[H]e humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
(Philippians 2:8)
As you begin, pause, take a deep breath, invite the Spirit’s leading, and focus your attention on the text.
What words or phrases stand out to you (is the Spirit highlighting)? Why do you think they are catching your attention?
What are you wondering about as you ponder the text?
Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9–14 NLT)
It has often been assumed that these men were going to the Temple to engage in private prayer, but Middle Eastern listeners would have assumed they were going to attend public worship, one of two daily atonement services the Pharisee would have been expected to take part in, but not a tax collector!
The tax collector remains “at a distance”—at the Eastern gate with the others considered unclean.
What do we notice about their descriptions? How do their postures and prayers compare?
Commentators and historians have said that arrogance and self-righteousness were in the character of the Pharisees, a title that literally means “separated ones.” In daily prayers, they thanked God they weren’t “a Gentile, a servant, or a woman,” and “not as the rest of men.” This Pharisee is living up to that reputation!
I wonder when we might be tempted to thank God that we are not like _______ and to take pride in all the good “spiritual” things we do.
In contrast, the tax collector assumes the posture and prayer of repentance (v. 13). The repentant would beat their chest because, in their view, it contained the heart, the source of sin in one’s life. This “despised” one was seeking God’s mercy and depending on it.
The Greek words for “have mercy” refer to the atonement sacrifice that was being made in this service. The tax collector was personalizing this public act in his prayer, in effect saying to God, “May this sacrifice atone for me, a sinner.” He knew he could never meet the demands of the Law; he knew he was a hopeless case.
Except for the grace of God. Which leads us to the astonishing conclusion of the parable: The tax collector “was the man who went home justified in God’s sight, rather than the other one” (v. 14 NRSV).
How come?
“The tax collector yearns to accept the gift of God’s justification, while the Pharisee feels he has already earned it.”[1] The former longs to be in a right relationship with God and contritely seeks it; the latter is secure in his own righteousness and has no need for God. Here (and throughout the text), we discover that for Jesus sin “is not primarily a broken law but a broken relationship.”[2]
And he has come to restore that relationship through his life, death, and resurrection. A right relationship with God is a gift – Jesus’s gift!
The question is: are we humble enough to receive it? And to share it?
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (v. 13).
Dr. Karen Wilk is on the NAB Missional Initiatives Team and lives in Edmonton, Alberta.
[1] Kenneth Bailey, Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes, (IVP: 2008), 350.
[2] Bailey, Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes, 350.