Two men walk into a church. The first is a well-known and respected member of the community. He is successful in all his business pursuits, has a large well cared for house, and his children are known for their good behavior and excellent grades. He was raised in the church and now serves as the president of the church board. Most recently he has led the church through a successful building campaign. He often volunteers to help with events the church is having and likes to be the “face” of the church. He always wears a suit to church and is often asked to offer the prayer during the service. His prayers are beautiful and well spoken. He serves in the community as well, volunteering as a coach and serving on the school board. He is the model church member and citizen.
The other man is very different. He is the town outcast who moved in after being run out of another town for being involved in questionable business deals. He is an outsider that no one trusts, rumors about him have made their rounds. He walks into the church wearing a dirty worn out pair of jeans, a metallica shirt and baseball hat. He was recently divorced, his kids won’t talk to him, he hasn’t been able to find a job and has no friends. Everyone sees him walk in and starts whispering. They’re astonished that he’s there and it’s clear that no one actually wants him there.
Both men go to their seats. The board member sits in front with his family. The outcast finds a spot alone in the back row.
The service starts and the congregation sings a few songs. The board member then steps up to the podium and offers a flowery prayer that will surely garner him lots of compliments after the service. He even slips in a subtle comment about the how God has kept the church free from the sinners that surround it. He smiles a little as he walks back to his seat. He sees that the comment has found its mark as the man in the back buries his head in his hands and starts to weep hoping that nobody notices.
The service continues as the pastor comes up and delivers a home run sermon that clearly lays out gospel. The board member nods in disinterested approval knowing that this doesn’t apply to him. He has the perfect life and has never stepped too far outside the lines. It’s obvious to him that God approves because everything in his life is in perfect order. He has earned his place in Gods kingdom. The man in the back has opposite reaction to the message. The sermon cuts like a knife and he is over come with his failures. He is sobbing loud enough for everyone to hear now.
At the end of the service the board member walks away unchanged. He feels completely justified, even more so after thinking to himself how glad he isn’t like the heathen in the back row. The man in the back row sits with his head in his hands until everyone else has left. He then slowly walks to the front to talk with the pastor. He shares his struggles and pains. Confesses his sin and gives his life to Christ. He walks out a changed man with a new faith and sense of hope he’s never had before.
If this sounds familiar, it should. It’s a modern take on a parable that Jesus told to a group of self-righteous Jews who were much more concerned what others thought of them than actually pleasing God. His parable was a direct assault on their blatant pride. His characters are carefully chosen to illustrate his point that pride and self-righteousness are the mortal enemies of salvation. They blind us to both the gravity of our sins and the enormity of Jesus’ sacrifice.
Let’s read through the parable then draw a few applications.
Luke 18:9-14
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[a] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Jesus is speaking to a very specific audience in this passage. Look at verse 9. It is a group of pompous self-righteous Jews who think they have earned their salvation by following the law and they Lord there elite status over everyone else. It is likely a group of Pharisees who are there listening to Jesus teach to try and trap in some small error or minutiae of the law. These are the Pharisees that follow every law to the T and have added extra rules onto the Mosaic laws just to make sure they don’t accidently break any of them. As an example, Pastor Scott talked several weeks ago about the extra rules they added to the Sabbath to make sure that wouldn’t accidentally do any work. They followed law letter of the law but completely missed the intent of the law. They trusted in themselves instead of God. They were self-righteous and extremely proud. They knew the law forward and back, but completely missed the point that the law exists to show us just how unable we are to meet God standards. Jesus makes this clear in Mathew 5:17-19.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
These were the most righteous people and yet their righteousness had no ability to save them. They were waiting for the Savior, the Messiah, but they had no idea that he was coming to save us from our sin and ourselves. They didn’t understand what Acts 4 tells us.
11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Instead they thought that their works of obedience would impress God and could save them. And not only have they missed the mark on what salvation is, they are proud. They use the false obedience to exalt themselves and looked down on everyone else who was not as obedient. They were obnoxiously holy.
Let’s start with the similarities between them.
They are both Jews. They have the same heritage, the same nationality, the same tradition, and the same culture. They were probably both wealthy; the Pharisee because of his position and the tax collector because of his dishonesty. They both understood who the God of the old testament was. They both believed in the sacrificial system and the need for atonement for sin. That’s what brought them both to the temple, even though they were there for very different reasons.
But, that is where the similarities end. These men were essentially polar opposites in most everything which is exactly why Jesus chose to use them in this parable. There are three differences we will look at.
1. Social Status
The Pharisee was socially elite, everyone respected him. He had achieved the highest possible social standing. He was a respected teacher of the law and likely a member of the Jewish ruling body. He wore ornate robes with large tassels to show everyone just how holy he was. He looked perfect and acted perfect.
The tax collector is hated. He was the lowest of the low because he was a sell-out to the Romans and was basically stealing from his own people for his own personal gain. Tax collectors essentially bought franchises from the Romans to collect taxes and were expected to meet a quota for the Roman government. Anything they collected over that was theirs to keep. And they made sure to get plenty of extra. He was despised. He was a traitor and a thief and he knew it.
2. Approach to God
The Pharisee came into the temple and likely found a prominent place to stand where everyone could see him praying. It was common practice for them to show off the piety. Jesus mentions it in his sermon on the mount Matthew 6:5
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
He comes wanting to be noticed, wanting everyone to see just how good he is and how he has earned his position and status before God. He stands with his hands and eyes up toward heaven confident that God is pleased with him. Everything about him exudes pride and confidence.
The tax collector finds a place far from the Pharisee where the fewest people will see him. His face is down toward the floor because he knows he is not worthy to look up to heaven. He feels the weight of his sin so much that he beats his chest in anguish. He is completely aware of his failures and it shows. He is broken and desperately makes his plea to God for forgiveness.
3. The content of their Prayer
The pharisee’s prayer is all about him. In fact, Jesus even says that he prays “with himself”. His prayer is full of self-exalting language. The only thing he thanks God for is that he is “better” than everyone else. He gives a list of the despised people, the extortioners, the unjust, and the adulterers”. And he makes sure the tax collector knows he is in that category by calling him out directly. He asks nothing of God in his prayer. There is no request for forgiveness or any request for mercy or healing for anyone else. He gives God no praise. That is reserved only for himself as he lists his praise worthy deeds of fasting and tithing.
The tax collector simply cries out to God for mercy. He knows he is unworthy. He knows he cannot earn his forgiveness. He has no pretense that his good works will out weight the sin in his life. He understands his need for a savior and that he has nothing to offer other than faith that God will save him.
What can we learn from this parable?
- We must understand God’s standard and recognize our failure to meet it. What is God’s standard? Matthew 5:48 “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” No one can meet God’s standard. Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Just like the tax collector we must come to terms with our failures and be broken by them. We must be honest with ourselves.
- We must understand our need for a savior and that our works cannot save us, no matter how good or how many. We must set aside our pride and humble ourselves before a Holy and Just God. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” What we do, how much we serve, and how holy we are have no bearing on our salvation. It is completely a work of God in our lives to bring us to place where we recognize our sin and turn to God in faith, believing that Jesus has paid the full penalty for any sin. Paul understood this after his conversion. He was the Pharisee in the parable, but his encounter with Jesus changed everything. Phillipians 3:4-9 “4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law,blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith”.
- We are forgiven. We are justified. We have been freely given Christ’s righteousness. Our guilty verdict has been covered over. Jesus took our sin and covered it with His blood. Now when the Father looks at us He doesn’t see sin. He sees Christ’s righteousness covering us. We are welcomed into the His kingdom. We are set free from guilt and shame and made alive in Christ. Isaiah 53:4-6 “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” That is the beauty of the gospel. We have nothing to bring and everything to gain.
John Macarthur sums it up like this. “The condemned think they are good. The saved know they are wicked. The condemned believe the kingdom of God is for those worthy of it. The saved know the kingdom of God is for those who realize how unworthy they are. The condemned believe eternal life is earned. The saved know it’s a gift.