A Study of the Book of Luke
Sermon # 49
“Good News for Bad People”
Luke 18:9-14
In verse nine Jesus begins another parable.
Because this parable follows the parable of the persistent widow, where Jesus teaches us to be persistent in our prayers we are tempted to see this parable as also applying to prayer. And on the surface this story does have to do with prayer, the two characters of the parable are praying. But in reality this story is about what we think makes us acceptable in the sight of God.
If we stop to realize it the two prayers of the two men in this parable embody two contrasting views of how to approach God; one on the basis of supposed good works and the other on the basis of God’s grace.
“Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: (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 thus with himself, ‘God I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. (12) I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ (13) And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to mea sinner!” (14) “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone who exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”(NKJV)
I know that intent of this parable is not to show us how to pray because after telling this parable Jesus did not say, “I tell you this man had his prayer answered.” He said rather, “… this man went down to his house justified” (v. 14). So Jesus reveals that the parable’s purpose is to answer the question, “How can a person be justified before God?”
In fact Jesus states his purpose for sharing this parable in verse nine was to enlighten a very specific group of people, those who were “confident of their own righteousness.” The Greek word used to describe these individuals (pepoithotas) depicts them as having a confidence “based on themselves that they were righteous.”
In other words, Jesus was speaking to those who trusted in their own goodness. These were those who believed that they were good people and therefore right with God and on their way to heaven. It is the same today. It seems that most people in America consider themselves decent people. But that does not make them right with God!
In this parable Jesus used two people to contrast each other and make a point. You could not have come up with two people who were seen more differently by society than they were. The Pharisee to his society represents the “good guy,” while the tax collector represented the height of wickedness.
We are accustomed today to having a negative view of the Pharisees, but in Jesus’ day it was the opposite. The Pharisee where in that time well respected and honored members of their community. There was no doubt in any ones mind that the tax collector was the bad guy in this story. Tax collectors were the scum of Jewish society. He was the money grubbing, cheating, Roman collaborator. Perhaps in today’s culture the closest social equivalent would be a drug pusher or a pimp or an American fighting with the Taliban. People would literally cross to the other side of the street when they saw him coming.
Through the characters in the parable we learn two things about developing a relationship with God.
First, The Good News for Bad People is that God will never welcome those who trust in their own goodness. The Pharisee is an example of how man cannot come to God. We are told in verse eleven, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.” This Pharisee represents the individual who is comfortable in a religious setting. The Pharisee stands while he is praying. This was a typical posture for prayer. Standing, with head looking toward heaven and arms outstretched. It was not uncommon to pray aloud that others could here what he was praying, but the words attributed to the Pharisee in verse eleven, are not so much what he may have said but what he thought. ‘…. God I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.”
The text says, He “prayed thus with himself,” some translations say, “prayed to himself.” In fact if you look at verses 11-12, there are five personal pronouns used in this prayer, He says “I, I, I, I, I.”
Two things characterized the Pharisee’ viewpoint.
He had an inflated view of himself. He is down right impressed with himself, not with how he compares with God, but how he compares with others. The apostle Paul’s advice on this to the church at Corinth seems pertinent, (1 Cor. 10:12) “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among ourselves, are not wise.”
He had a distorted sense of others. He seems to be one of those individuals who builds himself up by putting others down. Almost inevitably the more impressed we are with ourselves, the more judgmental we are of others. The truth is that we judge other people by their actions and ourselves by our intentions.
The content of the Pharisee’s prayer reviews a great deal about his heart. He felt that he was on a completely different level than the really bad people. He knew that he was not perfect but he certainly wasn’t that bad. In fact he reveals in verse twelve that in his own opinion he was even better than God’s word demanded. He said, “I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.” He was so righteous that he even went beyond the requirements of the law. The law only required one fast and year and he fasted twice a week. What guy!! The law only required a tithe on certain parts of one’s income. He tithed on all he received. And in that he is still a model for us today.
George Barna, the church statistician estimates that 37% of church attenders do not give anything to the church in a year, of those who do give only 3-5% tithe and the average weekly contribution by adults is just $17. [George Barna. How to Increase Giving In Your Church. (Ventura, Calif.:Regal Books, 1997) p. 20]
Therein lies the problem. Let me just close this little mini-sermon by saying, if you consider this church your church home and you are not giving faithfully then you are like the man who goes to a restaurant, and has a nice meal and then sneaks out with paying.]
Now back to the text. The problem with the Pharisee was that his focus was on what he did not what he was. The Bible tells us clearly in Romans 3:10, “There is none righteous no not one.”
So first of all “The Good News for Bad People” is that God will never welcome those who trust in their own goodness and …..
Secondly, “The Good News for Bad People” is that God will welcome those who trust in His goodness! (v.13)Just as the Pharisee is an example of how man cannot come to God. This man is an example because, He was aware of his sin.
The prayer of the tax collector also reveals much about what the he thought of himself, verse thirteen, “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!” This verse says that the tax collector, “stood at a distance,” “would not even look up to heaven,” and “beat his breast.” This man had no illusions about himself. He did not raise his hands up or look toward heaven anyone looking on would not know that he was praying. He was not there to see and be seen but to pour out his heart to God. He came with a burden of sin that he could no longer bear.
The tax collector’s prayer has the distinction of being one of the shortest prayers in the Bible – seven words in English, and six in the original Greek. What he says is, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” He makes no excuses. He makes no promises to do something good to earn God’s favor. He understood that God does not forgive excuses but sins. He has no interest in comparing himself with anyone or anything apart from God.
He simply admits that he is a sinner and asks for mercy. He understood that only the grace of God could meet his needs.
The end result is that the tax collector confessed himself a sinner by nature and practice and guilty before God. The Pharisee denied that he is a sinner. In fact the tax collector is so aware of his sin that he did not just call himself “a” sinner at this point, the literal translation would be “the” sinner. In his own eyes he was the sinner par excellence. It is reminiscent of Paul’s words about himself in 1 Timothy 1:15 when he said, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners , of whom I am the chief.”
This man is an example for us because, He is aware that God has the answer to his sin problem.
His is not just a plea for mercy but a plea for mercy based on what God has done. When he says in verse thirteen, “God be merciful to me a sinner” the words “be merciful” is the verb form of the word used for the “mercy seat” (hilastheti). It could literally be translated “be propitiated for me” or “be mercy-seated for me.” It means, “treat me as one who comes on the basis of the blood shed on the Mercy Seat as an offering for sins.”
To understand what this means we must understand what the “Mercy seat.” The mercy seat was a part of the “Ark of the Covenant” and was located in the “holy of holies.” You will remember that the “ark of the covenant” held the stone tablets on which the “ten commandments” were written. It was seen as a symbol of the presence of God among his people. It was the place where the sacrificial blood was sprinkled on the “day of atonement.”
The Pharisee stood in prominence, the tax collector stood at a distance. The Pharisee stood with his head erect with his eyes toward heaven.
The tax collector could not bring himself to even lift his head. The Pharisee prayed with confidence and no doubt left feeling self-satisfied. The tax collector sorrowed over his sin and pled with God for mercy. The Pharisee left feeling good but unjustified and under God’s wrath. He went home proud, self-righteous and condemned. The Lord does not leave this parable hanging the air with each person able to draw his own conclusions. He concludes the parable by saying in verse fourteen, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone who exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” When he says this he is not referring to a low view of yourself regarding your appearance, strengths, talents or abilities. Jesus is referring to spiritual humility,
This is good news for those of us who have really blown it, when we have really made a mess of our lives by our choices, and are now willing to admit our responsibility, ask for forgiveness, we will be forgiven. There is no one who is too great a sinful to be saved, but only too righteous.
The Good News for Bad People is although that God will never welcome those who trust in their own goodness, he always welcomes those who come on the basis of His grace.
