"I'm
only a poor man. But I got to have my rights same as you, see?"
"Oh
no. It's not so bad as that. I haven't got my rights, or I should not be here.
You will not get your rights either. You'll get something far better. Never
fear."
That
snatch of dialogue from C. S. Lewis' Great
Divorce nicely captures the essence of Jesus' famous tale. In Lewis' fable,
a man who murdered one of his coworkers meets his former boss on the outskirts
of Heaven. The boss, who has been hanging out in Hell, thinks something has
gone wrong in Admin. "What I don't see is why I should be put below a
bloody murderer like you." The short answer is that the homicide asked for
mercy while the foreman demanded justice.
Luke
links the story of the dueling prayers with the preceding parable about the
obsessive-compulsive widow in two ways. The more obvious is the statement,
"And he also told this parable." (v.9) The less obvious is the use of
a key word: "legal protection," v.3 and 5, and "justice,"
v.7 & 8, translate the same Greek word as "justified" in v.14. In
the courtroom context of both episodes it refers to legal vindication, having
the gavel come down in one's favor. In the first episode righteousness
improbably falls on the one who deserves it but cannot enforce it. In the
second episode righteousness alarmingly falls on the one who desires it but
cannot claim it.
The
point in either case is the shocking reversal of the Kingdom of Heaven.
If
we watch carefully, we can almost see the mafia boss wink at the Sunday school
superintendent as the two shuffle toward the exit. "It's not so bad as
that," he grins through a two-day growth of stubble, breathing the fumes
of last night's bender on the other man's perfect attendance pin. "I
haven't got my rights. Who knows? Maybe you won't either!"
Right On!
Doug
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