Two twelve-year-old boys, Bob and Mike, broke a window while playing baseball. They looked around to see if anyone had seen them. No one was in sight, except for Mike's little brother. They went over and offered him a piece of candy not to tell. He refused it. "I'll give you my baseball," Mike said. "No," said his little brother. "Then what about my new glove?" Bob added. "No!" said the little brother. "Well, what do you want?" they pleaded. With resoluteness, the little fellow said, "I wanna tell."

It's hard to negotiate with little brothers sometimes. It's also hard to negotiate with a hard-hearted judge.

Had she been a ballplayer, this widow in Jesus' parable would have been called out on strikes even before she came to bat.

Strike one: she's a woman. In the Biblical world where wome…