Luke 18:9-17
Key verse 13
Introduction: In his journey to Jerusalem, Jesus, for the
first time, unveiled the entire timeline of the coming of the kingdom of God (17:20-37)
In it was included a time of long awaiting for the coming of Christ. It would
be a time when injustice would prevail. While persevering through long and hard
sufferings under injustice, believers are to seek and to uphold God’s justice.
So the chief goal of believers’ life should be upholding God’s justice as shown
in the life of a widow (18:1-8). But at
the end of this teaching, Jesus raised a question; “However, when the Son of
Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (18:8b) In this back drop of question, Jesus taught
his disciples with two stories about prayer.
Apparently Jesus thought that during this time of testing and trials, prayer will
be the most important thing for them to consider in order to help them go
through hardships. All the efforts must be focused seeking God’s
justice through prayer. In this periscope we are to understand today’s passage as
well. (18:1-8, 9-14, 15-17)
In today’s passage, Jesus taught about how one gain
confidence in and of one’s relationship with the Lord. We can rephrase this; “whom
does God accept to be worthy of his blessing?” Our relationship with the Lord
is well revealed in our prayer to the Lord. If we receive what we prayed for, then,
our confidence in the Lord is built up and we can feel eternal security in the
Lord. Then, when and to whom will God give
answers in regard to his blessing? Jesus teaches that God’s answers of
affirmation comes to those who are humble before the Lord. Who are considered
humble in the eyes of God? Let’s find out this through this passage.
A Pharisee, confident of his righteousness (9-12)
9 To some who were confident of
their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this
parable:
Having confidence in our
relationship with the Lord is so important. This will help one to get through
many difficult times of life. If there is, then it is expressed best in or
during our prayer to the Lord. Genuine confidence is great and we all like to
have it. But some have false confidence, then it is very problematic because he
or she feels that they gained the approval of the Lord, though they did not.
Jesus described such false confidence as “confident of their own
righteousness”. Who may have such false
confidence? There were some who had false confidence. Jesus did not pinpoint who they were. Most
like the reason is that such mindset is found not just among Pharisees but also
many of his disciples as well. So in other word, the tendency to build one’s
own confidence is great among all and Jesus’ disciples are not exempt from such
mistakes.
Many a times Jesus taught about prayers in the previous
teachings. All were very positive and encouraging. Only this teaching, Jesus
points out the weak point of prayer. It is about what one has in his heart as one
approached to the Lord in prayer. Nobody knows what sits in the depth of our
heart. But this matters most than anything else. In the depth of one’s heart
must be the concern about what God considered important. In the previous
teaching about a widow’s prayer, the widow pursued for a justice persistently
and God will surely do his justice for his believers for
those who pray day and night. So the central theme of believers’ prayer is God’s
justice.(This is also the commanding theme of the Lord’s prayer) How will God’s justice be upheld in me and in
others?
In order to give an answer to this question, Jesus gave a
short story about two men; one was a Pharisee and the other one was a tax
collectors. The Pharisee had a need that he wanted for God to fill. So he came
to the temple of God to ask him of what he needed. Also the tax collector came
to seek God for his help. Both of them came to the temple to pray to God.
V11-12; 11 The Pharisee stood by
himself and prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people--
robbers, evildoers, adulterers-- or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast
twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
First, a Pharisee. The
origin of the term “Pharisee” comes from the Aramaic word פרשׁ (prsh), which means “to
separate,” “divide,” or “distinguish.” 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. Also the Pharisees kept themselves apart both
socially and theologically from aristocratic sympathizers with Hellenism and
the uneducated commoners. This indicates that they lived a far better or superior
standard of life that is above all others.
How this man related with God is best revealed in his approach to God in
prayer.
At the Herod’s temple, the outer court was divided into
three, outer one is gentile court and there was a gate that separate the
gentile court from women’s court and then further inside was the court of
Israel, just outside of the holy place. Here a large number of Jews gather here
and pray. This Pharisee separated himself from all others and stood alone
raising his both of arms high up on the air and prayed. So no one would fail to
miss this man’s while he was praying. No one failed to know that this man was
truly godly and the fact that this man did make all effort to follow God. In a
loud voice he prayed “'God, I thank you that I am not like other people--
robbers, evildoers, adulterers-- or even like this tax collector.” So many in
this court not only recognize this man presence but also could hear clearly
what he was praying; So all understood how good was this man. His prayer sounded
very genuine and sincere. His prayer was
focused on two aspects of his life; one he did not do all the wrongs of the
common people commit against God. Second is about what he positively committed
himself to God; fasting twice a week and giving a tenth of all he got. This was
far beyond what was required by the Law of Moses. Isn’t this the way all
followers of the Lord should do? What else would God ask any men to do? Many of
the crowd praying there could not even come up close to what this man did. What
else should this man do in his search for God’s blessing?
As we have noted, what this Pharisee believed and lived, how
he positioned himself in the temple and what he prayed consistently showed one
thing; he was good and right than any other people. He demonstrated
this in his life and in his prayer and in his attitude toward God.
Once I had a friend like this man. He was so devout that I
could not find anything wrong in him. So I envied his ability to live such a
godly life and hoped that I could do observe the law as him and be able to
control my life in such a rigorous manner with discipline and control. Simply without doubt, this Pharisee was a
remarkable man with great fervor and zeal for the Lord.
In this respect, we can say that this Pharisee may be the best one
that any human being can make or represent one of such man in regard to one’s effort
to be godly. There are many who make all out efforts to do so. I believe that Confucius was one of them. Yet
even with the best of his efforts to be good and right, in search for the life
in truth, he felt inadequate and was uncertain. He wished that he knew what the
truth of life was. In other word he never got to the confidence that what he
was doing was right and just.
Also there was no doubt that this man was happy what he was
doing and was very proud of this and wanted all to know how godly life he was
living. Without any doubt, he was greater than many others and wanted all
others to know this. He sought respect and honor from other people Also he was
asking God to approve of what he did as good and acceptable. Practically in his mind he already approved
himself as righteous one. What about the tax collector?
1. A tax collector (13)
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.'
A tax collector is a Jew, most likely hired by one of
Publican, a wealthy man who paid for the privilege of collecting taxes in certain
localities (ex. Zacchaeus). These tax farmers(Publicans) employed local Jews to
collect taxes; they were directly engaging with each individual in collecting
taxes from his people. Like this, these tax collectors represented foreign
domination of Rome, often overcharged and surplus was pocketed. Rabbinic
tradition classified them as robbers or renegades, who sold their services to
foreign oppressors; in the expense of their own countrymen. So, overall the tax collectors were bundled together with sinners such as a
prostitute or robbers. So no one of
his fellow Jews wanted to associate with this man. He had to live a keen sense of guilty on the wrongs that his
life was built on. This man also presented
himself before the temple to pray. There were large group people praying before
the Holy place. If we can picture the scene, it will be like this; far in front
was the Pharisee alone and in the middle were various people praying. At the
end, far corner of the court of Israel was this tax collector. More likely this
man was just inside of the temple gate, entering into Jewish court because he felt so unworthy to get close to the
Holy place. His head was dropped and
his hands were on his knees bowing down low and beating his chest, “have
mercy on me a sinner”
He knew he was a
sinner and he knew he deserved God’s
judgment because of sins he committed against God. His mind was in great trouble because unless God shows his mercy,
he would be surely condemned to eternal judgment. God’s judgment was so real to
him that unless he receives something from God, a tangible evidence to indicate
God’s forgiveness, then he would be surely condemned eternally. So he prayed with tears. He asked for God’s
mercy because in his mind only by God’s
mercy he could be saved from God’s judgment. When he asked for God’s mercy,
what did he mean? In order to understand what he had in his mind, I like to
think about the word, ‘mercy’ that this man used.
In Luke, the word ‘mercy’ is
translations of two different words of Greek; one is ἔλεος (eleos; 9 time in Luke) and the other is ἱλάσθητί;(hilastheti; one
time in Luke). First one is used far
more often. The best examples of this is in “Be merciful, just as your Father
is merciful” (6:36) and “The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy
on him’”(10:37). Jesus told him, “Go and
do likewise.” This was what Jesus said
to the Pharisee after he gave a story about a man robbed on the road of Jericho
and was near death. A Samaritan saved him. Jesus told them to be merciful as the
Samaritan was merciful to the robbed man. Mercy as shown in these two
occasions was to denote a simple human compassion and love.
In this verse(18:13) instead of
using eleos, Luke used a very
particular word, hilastheti in order to
ask for the mercy of God. This word is used only twice in the NT here and Heb
2:17. Its proper meaning is to “propitiate”. In Heb 2:17 this word(NIV) is
translated to “atonement” In other word,
the tax collector thought that he needed propitiation from God. Simply he felt
that his sin was so serious and worthy of death that only by sacrifice of life by
blood can wash away. At the heart of his mind is how God’s justice can
be “propitiated”. Sin is directly oppose God’s holiness. His sin was so vulgar
to God’s holiness that only death would satisfy God’s justice. In this he was
totally helpless. Nothing that he had and nothing he could do could appease God.
So he was asking God himself in mercy to provide a ‘propitiation’ so that his
life be saved.
How
did Jesus see these two people?
14 "I tell you that this man,
rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt
themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be
exalted."
Who would think that
the tax collector was be better than the Pharisee? To any men’s eyes the
Pharisee lived more godly life than the tax collector did. It was like
comparing a monk and a prostitute or thief. Can it be possible that a thief or prostitute
was better than a monk? How can God, the
holy and righteous God, choose a prostitute over a monk to bless? But to the
surprise of all, Jesus said that the tax collector went home justified, while the
Pharisee was rejected by God. Here the word ‘justified’ (δικαιόω; didakaioo)
has the same root of the words “justice” (18:3,5,8) It carries a meaning of
punishment or being right with God. The back ground of this word is ‘sin’ that
must be punished and make right before God. In other word God has done away
with sin by propitiation, leading to justification of the tax collector.
The Pharisee felt so right and just in his own eyes. He had
no idea or no understanding or no concern for God’s holiness and justice, particularly
in regard to his sin. He did not upheld
God’s justice at all. How can God approve of his personal goodness? There was
nothing in him that satisfy God. So he did not give his approval of
justification. We can say that this man, despite of the best efforts, could not
be justified before the eyes of God. What does this tell us? **
Even with the best of his effort, though he was better than
any of his fellow men, he failed to meet God’s expectation. As he was, he could
not tolerate God of holiness. So it is
true that no men can be justified by his own works. Men’s hearts are filled
with sin; Simply the Pharisee did not
see the sin sitting in the depth of his heart because he did not see the God of
Holiness. Instead he compared himself to others. He made all effort to be
better than others. But sin in his heart was left untouched. So he looked down
on others and could not have genuine love and compassion for others. God called it arrogance, or no
humbleness. **
On the other hand, the tax collector knew his sin and he
knew that he was worthy of death. He was felt so inadequate to receive God’s
approval or blessing. He had no choice but to hang on God’s mercy. So he
prostrated before God in total dependence on God’s mercy. What can one do when
there is no other ways to escape God’s judgment? The only way is to appeal to
the Lord with all his strength. He was wrong and God was right to judge him.
Yet when God saw his faith, he showed his mercy on this man and gave him his
justification.
In this way, God justified the tax collector and rejected to
accept the Pharisee. So it is obvious that God did not go by the things that
they did. Instead God did go by something else. What is that that God was happy
with, even if he was a worst sinner? What of him did God count to be worthy of His
mercy and giving away his approval of justification?
14 "... For all those who exalt themselves will be
humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
They were both praying to the Lord. So what they did as well
as what they were saying in prayer was presented before God. It was obvious that
the Pharisee was better in actions and the tax collectors was worse than many
others in their life style. But as Jesus pointed out, the tax collector was
worthy of God’s blessing because of his right attitude toward God. He was humble before God. His humbleness was
evident in how he prayed, where he prayed. He could not lift up his head and
could not raise his hands up because he was unworthy before God. He was
terrible sinner, worthy of God’s judgment. He knew that he was nothing but
dusts and ashes before God Almighty, God of holiness and righteousness. He knew
God in his holiness. Before him he could not count himself anything worthy. He
saw himself, a naked being before God of holiness. Nothing, Nothing in him was
worthy in the eyes of God of holiness.
Isaiah was a great prophet of God.
He delivered Israel the message of God’s judgment.(Ch.1-5) But one day he saw
God in his full glory. His train filled the whole earth. He found himself a man
of unclean lips and felt a great woe and judgment. He did not know what he
could do. Though he preached the words of God to Israel, he was not faultless
or not without guilt. The lips that
spoke the words of God was filled with uncleanness. He saw his ruin before
God’s presence. Isaiah saw for the first time his true being, a sinner filled
with guilty, facing God’s judgment. Impending ruin was coming to him. So he
prostrated himself before throne of God.
5 "Woe to me!" I cried.
"I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of
unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." (Isa 6:1 NIV)
Humbleness is not an attitude that postures oneself low so
as to show grace to others. It is seeing true reality of ourselves before the
eyes of God of Holiness. Such humbleness never comes when we compare ourselves
to others like the Pharisee. We have to see ourselves before God who never
compromise his holiness and righteousness. In this tax collector’s heart the
same word that Isiah cried out resounded. “Woe to me! I am ruined” “Have mercy
on me!” Have you cried out like this? This is the beginning of believers’
prayer that reaches to the Lord, God of heaven and the earth. This man was
beating his chest because he knew so well of sinfulness entrenched in his body
and in his soul. He was totally helpless in himself. So he could not do
anything but surrender to the Lord in this helpless situation. God
count this as humbleness.
2. Like Babies or little children
In order to clarify and amplify this humbleness, the author
Luke gave an example of humbleness of the little children.
15 People were also bringing
babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw
this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said,
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom
of God belongs to such as these.
Luke, the author, put a short story about little children as
the end of teaching on prayer. The same event is recorded in Matthew and Mark.
Both ended the story with the saying that Jesus blessed the children. So the
purpose of this story in Matthew and Mark was to teach that God welcomes children,
though they are not mature enough to know. On the other hand, Luke omits the
fact that Jesus blessed the little children. Instead he ended the story with
the teaching that only those who receive the kingdom of God like the little children can
enter the kingdom. i.e. in Luke,
particular character of children serves as the quality of being accepted
into the kingdom of God. That is
receiving the kingdom of God like the little children. If one does so, then he
will be accepted to the kingdom of God or his prayer will be accepted by God. In
this way, Luke connects this story with the previous teaching on prayer.
Then what is receiving the kingdom of God like little children?
People were bringing babies to Jesus so that they might get
Jesus’ blessing. When his disciples saw them, they rebuked them. The disciples
thought that babies were nuisance for godly affairs. Such is obvious especially
they were not children but ‘babies’.
They do not understand things and since they were not fully mature to
receive God’s blessing. They do not know what is right or wrong, they do not
understand God. They literally did not have anything; no knowledge or
understanding, no good works, and they were not innocent as we know. But they
knew one thing, they wanted to be blessed by Jesus. Jesus was the source of
their blessing and they had to have that blessing that they came waving through
this large crowd. The fact that they had nothing of their own is further
emphasized by saying that some were babies, not the children. (Only Luke
records babies) God’s blessing is not a reward for what we have done. But it is
by totally God’s mercy and His grace. They came to Jesus not depending on what
they had or what they were but simply depended on Jesus’ grace and mercy.
This is that quality in the children
that Jesus taught for all believers to have in order to enter the kingdom of
God. If receiving God’s blessing depends
on one’s ability, then what the disciples were doing was right. Children must
be rebuked. They should come later when they grew up. But God’s blessing
depends not on one’s ability but on God’s grace, then no matter how they were
immature and lacks certain quality to be right and good, they can receive God’s
blessing. So this quality was emphasized in the last verse:
17 Truly I tell you, anyone who
will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter
it."
Likewise the tax collector threw himself before God because
he did not have anything to go to claim God’s blessing. So he totally depended
on God’s mercy. He did not have anything; if he can have anything, then it was
totally God’s mercy. The tax collector went home justified. God accepted him
into the kingdom of God. This man did not depend on what he was or had or did,
but simply he asked God’s mercy regardless of all the sins that he committed
against God. In other word, he depended
solely on God’s mercy as the children depended on God’s grace only.
On the contrary, the Pharisee asked God to approve of all
good things that he did as the ground of his justification. He did not know God
of holiness and he did not know how sinful in the eyes of God. He was truly
blind of his sin and God’s holy judgment.
Paul knew this more than anyone among the first believers
because he had built and lived in his righteousness and says this in his letter
to Romans:
7:18 For I know that good itself does not
dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do
what is good, but I cannot carry it out. (Rom 7:18 NIV)
As we live as men and women of good conscience and integrity,
it is hard for us to accept that we have nothing good in us. But Paul knew it
so well that he lived as a powerful man of God. Likewise until we come fully
understand and accept this before the Lord, our prayer may not be heard. But
when we approach him with such humbleness and utter dependency on Jesus, God
will surely give us assurance of his seal of approval of righteousness and
surely answer our prayers. In addition, only in such prayer, we can uphold the
righteousness of God in our lives. Let’s
say, “O God, have mercy on me a sinner!”
May God bless you richly in His grace, only in His grace!
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