“Who is Righteous?”

Turn with me today to Luke chapter 18.

People today often wonder how are we truly saved? How is a person reconciled to a Holy and Perfect God?Because God is perfect, He demands perfect obedience to His law. James wrote about this when he said.

James 2:10 ESV

10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

In other words, if we fail or sin just one time we fall short so there is no way that we can keep God’s laws perfectly. As we think about this it can lead to the same question that the disciples asked in Matthew chapter 19. Then who can be saved?

Matthew 19:25–26 ESV

25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Last week we talked about the Kingdom of God and one of the questions is how can we enter this Kingdom? Well it is not through our works or deeds, but through our faith in Christ that reconciles us to God. This is how we can be saved.

Jesus is addressing this parable to those who trusted in themselves and were under the opinion that everybody else did not mater or were not as righteous as they were. The Lord is teaching this parable because just as it was true back then, so it is true today, there are many hearers who need to pay attention to this parable. This was a lesson to help others see what was seriously wrong with the Pharisees. This parable gives us 3 distinct lessons, two different men, two different prayers, and two different results.

It is interesting that when the Lord begins His earthly ministry we see that He if often talking about two different options or paths. We can either follow God or we can follow Satan and the ways of this world. There are two gates, the narrow one and the wide one. There are two destinations. One leads to eternal life with Christ, and the other leads too eternal destruction in hell. There are two kinds of trees. One tree produces good fruit while another tree produces bad fruit. There are two kinds of builders. One is wise and the other is foolish. And there are those who profess faith in Christ, but one is sincere while the other is not.

My point here church is at the end of the day we must all wrestle with this simple question. If you were to die today and stand before the holy God, on what basis or what proof would you seek entrance into heaven? If God where to ask you, “Tell me why I should let you into my heaven,” what would you say to Him? What would your response be? This is what our text comes down to this morning. Let’s begin in verse 9.

Luke 18:9–14 ESV

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.”

1. The Two Different Men.

Luke 18:10 ESV

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

Jesus is concerned with two different men here as he shares this parable with the crowd. The question however is which one is righteous? Here in our parable we learn that both of these men went up into the temple to pray. After the atoning sacrifices had been made either in the morning or afternoon people would come to the temple to offer their prayers. This scene would have been very familiar with the crowd who was listening to this parable. But more importantly we learn here that one of these men was a religious leader known as a Pharisee while the other man was a tax collector. These men were the exact opposite from each other. One is a very pious and respected leader in the society while the other is impious and one of the most despised members in the Jewish society.

A. Who were the Pharisees?

The Pharisees in Jesus day were among the most looked up too and respected members of society. In today’s terms this would have been a church man. He would have been a student of the Bible. He was the guy that had every page in his bible marked and high lighted with yellow marker. He was a holy man who gave much money to the church and to help those in need. He prayed every where that he could be seen.

In our time the most trusted and respected people are medical professionals like doctors and nurses who always top the list when we ask Americans who they trust and respect the most. They are successful, they are experts and we tend to take our cues from them.

That’s the Pharisees. They are at the top of the most respected and trusted polls in first century Israel. They are the ones you would expect to see praying at the temple.

B. Who were the tax collectors?

“If Pharisees were respected people in their society, then attitudes toward tax collectors were close to the opposite end of the spectrum.

Tax collectors bid for and purchased the right to collect taxes for a specific region, and various kinds of taxes were levied: poll taxes, land taxes, toll charges on travel and the transportation of goods from one region to another, sales taxes, and inheritance taxes.

What tax collectors and toll collectors raised beyond their contracts was sheer profit, and many of them lined their pockets with much profit. Jewish tax collectors were considered traitors because they had collaborated with the Roman authorities.

Tax collectors were classified with murderers and robbers, and prostitutes. These people were deprived of civic rights and were not allowed to be judges or witnesses in courts.” Tax collectors weren’t even trying to pretend to care about righteousness.

So we have two men the highly respected religious leader and the despised tax man, and yet they were both different in many ways.

2. The Two Different Prayers.

Luke 18:11–13 ESV

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!’

The Pharisee takes his stand in the temple. He is praying in a standing position with his hands and eyes lifted up. It is interesting here that this Pharisee is out wordly addressing God because he addresses God of course, but inwardly the man is talking about himself to himself. In fact, throughout his prayer it looks like he is congratulating himself. Sadly, nowhere in his prayer does this man confess his sins. No where does he ask God to forgive him of his wrong doing. As he went to God in prayer you would have thought that he would have sensed the divine presence of God, but he did not. He wasn’t even aware of his guilt. In this man’s prayer we see 3 elements of obedience.

A. Notice a negative obedience.

God I thank you that i am not like other men. I am not like this person who cheats or robs people of money. I am not an unjust person, and I am not like an adulterer. But most definitely I am not like this tax collector here. What we see here is that in his mindset he thinks he is a really good and righteous person who has not committed any sins or at least admitted to it. So, what about the sins he has committed? My point here is that we all fall short and are sinners.

B. Notice a legalistic obedience.

Notice here in verse 12 the things that he is bragging about. I fast, I give, I pray at the temple. Look at all I do for everyone. The Pharisee is quick to tell others in his prayer all of his good works that he hopes can save him. These are things people add on to gain or try and earn salvation. If people can do enough good works maybe their good works will outweigh their bad works and God will let them into heaven. Down through history many people have trusted in their own things to try and save them.

Over in Acts chapter 15 we see that people were saying you needed to be circumcised to be saved.

Acts 15:1 ESV

1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

C. Notice a comparative obedience.

Notice in verse 11 that the Pharisee says, “God I thank you that I am not like other men. We live in a day where it can be easy for people to think well at least I am not as bad as the serial killer or rapist. The Pharisee is basically saying in his prayer here that I am fine God, I am a pretty good guy compared to everyone else around me. Church it is not about how our lives compare to others, but what does your life look like before God? It is not about what you feel or think about yourself and about who you think you are.

Its like the guy who went to the doctor. He said Doctor I feel great and by all outward appearances there is nothing wrong with me. I look good and feel good so I must be alright. But when the doctor begins to do the physical he sees that the man is not good. The man’s blood pressure is extremely high. He begins to press in on the individual to find that certain spots make him groan out in pain. He finds out that this man is a diabetic and he is not ok more importantly inwardly.

My point here is that we are all sinners. God is holy and righteous and we are wicked sinners. When we see ourselves in the light of God we should be quick to confess “O God be merciful to me a sinner.”

We now come to the prayer of the tax collector. He stands at a distance because it is in the temple where God also dwells. This man comes to the temple and is in desperate need of God and for God to pardon him of his sin. So, as this man comes to the temple he stands away from the sanctuary.

We also see here that this tax collector is ashamed of his sins and therefore he is ashamed of himself. This is why he would not even lift up his eyes to heaven. He also keeps beating his breast which shows us his desperate situation. Being aware of God’s presence he comes to God in prayer and cries out for God to be merciful to him because he is a sinner. This man is earnestly and fervently begging God to forgive him and to be merciful to him. What we see here church is that this man’s prayer is a very humble and contrite prayer. This tax collector does not place himself above others. He doesn’t compare himself to others. He doesn’t pray O God I thank you that I am better than the rest of the tax collectors, nor is he legalistic in his approach. He singles himself out as the sinner much like the Apostle Paul did in his letter to Timothy.

1 Timothy 1:15 ESV

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.

Church, this is how we all should see ourselves in light of who God is and what He has done for us.

3. The Two Different Results.

Luke 18:14 ESV

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.”

We now come to the answer of which one of these men were truly righteous? There were two different men, two different prayers, and now we see two different results. As Jesus speaks to this crowd his statement would have been very shocking to the legalists in the audience. The word justified here is a perfect passive participle that literally means having been permanently justified. Justified means righteous or in right standing with God. This tax collector is not justified by any good works that he has done. All of his law keeping, moral achievements, penance, and hail marries could not save him. All that he could do was confess his sin to God.

The tax collector was truly looking to be forgiven because he realized his sad state. He was a sinner. He desired and pleaded with God to be forgiven. He knew he was a sinner and that he needed a Savior. Verse 14 explains to us that this man went down to his house justified. He went home as an adopted son of God.

As the Lord draws this parable to a conclusion he shows us the difference to those who exalt themselves or lift themselves up, to those who humble themselves. Church, only God is to truly be exalted. Every man or woman who exalts themselves up will be humbled. What I mean here is that the path or result of those who do not see their sin and never confess it and continue to think that they are ok are puffed up and this path leads to eternal loss and punishment

The road of the proud and the result of the self-righteous Pharisee leads no where good because we know that God is opposed to those who are proud.

James 4:6 ESV

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

I want to stop today and ask, has there come a time in your life where you have asked God to pardon you the way that this tax collector asked God to pardon him? How is someone declared righteous or not guilty? Through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. It is not through any type of moral achievement or good deeds that we might do.

If you know that you are guilty as a sinner, what will you do with that guilt? Confess it to Christ and know that you will be pardon like this tax man.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(Close in Prayer)