The Pharisee and the Tax Colllector
Your Heart of Gold May Need to be Refined
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector Luke 18:9 -14
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like all other men— robbers, evildoers, adulterers— or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Introduction
In his book “Twelve Ordinary Men” John MacArthur speaks of the twelve men hand picked by Jesus to be His disciples. These men were ordinary and unlettered, considered by many as the most unlikely candidates that God would choose to establish His kingdom on earth. Speaking of Matthew he states “in all likelihood, none of the twelve was more notorious as a sinner than Matthew.” MacArther goes on to say that “Matthew was a tax collector- a publican when Jesus called him. That is the last credential we might expect to see from a man who would become an apostle of Christ, a top leader in the church, and a preacher of the gospel. After all, tax collectors were the most despised people in Israel. They were hated and vilified by all of Jewish society.”
One commentary on this passage suggested that the modern rendition of this story be called “the Deacon and the Drunk.” In this message we will ask the question “What could our Lord find so pleasing in a man whom society had so little good to say about?”
1. Who was the Pharisee?
The PHARISEES were the most considerable sect among the Jews, for they had not only the scribes, and all the learned men of the law of their party, but they also drew after them the bulk of the people. They had their appellation of Pharisees, from parash, to separate, and were probably, in their rise, the most holy people among the Jews, having separated themselves from the national corruption, with a design to restore and practice the pure worship of the most High. That they were greatly degenerated in our Lord's time is sufficiently evident; but still we may learn, from their external purity and exactness, that their principles in the beginning were holy. It is important to realize that even though the term Pharisee often has a negative connotation when used by Jesus in scripture, in biblical times the Pharisee was most respected. This was the religious authority that people looked up to..
2. Who was the Tax Collector?
On the other hand, when Jesus mentioned a "tax collector" as the second character in the story, the reaction of his hearers would have been anger and disgust. Tax collectors were the most despised of all men. Why? Well, the IRS agent has never been popular in any society. But the Jews’ hatred of tax-collectors was intensified by the fact that Israel was at this time under the control of Rome. Tax-collectors were Jews who had basically been given free reign to extort money from their countrymen, with the backing of the Roman military. As long as the Romans got their cut, they didn’t really care how much extra the tax collector demanded for himself. And so, many tax collectors grew wealthy at the expense of the poor, living in ease and luxury while everyone else suffered in poverty. They were seen as both dishonest and treasonous; corrupt men who had sold out their brothers for the sake of riches; despicable money-grubbers who had enriched themselves by collaborating with the Roman occupation
Again we will ask the question “What could our Lord find so pleasing in a man whom society had so little good to say about?” Let’s consider our text;
9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:
This describes the heart of the Pharisee. Our Lord testifies that they had cleansed the outside of the cup and the platter, but within they were full of abomination. They still kept up the outward regulations of the institution, but they had utterly lost its spirit; and hypocrisy was the only substitute now in their power for that spirit of piety which I suppose, and not unreasonably, characterized the origin of this sect. They had a confidence in themselves before God, and not only had a high opinion of their own righteousness, but depended upon the merit of it, whenever they addressed God, as their plea: They trusted in themselves as being righteous; they thought they had made God their debtor, and might demand any thing from him; and, 3. They despised others, and looked upon them with contempt, as not worthy to be compared with them. Pharisees were men of high status, men who expected, and received, a great deal of deference.
God is not condemning a life of devotion and endorsing a life of sin but rather saying that he looks upon the heart. 1 Samuel 16 says: But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee went to the temple to pray because it was a public place, more public than the corners of the streets, and therefore he should have many eyes upon him, who would applaud his devotion, which perhaps was more than was expected. 1. He expressed his repentance and humility in what he did; and his gesture, when he addressed himself to his devotions, was expressive of great seriousness and humility, and the proper clothing of a broken, penitent, and obedient heart. (1.) He stood afar off. The Pharisee stood, but crowded up as high as he could, to the upper end of the court;
The publican kept at a distance under a sense of his unworthiness to draw near to God, and perhaps for fear of offending the Pharisee, whom he observed to look scornfully upon him, and of disturbing his devotions. Hereby he owned that God might justly behold him afar off, and send him into a state of eternal distance from him, and that it was a great favour that God was pleased to admit him thus nigh. (2.) He would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, much less his hands, as was usual in prayer. He did lift up his heart to God in the heavens, in holy desires, but, through prevailing shame and humiliation, he did not lift up his eyes in holy confidence and courage. His iniquities are gone over his head, as a heavy burden, so that he is not able to look up
11”The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”
Or, stood by himself and prayed, as some would translate the words. He probably supposed it disgraceful to appear to have any connection with this penitent publican: therefore his conduct seemed to say, "Stand by thyself; I am more holy than thou." He seems not only to have stood by himself, but also to have prayed by himself; neither associating in person nor in petitions with his poor guilty neighbor. How could the Pharisee have such a high opinion of himself? It isn't hard when you compare yourself to man (even as this tax collector). You can always find someone worse.
This Pharisee did no harm to others-I am not rapacious, nor unjust, nor an adulterer. I seize no man's property through false pretences. I take the advantage of no man's ignorance in buying or selling. I avoid every species of uncleanness. In a word, I do to others as I wish them to do to me. How many of those called Christians are not half as good as this Pharisee! And, yet, he was far from the kingdom of God
13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Stood at a distance Not because he was an unbeliever, and dared not approach the holy place; (for it is likely he was a Jew as was Matthew) but because he was truly repenitent, and felt himself utterly unworthy to appear before God.
Would not lift up-his eyes
Holding down the head, with the eyes fixed upon the earth, was, 1. A sign of deep distress. 2. Of a consciousness and confession of guilt. And, 3. It was the very posture that the Jewish rabbins required in those who prayed to God. See Ezra 9:5,6 “But at the evening offering I arose from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to the LORD my God; 6 and I said, "O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens.”
So the Pharisee appears to have forgotten one of his own precepts.
But beat his breast
Beating the breast was a token of excessive grief, commonly practiced in all nations. It seems to intimate a desire, in the penitent, to punish that heart through the evil propensities of which the sin deplored had been committed. It is still used among the Roman Catholics in their general confessions
God be merciful to me a sinner
His prayer was short, but to the purpose;. Blessed be God, that we have this short prayer upon record, as an answered prayer; and that we are sure that he who prayed it, went to his house justified; for so shall we be, if we pray it, as he did, through Jesus Christ. He owned himself a sinner by nature, by practice, guilty before God. He had no dependence but upon the mercy of God; upon that alone he relied. And God's glory is to resist the proud, and give grace to the humble. Justification is of God in Christ; therefore the self-condemned, and not the self-righteous, are justified before God.
Consider the so-called prayer of the Pharisee: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get." This is a perfect example of how it is possible to be completely right, and at the same time, completely wrong. Was it true what he said, that he was not a robber, or evildoer, or adulterer? Yes, it most likely was. And was it true that he fasted, and tithed? Again, probably yes. And were those good things? Yes. The Pharisee even made a show of giving thanks to God for his superior condition. So what was the problem? Why did Jesus say that God didn’t consider him to be "justified," or righteous? Because the Pharisee’s prayer was all about him, it was all about what he had done. "I - I - I - I". He wasn’t really praying. He was boasting. He wasn’t seeking anything from God, and certainly not righteousness. Instead, he was bringing his self-righteousness to God so that God could bless it and admire it. His attitude wasn’t one of overwhelming gratitude that he had such a merciful and gracious God. His attitude was that God should be thankful to have such a faithful and obedient servant as himself. The whole speech is just an orgy of self-congratulation, a blatant display of arrogance and spiritual pride, with God as the supposedly appreciative audience. Is that what God desires, that we appear before him with a list of our achievements, as if those would impress him or purchase his approval? Is that what God accepts, a recitation of all that we have done for him? No. Listen:
"O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." – Psalm 51:15-17
"For this is what the high and lofty One says-- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." – Isaiah 57:15
"Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word." – Isaiah 66:-2
What pleases God, what honors Him, what gains his approval, is that we bring to him, not our ability and sufficiency, but our emptiness. What God desires is that we acknowledge our sin and guilt and need of forgiveness. God desires that we come before him, not brimming over with foolish self-confidence, but broken in spirit, humbled by an awareness of how far we fall short. That’s the person, Jesus tells us, whom God will lift up and exalt. Not the person who thinks that God needs her, but the one who knows that she needs God.