Worthy? Luke 18:9-17
For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
Religious Pride
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth, of everything I get.’
In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we’ve only done our duty.’ ”
PHARISEES (Φαρισαῖος, Pharisaios). Members of a Jewish party that exercised strict piety according to Mosaic law. The Pharisees were a sect within early Judaism, becoming active around 150 BC and enduring as a distinct party until being subsumed into the Rabbinic movement around AD 135.
Introduction
Although the origin of the Pharisees is disputed (they may date as far back as the period of resettlement in Palestine following Babylonian exile), the group appears to have become the primary voice of Judaism following the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in AD 70. The Pharisees developed a tradition of strict interpretation of the Mosaic law, developing an extensive set of oral extensions of the law designed to maintain religious identity and purity.
The origin of the term “Pharisee” comes from the Aramaic word פרשׁ (prsh), which means “to separate,” “divide,” or “distinguish.” Greenspoon asserts that the sect emerged from the Hasidim, a group of strictly devout separatists known as the “righteous” or “pious” (see Greenspoon, Between Alexander and Antioch, 343). The Pharisees kept themselves apart both socially and theologically from aristocratic sympathizers with Hellenism and the uneducated commoners. Some were so committed to separation from Hellenism that they were willing to take up arms in defense of their beliefs, even against fellow Jews.
TAX COLLECTOR Someone responsible for collecting taxes and tolls on behalf of the Roman government.
Role of Tax Collectors
Tax collectors, also known as publicans (publicanus), charged tolls and taxes on behalf of the Roman government. These private government subcontractors would tax travelers who were carrying merchandise between properties or delivering goods along certain well-defined roads. Rome preferred to hire locals who were familiar with a region’s inhabitants, land, and roads. Some tax agents were responsible for such large territories that they functioned as subcontractors, hiring their own employees to collect the taxes. Zacchaeus seems to fit this category, as he is described as a “chief” tax collector (Luke 19:2–10).
Tax collectors earned a profit by demanding a higher tax from the people than they had prepaid to the Roman government. This system led to widespread greed and corruption. The tax-collecting profession was saturated with unscrupulous people who overtaxed others to maximize their personal gain. According to Adams, “The toll-collectors were in a profession that was open to dishonesty and oppression of their neighbor” (Adams, The Sinner in Luke). Since the Jews considered themselves victims of Roman oppression, Jewish tax collectors who overtaxed their fellow countrymen were especially despised. Jews viewed such favor for Rome as betrayal and equal to treason against God. Rabbinic sources consistently align Jewish tax collectors with robbers.
Tax Collectors in the New Testament
The only references to tax collectors in Scripture are the 20 references in the Synoptic Gospels. The Gospels tend to connect tax collectors with sinners (Matt 9:10; Mark 2:15–16; Luke 15:1–2). According to Neale, “For Luke, toll collectors serve as archetypal ‘sinners’ beyond the pale of salvation” (None But the Sinners, 113–15).
Jewish religious leaders particularly despised tax collectors (Matt 9:11; 11:19; Luke 5:30; 7:34), regarding them as ceremonially unclean and excluding them from religious activities. John the Baptist baptizes many tax collectors, but he does not instruct them to change occupations. Instead, he urges them to “collect no more than you have been ordered to” (Luke 3:12–13; 7:29).
Godly Humility
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.”
the tax collector, whose only “merit” is unworthiness
Childlike Faith
15 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 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. 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
but here he blesses an especially undistinguished element of Jewish society—children. How remarkable that the early church extolled Jesus for concerning himself with a nameless and faceless social group in the ancient world!
Children come with expectation and excitement. They come realizing that they are not sufficient in themselves. They depend totally on others.