God Will Answer His People

18 ¹Then Jesus taught the followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. Jesus used this story to teach them: ²"Once there was a judge in a town. He did not care about God. The judge also did not care what people thought about him. ³In that same town there was a woman. Her husband was dead. The woman came many times to this judge and said, 'There is a man that is doing bad things to me. Give me my rights!' ⁴But the judge did not want to help the woman. After a long time, the judge thought to himself, 'I don't care about God. And I don't care about what people think. ⁵But this woman is bothering me. If I give her what she wants, then she will leave me alone. But if I don't give her what she wants, she will bother me until I am sick!'" ⁶The Lord (Jesus) said, "Listen! [There is meaning] in what the bad judge said. ⁷God's people shout to him night and day. God will always give his people what is right. God will not be slow to answer his people. ⁸I tell you, God will help his people quickly! But when the Son of Man* comes again, will he find people on earth who believe in him?"

Being Right with God

⁹There were some people that thought that they were very good. These people acted like they were better than other people. Jesus used this story to teach them: ¹⁰"One time there was a Pharisee* and a tax collector.* One day they both went to the temple* to pray. ¹¹The Pharisee stood alone, away from the tax collector. When the Pharisee prayed, he said, 'O God, I thank you that I am not as bad as other people. I am not like men that steal, cheat, or do the sin of adultery.* I thank you that I am better than this tax collector. ¹²[I am good]; I fast* twice a week, and I give one-tenth of everything I earn!' ¹³"The tax collector* stood alone too. But when he prayed, he would not even look up to heaven. The tax collector felt very humble before God. He said, 'O God, have mercy on me. I am a sinner!' ¹⁴I tell you, when this man finished his prayer and went home, he was right with God. But the Pharisee,* who felt that he was better than other people, was not right with God. Every person that makes himself important will be made humble. But the person that makes himself humble will be made important."

Who Will Enter God's Kingdom?

¹⁵Some people brought their small children to Jesus so that Jesus could touch them. But when the followers saw this, they told the people not to do this. ¹⁶But Jesus called the little children to him and said to his followers, "Let the little children come to me. Don't stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to people that are like these little children. ¹⁷I tell you the truth. You must accept God's kingdom like a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it!"

Son of Man A name Jesus used for himself. In Dan. 7:13-14, this is the name for the Messiah, the one God chose to save his people. Pharisees The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group that claimed to follow carefully all Jewish laws and customs. tax collector(s) Jews hired by the Romans to collect taxes. They often cheated, and the other Jews hated them. temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. adultery Breaking a marriage promise by sexual sin. fast To live without food for a time of prayer.