Pharisee: The Presumptuous Prayer.
Luke 18:9-18:14
A Preacher dies and is standing in line, waiting outside the Pearly Gates. He is standing there patiently, wearing his best suit and tie, dressed like he is ready to preach his Sunday morning sermon. In line just ahead of him is a guy wearing sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket, and blue jeans. The preacher thinks to himself, “Thank God that isn’t me. I mean, I may be dead but at least I know how to dress for that ultimate meeting with my maker.”
When the two men finally make it to the front of the line St. Peter addresses the man in the loud shirt, “Who are you so that I may know whether or not to admit you into the Kingdom of Heaven.”
The man then replies, “Well St. Peter, I am Joe Cohen. I am a cab driver from New York City.” St. Peter then consults his list. When he looks up he smiles at the taxi driver and then says, “Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter into the kingdom of heaven.” The taxi driver puts on his robe and takes his staff and enters into heaven. The preacher then gets really excited. If a lowly cab driver from such a God forsaken place like New York City gets a silken robe and golden staff, what could be in store for him? It was finally the preacher’s turn. He stood up straight and tall and walked toward St. Peter. Then in his best preacher’s voice, he booms out “I am the Right Reverend Joseph Snow, pastor at St. Mary’s Church for the last 43 years.”
St. Peter then consults his list again. When he looks up this time he simply hands the preacher a cotton robe and wooden staff and says, “You may enter the kingdom of heaven.” The preacher is furious. He has been such a faithful disciple all these years and now that he stands for his eternal reward he gets what is seemingly a slap in the face. “Just a minute,” the preacher says to St. Peter. “That man was a taxi driver. I was a faithful minister of the Gospel. He gets a silken robe and golden staff and I get this? Where is the justice in this situation?” St. Peter then replies, “Sir, here we work on results. During your 43 years at St. Mary’s Church, when you preached, people slept. When he drove his cab, people prayed.”
It would seem that the preacher had more than a few lessons to learn about humility. It would seem that such was the case as well for the Pharisee in our lesson tonight. I would like to continue in our Sunday night theme Prayers that made a difference. Up to this point we have been looking at men and women in the Bible who prayed prayers that made a difference. Tonight rather than looking at a person we are going to look at a parable about prayer that Jesus shared with people like you and me. So tonight in this parable we are going to look at two men, two prayers and two outcomes. Read Luke 18:9-14.
The setting is as follows. Jesus had just finished telling His disciples a parable “to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1). In it the Lord taught the value of persevering in prayer because “God [will] bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry to him day and night” (Luke 18:7). The parable that follows is the parable of The Pharisee and the Tax Collector, which we want to look at tonight, it is linked to Jesus’ parable about persevering in prayer. However this parable, the parable of The Pharisee and the Tax Collector, specifically deals with the attitude with which we offer up our prayers.
The Parable
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable” (Luke 18:9). Jesus is going to direct His parable specifically at the Pharisees. They were the ones who were self-assured, convinced, of their own moral purity and ethical standing. They were so very proud of their perceived moral standing before God and consequently looked down their noses at most everyone else.
Throughout His public Ministry, Jesus exposed the self-righteousness and unbelief of the Pharisees over and over again (see Luke 11:39-54). He pictured them as debtors who were too bankrupt to pay what they owed God (Luke 7:40-50), guests fighting for the best seats (Luke 14:7-14), and sons proud of their obedience but unconcerned about the needs of others (Luke 15:25-32). The sad thing is that the Pharisees were completely deluded and thought they were right and Jesus was wrong. This is illustrated in this parable.
1. Two Men.
"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” (Luke 18:10) A Pharisee was a member of the Jewish faith set apart to maintain and further the divine cause. They were layman passionate about keeping the Scriptures, the oral law and traditions pure. They were the pious ‘church-goers’ of their time that attended every Scripture study and carefully sought to obey every law of the faith. Pharisees knew how to pray. In fact, they applied themselves to the art of prayer.
We today have grown accustomed to thinking negatively of them as soon as we hear their name. However, Pharisees were highly respected and looked up to in their community. They were the ‘deacons’ or ‘elders’ of the church so-to-speak.
So church, before we judge them we need to see them as honored members of the Jewish community in order to fully understand this parable. They were the good guys; the best of the best of Jewish citizenry. It is important to remember that Jesus is speaking of one specific Pharisee and not the whole group.
On the other end of the spectrum was a tax collector. He would have been perceived by the community as the worst of the worst of Jewish citizenry, perhaps even lower. Tax collectors, in the Scriptures, were Jews who worked for the ruling Roman authorities. They were considered both extortionist and traitors - extortionist because they were notoriously noted for collecting more taxes than was owned and pocketing the difference – and traitors because they served the occupying power of Rome. Again, Jesus was speaking of one specific tax collector and not the whole bunch. Remember, as the parable opens we must view the Pharisee positively – he’s the hero. The tax collector is to be viewed negatively – he’s the bad guy.
2. Two Prayers.
A. The Prayer of the Pharisee.
“The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ’God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get’” (Luke 18:11,12). I like one man’s translation of this prayer: “O Lord, it’s hard to be humble when I see how rotten others are compared to me. Thank you Lord I’m not like those people, you know, people who steal, who do bad things and who cheat on their wives or even like this guy over there who works for Revenue Rome. Yes Lord, I am one of the very, very few who does more than even the Law requires – you know, I give a tenth of all I get to the temple while everyone else just gives a tenth of their income. I also go without food and water, I fast from sunrise to sunset twice a week and not just once year like most other folks. Yes God, thank you that I am not like these other people.”
B. The Prayer of the Tax Collector.
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ’God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). The tax collector hid in the shadows way at the back of the temple, out of sight. He wouldn’t even lift his eyes to heaven as was common amongst those who came to pray but rather, he pounded his chest over and over again crying, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.”
The tax collector was truly repentant and he showed in his actions and words. [The publican, standing afar off] Not because he was a pagan, and dared not approach the holy place; but because he was a truly repentant, and felt himself utterly unworthy to appear before God.
[Would not lift up so much as his eyes] Holding down the head, with the eyes fixed upon the earth, was:
1. A sign of deep distress.
2. Of a consciousness and confession of guilt. And,
3. It was the very posture that the Jewish rabbis required in those who prayed to God, which means the Pharisee appears to have forgotten one of his own rules.
[But smote upon his breast] Smiting the breast was a token of excessive grief, commonly practiced in all nations. It seems to intimate a desire, in the penitent, to punish that heart through the evil propensities of which the sin deplored had been committed. It is still used among the Roman Catholics in their general confessions.
[God be merciful to me] Be favorable toward me through sacrifice-or, let an atonement be made for me. I am a sinner, and cannot be saved but in this way.
3. Two Outcomes.
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). The tax collector went home from the temple “justified before God” – forgiven. He received a new right standing before God. He had received the blessing King David spoke of in Psalm 32: 1-2 “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him…” The Pharisee however, went home not having been justified before God. He went home with nothing. Why the two different outcomes? Note the spirit with which each prayed.
A. Pharisee
- Considered himself morally and religiously superior than others.
- Despised those whose spiritual caliber was perceived to be less than his own; he praised himself and condemned his neighbor.
- He exalted himself in his own religious practices.
- He trusted in his own good deeds to make him acceptable to God.
- He acted as if God owed Him something for his goodness.
- He failed to see his sin and therefore, his own need for God.
- He measured himself to others rather than to God who is absolute in holiness; he built his self-worth on the moral failings of others .
- He lacked a humble and contrite (repentant) heart
How sad that this Pharisee, passionate for the faith and well-versed in the Scriptures, had somehow overlooked passages like Isaiah 64:6: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Or Proverbs 20:9: “Who can say, ‘I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin?” Or James 4:6: “God opposes the proud….”
B. Tax Collector
- He recognized the holiness of God; he knew the great gap that lay between himself and God – “[he] stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven”
- He recognized the sin in his life; he didn’t hide it or deny it. He recognized his need for God’s grace and pleaded for it – “[he] beat his breast and said, ’God, have mercy on me, a sinner”
What is the spirit you bring to prayer? What is the attitude of your heart when you speak with God? The Bible says, in James 4:6; “God gives grace to the humble”). And also in James 4:10; “Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up”. God told the prophet Isaiah, “I live in that high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant hearts” (Isaiah 57:15). Remember Jesus’ own words in this parable: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).
So in closing, this parable leaves us with some questions. How Should We Pray? What does the parable teach us about the spirit with which we are to pray? What is the attitude of our heart when coming before God?
*Pray with a spirit of humility recognizing that we are sinners saved by grace. Ephesians 2:8 reminds us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
*Pray knowing that the privilege to come before God is a gift. Ephesians 3:12 says, “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”
*Pray knowing that God will turn away a prayer saturated with pride, selfishness and the defamation of others.
*Pray knowing God will welcome a repentant prayer, a prayer that is honest about our spiritual state, our need for God’s grace. Psalms 51:17 says; “The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise”
*Pray knowing that it is to a holy God we speak Isaiah 6:3 reminds us “The angels in heaven ‘cry one to another Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory.’”
*Pray knowing that God will hear a plea for mercy, help and forgiveness no matter who you are or what you have done 1 John 1:8-10; “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
