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THE
PARABLE OF THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX-COLLECTOR. 9
To some who were confident of their
own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this
parable: THEME:
THE SPIRIT AND CONTENT OF PRAYER
The
beauty and power of this story are inescapable.
This parable, which only occurs in Luke, is introduced with its
interpretation. Jesus teaches
that we cannot trust in ourselves for righteousness and we should not
be contemptuous of others (verse 9).
The prayers of the two men reflect two types of character. The Pharisee used other people as his standard for measuring
righteousness. On the other
hand the tax-collector[1] used God as his standard
for measuring righteousness. Jesus'
verdict (verse 14) was that one man went home "justified"
i.e. accepted by God, but the Pharisee was not approved at all. It
is the story of the prodigal son and the elder brother again (Luke 15:11ff).
Jesus' application of the parable repeated his teaching in Luke
13:30. Humility before
God brings forgiveness for the unrighteous but those with a self-sufficient
pride in their own religious good works will be humbled by God. THE
PROUD SELF-RIGHTEOUS PHARISEE
The
Pharisee was possibly all that he claimed to be.
He did more than the law required.
He fasted twice a week although the law required people to fast
only once a year on the Day of Atonement.
He gave tithes of everything that he possessed, not just of the
required parts, and he even tithed the smallest matters (Matthew 23:23).
But his prayer is all about "I". (How many times
does he use the word "I" in verses 11-12?) His trouble was that he relied on his good actions to make
himself acceptable to God. Contrast
his boasting with the confession of sin by the tax-collector who had
no illusion about his acceptability.
Yet it was the social outcast who went home "in the right"
(Good News Bible) with God. The Pharisee's prayer was not a real prayer at all. It was a piece of self-congratulation. He divided the whole of humanity into two classes, and he put himself into a class by himself. Separatism is the essence of a Pharisee. He had no humility, no sense of need and no humble dependence on God. He was ignorant of his own sins. He had no consciousness of guilt or confession of sin. He "prayed about himself" when a genuine prayer is offered to God. Notice
the three ways he tried to establish his moral superiority: by stressing
the awful sins he had not committed; by listing his external ritual
religious observances; by comparing himself to others.
Self-confident that he was righteous, he was deluded about himself.
He thought God accepted him because of what he did or what
he did not do. Although
he was very exact in the external duties of religion, his fault consisted
in relying on this mistaken idea of righteousness. Our
problem is that we know as soon as we begin the story that the Pharisee
is going to come second best.
However, Jesus’ original hearers thought the pious Pharisee
deserved God’s acceptance.
Familiarity immunizes us against the shock that they would have
felt on being told that a hated tax-collector was more acceptable in
God's eyes. And in a subtle
way that can blind us to the ways in which we fall prey to the same
kind of self-righteousness. Like
the Sunday school teacher who ended her lesson on this parable by saying,
"Now children, let's thank God we're not like that proud Pharisee!" What
should have been a secret offering to the Lord, merely fed this man's
pride and vanity. Vanity
and pride are insatiable, even in the church, and in the pulpit. A vision of God shatters our pride (Job 42:1-6; Isaiah 6:1-5).
Idolatrous pride is lethal because it arrogantly replaces trust
in the Lord with false self-confidence.
Satan and our own ego attach hypocrisy to our spiritual motives. THE
SINCERE HUMBLE REPENTANT TAX-COLLECTOR On
the other hand the prayer of the tax-collector was the heart-broken
cry of a man burdened with shame, and a sense of unworthiness.
He stood "at a distance" in reverent awe, for
he felt that his sins had set him at a distance from God. Desperate for mercy, he kept beating his breast as a sign of
sorrow and self-accusation. This
was prayer without pretence, urgent, sincere, and completely real.
He did not dare lift up his eyes, but confessed his sinfulness
and appealed to God's mercy. He was under great conviction of sin. In verse 13 "a sinner" is literally "the
sinner" or "the sinful one", so deeply did he feel his
guilt (cf. 1 Timothy 1:15). To
the God who "opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble"
(James 4:6) such a prayer is acceptable and he left the temple "justified"
or "forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God"
(Amplified Bible). At the
very moment the Pharisee was condemning him, he was accepted by God.
The experience of the remorseful heart of the tax-collector and
the cold dead heart of the Pharisee, fulfilled Psalm 138:6 and Isaiah
57:15. See also 1 Peter
5:5-6 and Luke 1:53. APPLICATION
1: OUR PRAYERS TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT US
What
we are tends to surface in our prayers.
The Pharisee prayed about, or to, himself.
He despised the tax-collector in real life and despised him in
his prayer. He had a smug
complacency where truth could not break in to free him.
His fantasy about his personal worth grew within him. Real
prayer opens us to God by facing the unavoidable fact of our total dependence
upon God's love and mercy. If we are aware of our need, we cannot escape our total spiritual
poverty (Matthew 5:3). Recognition
of our spiritual poverty should always mark our dealings with God and
people. Unless we have
been humbled at the feet of God, we will never be truly humble towards
our fellow men. APPLICATION
2: THE WAY UP IS ALWAYS DOWN
The
following incident with the children is an illustration of the principle
in verse 14. The disciples
could not believe that someone as important as Jesus would have time
for crying kids. But the
fact that these children had no right to his attention was the reason
Jesus was keen to give it. Those
who, like the Pharisee, think they have some claim on God's kingdom
will be disappointed. It
is only the humble who have no such pretensions who can receive the
kingdom for what it is – a gift not an achievement.
The dependence and receptiveness of a child are the marks of
true positive faith. It
is necessary to humble oneself before God to enjoy forgiveness of sin. APPLICATION
3: THE ATTITUDE OF TRUE PRAYER IS ESSENTIALLY CHILDLIKE
(15-17) In
contrast to the proud Pharisee are the children who were brought to
Jesus. They have no holier-than-thou
attitude. Note the approachability
of Jesus. Perhaps the disciples
thought Jesus was too busy or too tired to be bothered with insignificant
children. But he did not
consider children as so unimportant as to be pushed aside.
None are too little or too young, to be brought to Christ. What
is so special about children?
Children have spontaneity, openness, expectation and excitement. They also realize that they are not sufficient within themselves
and it is their sense of joyful and unquestioning trust in their parents
that is unique. If these
same attitudes are not present in adults, they cannot enter the kingdom. So to receive the kingdom of God is to welcome, trust and yield
to God's rule in a humble and receptive frame of mind.
The only way to enter God's kingdom is to become like a child
and to be "born again" or “born from above”
(John 3:3,7). APPLICATION
4: COMPARISONITIS IS A DEADLY DISEASE
How
do you establish your identity?
Are you always comparing yourself to others?
The Pharisee was so proud of himself that he began his prayer
with a comparison, "God, I thank you that I am not like other
men." Do you try
to build up your self-esteem by looking down on others less fortunate
or gifted than you? If
so, you can never be sure about yourself.
There is always someone who is better than you are.
You also risk loneliness, as no one likes a person who is always
finding fault with others in order to feel better about themselves. In
contrast to the Pharisee, the tax-collector looked to God in order to
see himself properly. This
exposed his sin but it also brought God's forgiveness and restoration. Finding one's true identity is based on honesty about ourselves
before God. We should not
seek to justify ourselves by comparing ourselves with other sinners. APPLICATION
5: RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE GIFT OF GOD'S GRACE
Jesus
corrects the religious idea that righteousness is a human achievement
instead of a gift of God's grace. Any religion based upon a merit system leads to religious pride.
Rather we shall be saved "through the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ" (Acts 15:11).
It is sad to consider that most of the Pharisees were deluded
and thought they were right and Jesus was wrong.
To be "justified" (verse 14) means to be declared
righteous by God on the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the
cross. None of us has anything
of which we can boast before God.
The Pharisee is so like the best of us that none of us can feel
comfortable when we read about him. The
NT teaches us that we are justified "by faith alone"
(Romans 1:16-17; Romans 3:21-4:25; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 2:16;
Ephesians 1:7; 2:4-9; Titus 3:4-7).
Faith is the attitude that looks away from the worst and the
best that is in humanity to God alone.
It is the act whereby a person, inspired by what they see in
God's mercy and finding nothing in their own character or feelings or
intellect to give any rest or comfort, lets go of what they have held
on to, and commit their whole being to God. There
is only one way to enter the kingdom of God.
It is to cease trusting in ourselves, to realize how impossible
it is that we should ever enter by any effort of ours, and to trust
in God's mercy alone. The
Pharisee thought God operated on a merit system and thus could be put
in man's debt through good works.
The tax-collector knew God was merciful but the Pharisee did
not trust in the mercy of God. He was accepted by God and justified in God's sight because
God's mercy enabled him to look away from himself to God alone.
Only God's grace can bring us to this point.
Jesus Christ alone can destroy within us that false confidence
in our own selves which makes it impossible for us to have faith in
God. This was the experience
of Peter when he cried, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man,
O Lord!" (Luke 5:8). APPLICATION
6: THIS IS A STORY ABOUT EVERY GENERATION
This
parable is not just a story of what used to occur in the days of Jesus.
Today both the Pharisee and the tax-collector go to church
to pray and people of both these religious types sit together.
Each type may be devout and regular in attendance but there is
a vast difference between the faith of these two types.
Jesus said that one is a true citizen of the kingdom of God while
the other is outside that kingdom.
The children of light and the children of darkness mingle in
church. Only God can tell
with certainty those who are his true children and those who are of
another spirit. We
may readily identify with the tax-collector.
But in so doing have we unconsciously said, “Thank God I am not
like the Pharisee”, showing that the heart of the Pharisee lives in
all of us? We must find
our security and comfort nowhere else but in the goodness and mercy
of God and never take our eyes off Jesus who has been lifted up to draw
us ever to Himself (John 12:32).
Otherwise we are all in danger of falling back into the sins
of the Pharisee such as spiritual pride, self-justification, complacency
and contempt of others. FOOD
FOR THOUGHT
*
“No state of soul can be conceived so dangerous as that of the Pharisee.”
(Bishop J. C. Ryle) Jim Peacock MA (Hons), Diploma Of Teaching. [1] Tax collectors in ancient Palestine were despised not just because they were collaborators with the Roman occupiers but also because they overtaxed the Jews. The Roman system of “tax farming” was auctioned to the bidder who agreed to provide the highest amount of money to Rome. The tax collector kept any surplus collected above this amount and consequently became very wealthy at the expense of his fellow Jews. |
