loved and appreciated and held up for admiration by Jesus throughout his ministry. Here we have a widow held up as a role model when it comes to patience, courage and persistence in prayer.
“… Because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see to it that she gets justice – otherwise, she’ll keep coming and pestering me till she wears me out!’ Then the Lord commented, ‘Notice what this corrupt judge says! Now won’t God grant justice to His followers who cry out to Him day and night?
THE JUDGE. True to form, the judge initially couldn’t have cared less about this wronged widow. He stubbornly didn’t give her the time and attention she demanded. He finally gets worn down by her persistence. He could turn a deaf ear for only so long. He realized this widow was prepared to go on indefinitely, forever, and simply is determined to continue her aggressiveness for as long as it takes. “The Greek word has an unusual verb that means ‘ever tapping,’ signifying one who keeps knocking on the door of heaven until she receives what she came for.” (Dr. Brian Simmons). The Greek word for “wear me out” is actually a boxing term, and has been translated to mean “punch in the eye,” “slap in the face,” or even “give me a headache.” It’s clear that the judge was physically intimidated as well as exasperated, which would have amused Jesus’ listeners. So finally the judge relented, just to get her out of his hair. He caved in, through sheer courage and persistence from the widow. The audience would have felt like cheering, the unpopular villain being beaten by a powerless widow.
JESUS. For Jesus to use this unscrupulous, unpopular judge as a symbol for God is laughable. Jesus told this parable with a twinkle in his eye. The judge was an extreme opposite of God in every way. Every Jew knew that in Scripture God was a tireless defender of widows, a passionate advocate for widows and orphans. “Your widows too can trust in me.” (Jeremiah 49:11). That thought is all through the Law and the Psalms and Prophets. The audience would have laughed at the irony of God and the unjust judge.
How Much More. Jesus taught like a Jew, He argued like a Jew, He reasoned like a Jew. One classic method of rabbinic teaching was called the “Kal v’Chomer (pronounced as it looks, except the c is silent).” This was a commonly used strategy of reasoning and persuasion used throughout the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition. Breaking down that Hebrew phrase, “kal” means “Of course, obviously Yes.” And “v’chomer” means “all the more so.” The Hebrew understating of this teaching strategy can be described in many ways: light to heavy; lesser to greater; simple to complex; minor to major; lenient to strict. The kal v’chomer is a strictly logical process used everywhere in Jewish culture, from the courtrooms to the corner conversations to the synagogues. It is used by a speaker when he or she wants the listener to logically arrive at an inescapable conclusion. If A is obviously true, then it stands to reason that B is true as well. This process is often spoken of as the “How much more” argument. If A is commonly accepted, then how much more is it likely that B should be accepted as well?
Lesser to Greater. Like all effective rabbis, Jesus used this traditional strategy of argument when He read the room and believed that His audience was up to a logical argument. He would say, ‘If something is true in a minor matter, then how much more true will this major matter be?’ Jesus made successful use of Kal v’Chomer in His public ministry. ‘If this is obviously good, then that must be good as well.’ This is a commonsense type of reasoning that Jesus used many times in His speaking. There are at least eight different times He used this ‘lesser to greater’ approach to persuasion. In fact, because St. Paul loved to use this type of argument, and was probably taught it by the Master Rabbi Gamaliel, the New Testament has well over twenty different passages that include Kal v’Chomer reasoning.
THE IMPLIED Kal v’Chomer. How much more! If even a callous judge, who cared for no one, will help out a poor widow who keeps pestering him, how much more will a loving Father help those who approach Him! “By role-playing with divine nature and by using an exaggerated characterization of what God is not like, Jesus teaches what God is like.” (Brad Young, Jesus the Jewish Theologian). In other words, if a powerless widow persistently badgered a pagan judge knowing sooner or later she would find justice, how much more should we not give up when appealing to a righteous God? We are encouraged here to pray, and keep praying under all circumstances, even when it looks like an answer is long in coming and discouragements are many. By contrast, it is important to remember in faith that we pray to a just judge, who shows no favoritism to the powerful, who loves people, who won’t ignore or overlook those who seek Him.
His Question In Other Words. “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith (“pistis”) on the earth?” Why did he ask that? Was he discouraged about the amount of faith he witnessed around him? Did he lack confidence that his followers would hang on? The reader is not sure where Jesus is going with this puzzling question. Perhaps he is preparing his disciples for the tough times ahead, telling them that they will have a difficult time holding onto the faith unless they have the persistence and courage of the widow in the story. Because the rich and comprehensive Greek word “pistis” is used for faith in this question, there are other ways to put it… How much of that persistent faith of the widow will I find on the earth when I return? Will I find that kind of steadfast faith when I come back? Will anyone still trust in God’s promises by the time I return? Will there still be people who consistently rely on Me when I come back? Will there be anyone on the earth who remains firmly persuaded to be faithful to Me by the time I return?
Son of Man. Jesus gave Himself the title Son of Man throughout His ministry as recorded in the gospels, more than seventy times. Son of Man was His favorite way of describing Himself, even though He never once heard that term applied to Him by His disciples. Practically all biblical scholars believe that Jesus, at least in part, took that title from a well-known vision of Daniel’s and turned it into a title for Himself. “I kept watching the night visions, when I saw, coming with the clouds of heaven, One like a Son of Man. He approached the Ancient One, the Ancient of Days, and was led into His presence. To Him was given rulership, glory and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him. His authority is an eternal authority that will not pass away; and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14). There is much controversy, though, about what exactly this title Son of Man means.
Human. There were times in the gospels in which Jesus called Himself Son of Man in reference to His humanity. Jesus used the title in order to remind everyone of His humble condition as a flesh and blood, generic human being, in complete solidarity with all of humanity. Jesus so closely identifies Himself with mankind, with humanity’s deepest needs and vulnerabilities, that He chose Son of Man as a part of His identity. Jesus earnestly wants to confirm the dignity of being human, made in God’s image. Matthew 8:20 probably falls in line with that thought, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Divine. But then again, when Jesus called Himself the Son of Man, He was most likely declaring Himself to be the Messiah, the fulfillment of the Son of Man vision in Daniel 7. Many scholars claim that during Jesus’ time the Son of Man was the “highest term used in Jewish thought for the Messiah, the most exalted view of the coming Redeemer.” (Brad Young, Jesus, the Jewish Theologian). So when Jesus used that title, it was commonly understood by those who heard it that He certainly intended to suggest Messiah.
A Divine Human. Isn’t it fascinating that Daniel’s vision reveals the “One like the Son of Man” to be in human form, but was also divine, given the sovereignty over all the earth. This majestic person in the vision is “like” the Son of Man, but then again it is obvious here that He is much more than that. When Jesus claims to be the Son of Man, He is referring to both His humanity and His divinity. Jesus claimed to be both aspects of the prophesied Son of Man in Daniel, completely human and completely divine. He claimed to be the glorious fulfillment of Daniel 7, coming in the clouds of heaven to approach God in His eternal presence. Yes, He was born of a human being, mother Mary. And yes, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, God Himself. He was a Person, yet He received from God the kingdom of the earth. The Messiah, both human and divine. Jesus the Messiah. He wasn’t merely “like the Son of man,” He was as He repeatedly said during His ministry, “the” Son of Man.