NOTES for Luk 18:2-8

As a rule, the most puzzling words in today's reading are these: "though He delays to protect them." Why does He delay, what is He waiting for, when things are so hard for us, people ask. So today let us think precisely about these words. We remember well the words of the psalm: let Your mercies quickly come before us, O Lord, for we have become very poor (Ps 78:8). We remember them especially well because they entered the prayers of the sixth hour, which means we often hear them in church. Three more times in the Psalter this cry is heard: "hear us quickly" (Ps 68:18, 101:3, 142:7). We very much want the Lord to help us sooner; we hurry Him. Who knows, perhaps if it were not for this, there would be no need to say that He delays. Not because, seeing how impatiently we wait for His help, He deliberately delays; no, of course not. Rather, it is because He seems to want to sober us. He wants us to turn toward ourselves and see how much He has already given us. More than anything, He wants our growth, which would be impossible if He did everything for us. A comparison with earthly parents is entirely appropriate here, it seems to us. When a child asks for help writing a school essay, any sensible parent first asks him to try to write something himself. The Lord, as a loving Parent, does not delay in only one case, when it is a matter of life and death. And it is precisely then that He works a miracle. If we remember this, we will understand miracles more correctly and will not look for false miracles.