Luke 18:9-14

Well, tonight we're looking at Luke chapter 18.

Luke 18 · chapter mention

So if you want to turn there in a Bible, that would be great.

Looking at one of Jesus' parables.

Last week we looked at the parable of the persistent widow,

teaching us that we should pray always and not lose heart.

Jesus talks about his people who cry out to him day and night.

So that parable encourages us to pray and to keep on praying.

And this parable that we're looking at tonight teaches us how to pray,

the attitude with which we should come before God.

In particular, humbling ourselves and exalting God rather than vice versa.

So Luke 18 verse 9 to 14, let me read this parable for us.

Luke 18:9–14

18, Luke 18.

Yep, page 877 in the Pew Bible.

There we go.

Luke 18, beginning at verse 9.

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous

and treated others with contempt.

Two men went up into the temple to pray.

One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus,

God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,

or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week.

I give tithes of all I get.

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven,

but beat his breast, saying,

God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,

but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

This is God's word.

Well, appearances can be deceiving.

Recently, I was looking on Craigslist

because I was trying to help somebody who was looking for a new apartment.

And I've never had to use Craigslist to find an apartment,

but maybe you have,

or maybe you've done that along with somebody else.

And if you've done that, you know that the photos posted

and the descriptions listed

do not always match the reality of the property.

So, some experiences I've had,

a friend of mine said,

oh, I saw this house that's posted for rent.

And it happened to be a block down from where we used to live.

But in front of the house was a for sale sign.

He said, but no, on Craigslist, it says it's for rent,

not for sale.

Well, it was a scam.

It was a complete scam.

It wasn't for rent at all.

The person who was posting on Craigslist

didn't even own the house.

Another one, my wife and I,

this didn't involve Craigslist,

but my wife and I, several years ago,

were just sort of looking at houses in New Haven.

And we weren't even really wanting to buy one,

but we just wanted to sort of see what was out there.

And so, we talked to a realtor.

And the realtor said,

here's a few houses.

Let me take you this one.

So, we walk up to the second floor.

And literally, from one side of the room to the other,

you could almost slide down.

Like, there was at least a two-foot difference in height,

and there was no steps.

The floor was, the house had settled into the ground.

And so, the floors had become completely warped.

Of course, you would never know that from any description

that was posted about it.

But even the realtor said, after looking at that,

you don't want to buy that house.

I could go on, but you get the point.

Now, what we see in this passage

is that appearances can be deceiving in church as well.

The Pharisee, there's two,

this parable's pretty simple, right?

There's the Pharisee and the tax collector.

Two guys, they both go up to the temple,

they both stand there praying,

and the Pharisee had an appearance of righteousness.

Now, if you've read the Bible a lot,

or if you've been in church for a long time,

and you hear the word Pharisee,

you might think that means a hypocrite.

Someone who just pretends to be religious,

but they really aren't.

But in Jesus' day, that's not what people would have thought.

So, the Jewish historian Josephus said,

the Pharisees are, described the Pharisees as,

a class of Jews, a group of Jews,

who consider themselves the godliest of the nation,

and the most rigorous followers of the law.

For the most part, that's who they sought to be.

The name Pharisee means either separated ones or holy ones.

And that's what they sought to be,

is separated and holy unto God.

So, the Pharisees knew the Bible,

and they studied it very carefully.

Unlike the Sadducees, who was another Jewish group at that time,

the Sadducees only believed in the first five books of the Bible,

the books of Moses.

The Pharisees believed in the whole Scripture,

the whole Old Testament,

all 39 books.

The Pharisees, unlike the Sadducees,

believed in the resurrection.

They believed in angels.

They believed in demons,

because the Bible talks about them.

They believed in all those things.

They could explain to you all those things.

They could explain to you about God's sovereignty,

and human responsibility,

and how they fit together.

And they had good explanations for that.

And they not only adhered carefully to all the Scriptures,

but they also knew the history of,

the interpretation of them.

And they followed the oral traditions of the rabbis.

Besides that, the Pharisees were honest,

and law-abiding citizens,

unlike the Zealots,

who were violent revolutionaries.

They were well-respected in the broader community,

unlike the Herodians,

another group who were sort of involved

in corrupt political schemes.

Right?

The Pharisees, it seemed like they were the best group of them all.

They were honest, law-abiding, upstanding citizens.

They knew the Bible.

They believed in God.

This Pharisee was faithful in his marriage.

He says, I'm not an adulterer.

He paid his workers.

He said, I'm not an extortioner.

He, um,

and he didn't just do the minimum that God's law required.

He went over and beyond.

He fasted twice a week.

Now, the law only required people to fast once a year,

on the Day of Atonement.

But the Pharisees had developed a practice of fasting

on Mondays and Thursdays,

and praying,

as part of their devotion to God.

And he says,

I tithe on everything I get.

Now, again, strictly speaking,

the law only required tithing on flocks, crops, wine, and oil.

Sort of the main things.

But the Pharisees even tithe from their herbs.

Right?

They'd pick their mint from their plant,

and they'd make sure to tithe.

One piece of mint for every ten pieces they took for,

you know, nine pieces they took for themselves.

Right?

They were very careful.

They did all these things.

The Pharisee seems quite confident and comfortable

coming into the temple to pray.

He stands.

He prays.

He walks confidently.

He feels comfortable when he comes in.

Right?

So if you think of a Pharisee,

you think of like a regular churchgoer,

someone who lives a moral life,

someone who has a good reputation,

someone who goes above and beyond

what God's law requires in some ways.

He's the kind of person that you would look at and think,

if anybody is a righteous man,

that would be a righteous man.

On almost everyone's definition.

Now, contrast,

the tax collector.

So the tax collector would have worked for the government.

And back then,

the government was the Roman Empire,

and everyone agreed.

There was no disagreement.

Everyone agreed the Roman Empire was oppressive and unjust.

And the tax collector's profits came from extorting,

the extortion of their own people.

The way that many tax collectors' jobs worked was,

their boss would say,

you have this area of land,

from Jerusalem,

to Bethlehem,

to Nazareth,

or wherever.

Right?

These three cities,

and the area in between them.

And at the end of the year,

you need to deliver to me

10,000 denarii,

or whatever.

Right?

You know, a million bucks.

So you go collect your taxes.

And your salary is whatever you collect,

on top of that.

And so the tax collectors,

many of them became very rich,

because they found ways

to get a lot of money from the people.

And so,

you know,

there were lots of things that the different,

the different Jewish groups,

the different Jewish rabbis,

disagreed on.

But one thing they all agreed on,

in Jesus' time,

the rabbis agreed that it was okay

to lie and deceive tax collectors,

because they were considered so corrupt.

And they were in the same category

as thieves and murderers.

Like, tax collectors,

thieves,

and murderers.

Those kind of people.

You don't,

you don't even have to tell them the truth,

because they're so corrupt,

and so unreliable,

and so wrong.

Wrong.

So,

a Jewish man who collected taxes

would have been expelled from his synagogue,

disqualified from being a witness in court,

and seen as a disgrace to his family.

Tax collectors were despised and hated.

So, let me just give you a few modern examples,

some of them might resonate more with you than others,

about what a tax collector might have looked like.

So, think about the owner of a strip club,

or the CEO of a casino

that intentionally seeks to make money off compulsive gamblers,

or a slum lord,

or a slum lord,

who never fixes up his rat and roach infested houses,

and just wants to make a lot of money off him,

or a drug dealer,

who runs the streets in the hood,

or the big dude,

who owns the pawn shop,

who's probably connected with the mafia.

Yeah.

That's what a tax collector would have been like.

He was working for a shady business,

and he was benefiting from it.

And when this guy walked into the temple,

you can see he wasn't used to being there.

I mean, if this was the temple,

this isn't a temple,

it's just where we meet together,

but if this was the temple and he walked in,

he would have sat in the back right behind that pillar,

where nobody would see him,

and nobody would notice him,

because he felt like,

I don't belong here,

and I'm not used to being here.

Now, that's why the end of Jesus' parable is so surprising.

Look at verse 14.

Jesus says,

I tell you,

this man,

the tax collector,

went down to his house justified.

That means righteous.

That means right with God.

That means forgiven.

That means accepted into God's family.

Having God's stamp of approval.

That's what justified means.

Rather than the other.

Jesus is saying,

at the end of the day,

the tax collector was righteous before God,

and the Pharisee was not.

You see how surprising,

and even scandalous of a story this would have been,

for Jesus' hearers.

Right?

Especially for any who were Pharisees.

Now, why?

Why does Jesus say this?

Jesus sees the reality that goes deeper than the appearance.

See, if you look at what the Pharisee prays,

his prayer is all about himself.

He starts with the word God.

God, I thank you.

And then he just starts talking about himself.

Do you notice how many times he says,

I?

God, I thank you that I

am not like other men.

I fast twice a week.

I give tithes of all I get.

God, I thank you that I am.

It's all about how,

what he does

makes him better

than everybody else.

Verse 11 could even be translated,

it could be translated,

the Pharisee standing by himself,

prayed,

or it could be translated,

the Pharisee standing,

prayed to himself.

right it's interesting the pharisee's prayer puts himself in the center and god on the edges

the tax collector's prayer is the opposite

tax collector humbles himself in light of a holy god

he says god be merciful to me a sinner

now the pharisee's prayer is much longer than the tax collector's tax collector's prayer is very short

and it's not wordy he's probably not used to praying a lot but he gets right to the point of it

god be merciful to me a sinner

and he uses a very interesting word when he says be merciful it's the word that is usually

translated god make atonement for me it's the word that was used to describe what the high priest did

when he went into the holy place once a year and he offered a sacrifice to cleanse the people of

israel from all their sins and he went and he offered that sacrifice before what was called

the mercy seat called the hilasterion and that's the same word that's called the mercy seat sort of where

god

offered his forgiveness to the people through the sacrifice that the priest offered on their behalf

and the people received mercy as a result and that's what the tax collector says god make atonement for me

make a sacrifice for me to make me clean

she doesn't come parading his own accomplishments he has he knows that he has nothing to offer to god

he comes simply empty-handed saying god have mercy on me that's the only way i can come before you

is if you have mercy and if you cover over my sins by a sacrifice

and at the end of the day jesus said he went home

justified before god

he was right with god at the end of the day and jesus i mean how amazing is that jesus doesn't say

well at the end of the day the tax collector was a little closer than the pharisee

no he doesn't say at the end of the day the tax collector had made a couple steps in the right

direction and maybe if he kept on making steps in the right direction then he would be approved and

accepted and forgiven by god no he says he went down to his house when he left that temple

god he was right with god

and the pharisee despite all the good things he did

wasn't

now

what do we take away from this

i want to say three things

three applications three things that we can take away from this passage number one

it's a word of warning

it says jesus told this parable

to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt

and so this parable is perhaps primarily a warning

it's not just what you do that matters it also matters why you do it

you know there are many things that can motivate people

to act in ways that look good and appear righteous

two of those things are pride

wanting to preserve your own reputation

and fear of other people

wanting to please others

and wanting their approval

and if you combine both of those things

those two things put together can motivate you to do a lot of

good things

well

because you know if there's something that's

you're tempted to do

that's bad

but you think that you'll be found out

and it'll be embarrassing

then you're not going to do it

because you don't want to be embarrassed

or if you think people will look at you

in a more negative light

you won't do it

because you think

somebody's not going to think so well of me

I mean if you put just those two things together

pride and the fear of man

fear of other people

that can motivate all kinds of good things

it can motivate fasting and praying

it can motivate tithing

right especially the way the Pharisees did it very publicly

so that everybody knew

it can motivate you to come to church

maybe not so much here in New England

right you don't get a lot of social props from coming to church here

but in some places

right that's the respectable thing to do on Sunday

sometimes people come up here from other parts of the country

and that's really the reason they went to church

their family did it

or

most of their friends did it

or

you know

it just sort of feels like the right thing to do

and you

you know

and then you come

to a place like this

and you have to examine your motives

you have to say

why do I come here

see it's not just what you do that matters

it also matters why you do it

and this is also sometimes

why people who seem to be

very good and moral upstanding citizens

sometimes get caught

with horrible things

whether it's a crime that lands them in jail

or a secret sin

that nobody knows about

or a pattern of

abusive or controlling behavior

behavior that

lies under the surface

it's because

the things that are motivating

to do all the good things

all the things that make them appear good

in some circumstances

let's say if

if somebody gets

if they get criticized

they're gonna blast you off

because don't you dare criticize me

right

or maybe you get the silent treatment as a result

so there's a warning

it's possible to do everything the Pharisee did

and go home

not right with God

and facing ultimately God's judgment

and punishment

and that's a

that's a

a serious warning

now how can we know

well I'll get to that later

how can we know if we're

if we're falling into that Pharisee trap

I'll get to that in a minute

so it's a word of warning

but it's also a word of hope

it's a word of hope for

people like the tax collector

if you feel like

when you come to church

or when you hang out with Christians

if there's some part of

if there's a big party that feels like

I just feel like I don't quite belong here

I don't

I know that I don't measure up

and some other people

you look at them

and they're clearly more mature than I am

and I just

I just don't know

whether I really belong here

and so maybe some days

you don't come to church

because you really feel that

and so you stay away

or you don't pursue Christian friendships

because you feel that shame

and you know deep down inside

you're not worthy

to come before God

and come among his people

there's a word of hope

for you

because Jesus said

the tax collector went down to his house

justified before God

that God looked upon him with favor

and mercy

and grace

and that word justified

it's a

it's like the judge's gavel

right

if you ever had to deal with the courts

or if you've gone with people to court

what happens the first time you go to court

they continue it

then what happens the second time

they continue it again

right

and again

and it's not unusual to have

right

five six seven eight court dates

dealing with the same thing

because they

take a long time to make decisions

that word justified

is as if you walk into court before God

and the judge slams the gavel down

and says you are not guilty

you can go free

I mean

how liberating that is

if you come into God's presence

and you know that you don't deserve to be there

and you know that you're actually guilty

and yet you hear

in Jesus Christ

God the Father

saying to you

Jesus Christ has made atonement for you

and so

I will have mercy on you

it's the most liberating thing in the world

I mean it's amazing if

if you've ever been in a court case

and you've

or you know someone who's been there

right

and they've been under the weight

of this fear

of what's going to happen

am I going to get thrown in jail

am I going to have to pay a fine

how am I going to pay the fine

I don't have any money anyway

and you get that verdict

not guilty

set free

how much more

if that is the verdict

that you have before the God

who created all things

before the judge

of the universe

and that's what Jesus says

we can have

through him

so there's a word of hope

for tax collectors

I mean

just consider

some of the people we consider

great leaders in the Bible

just three

Moses

well when Moses was young

and impulsive

he killed an Egyptian

he murdered someone

who was beating up

on his fellow Hebrew

now yes

was he trying to do justice

yeah

but did he murder someone

yeah he murdered someone

and so he had to run away

for 40 years

he had to face

some of the consequences

of that

but God wasn't done with him

and God took Moses

who was prone to

impulsive anger

and made him into

the leader of God's people

or think about David

when he was middle aged

and

didn't have quite enough

what to do

and he fell into adultery

with Bathsheba

and then he

arranged for her husband

to be killed

great King David

a man after God's own heart

and that's what he did

a horrible

evil

thing

or Paul

who had persecuted Christians

and when Stephen was being stoned

he stood there

giving his approval

personally

you know nearly all of the great leaders

in the Bible

had some pretty serious character flaws

and or

moral failures

nearly all of them

but what happened

what's the difference

I mean the Bible says

the wages of sin is death

but what happened

so that their sin

did not result

in death

and judgment

if you look at King David

King David wrote a psalm

Psalm 51

he wrote the psalm I quoted

Psalm 32

that I quoted at the beginning of the service

but he also wrote Psalm 51

and if you look back there

Psalm 51

page 474

in the Pew Bible

the psalm begins this way

well it's

the title says

the psalm

a psalm of David

when Nathan the prophet

went to him

Nathan had confronted him

after he had gone into Bathsheba

after he had committed adultery

with Bathsheba

and David said

have mercy on me

oh God

according to your steadfast love

according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions

wash me thoroughly

from my iniquity

and cleanse me

from my sin

David didn't make any excuses

he didn't come to God

and say

but God

I've been a pretty good king

I've been a really good king

I mean

you know

when Saul was coming after me

I didn't kill him

I mean

yeah

I sort of

messed up here

but

but you know

I've still done a lot of good

I really deserve to be

blessed for all the good I've done

no

he doesn't do any of that

he says

have mercy on me

oh God

according to your

steadfast love

and he goes on

I know my transgressions

my sin is ever before me

against you

and you only

have I sinned

have I sinned

and done what is evil

in your sight

so that you may be justified

in your words

and blameless in your judgment

he goes on

he doesn't hide his sin

he doesn't excuse it

he doesn't explain it away

he has both

a general sense

of his sinfulness

and a specific

concrete

understanding

of his specific

concrete

failures

what I want to end with is

my third point of application

it's a word of warning

it's a word of hope

but what's the difference

what's the difference

between the Pharisee

and the tax collector

right

and how can we tell

how can we

how can we have

how can we

see

in our own hearts

what that looks like

and I think

one thing we see

in

in David's psalm

and in the tax collector

is

he has both

he has a sense of

his own sin

both generally

and specifically

now some people

have a sense of their own sin

generally

so they'll say

oh yes

I'm a sinner

you know

yeah I'm not perfect

I acknowledge that

but then if you actually

ask them

so

are there any

but if you

if you listen to them

they never actually admit

any particular things

that they've done wrong

if you ask them

you know

are you a sinner

before God

they'll say yes

I am

but if you confront them

about something specific

they've done wrong

then they'll say

but

well I had a reason

for doing that

and I have an explanation

for this

and really

no it wasn't that

now other people

are the reverse

other people

will sort of

reluctantly admit

that they have

committed sin

in very specific areas

but in general

they would say

but generally

I'm a good person

I just

okay

I did

I admit it

I lied

I was wrong

I shouldn't have said that

but

generally

I'm a good person

David has both

a sense of his

general

sinfulness

he says

against you

have I sinned

even from my mother's womb

I've been born in sin

but he also

confesses

yes

I committed adultery

yes

I did that

that's one of the

ways we can

see

that the Holy Spirit

is actually bringing

conviction to our hearts

and shining his light

in our hearts

is that

we have both a general

and a specific sense

of our sin

okay

if you look at the tax

collector in the parable

he calls himself

a sinner

right

he has a general

sense of sin

and then if you look

at Zacchaeus

in the next chapter

who's also a tax

collector

he confesses

a very specific

sin

you know

if I've defrauded

anyone

I will pay them

back

he's actually

willing to

make amends

so

if you combine

those two

you see both

but I think

that's one way

we can tell

the Holy Spirit

is working in our hearts

when we have

both a general

and specific

sense of sin

second thing

the Holy Spirit

produces

is

the fear

of the Lord

and that

word

the fear

of the Lord

is used

throughout

a lot

of the Bible

and it doesn't

just mean

being afraid

of God

and it doesn't

mean being

terrified

by God

and running

away from him

it means having

it means

having God

at the center

of our picture

and living in

reverent obedience

before him

but it also

means

Psalm 130

the end of

Psalm 130

sorry the middle

of Psalm 130

Psalm 130

Psalms 130:4

verse 4

verse 3 and 4

says

if you oh Lord

should mark

iniquities

oh Lord

who could stand

in other words

if God kept

a list

of all our

sins

no one

would pass

the test

but he says

but with you

there is

forgiveness

that you

may be

feared

so the fear

of the Lord

is the kind

of fear

it's like

the kind

of fear

that

a child

would have

if they were

wandering

into a busy

street

and their

parents

suddenly

snatched

them out

of traffic

and they

realized

that if

their parent

hadn't

snatched

them out

of traffic

the bus

would have

run over

them

and so

what do

they do

after that

they start

listening

to their

parent

they start

obeying

their parent

they start

trusting

their parent

even when

they don't

understand

what their

reason

for their

parents

commands

they have

a right

kind of

fear

of their

mother

or father

and that's

the kind

of fear

of the

Lord

that the

Bible

is talking

about

that's

the kind

of fear

of the

Lord

the tax

collector

had

he stood

at a

distance

he beat

his

breast

and the

way

those

verbs

are

written

it's

an

ongoing

action

it's

not

just

a

one

time

demonstration

but it's

an ongoing

posture

of repentance

and confessing

his sin

and acknowledging

he's unworthy

to stand

before God

so he has

a kind

of a

fear

of the

Lord

knowing

who he

is

in light

of God's

holiness

and then

knowing

who he

is

in light

of God's

mercy

so sin

general and

specific

fear of

the

Lord

and

three

our

attitude

our

attitude

towards

prayer

and other

good works

let me

end with

you can

turn to

Philippians

I want to

end with a

verse from

Philippians

because

Paul

in

Philippians

chapter

three

page

981

if you're

looking

at a

pew

bible

Paul

describes

himself

as a

Pharisee

that

was

the

school

that

was

the

apostle

Paul

was

trained

in

he

would

have

fit

the

description

of

this

guy

who

came

to

the

temple

fasting

twice

a

week

giving

tithes

of

all

I

get

he

knew

the

scriptures

he

was

an

upstanding

citizen

of course

he persecuted

Christians

because he

thought that

he should

at one

point

but

but this

is what

he says

in

Philippians

chapter

three

verse

seven

and on

he says

whatever gain

I had

in other

words

whatever

gain

I

had

whatever

privileges

I

had

from

being

born

into

a

certain

family

whatever

moral

accomplishments

I

had

as a

Pharisee

whatever

gain

I

had

I

counted

as

loss

for the

sake

of

Christ

indeed

I

counted

I

count

everything

as

loss

because

of

the

surpassing

worth

of

knowing

Christ

Jesus

my

Lord

for

his

sake

I

have

suffered

the

loss

of

all

things

and

count

them

as

rubbish

and

here's

where

it

is

not

having

a

righteousness

of

my

own

that

comes

from

the

law

but

that

which

comes

through

faith

in

Christ

the

righteousness

from

God

that

depends

on

faith

you

see

the

apostle

Paul

found

righteousness

from

God

not

by

his

efforts

and

his

works

but

by

faith

in

the

work

of

Jesus

who

had

died

on

the

cross

for

him

and

who

had

been

raised

from

the

dead

he

found

justification

before

God

just

like

this

tax

collector

you

see

at

the

end

of

the

day

Jesus

is

not

saying

that

you

have

to

become

like

a

tax

collector

and

join

the

mafia

or

work

for

a

shady

business

or

do

all

kinds

of

crazy

things

or

go

to

jail

right

Jesus

is

not

saying

you

need

to

do

that

what

he's

saying

is

you

need

to

have

that

same

humility

that

that

tax

collector

showed

I

mean

isn't

it

amazing

that

Paul

the

Pharisee

right

Jesus

is

saying

the

tax

collector

went

home

justified

and

the

Pharisee

didn't

but

yet

Jesus

saved

Paul

the

Pharisee

man

who

was

good

in

all

kinds

of

ways

and

who

obeyed

the

law

and

yet

he

brought

him

to

his

knees

at

the

foot

of

the

cross

so

that's

the

point

of

this

parable

as

Jesus

says

in

the

end

everyone

who

exalts

himself

will

be

humbled

but

the

one

who

humbles

himself

will

be

exalted

let's

pray

Lord

Jesus

we

thank

you

for

this

parable

and

we

pray

that

you

would

help

us

by

your

Holy

Spirit

to

take

it

to

heart

as

a

word

of

warning

against

trusting

in

our

own

righteousness

and

treating

others

with

contempt

as

a

result

but

Lord

that

we

would

receive

it

also

as

a

word

of

hope

and

promise

Lord

this

is

what

you

came

to

do

you

came

to

lay

down

your

life

for

sinners

like

us

and

everyone

who

comes

to

you

can

know

that

forgiveness

that

the

tax

collector

knew

and

Lord

I pray

that

every

person

in this

place

would

not

leave

here

without

knowing

what the

tax collector

knew

being justified

before

God

Lord we

call out to you

have mercy on us

and make us so that we do

so that we're aware of our sin

and so that we do all the good works that you've called us to do out of a fear of the Lord

more and more

Lord not to promote ourselves not to

bring our accomplishments before you but

simply to say thank you for what you've done for us

we pray this in your name

amen