Luke 18:8

8 I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?"

Luke 18:8 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 18:8

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily
As he did in a few years after the death of Christ, when God's elect among the Jews were singled out, and gathered in from them, and were delivered from their persecutors, and saved from temporal ruin and destruction, whilst the Roman army made sad havoc of their enemies; and so will he do in the end of the world.

Nevertheless, when the son of man cometh;
either to destroy Jerusalem, or to judge the world:

shall he find faith on the earth?
either in the land of Judea, the believers being removed from thence, and scattered among the Gentiles, and not a man, at least in Jerusalem, that had any faith in Jesus, as the Messiah; or in the world at the last day: there will then be little of the doctrine of faith, and less of the grace of faith, and still less of the exercise of faith, particularly in prayer, and especially about the coming of Christ; it will be little thought of, and expected, or faith little exercised about it. With this agree some expressions in the Jewish writings F19:

``Says R. Jose, the holy, blessed God, will not be revealed to Israel, but in the time, (atwnmyhm xktva ald) , "that faith is not found among them."''

And elsewhere F20, speaking of the times of the Messiah, and of a star that shall then appear, it is said

``when that star shall be seen in the world at that time mighty wars shall be stirred up in the world, on all the four sides, (xktvy al atwnmyhmw) , "and faith will not be found" among them.''

They seem to regard the first coming of the Messiah: and which was true with respect to the majority of their nation; and the same holds good with regard to his second coming; in the apocrypha it says:

``Nevertheless as coming the tokens, behold, the days shall come, that they which dwell upon earth shall be taken in a great number, and the way of truth shall be hidden, and the land shall be barren of faith.'' (2 Esdras 5:1)


FOOTNOTES:

F19 Zohar in Gen. fol. 118. 1.
F20 Ib. in Num. fol. 86. 1.

Luke 18:8 In-Context

6 Then the Master said, "Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying?
7 So what makes you think God won't step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won't he stick up for them?
8 I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?"
9 He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people:
10 "Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.