Sometimes Scripture is so familiar that we miss how outrageous Jesus can be. He chose a most unlikely hero for this parable. What’s more, he put her in an unlikely setting. Widows in that day had few legal rights, yet Jesus praised her for seeking justice.
Does your story mirror hers? Mine does, which is no doubt why I love the widow so. I once felt marginalized by loss. I had to persist in seeking justice. And I ended up before a judge. Chances are you’ve been a victim seeking justice at some point, or you know someone who has.
A courtroom is a remarkable place, enlivened by the ideal of justice. I waited a long time for my day in court. You might say I endured my own time of trial as I waited for the rapist’s trial to begin. I have bodily memories of the day I finally took the witness stand. When the rapist attacked, he wielded the power because of his weapon. Now I, as a victim, wielded the power because of my words.
Even so, testifying was difficult. It took persistence. I had to say things that “nice” women don’t say in public, naming body parts and sexual acts. I had to speak these words before strangers who listened intently while a court reporter wrote them down.
We may think it’s up to others to persist and speak truth to power. We may believe we should be quiet and submissive. This parable of Jesus sends a different message. He lifts every victimized woman from the margins and gives her a day in court. What’s more, he says this is the kind of persistence with which we should seek God.
Ruth Everhart is a Presbyterian pastor and the author of Ruined, which received a 2017 book award from Christianity Today. You can find her at rutheverhart.com, on Twitter at @rutheverhart, or on Facebook at RuthEverhartAuthor.
