(Based on a message preached at First Baptist Church, Chamois, MO; not an exact transcription)
Introduction: Some folks have become concerned about where they’re going when they die. I know of some who have asked, “Am I going to Hell when I die?” Today’s text, a story from Jesus about two people, two prayers, and two pronouncements, answers the question a lot better than I can. Let’s take a look at this passage, found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 18, beginning with verse 9.
Text, Luke 18:9-14, NASV: 9 And He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer. 11 The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself: ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. 12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get. 13 But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but the one who humbles himself shall be exalted.”
<Opening prayer>
1 Two people
The text, containing the words of Jesus, tells of two men who, for whatever reason, went up to the Temple in Jerusalem to pray. A lot of commentators note that the phrase “went up” means the Temple was on higher ground or at a higher elevation than the rest of Jerusalem.
We also read in a few places that there were hours of prayer, 9 am and 3 pm. I honestly don’t know when that custom, or tradition, or command—whatever it was—began to be practiced but really, anyone can pray at any time and at any location. Aren’t we all glad our Lord sees us right where we are and knows our thoughts?
So, as it turned out, there were two men who were about as different as could be. Jesus even made the distinction: one, a Pharisee and the other, a tax-gatherer (“publican” in the King James Version). Those who heard Jesus speak knew exactly what He was talking about. After all, it was hard to miss the Pharisees and probably just as hard to avoid the tax man! Pharisees had special clothes, and even leather boxes they wore on their foreheads or on their wrists. Those were called “phylacteries” and it seems only Pharisees wore these—at least, there’s no record in the Gospels that anybody else did.
Tax-gatherers may have been anywhere in Israel. One thing we know for certain is that these folks were despised. For one thing, they collected Roman taxes, and it’s anybody’s guess how much they—the Romans—demanded or how often. Then, they were considered outcasts, as mentioned by several commentators. Besides, think of it like this: how many of us have friends who work in the tax collection business?
We know of at least two other tax-gatherers who were named in Scripture. Matthew, also called Levi in Mark’s and Luke’s gospels, was one of these. He worked, shall we say, in Capernaum (Mark 2:1-17). He may have had his “booth” or work station right where nobody could get past him but when Jesus said, “Follow ME!”, Matthew got up and left. He followed Jesus as one of the Twelve Apostles, wrote his Gospel sometime after the Resurrection, and people are still reading Matthew today!
The other “tax man” was Zaccheus, a chief tax-gatherer who lived in Jericho (Luke 19:1-10). He was a short man who climbed a tree to get a better look at Jesus and received a lot more in return! When you get a chance, re-read that story and see what happened. It’s great.
Jesus, though, doesn’t give the name of either man, just that there was a Pharisee, in all his earthly glory, so to speak; and a tax-gatherer, one of the most hated men in Israel. This was the identity: both Jews, but other than that, much was different between them.
Now, these men had come to the Temple to pray. Let’s look at the prayers of each man.
2 Two prayers
--The prayer of the Pharisee
Jesus didn’t give any introductions to either man’s prayers. He simply reported what each man said, starting with the Pharisee. Remember, these men were “the separated ones” and thought they were at the top of the heap, spiritually and religiously speaking. We might get an idea of this, just from the words of his prayer itself!
First, he tells God all of the things he didn’t do or, maybe, wasn’t. Of course it’s good to be honest with God, and to live a moral life, but we don’t need to brag or boast about it! God already knows all about us and what we do (or don’t) and it’s no benefit to try and show God just how good we are. My late father-in-law used to tell his grandchildren, “If you’re good, you don’t have to tell anybody anything about it”. Much truth in that statement!
The Pharisee begins with “God, I thank Thee” that I’m not like other people. Ouch! Does that mean he considered himself superior or above the rest? The Gospels have a number of sayings from the Pharisees and some of them aren’t that gracious (John 7:49, for example). As if that wasn’t bad enough, he went on to list some other things he wasn’t.
He then said he wasn’t a swindler (also translated “extortioner”), like, he may have implied, others were. The word translated “swindler” here has the idea of taking something of yours by force. It’s important to remember that under Roman rule, the Jews only had a limited amount of freedom and the freedom to resist taxation didn’t seem to exist back then. Going back to Zaccheus, he promised Jesus that if he had taken anything “by false accusation (Luke 19:8), he would restore it “fourfold” or four times over. The Pharisees, though, were not immune to greed: Jesus would later accuse them of “devour(ing) widows’ houses” while making long prayers (Matthew 23:14) just before He was crucified.
Then the Pharisee said he wasn’t “unjust”. This word also has some interesting meanings: it could mean the Pharisee said he wasn’t “unrighteous” and, on the surface, he’d have been right! The Pharisees were among the most outwardly religious people in history but some have observed that their “righteousness” didn’t go any deeper than their clothing because by and large their “righteousness” never did sink into their hearts.
And that wasn’t all. This Pharisee also told (bragged to?) God that he wasn’t an adulterer. Most of us know exactly what that means. Now, there was literal adultery and spiritual adultery, such as when the Israelites abandoned God to worship pagan idols. So he could have been saying he had stayed true to his wedding vows (and don’t we wish more people did!) and stayed away from harlots. These women were mentioned several times in the Gospels—they did exist—and the Pharisee might, again, be reminding God of his faithfulness to his wife. He could have also implied that “God, You noticed, didn’t You, that I have never worshiped any other God”. Who really knows what he was trying to say?
But last of all, he said “I’m not even like this tax collector over here! Aren’t You glad, God, You have me on your side (Implied, of course)?”
We’re not told any more of the Pharisee’s prayer. Sometimes, as Jesus said, they made long prayers. I’m reminded of a couple illustrations: one, from a college class on the Gospels. The instructor quoted some Jewish prayers of the time (please remember, I am not inventing these nor making up any of this; these are quotes and are also found in a few of the commentaries).
One such prayer, as it was, went something like this: “I praise Thee, O God, King of the Universe, that Thou hast not made me a slave”, then, “ . . a pagan” and finally “. . .or a woman.” It goes without saying that if there are no women, there are no mothers, and no children, and if there are no children then there won’t be a future. That shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out, but some folks don’t seem to get it.
Oh yes, for the Hebrew ladies, their last prayer ended with “Thou hast made me according to Thy will.” After all, the Messiah was to be born of a virgin, so if there were no virgins, then how could Messiah be born?
--The prayer of the tax-gatherer
We don’t really know how long the Pharisee was praying, or maybe reciting his “I’m so great because . . . “ list but some commentators observed that his prayer may have been a long one. That reminds me of a story or illustration I heard years ago. It goes something like this:
An evangelist was holding meetings at a certain city. One of the local clergy was asked to pray and as the story goes, he went on with his prayer for a long time. The evangelist decided to step in and said, “While our brother finishes his prayer, let’s sing a song!” Remember, the Pharisee was apparently standing where he would be noticed, and heard, but for him that was all the reward he would get. Jesus commented about that in Matthew 6, regarding people who did things for appearance’ sake; not for God Himself.
Now Jesus pointed out the difference between these two men, even in where and how they prayed. Instead of standing in a place where he could see and be seen, and hear and be heard, like the Pharisee, the tax-gatherer stood “some distance away”. There are a number of opinions as to what that phrase means, but the common thread is that this tax-gatherer did not want to be noticed. He may have tried to find as close to a secret place as he could where he could talk to the Lord privately.
And what a prayer! It’s brief. It’s real. It came from the heart.
That was enough. Jesus explained that when the tax-gatherer prayed, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner,” he was asking, in so many words, for God to look at him when God looked at the mercy seat in the Temple. This man knew he couldn’t save himself, and he knew he was not just a sinner, but THE sinner, and he was concerned about it.
Jesus also notes that the tax-gatherer was “beating his breast”. This was a sign of contrition, regret, maybe any number of things. This action could also be the result of the Holy Spirit working on this man’s heart. Those of us who have been saved understand this—we’ve been under conviction, and I tell you the truth, there were times my heart felt like it would pound right through my chest if I didn’t listen to the Holy Spirit and answer His call.
So we have two different prayers, of two different men, and God heard them both. Now we might be wondering, what did Jesus say about this?
3 Two pronouncements
Jesus very clearly announced which man’s prayer was effective. Sure, God hears all prayers, but when a “prayer” is just a laundry list of “I’m-better-than-you-and-here’s why”, that isn’t really asking Him for anything. One wonders if the Pharisee ever realized this. To the best of our knowledge, he came to the Temple, “prayed”, and went back to either his house or his job.
Unchanged.
But things were a lot different for the tax-gatherer! Jesus said this man when down to his house (down, because the Temple was on higher or elevated ground), he was justified! If we’ve heard that term before, it’s because this is one of the greatest things that could happen to anyone!
The word is kind of a legal term, meaning someone has been declared “not guilty” and is (to be) treated as such. Think about it: I mean, how many movies or TV shows have we seen where someone is facing charges, sometimes many, but all of a sudden, the charges are dropped or the jury finds the person not guilty. The person is free!
Yet, that’s only half of being justified. The other part comes from being treated as such. Suppose the judge in this case says, “You have been found not guilty”—which would be great!—but orders the person back to his or her jail cell? Is that really being treated as not guilty?
But when any sinner believes the Gospel, confesses his or her sins and asks Jesus to be his or her Lord and Savior, and is sincere about it, something great happens! All sins are gone, and the Lord Himself promises to be our “advocate (1 John 1:9, King James Version)” or defense attorney whenever we do sin afterwards. Paul wrote of this in Romans, about justification by faith, and I encourage all of us to read Romans to get the idea as Paul related it.
Conclusion
Well, we saw how two men, alike in some ways but very different in others, went to the Temple to pray. One was among the most religious and respected of his day; the other, hated by most of his own people. One prayed about himself, to himself, and left the Temple unchanged. The other prayed one sentence, as sincere as he could be, and was justified—he was saved! Born again! The Lord heard this man’s prayer and answered it as only He could.
Have you prayed this sinner’s prayer? If not, please do so today. After all, neither you nor I have any guarantee of how long we’re going to live on this earth. Make your choice the best choice and accept God’s gift of salvation, now, if you haven’t done so. You’ll be forever grateful that you did
Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Version of the Bible (NASV) except as noted.
