Luke 18:9-17 - Kingdom Humility
Introduction:
The businessman Samuel Colgate from the 1800’s - known today moreso for the toothpaste and university bearing his last name - inherited his father’s business when his father died in 1857. His heart was not actually in business, but instead into Baptist missions and Christian education.
This passion and zeal for the Lord and the advancement of the kingdom of God was seen very clearly in a certain instance in his local church.
During a certain service there was a prostitute that came forward to be saved and wanted to join the church. She knew the bad reputation she had in the community and even humbly asserted that she would gladly sit in the back corner if they would allow her to keep coming. The pastor hesitated to call for acceptance into the fellowship. Eventually, another member urged that the action be postponed.
Colgate then stood up and said with a tone sarcasm:
“I guess we blundered when we prayed that the Lord would save sinners. We forgot to specify what kind. We’d better ask Him to forgive us for this oversight. The Holy Spirit has touched this woman and made her truly repentant, but apparently the Lord doesn’t understand she isn’t the type we want Him to rescue.”
Today we are going to see this type of treatment of a notorious sinner - namely a tax collector. This sinner stands in stark contrast with the Pharisee introduced by Jesus.
May we learn today what Jesus requires of us - kingdom humility.
Let’s dive into our Scripture for today…
Read Full Scripture:
Luke 18:9–17 ESV
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 that 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.”
Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
Prayer
Today we will see three ways that followers of Christ embrace humility. The first is…
I. Followers of Christ Rely Not on Self-righteousness (9-12)
Luke 18:9 ESV
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
Very similar to the last parable, Luke tells us the reason for the next parable as well. Jesus will be telling the parable to teach against self-righteousness.
Those who trust in their own righteousness do not love their fellow man. Self-righteous people place themselves in the seat of God and look down at everyone around them.
During the last parable, we learned about the goodness of God. He stands in direct contrast with the wicked judge that was presented. We can remain persistent in prayer and remain hopeful and faithful because our God is good and loving and merciful.
This parable shifts gears and focuses in on us. Jesus wants to probe into our hearts. He has already probed and tried to make us consider what we think about God and His character. Now He wants us to consider what we think about ourselves.
We can read parables like this and miss the introspection (or self-evaluation) that Jesus encourages us to have when it comes to parables. He wants us to search our hearts and see if there be any grievous sins that we need to repent of. The Psalmist eloquently states this in Psalm 139:23-24:
Psalm 139:23–24 ESV
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
May we humbly allow the Holy Spirit to sift us and search us and convict us of any sinfulness that we might have as we go through these verses.
Luke 18:10 ESV
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
We are introduced to two characters in this parable. We are told that these two men went up to the temple to pray.
Today, we understand that the term Pharisee is not endearing. Yet to those who were hearing this parable, Pharisees were the good guys and tax collectors were the bad guys.
The Pharisees appeared righteous through and through on the outside. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, the Pharisees were:
“a body of Jews known for surpassing the others in the observance of piety and exact interpretation of the laws”
Josephus
In contrast, as we have mentioned before, the tax collector is the untouchable outcast who is a sellout to Rome. Rome would higher a private Roman contractor - known as a tax farmer - who would then higher a Jewish sell-out to do his dirty work. These Jewish tax collectors were the lowest of the low in Israel.
So those who are hearing this parable expect this tax collector to be reprimanded and be the bad guy in this parable.
We then get to hear each of their prayers separately. We start with the Pharisee…
Luke 18:11–12 ESV
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 that I get.’
We are told that the Pharisee stands my himself and prays. We can contrast this with the tax collector who also stands by himself - albeit he stands far off by himself. We will discuss the difference between these two moreso in our next point, but remember this statement.
After his first couple of words, the prayer goes off the rails though…
The Pharisee, trusting in his own self-righteousness, prays in a very self-righteous way. He thanks God that he is not like other men. Listen to his elitist mentality. He sees himself as better than just about every other man on the planet. His prayer of thanksgiving has become more of a prayer of how God should be thankful for him!
Luke 18:11–12 ESV
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 that I get.’
He lists some widely known sinful men such as extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even this tax collector. What an amazing amount of contempt that this man has for the tax collector. After mentioning 3 sinful men, he even seems to raise the bar for how sinful the tax collector is.
Now it should be noted that these sinful acts are, in fact, grievous. Extortioners, or robbers, are guilty of a despicable sin. Taking what is not theirs they bring reproach upon God. Unjust or unrighteous people are those who seek to not glorify God. They oppose the righteousness of God. Adulterers, or the sexually immoral, are oftentimes rebuked harshly in the Scriptures. And finally, this tax collector is among a group of people known to take advantage of their fellow Israelites.
The Pharisee’s prayer would have been amen’d by some of those listening to this parable.
The Pharisee isn't done however. He starts to talk about his resume now. He fasts twice a week and he gives tithes of all he gets.
The Old Testament Law required only one day of fasting and that was on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). Yet, this man fasted twice per week. Namely he fasted around 100 more times per year than was required.
He also tithed on everything he got. This likely means that he not only tithed on his income as was standard, but he also tithed on what he bought - possibly assuming that he would piously cover the tithe that someone else failed to pay on their income. We saw Jesus speak against those who tithed on things not required by the Law such as garden herbs in Luke 11:32 and yet who didn’t obey the rest of the Law.
This man trusts solely in his own righteousness. There is no credit given to God.
Have you ever met someone who gave you their resume the very first time you met them.
Maybe they said something like this:
“Hello, my name is Bob. I have thirteen degrees including two doctorates. I have been to 39 countries and led 25,000 people to Christ. I fast regularly, pray without ceasing, and am exceedingly thankful in all circumstances.
What are you doing to advance the kingdom?”
Wow - not only are these people likely significantly embellishing what they do, but they are also prideful which the Lord vehemently hates.
Any good we do for our own glory will be burnt up in the end my friends.
This Pharisee obviously is trusting in his own righteousness.
We must avoid trusting in our own righteousness which the Bible refers to as filthy rags or a polluted garment.
Isaiah 64:6 ESV
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
We must instead, trust in the righteousness of Christ. Only then can we truly receive grace and find mercy.
We have seen the prayer of the Pharisee…
But how will this tax collector respond?
II. Followers of Christ Embrace Selflessness (13-14)
Luke 18:13 ESV
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!’
Now we come to the tax collector. He stands off. This sounds similar to the Pharisee who stood by himself. Yet, there is a contrast given here. This man humbly stands far off. He doesn’t even see himself as worthy to approach the sanctuary. Whereas the Pharisee separated himself in front of everyone, flaunting his exotic robe and religious garb, this tax collector won’t even get near the Lord’s altar because of his guilt and shame.
He is so humiliated that he will not even lift his eyes up to heaven. He continues to beat his chest asking God to be merciful to him. The heart lies within the chest cavity and was regarded as the seat of sin. By beating his chest he was showing grief and contrition over his sinfulness. We see this beating of the chest in grief again in Luke 23:48 with some in the crowd that realize the sinfulness of crucifying the innocent Christ.
The tax collector ends with asking God to be merciful to him, a sinner. The Greek word for merciful here actually means to appease or make propitiation for. This is more than just a plea for mercy. It is hope that God would provide atonement for him. Jesus, telling this parable, was the One who provide the amazing gift of atonement on the cross only a short time period later.
My friends, where do you turn to for righteousness? May you not make much of yourself like the Pharisee did. May you instead think of yourself less - namely by being selfless. I pray that you see yourself in truth. You and I are sinners. We are not righteous. We bring nothing to the table.
Yet, Jesus died on the cross to provide us with our much needed atoning sacrifice. When Jesus died on the cross there was an amazing transaction occuring. He took the wrath of God on Himself so that we could be declared righteous. He took our ransom. He secured our pardon.
And He proved that His work was successful by rising from the dead three days later.
My friends, have you fully trusted in Jesus Christ? Have you turned to Him for mercy and grace?
All it requires is for you to humbly admit you are a sinner - like this tax collector did so clearly, believe and trust in Jesus Christ - His deity, crucifixion, and resurrection - and trust in Him as Lord.
May we never consider ourselves good because of our works. There is only One Who is good and that is Jesus Christ.
Moving forward, we see Jesus’s response to these two very different men.
Luke 18:14 ESV
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.”
Jesus begins with ‘I tell you.’ This speaks of His divinity yet again. No one can judge a man’s eternal destiny with complete assurance other than God. Jesus confidently asserts that it is the tax collector who went to his house justified rather than the Pharisee.
Putting ourselves in the shoes of these first century people who heard Jesus speak - can you imagine their shock with this statement? They had seen the Pharisees as the good guys and the tax collectors as the bad guys. And now Jesus has flipped the script on them. Their mouths must have been hanging open with such a claim.
What was probably even more surprising to them was the fact that the Greek word used for justified here - dikaioō (dee-kay-oh-oh) - is used in the perfect passive participle which literally means ‘having been permanently justified.’
What an amazing teaching here. Jesus has just given us a lesson on salvation straight from the mouth of God incarnate. Salvation is not by works - it is instead by grace through faith. It is the humble tax collector that is forgiven, while the prideful Pharisee leaves unjustified.
Jesus finishes with a strong statement against pride.
He tells us that everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. We actually saw this already in Luke 14:11.
We live in a world where people like to exalt themselves. People want others to know that they are kind of a big deal.
Jesus lets us know that God is not impressed by those who brag on themselves and exalt themselves. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled.
We see this clearly stated in James 4:6:
James 4:6 ESV
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Yet those who humble themselves before God will be exalted.
Those who come to Christ in humility, repent of their sins, and place their faith and trust in His finished work on the cross will be adopted as sons and daughters and justified by God. Listen to this beautifully stated by Paul in Philippians 3:9:
Philippians 3:9 ESV
and be found in him, 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—
Our righteousness does not come through our works or merit. It only comes through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Moving to our last point we see that…
III. Followers of Christ Are Not Self-esteeming (15-17)
Luke 18:15 ESV
Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
When we combine the parallels in Matthew and Mark we see that they were bringing both babies and children to Jesus. In fact, Luke uses the Greek word for child as well in verse 16.
The disciples seemed to see this act as a waste of Jesus’s time. Babies and young children didn’t have the ability to understand the teachings of Jesus, right? His parables would have been far over their heads. They couldn’t have been able to grasp the deep doctrines of the faith.
Yet these parents keep on bringing these babies and children over and over again that Christ might touch them.
Why you might ask?
The laying on of hands imparting a blessing was something thatdated back to the time of Jacob in the book of Genesis (Genesis 48:14). These parents wanted Jesus to pray a blessing over their little ones.
We do something similar at CrossPointe. Parents who wish to have their babies dedicated come forward and we pray a blessing over the baby or young child and their family. There is nothing magical about such a baby or child dedication, but it symbolizes the vows that we take as a church in supporting parents and the vows that the parents take in seeking to raise their child in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
At the end of verse 15 we see the disciples aren’t understanding the beauty of what Jesus is doing. Like we discussed before, they probably thought Jesus had better things to do. So they rebuked these parents.
Sadly, this disregard for children continues even today in many churches. Many churches do everything they can to keep the children away from ‘real church’ and ‘real worship.’ They see them as a nuisance and a distraction. Like the disciples here, they see them as in the way. Not Jesus though. Jesus saw them as a blessing. May we always see these little ones as blessings. These little ones will, by God’s grace and mercy, carry the torch of faith into the future. May we invest our lives into the lives of children and young people and train them in righteousness so that they can continue to carry the banner of truth forward into the next generations.
I am a firm believer that the disdain for children and love for self that has crept into our society over the past couple of generations has led to the sad state we see our churches in today. Instead of investing in our children with family worship, church attendance, one-on-one home discipleship and Bible study, and regular parental involvement - we have pawned our children off for the world to raise. And the result has been tragic.
May we, like Jesus, love children. May we welcome them with open arms - messes and interruptions and all.
Luke 18:16 ESV
But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Jesus obviously disagrees with the disciples rebuke.
In fact, in Mark’s parallel, Jesus says:
Mark 10:14 (ESV)
But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
In other words, Jesus was angry!
This isn’t the first time Jesus has had to rebuke the disciples for trying to get people out of the way. They tried to push people away right before the the feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:15). In Matthew 15:21 we see them try to prevent a Canaanite woman from asking Jesus to heal her daughter. If you recall from Luke 9:51-56, Jesus had to rebuke a couple of the disciples (namely James and John) because they wanted to off an entire Samaritan village by asking fire to fall from heaven on them because the village wouldn’t let them pass through!
The disciples seemed to think that people got in the way of ministry. May we be sure not to see people as in the way - even those that might seem difficult, intrusive, or disruptive.
Jesus then calls the children to come to Him. He says not to hinder them from coming for to such belongs the kingdom of God! I can imagine the disciples were incredibly shocked to hear such a statement from Jesus. What does He mean that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these? Jesus answers this in the following verse…
Luke 18:17 ESV
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
One must receive the kingdom of God - namely the Gospel - like a child in order to enter. In other words, one must have the faith of a child in order to be saved.
Children are incredibly faithful. They wake up each day and depend on their parents to provide them food, clothing and shelter. Sadly, some children are not taken care of well in our world. But for many children, their faith in their parents to provide for them is well placed. They are fed each day. They have a roof over their heads. They have clothes to wear. And these children don’t fret each night about whether breakfast will be there. They have faith and trust in their parents - that they will provide for them.
We must have a faith like this in Christ. We must completely trust in Him for salvation. We must realize that it is not anything that we can do in order to be saved. We must trust in His finished work on the cross and trust in Him alone for salvation.
People put more stock in their experience that they do in the truth of the Word of God. People who have encountered false converts, hypocritical Christians, and experienced the judgement of an unloving local church may be closed off to hearing the Gospel. They value their experience over exposition of God’s Word.
This pride is not rational, however. Most people do not apply such rationale to other areas of their lives. If they go to one McDonald’s and get a cold order of fries, they normally don’t refuse to ever to go any McDonald’s ever again.
Satan uses the pride of experience to blind people from hearing and understanding the truth of the Gospel.
Adults have more knowledge than children. This knowledge can either lead one toward God or away from God. Unfortunately, most people receive worldly knowledge from public schools, media, and other sources. This false knowledge puffs up as we see in 1 Corinthians 8:1. It creates a pride of knowledge that prevents many from seriously considering the Gospel.
One of the most difficult parts of pastoring in this generation is helping people unlearn the lies they have been indoctrinated with by this world in order that they may learn what is actually true.
Unlike children who realize their need for help, many adults refuse to acknowledge their inadequacies. They trust in themselves more than anything in the world.
This stems from indoctrination from our world as well which tells us to follow our heart. Young people have been trained to do what feels right to them and take the road that they feel is right for them.
This trusting of their heart, a lie straight from the enemy of their souls, leads them into pain and destruction.
As Jeremiah 17:9 asserts:
Jeremiah 17:9 ESV
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
I would suggest NOT following something that the Scriptures teach is desperately sick and deceitful!
Conclusion:
If you really think about it, pride of self is the root for all of these. This is why all of our points today have had the word self in them. We can be selfless - namely like a child who sees himself as he is. Or we can be self-righteous or self-esteeming as we saw in the Pharisee in today’s parable.
Who do you most identify with? Are you more like the young child and the tax collector who see themselves as in need. Or are you more like the Pharisee who feels like you have it all together?
This is a question that you need to seriously consider and answer. I fear that there are many in our churches who identify more with the Pharisee and less with the humble tax collector.
I am blessed to see the love and grace that our fellowship has shown since we have first formed. But many churches respond more like the church we saw in our introduction - reluctant to accept the sinner because they fail to see their own sinfulness.
For those of you who really want to know what happened in the case of Samuel Colgate’s church, they ended up unanimously receiving her into the fellowship. Praise be to God that they repented and turned from their sin of pride.
Friends:
