God’s Great Love For Humble Sinners Series

“God’s Great Love for Humble Sinners”

Luke 18:9-14

Pastor John Bright

Luke 18 “9 Jesus also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else. 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’ 13 The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!’ 14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” New English Translation

Pause right there. Why are you listening to this? Do you want to become more like Jesus? The power of the Holy Spirit is available to you right now – right here! Do you want to become more like Jesus? It’s a question only you can answer.

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So, I was looking around for some appropriate humor to go with this sermon. I found this joke:

A Pharisee and a tax collector walk into a bar. One of them is carrying a duck… 😊

Actually, that’s NOT the setting for this parable. As always, when I teach on the parables in Luke’s Gospel, I give thanks to Dr. Harry Wendt for his book, “The Parables of Jesus.” (1997)

The Setting for this Parable

Why is this Pharisee and this “tax collector” both at the temple at the same time? When we hear that term – tax collector – we think of a job like working for the Internal Revenue Service. That’s not what the folks listening to Jesus heard. They heard “sinner” and “unclean.”

Every day in the temple, at dawn and at 3:00pm, a lamb without blemish was sacrificed on the altar in the Temple to atone for the sins of the people. The Atonement Offering was the means by which God and man were reconciled in the sacrificial system in Jesus’ day. Then, the priest would offer the incense. This represented the prayers of the people going up to God after the blood of the lamb had covered the sins of Israel. In their way of thinking, it was then that the way to God was open. That was the best time to pray.

Here comes two very different people to pray as the incense is burned in the Temple worship. The Pharisee considered himself to be a strict keeper of the law – “haberim” in Hebrew. He was part of an exclusive group… then there was everybody else. Those other folks fell into different degrees or levels of ritual impurity. At the very bottom – the lowest level of all – was the tax collector. I told you not to think of an IRS agent. The tax collectors in Jesus’ day were collecting taxes for the Romans. They were viewed as collaborators of the foreign oppressors.

The Prayer of the Pharisee v. 11-12

“11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’”

They would not be only ones praying that day. The Pharisee and the tax collector would both be standing away from the others. It was the Pharisee that would be seeking an audience for his prayer. Jesus explained this practice in Matthew 6:5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward!”

The Jews had a pattern for their prayers that would be familiar to Believers today. They started by thanking God. Then, praising God for His good works. Finally, lift up your needs. This sounds like the way we pray, amen? This is NOT what the Pharisee prays. All he does is brag about his religious accomplishments and pat himself on the back. There is an old saying – God designed us to make it hard to pat ourselves on the back or kick ourselves in the rear-end, but we manage to do both.

His prayers continue as he attacks the tax collector. In his study, Dr. Harry Wendt believes the whole list the Pharisee uses is meant to refer to the tax collector – “extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers.” Actually, this is not a prayer. It is an attack based on the Pharisee’s view of himself. It is all about his self-righteousness. His fasting and tithing are beyond what is required by the law. In the way the system was designed, the Pharisees were the ONLY ONES who could keep the Law and this kept others away from God.