Our Perception of God and Ourselves

Jesus tells a parable in Luke's gospel about an unjust judge and a widow.  The widow demands justice, which is denied by the judge out of apathy.  The unjust judge finally relents to the demands of the widow out of exasperation and irritation.

Jesus' parable is a reflection of the way that Israel perceived God and itself.  Israel's notion of salvation history was grounded in the belief that if Israel were faithful to its covenant, God would make Israel a great nation.  Israel's perceived this in political terms, which were never fulfilled.  So Israel spent its time perpetually examining its conformity with the terms of the covenant and its hundreds of rituals and restrictions, believing that the reason why the covenant had not been fulfilled was that it was doing something incorrectly.

Israel's underlying understanding of God was that of an unjust judge who denied Israel's salvation because of some minute lack of conformity with the covenant.  And Israel perceived itself as a powerless widow whose only option was perpetual supplication.

Israel's error lay in its flawed understanding of salvation history.  God wanted Israel to be holy, to be a light to the nations.  God was not an unjust judge; Israel simply misunderstood God's notion of justice.

We do the same thing in the Christian tradition.  We have a perception that God will bring us salvation here and now in the way that we think is best.  God seeks to make us holy; to be a light to the nations.  God is not an unjust judge; we have just misunderstood God's justice.  And we are not powerless; we have just misunderstood our place in God's plan of salvation.