The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
Beloved, I would like to open with the words of the late pastor, John MacArthur, who once said:
There have always been but two systems of religion in the world.
One is God’s system of divine accomplishment, and the other is man’s system of human achievement.
One is the religion of God’s grace, the other the religion of men’s works.
One is the religion of faith, the other the religion of the flesh.
One is the religion of the sincere heart and the internal, the other the religion of hypocrisy and the external.
Within man’s system are thousands of religious forms and names, but they are all built on the achievements of man and the inspiration of Satan.
Christianity, on the other hand, is the religion of divine accomplishment, and it stands alone.…
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Jesus repeatedly pointed out two things:
The necessity of choosing whether to follow God or not, and the fact that the choices are two and only two.
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There are two gates, the narrow and the wide;
Two ways, the narrow and the broad;
Two destinations, life and destruction;
Two groups, the few and the many;
Two kinds of trees, the good and the bad, which produce...
Two kinds of fruit, the good and the bad;
Two kinds of people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, the sincere and false;
Two kinds of builders, the wise and the foolish;
Two foundations, the rock and the sand, and...
Two houses, the secure and the insecure.
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Today, Beloved, we will look at two kinds of people...
The prideful and the humble...
The lost and the saved!
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 18 and focus on verses 9 through 14.
Our message this morning is titled “The Pharisee and the Tax Collector.”
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As you are turning to our passage today, please keep in mind this fact:
In the 1st century...
The Pharisees were of the most respected people in the Jewish community...
While the tax collectors were of the most despised in the Jewish community...
However, God is no respecter of persons...
He is not looking at someone’s status in society...
He is looking at the heart!
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So, this morning we will cover three main points:
1) The Self-Righteous
2) The Two Men
And...
3) The Humble
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
May Your name be forever and always hallowed...
May Your kingdom come quickly...
And may Your will be done on earth just as it is done heaven.
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Heavenly Father...
May You give us this our food and our needs daily...
May You forgive us of our numerous debts just like we have faithfully forgiven others who have sinned against us...
And may You never lead into temptation and instead may You deliver us from all forms of evil that is set against us.
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And it is in Jesus’ name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 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.
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
13 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!’
14 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.”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Self-Righteous
1) The Self-Righteous
Verse 9: He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
Beloved, on Friday, October 31st we celebrated the 508th year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation...
Some see the Protestant Reformation as the birth of a new religious movement...
Some see the invention of new doctrines...
But that could not be further from the truth!
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The Protestant Reformation, which really started before Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on that church door in Wittenberg in 1517...
This was not the birth of something new...
This was the act of going back to the source of our religion...
This was going back to the Word of God!
And the doctrines that where highlighted during the Protestant Reformation where not new beliefs...
They were the beliefs that are rooted in the Word of God!
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Take for example the doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone...
That was not an invention of the Reformers...
That was the Reformers going back to Scripture to uphold the doctrines that God gave us...
And this parable that we are studying today...
That parable is rich with truth regarding the doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone.
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You see, Beloved, in this parable Jesus illustrates perfectly how a sinner who is utterly devoid of personal righteousness may be declared righteous before God instantaneously through an act of repentant faith.
The sinner did not work to earn their salvation...
The sinner did not do something to merit their justification...
The sinner did not contribute anything to their right standing with God.
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All we see is a sinner saved by grace through faith!
As Romans 4:2-3 says:
2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Likewise, take a look with me at Titus 3:4–7:
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
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In fact, those who believe they can merit salvation on their own are those who are arrogant and prideful...
For they believe that they can somehow do something to earn their way into heaven...
But as we will see in this message today...
Those who possess a false confidence in their own righteousness...
They are typically the ones who end up looking down at others...
For they believe in a merit-based system.
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Now, before we go deeper into our text...
Let’s take a look at our context in Scripture...
Here is the previous parable Jesus shared which we covered last week when we studied Luke 18:1–8, which says:
1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.
3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man,
5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ”
6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.
7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?
8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
As you can see, Beloved, this parable that we covered last week taught the necessity of persistence in prayer...
This week’s parable teaches that not all prayer is automatically acceptable to God...
We can’t approach God in an arrogant and prideful way and believe that He will accept that kind of prayer...
We need to approach God with sincere humility.
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Just take a look at what God has to say about the proud...
Just take a look at Isaiah 2:11–17, which says:
11 The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
12 For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
13 against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan;
14 against all the lofty mountains, and against all the uplifted hills;
15 against every high tower, and against every fortified wall;
16 against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft.
17 And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
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God will strike down the ones filled with pride...
God will bring the high low...
God will bring down the lofty...
So, we need to keep our eyes focused on Him and not on ourselves.
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That means we need to realize that our own righteousness is just filthy rags to God...
Our best righteousness is an offense to God.
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Yet, the righteousness which is Christ’s...
That perfect righteousness can save!
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So, we need to humble ourselves and admit that we are lost and unable to save ourselves...
We need Jesus to impute His righteousness on us...
That is...
We need to put on Christ’s righteousness...
And we can only do that if we admit our fallen state and surrender to Him.
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So, let’s take a look at two men...
Two men who approach God in two very different ways...
And let us see who is the one justified and who is rejected in the eyes of God...
For His opinion is the only opinion that matters...
And that takes us to our next point.
2) The Two Men
2) The Two Men
Verses 10-13: “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!’
Beloved, let’s start by taking a look at the Pharisee first.
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Now, by exalting his own works, the Pharisee revealed that his entire hope lay in his not being as bad as someone else.
He lacked any sense of his own unworthiness and sin.
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Just look at the Pharisee’s prayer...
No admission of sin...
No awareness of unworthiness...
No cry for help...
No real thanks or credit given to God...
His whole focus is on how wonderful he is!
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Beloved, take a look with me at the five “I’s” in this passage reveal the egocentricity of the Pharisee:
“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.
In effect his prayer is, “I thank You, God, that I am such a great and wonderful and amazing guy that is truly the unique masterpiece of all of Your creation!”
Rather than thanking God for what God has done for him, the Pharisee arrogantly brags to God about his own moral purity and religious piety.
The implication of his words is a contractual relationship with God whereby He would accept the Pharisee’s merit in exchange for justification.
In fact, the mention of God only appears at the beginning of the prayer...
After that, it is all about this Pharisee’s self-righteousness that he is boasting about...
But look at what it says in Matthew 6:5:
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
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The New American Commentary on Luke says:
“He had no sense of being an unworthy servant and having done only his duty.
Actually he believed he had done more than God required.
He had not only kept the law perfectly and thus did not need to pray for God’s forgiveness, he even fasted twice a week and tithed everything he bought (not just what he earned).
His attitude was clear.
God was very fortunate to have someone like him.
He knew nothing of God’s perfection and holiness and his own sinfulness!
He possessed an unusually high self-worth and had learned nothing from the penitential psalms.”
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So, this Pharisee had an unrealistic sense of self-worth...
He had a false sense of confident in his own righteousness.
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Now, the Pharisee says he fasts twice a week....
A “fast” would generally involve going without food or drink from sunrise to sunset.
This is the earliest reference to the Jewish practice of fasting twice a week.
The two days of fasting mentioned in the Talmud are Monday and Thursday.
The traditional reason for fasting on Monday and Thursday was that these were the days that Moses went up and came down from Mount Sinai, but the real reason may be simply that it divided the week nicely.
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Now, Beloved, the Old Testament law did not require this much fasting...
The only one fast a year that was commanded was on the twenty-four-hour fast on the Day of Atonement as Leviticus 16:29–30 says:
29 “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.
30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins.
This “affliction” is described as a day of fasting and rest to atone for sins.
Private fasts could be undertaken at any time, however, especially in cases of war, plague, drought, or famine.
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Now, by the time of Christ, Jewish oral tradition has increased the number of fasts expected of the pious.
So, although the Word of God only commanded on day of fasting...
The religious elite made it a point to add more days throughout the year of fasting for those who wanted to be at a higher spiritual level.
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Does that sound like anyone else?
Well, the Romans Catholic Church has 40 days of obligatory fasting...
While the Eastern Orthodox Church has well over 200 days of fasting annually!
In these merit-based institutions the more days one fasts the holier the are...
But this attitude is more in like with the Pharisees than with Christ.
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Now , Beloved, Fasting can be a useful religious exercise, especially in the area of spiritual discipline...
However, Jesus condemns the practice of fasting when it is seen as a way of meriting God’s favor or when it just becomes a public show.
As Matthew 6:16 says:
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
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Additionally, the Pharisee also said he tithes of all that he gets...
Now, Beloved, the Old Testament law required that crops be tithed by farmers, not the consumers who purchased those crops for food.
So, the Pharisee did more than the law demanded in that he tithed everything that came into his possession, not simply what he earned.
He may have done this in case the person who sold a product to him had not tithed it.
But look at what Jesus says in Matthew 23:23:
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
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So, to all the these actions the Pharisee is listing, he boasts of exceeding the demands of God’s law...
But God was not impressed!
Just look at what Jesus had to say about those who try to show off their supposed righteousness...
As Matthew 6:1–2 says:
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Likewise, look at what Jesus said about the religious elite in Luke 16:14–15:
14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.
15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
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Now all this boasting and focus on self...
This lead to the Pharisees treating others with contempt...
And that is what we see with the Pharisee in our parable...
He said, “I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”
Yet, 2 Corinthians 10:12 says:
12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.
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So, this is a good point to turn to the other man in this parable...
The tax collector...
Well, because of his shame, this tax collector would not even lift up his eyes to heaven...
This shows that such avoidance reflects shame from sin in his life...
Yet, the Lord wants to see us turn from our sin and that is what brings us closer to Him...
As Psalm 34:18 says:
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
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Additionally, he beat his chest which was a sign of great sorrow and contrition.
You see, this action of beating ones chest acknowledged that the heart is the source of all evil...
So, this tax collector was fully aware of his unworthiness and sinfulness.
As it says in Psalm 51:1, which says:
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
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In fact, the tax collector’s humility is even notable in his “standing far off” for he did not want to be close to the holy place of God...
He was a man who had been made to face the reality of his own sin, and his only response was abject humility and repentance.
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He even referred to himself not as “a” sinner but as “the” sinner.
His words are reminiscent of Paul’s declaration in 1 Timothy 1:15, which says:
15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
The tax collector’s unequivocal confession of his extreme and deep sinfulness shows that, compared to others, he viewed himself as the worst sinner of all.
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So, the tax collector contrasts with the Pharisee in virtually every detail.
He had no hope but the mercy of God...
And that is the point to which the law aims to bring every sinner.
As Psalm 51:17 says:
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Likewise, take a look at what it says in 2 Corinthians 7:8–10:
8 For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while.
9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
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Then, Jesus shocks the crowd when He tell them that it is the tax collector who is justified and not the Pharisee...
And that takes us to our third and final point.
3) The Humble
3) The Humble
Verse 14: 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.”
So, the Pharisee thought that he was “righteous” and tried to justify himself...
But the tax collector depended on God’s mercy and as a result received God’s gift of righteousness and was pronounced justified.
The Pharisee relies on his own merits, not having discovered that no human righteousness is sufficient before a God who demands perfection...
But the tax collector relies on God’s mercy and finds it.
That, Beloved, is amazing grace!
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Now, the term “justified” is a perfect passive participle that literally means “having been permanently justified.”
Moreover, Jesus did not appeal to rabbinic authority when he pronounced the tax collector as justified.
His declaration of “I tell you” asserted His absolute divine authority.
So, here we see some sound soteriology from God incarnate.
One id justified in a single moment...
In a single event...
That will start the process of sanctification and eventually lead to glorification.
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So, without any works...
Without any merit...
Without any worthiness...
Without any law keeping...
Without any moral achievement...
Without any spiritual accomplishment...
Without any ritual...
Without any penance...
Without any good works...
Without any other meritorious activity...
This guilty sinner was pronounced instantly and permanently righteous!
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Wow!
As the Word of God says in Ephesians 2:8–9:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
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The only righteousness acceptable to God is the perfect righteousness that no amount of human effort can earn.
Since it cannot be earned, God gives it as a gift to penitent sinners who put their trust in Him.
Those are the ones who are the poor in spirit...
And as Matthew 5:3 says:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like you to consider this:
We think that God wants us to try something on our own first, and then come to him in prayer for help only after we’ve worked at it and can’t figure it out.
We hear the saying, “God helps those who help themselves” and think it’s true.
Many people even believe it’s in the Bible.
It’s not.
It actually comes from Greek mythology.
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The tales goes, a man is pushing his cart along a dirt road and it gets stuck in the mud.
He sits down on the ground next to the cart and asks the gods to free his cart.
Hercules appears say,
“Get up, man, and put your shoulder to the wheel.
The gods help them that help themselves.”
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This focus on doing things ourselves without asking for God’s help leads us to believe we actually did them without God’s help, which in turn grows to our believing we don’t need God’s help.
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And if we believe don’t need God’s help, we can easily believe that we don’t need Him or His rules.
We start doing our will instead of God’s, and the more we do it the more prideful we become.
Our pride causes us to focus on our will which in turn makes us even more proud of ourselves.
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However, we need God!
We can’t save ourselves...
Only His voluntary death on the cross could save us...
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And it is now about Christ’s sacrifice that we bring our attention to.
Communion
Communion
As we begin our communion service, I want to invite every genuinely born-again believer in the room to partake in this act together.
If you do not yet know the Lord and do not have a relationship with Him...
Or if you are under church discipline from this church or another church...
Then I will ask that you wait until you have resolved your issue before participating.
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As you came in, you should have picked up a communion packet if you are joining us.
This has both the bread and the juice in a convenient package.
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If you have not received one of these, please raise your hand, and someone will get you one.
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Before we join in communion together, I would like us to consider Mark 10:42–45, which says:
42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
As John Piper says:
Now why is his death called a ransom?
“The Son of Man came to give his life a ransom for many.”
Ransom is a good translation.
The Greek word here (lutron) meant just that—a payment to release someone from some kind of bondage:
Prisoners of war, slavery, debt.
So the implication is that Jesus sees his death as a ransom to release many from bondage.
He is paying what they cannot pay so that they may go free.
He is substituting himself for them.
And at the cost of his life, they get freedom.
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So this ransom is describing a substitution.
Jesus in the place of the many.
Sometimes people say that the word “for” doesn't have to mean substitution.
“Ransom for many,” they say, may only mean, “for the benefit of many,” not, “in the place of many.”
But listen to this compelling word from Leon Morris:
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“Even if . . . we take the substitutionary meaning out of the preposition [‘for’ = anti], we have not taken it out of the passage, for the situation [in view] is one in which the many are condemned, their lives are forfeit.
If Jesus gives His life ‘a ransom for many’ and thereby they are released from their condemnation, then a substitutionary transaction has taken place, understand the individual words as we will.”
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That seems exactly right to me.
But what is the bondage or slavery that the many are in that they need to be ransomed from?
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Jesus describes us in John 8:34 as enslaved to sin:
“"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”
He did not see us as occasionally sinning, but as under the power of sin.
We are slaves of sin and we need to be ransomed from its power.
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But that's not the worst of it.
Jesus taught that the penalty for sin is eternal punishment.
In Matthew 25:46 he says,
“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Sin brings the wrath of God.
It brings judgment.
If we don't find rescue from the guilt of our sin, we will be punished, Jesus says, forever, because sin is an infinite offense against an infinitely holy God.
So the slavery and the bondage that we need ransoming from is the slavery of sin and eternal punishment.
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That is what Jesus comes to do:
Ransom many from the guilt and power of sin and the penalty of eternal punishment.
That is our condition.
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He gives his life for the many.
That is, he dies for many.
The ransom price is his life.
This is why the Bible says again and again that Christ died to save us.
“While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”
We were “justified by his blood.”
“We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.”
“He bore our sins in his body on the cross.”
“Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust.”
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The heart of the Christian message is that Christ came to give his life a ransom for many.
That is, to die for many.
That is:
To save many from their sin and from its guilt and power and penalty in eternal punishment.
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So, Beloved...
Let’s all take a moment right now in silent prayer to thank the Lord for all He did for us...
(MOMENT OF SILENCE)
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Tom, will you pray before we partake in the bread:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:19:
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
(TAKE THE BREAD)
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Adrian, will you pray before we partake in the cup:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:20:
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
(TAKE THE CUP)
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With that, we conclude the communion portion of our service.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray...
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Heavenly Father...
If anyone hearing this message right now does not know You in a saving way:
Bring them to s saving knowledge if You.
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I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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For those hearing this message who already know You:
Equip us to sever You faithfully.
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Again, I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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It is in Jesus’ name we pray all these things...
To God be all the glory.
Amen.
