Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

The questions we wrestle with as Christians about who God is, how do we live out our faith, what is the Bible, what is the truth of the Bible, what are we supposed to believe, how are we supposed to live, there are really big deep questions that we ask each other, that we ask God, that we wrestle with ourselves. And that's why the Cultivate podcast exists, to help us go deeper in our understanding of who God is, his word, and the way that he's called us to live. Welcome to the Cultivate podcast with The Grove Church. This is Charlie Lofton, the lead pastor there, and we are here with Bagel Boone.

I forgot you're gonna do that. That

announcer voice, but they're close enough.

Yeah. Yeah. Because some of it, like, Celtics, obviously, my favorite, but their announcer, he, like, growls at these, like, Jason Tatum. And it's, like, this long, drawn out time, like, that's gotta hurt your throat. Right.

I feel I mean, don't know I'm not on the list at all, but if there were an open audition for there to be a new PA guy at Budd Walton, I mean, I think could at least compete for it because I'd be like, okay, that dude can sound like the old guy. Yeah. Is within range that people may not even Yeah. I'm a voice mimic.

Those are opportunities that come up that's like, I don't care if you're a good candidate or not, you go.

Well, no, they're not even gonna be a candidate. I know exactly who's gonna get it. The guy who replaces, who subs in for him, he's gonna get the job for

already And it's open auditions.

They're not gonna have open auditions. They're not gonna have a audition.

I have a friend that her mom was in college whenever Pat Summitt was still a coach, and she was, like, not athletic at all. But they're having open tryouts, and her dad was like, I know you hate sports, but you have to do this. Wow. She went and did a whole day of open scrimmage, and she was like, I got killed. But I did play with Pat's on Pat's Summit Court, and it's like, you just do those things.

There you go. I did that once in college where I it may surprise you that I was in the choir for a little bit.

Yeah, this surprised me. The college choir?

Yeah. And then there was an open audition for this really in the Christmas thing that we did, there was a senior got to do this really start the whole program off with this solo, and it was every year. It's the same song, same solo, and I just knew I wasn't going to get it. So you went for it. I just auditioned, just to do it, just to do something that would just push me out of my comfort zone a little bit.

So I'll do things like

And you've got it.

No. Goodness, no. No. I said I knew I wasn't going to

do it, but

I didn't get it. Fun

though. Love that.

You know, because it is very normal for me to only do things that I think I can

Be good at. Yeah. Yeah. So Well, why did you do the choir, like,

choir

in high school?

Was not that much.

But, like, that's just like you need the credit. College.

My girlfriend was in there.

Okay. There it is.

Alright. So we are in the middle of talking about the parables. And last one, we talked about the two debtors. One guy owes a couple months' wage, another guy owes a year and a half who's going to love the forgiver more, the guy who owes more, and it kind of bridges in a little bit pretty nicely to this parable, which is called the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Very similar themes and kind of where we ended up.

We think, okay, if if the Pharisee was paying attention, then he heard this and realized this and realized this, and then you end up here. Now we've got one of the things that we ended up talking about, I think is something that Jesus is very explicitly going to talk about here. And again, one of the most important things to think about in a parable is who specifically is Jesus talking to. Because now you're like, okay, well, if he's talking to his disciples, then probably the main character in there is, you know, it's going be someone that the disciples are supposed to identify with or the Pharisees. And again, another one where we don't have to speculate at all, it is in the very middle of Jesus is very explicit about why the Bible is very explicit about why Jesus is talking about this.

We are now in Luke 18 verse nine. To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on every everyone else, Jesus told this parable.

That's super specific.

That is very specific.

Okay.

So we're probably in the in the category of, you know, your your typical Pharisees. It's interesting that He didn't just say

Pharisees.

Pharisees and people like them, but just in general, I know it's not just the Pharisees, but they're boys too and So somebody who's like it's like, I wonder who Jesus is talking to. Well, it's to some who were confident of their own righteousness look down on everybody. This is that is such an overly specific

description. Like, okay, you didn't have to say all that, but alright.

Yeah. Exactly.

Exactly. That is a 100% the vibe that it is.

Two men went up to the temple to pray. One, a Pharisee, and the other, a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed. God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of all I get.

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. I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

He beat his chest.

He just got these microphones.

Ah, okay.

What did you what did you imagine?

No. No. Like, super intense, like,

ah. I don't I don't think it was necessarily violent. Okay. But as much as it was just kind of, you know, some second.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Anyways.

Okay.

So before we kinda get into the meat of it, think we know what a Pharisee is. Right? Mhmm. What is a Pharisee? Well, like, technically?

Or or just whatever. What do you know about a Pharisee?

They're like the kind of like the priest.

Mhmm.

And they, like, tell people how to be forgiven.

Yeah. They they thought and I think they are an example of what this thing is talking about. Someone who

Thinks they're righteous. Confident of

their own righteousness and look down on everyone else. That was kind of their vibe. Was of their are not sinners like all of you. We do all the right things. We follow all the laws.

And if you'll follow us, you'll do well. If you don't, then, again, we're going to look down upon you. But they were religious, and then by somewhat then, a little bit political leaders who had a very strict standard for obedience. And they were contrasting this guy with a tax collector, which we all know what a tax collector is. Mean, it's in the world.

I What does a tax collector do?

Collect taxes.

Taxes in the name. Why would that be? Do you know? Do you know why that would be an example of kind of a capital S center in not only in this parable, but really all throughout the gospels.

Because they're connected to the Romans?

They're connected to the Romans, which is that's definitely bad. You know, you are one of us collecting money for them, the oppressors. So you're you're kinda there there's a sellout quality to it. Mhmm. Anything else?

Only because I know of from The Chosen

Oh.

That he, like, could overcharge people.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I don't really know how they got because in The Chosen, there was a guard with them the whole time. But I guess they can kinda, like, make up, you owe this, but really they only owe this and he just pockets the rest. Right. Or gives it to Yeah.

I mean, there's there's no like there's no like computer database to check it against. Sure. There's no like, no. According to my calculations, I mean, like, if if I'm the tax collector and I've got a Roman guard with me, and I say, you owe 10 denarii, and you're like, I only own I only owe 5. Yeah.

And then you give me 5. What?

You're still in debt. Yeah. They're kind of like the neighborhood bully.

They had the ability and the Romans could not have cared less that I'm stealing from you and pocketing the rent. As long as they get the 5 that they're owed, they don't care that you actually took 10 and kept five for yourself. In fact, that means I've got an effective Person. Tax collector. He is getting all of it and more.

Good for him. And so they were sellouts and thieves. And so it's always been, you know, you know, it's curious when you're hearing the Pharisees or whatever talk about, you know, it's like, and prostitutes and tax collectors.

Right. But it kinda be like

It seems like not not on the same level, but to them, it would have been.

This is not maybe the Pharisee's view, but it's like, you don't wanna hang out with the hall monitor because they're lame. You know? Like, don't hang out with the person that's gonna get you in trouble.

Who's the hall monitor in this situation?

The tax collector.

Okay. Well, I I feel like really the

The Pharisee would

be more really kinda more

the home. The people that put parking tickets on your car at the U of A. Like, I just objectively am not gonna like you.

Oh, I I mean, Harry Potter?

Harry Potter? Yeah.

Read the books? Of course.

Yeah.

The inquisitorial squad.

Yes. Yes. That's like, you're just like bad news bears, so I'm just I just don't really like you.

But it's not because they are like, the inquisitorial squad, it wasn't that they were rule enforcers. That's the prefix. Percy Weasley was a tough uncle. Was a tough uncle. But that's not what this is.

The inquisitorial squad is we are enforcing unjust laws for an unjust regime, and then, in some cases, and just really just to punish people I don't like and to make myself feel better.

And parking tickets are unjust on the U of A campus, in my opinion.

Well, again, in this situation, it would be and the the the the they they charge it would only be a $50 fine.

I'm gonna make it a 100.

But I'm gonna put a 100 on there. And then when you pay it, they split the 50 amongst themselves and send the other 50 to the U of A. And so it is even worse than, if you can imagine it, than someone who enforces the parking at the U of

I chased one of them because I could see that they were coming towards my car. And I was like, alright, it's time to run. And I'm just gonna get out of here before they get the ticket on my car.

I I want you know, this is the system has changed a lot over the fifteen years I've been here. I parked, and then I had to go to a kiosk.

Yes. Then the time

between I walked from my car to the kiosk, they put a ticket on my car.

It's like, Oh my gosh!

And so then I went and I paid and I came out. I had my little thing and I get out of my car and there's a ticket on there and I and I looked and it was like, 02:15 is when they put it on there and it was like, 02/16 is when I got I was like, oh, this is great, guys.

It is

And then to go to where you need to go to fight it,

there were You'll probably get a ticket while you're fighting it.

There were parking meters.

Know.

So now I gotta find a dime somewhere in my car.

And who has change?

Well, this was twelve, thirteen years ago, so it was a little more likely. But anyways, Pharisee and the tax collector. Do you think there are people who are like, when something like this happens in the podcast, they're

like, skip, skip, skip, skip.

Yeah. Like, I imagine that. But are there people that are like, this is why I listen to this podcast?

Oh, I hope so. I know people that are equally annoyed at the parking people. So just like

our stupid banner. I mean, all of a sudden, Percy Weasley and the inquisitorial squad comes up and like, yeah, this is why I listen to them and not

Some high pollutant podcast.

I could be listening to Tim Keller.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. But instead, I'm listening to this nonsense. Alright. So the Pharisee goes up and prays, and then and this is his prayer. I thank you.

I'm not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.

That is like the most arrogant prayer that's ever been prayed.

Like, who are you talking to at that point?

Yeah. Like, who I mean, he's praying to God. Right?

Is he? I mean,

like to, like, praising himself, though.

Like, God know like, all those all those things are true. Right? I mean, but if they're true, right, but God already knows. Right. Hey, God, I I did great on my test today.

I'm great. I would imagine this He is just

was speaking to the people around him.

Right. So when you contrast it with, But the tax collector stood at a distance. Like, just imagine him walking into a large group of people who are praying and standing in the middle of them going, God louder. Glad I'm better than all these people. I do all these things they don't do.

I'm so glad I'm not like them. Amen. Imagine what, one, it would be for other people's benefit to hear it. But then also, how insanely arrogant would you have to be that somebody standing next to you would be like, He fasts twice a week.

Wow. Are people

like, I can't imagine that they would be. The people are impressed by that. Like, now we're in see, now we're in the hall monitor situation. Did you know the principal lets me get candy from his desk? Like, you know, get out of here with your nonsense.

And so what do we learn about the Pharisee from that prayer?

I mean, arrogant, for sure.

Yeah. For sure.

But he has kind of, like, an aim to put down other people.

Right.

Like, to make them know their place, that they're the lower people.

So to use a word that Jesus uses here, justified, which is like to make something right, to write something. In the Pharisee's mind, what makes him right?

Because he does fasting and

What he does. Yeah. And his relative goodness compared to somebody else. Yeah. So it is, you know, in the purest sense, we overuse this term, but in the purest sense of this term, He is self righteous.

Where does my righteousness come from? It comes from me. I do these things, I go above and beyond, I fast, it's not just that I fast, but I fast more than I'm required to. It's not that I tithe, I tithe more than I have to.

You stacked up enough good. Right.

And if you think about it even further, the gap between me and all these people, right? I mean, I mean, because he did. Or even this tax collector. That's an eyes open prayer.

Yeah.

God, I'm so glad that I'm not like this guy.

Yeah. Were the Pharisees, like, in today's culture, there's, like, a super, like

I will not be identifying the Pharisees with any particular group of people. No.

I know.

I know. But someone who's like denomination they're like, guys. A

lot of times, I think secular people, though, can think, like, oh, they're up there, but they actually have hidden stuff all over the place. What if the secular people or just not Pharisees thought that of the Pharisees of, like, yeah, you say that, but you're really x, y, and z. You're cheating on your wife, or you're not actually following these laws.

I think, really, the I think, you know, Jesus is pointing this out. It's like, you do all these things, you have all this ritualistic obedience, but you're kind of jerks. Yeah. But I don't I don't know that a common person would have made that identification. Because not only, like, they had all of the power.

Yeah. So they're saying, here's what makes you good whether or not you do these 20 things. Mhmm. And the Pharisees were doing those 20 things. The fact that they were unkind

Didn't matter.

Didn't really matter. That they were arrogant didn't matter. But it isn't like the Pharisees were like, whatever you do, you can only have sex with your wife, and then they've got

All these over here, or they're caught at. Right. Okay.

I mean, I'm sure in a sample size

You could find a few.

You could find some. But that was not like their reputation. Their reputation wasn't for being hypocrites in the sense that they told them, they told the people to do these 20 things, but they weren't doing them. Jesus' description of them is, You're telling people to do these things, but you are ignoring deeper, weightier things like kindness and humility. And so you've got the person that would have been considered, you know, in the culture to be, quote, the good guy who comes up there and has this braggadocious, arrogant prayer.

And then you've got the bad guy comes up and says, you know, he wouldn't even look up to heaven, beating his breast like an angry gorilla.

That's not what it says.

That's not what it says.

Okay. I don't remember that. Yeah. I don't remember that part.

And God said, God have mercy on me, a sinner. Mhmm. And so as with a lot of Jesus parables, there's kind of like a like a switcheroo. Bad guys, who you think is the bad guy is actually the good guy, and who you think is the good guy is actually the bad guy. And so, think at this point, we see so many of these things that that becomes natural for us.

But again, is the shocking nature of the parable. Pharisee should have the good prayer, and the tax collector gets up there to pray and is like, I don't even know why I'm here. I'm rich and all these people are idiots. Amen. That's what you would expect.

And the Pharisee being like, God, I'm just so thankful that You have shown Your Word to me and that You have laid out the path for me and that I have the privilege of being able to follow it and You. And thank You for what You are doing for our people and pray that You would restore us. I mean, like that's what you're supposed to the Pharisee knows how to pray and is a good person. The tax collector probably doesn't know how to pray and is a terrible person. And so that's the immediate kind of what of that, of just kind of that flip flop.

Again, kinda like we were talking about last episode. These these these are not for us now, there's not some shocking twist for us. Yeah. Of course, we we, you know, after two thousand years

We find ways

to do We know that the Pharisees are the bad guys. Yes. It's not shocking to us that Jesus would tell a parable and the Pharisee is the villain in it. It's not a shocking villain.

It shocking that a tax collector would be praying?

Yeah.

It was? Okay.

Yeah. Mean, he would He is a sellout and a thief. Why would a thief go pray? As in, like, why would they think they have hope? Yeah.

I I mean, why would they even care? If they cared what God thought

Mhmm.

They wouldn't be a thief.

Doing that. Yeah. Okay.

And so then Jesus says, I tell you this this I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. And so, if the purpose of a prayer is, at least on some level, kind of riding a relationship with God, the one who ride his relationship with God, who was justified, is the sinner. The bad guy gets it better than the good guy does because the good guy is leaning on himself, and the bad guy has recognition of his need for mercy.

Yeah, recognition of his need to depend on God.

And the reality of it is, and because what we talked about at the very end of last episode, is from our perspective, we're kinda like, Oh, yeah, okay, this helps us. We all need God. And so there is a subversive nature to what Jesus is saying there because the implication is the Pharisee needs to be justified. But he's thinking he's already justified, and so when Jesus says, Who went home justified? You would think the answer would be the first guy because he's doing everything right.

But he went home not right with God.

Yeah. He want a home right with himself, I guess.

Right. Because he does not understand because of what Jesus says. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. If you believe that you are good enough on your own, you will be humbled. But if you humble yourself to recognize that I am not good enough

You will be exalted.

Then then God will lift that up.

Which this, again, kinda like I said last episode, feels like it would be poking and, like, creating cracks in their idea of what the law was capable of doing. Right. Not just God's character, like, not as much of a Christology type statement, but poking holes in the system that they thought was sufficient.

Yeah. So last week's episode is more of a Christology episode. Mhmm. This is more soteriology, the nature of salvation.

Yeah.

What makes you right with God? Is it doing a certain set of good works in your relative goodness compared to somebody else? Which is something that people think about all the time. Well, I do good things, and I'm not as bad as those people, therefore, I'm good with God.

Right.

They may have invented it, but that's not some outdated idea. It's something that people think. But actually, you find yourself made right with God, not based on what you do, but on your humility before Him and your recognition of your gaps, We, the things that you've done

like we say almost every episode, RNA, we know what the crucifixion was. We know all of those things, but humility is not what saved you, but it's the fact that someone who is actually capable of justifying did everything.

Right.

Pointing out the insufficient maybe it's not right to call the law insufficient, but insufficient nature of the law that it wasn't able to. You needed to humble yourself before God, regardless of how much you think you have on your own plate that you could offer.

Yeah. The way that Paul described it is, and then Peter did too, but obviously, Paul is the one who brought brought the most clarification to this when he said, you know, that essentially the law was meant to be a guide and, like a tutor, like a pointer, like a steward that's like, I'm gonna put this out here, and it is going to show you that it is in fact impossible to please God based on living a perfect obedient life. And so, put all this out here. Okay, you wanna be right before God, all you have to do is this all the time. And it and it and it is impossible.

And it was supposed to make you go, if this is the case, then I then really, I I can only rely on You need God. I can really only rely on God's mercy.

Yeah.

And so you were supposed to be able to glean from that your dependence and need for mercy. But these Pharisees were like, okay, well, let's all these laws, let's put them together, Let's make sure we understand exactly what each law means. Okay. You can't work on the Sabbath. That means this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this.

Okay. You're supposed to give 10%. 10% of what? This, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, you put it all together and, you know, you've got this big thick book, and now I know exactly what all the rules are, and I can follow them. Which is why Jesus spends so much of His time going like, okay, well think about this though, You may not have killed somebody, but what about what's going on in your in your heart?

What about the hate that is in your heart? Like, you, you know, he's like, you tithe out of your herb garden, but you don't show compassion to people. Or allow them to And hear the and the the phrase being, you're straining out gnats and swallowing camels. Have you not heard that phrase before?

Thought you just made that up.

No. It is something that Jesus said where it's like Okay. It's actually a quote from a Bible verse. You're saying, you think I made that up?

Wise, Charlie.

Yeah. That's right. Where it's like, oh, I gotta make sure I don't accidentally eat any of these bugs, so I'm going to strain everything out to make sure I don't accidentally eat a bug, but somehow a camel got through.

Okay.

Right? So the idea is like you're you're working really hard at really small insignificant things and missing the bigger picture.

Yeah.

And so you got this guy who, based on the standards that they'd created, yeah, was better than a robber, an evildoer, an adulterer, or a tax collector. He was better if the purpose is to do these certain sets of things. But if the purpose is to recognize the gap between you and God, and your need for humility, and your need for God's grace, then we've actually completely inverted it. The tax collector is way closer to this than you are. Because, again, this is this is something that Jesus talks about all the time, this great inversion.

If you want to be lifted up, then you need to humble yourself.

Mhmm.

But if if you try to if you try to lift yourself up, you will be humbled.

Which I feel like is kind of a cool perspective with the tax collector because not only is he aware of how dirty or sinful he is, but he actually took the step to go and plead to God to have mercy, because he could just be like, I suck.

Yeah. And so this this is kinda what one of the things that we've been talking about, which is how Jesus' theology and his teaching really kind of act as a bridge between the flawed Old Testament mindset that first century Jews had to the clarity in a post resurrection, post crucifixion theology that Paul's gonna give. We see a lot of that here. You think righteousness is based on what you do, it's not. That is not what it's based on.

Righteousness comes from humility, and then also, then, again, you can see as we're getting there, how important repentance is going to be. The only thing that we still don't yet understand at this point is, is there a mechanism by which forgiveness is possible, or is it just whether or not God chooses or wants to? That's where Jesus' death and resurrection are gonna come in. But we're already building a bridge from their broken perspective to what we're gonna fully understand post resurrection, it is you do not have a righteousness based on what you do, but righteousness is something that is going to be given to you by God, and is gonna be given to you through humility and repentance. And so, this would have been a huge paradigm shift for them, that a humble sinner is closer to God than a prideful person who was following the law.

Mhmm.

That would have

Just not.

That way, I mean, no one would have walked away from that going.

Kill.

I got that. I got somebody yeah. Yeah. I don't even need to write it down. Totally makes sense.

Totally intuitive. Yeah. It would have been completely non intuitive to them. Yeah. And so for us, and like I said last episode, these two are the kind of ones where, for us, the point that Jesus is making is super obvious.

But they would have been like, like,

you sure?

Could you repeat that, please? Yeah.

Yeah.

Can you use that in a sentence?

Mhmm.

Yeah. Mean, that would've he would've

So was the Pharisee's I never can remember what this thing is called, but it's like the chief end of man is to know God and make God known or something like that?

I would say that the chief would have been obedience.

But, like, I feel like the whole attempt of the Old Testament was to make a dwelling to commune with God because they lost us at separation.

Know that that's what a Pharisee would say. The purpose of the world is, like, if I do right, I'll be good and will be blessed.

Okay.

I would imagine they viewed it very transactionally.

Okay.

I want good things to happen, so I do what I'm supposed to do.

Not as much union with Right.

So I think Jesus teaching them about personal connection with God would've been like, Oh, it's not again, back to the back to the prodigal son. Like, I I I back to the prodigal son where it's like, I'm I'm I'm a servant. Mhmm. I'm not an intimate son. So when Jesus says things like, my father, they're like, What?

What? Yeah. And so intimacy, humility, relationship, repentance, these were not high values. This parable, for us, seems incredibly intuitive. Why would anybody need to say that?

Yeah, a humble person who recognizes they're a sinner is better than someone who thinks they're good enough on their own. Right? Of course. But it would have been People been would talking about this days later being like, Do you remember when he said deep Right. They would have had multiple It follow-up would not have been.

This is, again, very paradigm shifting from a righteousness that comes from strict rule following versus a repentant, humble heart. Alright, so we're gonna stop this little two week interlude of relatively intuitive ones, and then we're gonna jump to the Good Samaritan. It's very long. It's a very longer one. Oh, it is?

Yeah. I mean, it's a pretty it's a relatively long story. And somebody told me they're a little confused by it. So we'll see. We'll see how it goes.

Get ready. Thanks as always for being a great co host and thank you guys for joining us. I encourage you to come back as we're talking about The Good Samaritan next week and would love to connect with you on a Sunday. You can find us at thegrovechurch.org. Go to our connect page, you can fill out a form there, let us know who you are, how we can help, you can ask questions, you can find out all about our services there.

If you're not a part, we would love to connect with you. Again, thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next time. Thank you for listening to the Cultivate Podcast. Our hope is that you are taking steps to go deeper in your faith, that you are asking big questions, and you're looking for answers. We hope that we can be a resource for you through our podcast and any other way that we can help you.

You can find all our episodes anywhere that you can find podcasts, including YouTube. And, again, thank you so much for joining us.