A Parable of Two Prayers

Introduction

As long as there has been religion, there has been the sin of spiritual pride and self-righteousness.

It is a sin that pre-dates the fall of man:

Ezekiel 28:17 ““Your heart was lofty because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you.”

Isaiah 14:13 ““But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.”

1 Timothy 3:6 “and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation of the devil.”

Pride was at the heart of that original sin of Satan and was the undertone of the very first temptation he used to lure the first man and woman to rebel against God.

Genesis 3:5 ““For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””

The great irony is that Adam and Eve were far more like God before they rebelled than after, but the ruse worked and man has tended toward this sin ever since.

It could be said that pride and self-righteousness is the default spiritual disposition of man.

Proverbs 20:6 “Many a man will call out his own lovingkindness, But a faithful man, who can find?”

NOTE: We always tend to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.

Of course, Satan knows this, and since he is the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), he has so arranged this world system to feed into human pride:

1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

Since pride is Satanic, and false religion is Satanic and demonic in origin (1 Cor. 10:20), it is only natural to expect that pride and self-righteousness are in some form at the heart of every false religion.

Note: Every form of religion outside of the Christian faith utilizes human pride in order to deceive man into believing that he can have some part in his own salvation.

It convinces the person (quite easily) that either (1) there is nothing wrong with him, or (2) that he can somehow do something to fix what’s wrong with him and so please God.

This is, of course, complete Satanic deception.

Man can’t do enough to please God because man isn’t good enough to please God.

But he’s convinced he can do it because he has a complete misunderstanding of how evil he really is and how holy and righteous God is—and thus how high and unattainable the bar is for salvation.

Just how high is this bar?

Leviticus 19:2 ““Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.”

James 2:10 “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.”

Matthew 5:48 ““Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

The standard is perfection because the standard is God himself—he sets the bar for what is truly righteous and anything lower than that falls under his just condemnation.

So what is man to do? If man can never measure up to God’s righteous standard, then what hope is there for man to ever be saved and participate in God’s kingdom?

KEY: That is the question directly addressed by the text before us: “Who is fit for the kingdom of God?”

Context

In the flow of Luke’s gospel, the kingdom has been the focus since Jesus was asked by a Pharisee in 17:20 about when the kingdom of God was going to come.

Luke 17:21–37 - discusses the nature of that kingdom in this age before the arrival of the Son of Man.

Luke 18:1–8 - parable about a persistent widow…to encourage his disciples to continue to pray for the Messiah’s future coming and not lose heart as they wait for it.

Luke 18:9–19:27 - Luke shifts his focus from the nature of God’s kingdom and begins to focus on the kind of person who is fit to enter that kingdom.

Luke 18:15–17 - one must have child-like faith

Luke 18:18–30 - episode of the rich young ruler

But Luke begins this new focus with this well-familiar parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.

It is a fitting introduction to the topic because it so clearly delineates who is and is not fit for God’s kingdom.

And even though this parable, like the one before it (18:1–8) deals with prayer, it’s not actually prayer that Jesus is focused on. Prayer is simply an occasion for zeroing in on Jesus’ true concern: the heart.

Focus = man’s heart, and prayer is a great revealer of what a person’s like on the inside.

Read Passage…

Luke 18:9–14 “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and was praying these things to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the 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 he who humbles himself will be exalted.””

The Audience (18:9)

Jesus had a particular audience in mind for this parable, as he often did when he told parables (cf. 10:29; 14:7; 15:2; 18:1).

Luke 18:9 “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:”

“Some” are marked by 2 characteristics:

1. “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous”

“trusted” = peitho, “to be persuaded,” “to be confident in something,” and so “to be willing to rely on something”

Confident in their own righteousness…their behavior was sufficient grounds for their standing before God and sufficient evidence for their righteousness.

2. “and treated others with contempt”

“others” = Lit., “the rest” = everyone that wasn’t like them

“others” will be an important term in this parable

“contempt” = “disdain”

The result of self-righteousness is contempt for others who do not conform to one’s own standard

This is a broad target…every person in potential danger of this (Lk. 12:1–2 warns of the leaven of the Pharisees).

This parable confronts every person who is ever tempted to elevate himself in his own mind.

Even believers can be guilty of this!

Romans 12:3 “For through the grace given to me I say to each one among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound thinking, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”

It’s not only meant to clarify the character of the person fit for God’s kingdom, but also warns those who are citizens of that kingdom that self-righteousness and conceited judgment of other people have no place among God’s people.

The Setting (18:10)

Key: the key to understanding parables = recognize and understand the cultural and historical framework in which they are set.

Jesus told parables that reflect the world in which he and his audience lived…a 1st century Near Eastern context.

Half the work of unpacking and understanding Jesus’ parables is understanding the cultural elements that would have been well familiar to his listeners but are foreign to us.

This parable is no different.

Luke 18:10 ““Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.”

CHARACTERS = “two men”are intended to be identified with by the audience…either “the some” who are self-righteous or “the rest” whom they view with contempt.

LOCATION = “the temple” = location for this parable…the most sacred place in Judaism

Center of Israelite life (cultic center for sacrifices, political, economic, religious center for prayer/worship)

Temple system of courts arranged the world: Jew/Gentile, men/women, priests/laity, clean/unclean

Joel Green: The temple was the “divinely legitimated hub that mirrors as well as communicates and sustains the boundaries of social relations and experiences of fictive kinship among Jewish people” (NICNT, 646–7).

Perfect location for this parable b/c is drew upon these strong, unconscious, unspoken cultural and religious connotations.

PURPOSE = “to pray” = natural activity for temple

Temple called “a house of prayer” (cf. Isa. 56:7; Matt. 21:13)

Public prayers offered 2x/day after morning and evening sacrifices (9am & 3pm)

The Characters (18:10b)

It’s not the location or the scenario that makes this parable so shocking to Jesus’ audience as much as the identity of the characters: “one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector”

Jesus has intentionally selected the two most incongruous, polar-opposite individuals for this story.

He’s purposefully playing on common Jewish associations and sensibilities in order to draw his listeners in and get them to identify themselves with one of these two men…to pick a side.

Understanding this associations are critical for us to interpret this parable.

Pharisee

Name = “separated ones” or “holy ones”

Origins most likely in the Maccabean revolt (162 BC)

When Alexander the Great conquered Persia and began taking over the known world, he devoted himself to spreading Greek cultural everywhere = “Hellenism”

Some segments of Judaism embraced Hellenistic culture

Others saw Hellenism as an imminent threat to Jewish culture and religion

Pharisees most likely emerged during this time

They were not primarily a political party…they were a religious group devoted to scrupulous maintaining of the Mosaic law and the traditional interpretation handed down orally

Totaled around 6,000 throughout Palestine

Mostly comprised of laymen rather than priests

“Extremely influential among the common people” according to Josephus

Viewed themselves as the “authorized successors of the law” and the ones who “sat in the seat of Moses” (Matt. 23:2)

They were the guardians of law-keeping—definers of piousness, religiosity, and devout spirituality

Main motivation = the observance of the rabbinic traditions and interpretations of the law which they viewed as equal in authority w/ the written law of Moses

Josephus: “a class of Jews who considered themselves the godliest of the nation and the most rigorous followers of the law”

For that reason, they separated themselves from the common people, the ‘am ha’arets, “the people of the land”

Note: Jesus could not have picked a more fitting individual to feature the “some” in this parable

The Pharisee represented everything religious and pious and devout about the Jewish religion

His target audience would immediately latch onto and identify with him…this is “our guy”!

Tax Collector

Rome collected land & poll taxes directly from the people

Customs & import taxes were auctioned out to locals willing to big for a kind of “tax franchise”

The tax collector could collect taxes + excess to kickback to the tax farmer than gave him the franchise + extra to line his own pockets

Often used violent means to extort taxes from his own people

For this reason they were utterly despised by the Jews

They were traitors to their people collecting money for Rome, a foreign oppressor

They were corrupt, generating wealth through extortion

They were unclean because of their regular interaction with Gentiles

Tax collectors epitomized those who were willing to sell out their own people to make a profit

They were a disgrace to their family, expelled from the synagogue, disqualified from serving as a witness in a court of justice

Everything they touched became unclean, which is why it would be scandalous to invite one into your house, let alone be a guest in their house

Jews were forbidden to receive money from tax collectors, even if it was alms, because it was from tax revenue which was considered a form of robbery

The Mishnah even encouraged Jews to lie to tax collectors with impunity

This was the individual Jesus chose for the second character in this story

He was the perfect representative of “the others” in the story—the ones held in contempt

He was everything scandalous and shameful and wicked wrapped into one person

Transition: So now that we’ve introduced these characters, Jesus takes us in a step further by describing what these characters are doing.

The Pharisee (18:11–12)

Lets consider for a moment the details of this man:

His posture: “standing by himself”

Standing was a customary posture for praying in Jewish culture

Also not at all surprising that this Pharisee would be standing “by himself”…so as to not be defiled by those around him

Yet that doesn’t imply he’s secluded…most likely in a visible position…able to see others around him as implied by his reference to the tax collector…and so others can certainly see him

Remember Jesus’ comments on the “hypocrites” who loved to “stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others” (Matt. 6:5)

There’s some ambiguity here…”by himself” could also be translated “to himself” and taken with the word “praying” (cf. NASB, KJV)

The ambiguity is intentional…is he standing by himself praying or standing and praying to himself?

His prayer: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men”

Begins his prayer like a thanksgiving psalm…giving thanks to God for his gifts and blessings

But it is anything but thanksgiving…not once does he list anything God has given to him

The four verbs he does use throughout his prayer all have himself as the subject… “I…I…I…I”

This is a prayer about him, not God

His prayer is based on the fact that he is not like “other men”…there’s that word again…“the others”

Who are these others? Extortioners, unjust, adulterers…the “sinners” of society

Then he caps the list off by noticing the most notorious of sinners…this tax collector

This Pharisee is completely confident in his righteousness because he bases his self-assessment in relation to these “others”

His self-assurance is that he is “not like the others”

His praise: “I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get”

Normally in a thanksgiving psalm, the worshipper would begin to note the acts of the Lord done on behalf of the individual…points to which he might render prayer to God

But there is no praising God in this man’s prayer…instead he praises his own accomplishments

He focuses in particular on 2 specific actions which typified Pharisaic Judaism

Fasting only 1 obligatory fast in OT law on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29–30)

Fasting could, of course, occur on other occasions…preparing for spiritual service, or during times of national emergency or war

But the Pharisees had mastered the art of piety by incorporating in bi-weekly fasting into their normal religious regimen

Typically, Pharisees would fast on Mondays and Thursday

Fasting would begin at dawn and end at dusk, during which time only bread and water would be consumed

Matthew 6:16–18 notes that often this kind of fasting done by “hypocrites”—a word which Jesus later applies directly to the Pharisees in Matthew 23—they would disfigure their face to make sure everyone knew they were fasting

They aimed to engender adoration by onlookers at their staggering, sacrificial devotion

Tithing  part of the Mosaic law and the means by which God ordained to fund the theocratic kingdom of Israel

Deuteronomy 14:22–23 - tithing of 1st of the flock, grain, wine, and oil

Once again, Rabbinic tradition championed by the Pharisees expanded this list to include vegetables, legumes, herbs, spices as seen in Matthew 23:23, when Jesus notes that they “tithed mint and dill and cumin.”

Some Pharisees went even beyond that and included all income generated from commerce and trade

Now, doing more than is required is not in itself sinful. That’s not the point.

Jesus is exposing the sheer externality of this kind of religious piety.

His listeners would have applauded this Pharisee’s virtue—they would have attributed to him the same superior status he ascribed to himself.

And that’s exactly what Jesus wants them to do, because he is, after all, focused not so much on the prayer of this man but the heart, and his prayer uncovers a heart that is anything but spiritual.

This Pharisee represents a religious system fixated on the exterior—one behavior—with no concern for internal matters.

He goes above and beyond the commandments, creates a law of his own, which he then imposes on others, and then congratulates himself that he is better and more righteous than “the others” who fail to achieve his incredible piety.

But it’s all externality and shallow spirituality—he’s convinced that his actions demonstrate his righteousness and so he thanks God not for what the Lord has done—but for what he himself has accomplished.

There’s no focus on the heart…which is very typical for Judaism today.

Illustration: Exodus series with Dennis Prager on Daily Wire… “I have little interest in what goes on in the heart.” He claims the Mosaic Law focuses on what man does on the outside, not who he is on the inside.

Yet just a cursory reading of Deuteronomy undoes that entire argument. The word “heart” appears 41x in Deuteronomy alone.

Isaiah 29:13 - “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but they remove their heart far from me, and their fear of me is in the command of men learned by rote”

Jesus quotes that exact text in Matthew 15:8–9 about the Pharisees!

Note: This man has full confidence in his own righteousness by comparing his actions to others, yet earlier in Luke Jesus had actually exposed the Pharisees of being guilty of the very sins this man says he’s never done:

He says he’s not an extortioner…yet in Luke 11:39 Jesus says “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup…but inside you are full of robbery and wickedness!”

He says he’s not unjust…yet in Luke 11:42 Jesus says, “Woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God.”

He says he’s not an adulterer…yet in Luke 16:18 coupled with Matthew 19 Jesus exposed the Pharisees as those who had divorced their spouses and married other women and so were guilty of adultery.

The Pharisee—and all whom he represents in this parable—are guilty of being “the others” whom they despise and view with contempt.

Their righteousness is for show, put on before men to exalt themselves.

Luke 16:15 “And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts, for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”

And their hearts are being exposed in this very parable.

The Tax Collector (18:13)

All this is a setup for the next character in this parable.

Everything we see here is in complete contrast to the Pharisee.

His position: “standing far off”

His very presence in the temple complex would have been scandalous to Jesus’ audience

Normally, tax collectors and other sinners would have been barred from access to the temple, according to the Mishnah.

He’s most likely standing on the outer edge…perhaps even in the court of the Gentiles

His posture: “would not even lift his eyes to heaven”

Lit., “not willing to even lift his eyes to heaven” A picture of guilt and shame (Ezra 9:6)

He’s carrying the weight of his iniquity

Heaven = the place where God resides, and it reveals where this man is drawing his comparison

The Pharisee compared himself to “the others” an came out looking pretty good

This tax collector compared himself to God and all he feels is shame and disgust so that he can’t bring himself to lift his eyes up to where God is.

His penitence: “but beat his breast”

A picture of agony and desperation

Only 1 other time this action is depicted is in Luke 23:48 at the crucifixion of Christ

Josephus notes that it was an expression of mourning and penitence—one who is broken over his sin

It’s man beating himself at the very source of his sin—the heart

KEY: And that’s Jesus’ central concern in this story. It’s a parable about two men who go to the temple to pray two very different prayers which expose two very different heart conditions.

The tax collector is a picture of true repentance—brokenness over sin, shame before God, and a recognition of one’s moral and spiritual bankruptcy

Matthew 5:3 ““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Remember: this parable is about who is fit for God’s kingdom.

His prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”

The Pharisee’s prayer was to himself, but this man’s prayer is thoroughly God-centered

His prayer is short and direct

“be merciful”  a specialized term, used in the OT for the efficacious work of a sacrifice to appease the wrath of God

It means “to be propitious,” to satisfy your wrath for sin on something other than the sinner”

There’s no self-achievement here…the tax collector brings nothing to the table

Instead, he identifies himself as literally, “the sinner”—the epitome of every sinner…the sinner of all sinners.

And so he is…representative of all who have come to the end of themselves…have nothing to offer God in the way of righteousness…forced to plead with God for mercy.

He is the worst of the worst—a reminder to all of us that there’s no sinner outside the bounds of God’s redeeming mercy.

He recognizes the holiness and righteousness of God and knows his only move is to throw himself upon God’s mercy and pray that God might provide a means of appeasing his wrath on something other than him

This is a picture of OT salvation—a pre-cross sinner who entrusts himself to the grace and mercy of God, who recognizes in the sacrificial system a God who desires to forgive but whose justice for sin must be satisfied.

The Pronouncement (18:14a)

“I tell you this” - a statement of authority. Jesus isn’t going to quote some rabbinic tradition. He’s making an authoritative declaration as the source of truth and divine authority.

“this one went down to his house justified and not the other”

Justified = made right God, with everything that entails, including forgiveness, peace, assurance, and hope

Note: this would have been shocking to his listeners

Jesus has pulled off the reversal of all reversals…he began his story with a Pharisee who saw himself as “not like the others”

By the end of the story, Jesus has taken a tax collector—the epitome of “the others”—and set him apart as standing in a class by himself not like the Pharisee, whom Jesus dismisses as “the other.”

In essence, Jesus has baited every legalist and self-righteous person to identify himself or herself with the most outwardly pious person in Judaism only to be exposed as the one who is no different than the “rest of the people” whom they so despise.

“Convinced of his righteousness, dependent on his own acts of piety, one seeks for and receives nothing from God. The other comes to God in humility and receives that for which he asks, compassion and restoration” (Joel Green, NICNT, 649).

The Principle (18:14b)

This is the point of the parable—the place where Jesus sums up the entire message.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Self-exaltation leads ultimately to divine judgment and condemnation.

Self-humility leads ultimately to divine grace and glory.

It’s an axiom that permeates the entire Bible.

Proverbs 3:34 “Though He scoffs at the scoffers, Yet He gives grace to the humble.”

James 4:6 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.””

And Christ is in the middle, laying himself down as our substitute, representing every poor, miserable sinner who is willing to admit his wickedness and throw himself upon God’s mercy.

He is our propitiation…he is the one on whom God satisfies his holy wrath.

1 John 2:2 “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

He is the one who became a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). He is the one who became sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor. 5:21).

If you have not yet thrown yourself upon the mercy of God, now is the time. There’s nothing you can bring to God that will move the needle toward satisfying God’s justice except trust that he’s poured all his wrath out on his Son.

Pray with this tax collector, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner,” and God promises that he will be merciful. He will cover you with grace and mercy.

And for those who are here who know the Lord, but who still identify too closely with this Pharisee, pray that your eyes would be opened to understand the true righteousness of God.

None of us are impervious to spiritual pride and self-righteousness.

It’s the reason why some of us choose our personal preferences over maintaining fellowship and peace with others in the church.

It’s the reason you feel like you’re a better mom than your friend or your neighbor because of how your kids are doing compared to theirs.

Maybe it’s the reason why you have that critical attitude toward other people—why there’s this silent judgment in your mind against everyone who can’t seem to do things right…like you can.

Maybe it’s the reason you’re unwilling to reconcile and forgive that person in the church

Maybe it’s the reason you feel superior to other people who are in a different political party

Maybe it’s the thing that’s keeping you from serving in a ministry in the church.

The tendrils of spiritual pride can reach to a lot of places in a Christian’s life. It can be obvious, or it can be subtle.

Conclusion

As we close, hear the words of one person who would have certainly identified with this Pharisee. He would have been the bullseye of Jesus’ target audience.

Yet he came to see everything he held up as positive achievements as that which actually were scoring against him—all his personal achievements were in fact condemning him.

Hear the words of the Apostle Paul as he gave his own testimony:

Philippians 3:3–9 (LSB)

3 For we are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, 4 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own which is from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God upon faith,