Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Tonight’s Study – Session 36: The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Introduction: The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is rich with truth about the doctrine of justification by faith. It 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 parable is addressed to Pharisees who trusted their own righteousness.

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is only in the Gospel of Luke.

Let Us Take a Look at the Passage where the Parable is Found

Also, He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

A Verse by Verse Look at this Parable.

Verse 9

Jesus was purposely addressing the Pharisees in this parable because they trusted in their own righteousness. Such confidence in one’s inherent righteousness is a damning hope.

Romans 3:10 – As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;

Philippians 3:9 – and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.

Scripture consistently teaches that sinners are justified when God’s perfect righteousness is imputed to their account.

Genesis 15:6 – And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:21 – For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Verse 10

Jesus distinguishes between the two men who went up to the temple to pray. In the eyes of the religious world, the Pharisee would be looked at as being the more righteous between the two men. In God’s eyes, all are equally sinners before Him who are in need of grace and mercy.

Romans 3:23 – for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Verse 11

The Pharisees were known to stand in the temple reciting prayers of self-congratulation. He compared himself with others, naming off a list of specific sinners, even the tax collector. Comparing ourselves with others gives us a sense of self – righteousness and pride. God despises both! Jesus Christ is the plumb line that we are to compare our lives to, no one else or nothing else.

Verse 12

Fast twice a week – The Pharisee fasted more than is required by a Biblical standard. By exalting his own works, he revealed that his entire hope lay in him not being as bad as someone else. He utterly lacked any sense of his own unworthiness and sin.

Matthew 19:17 – So, He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

The prayer of the Pharisee has no elements of confession. He does not ask forgiveness for his sins, perhaps because he believes he has nothing to confess. Nor is there any word of praise or thanksgiving to God. His prayer is all about him. Even the thanks he does offer is designed to exalt himself and place himself above others whom he treats with disdain. Going to the temple to pray with the condition of his heart as it was, he might as well have stayed home. Such a “prayer” is not heard by God.

Psalm 66:18 – If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.

Verse 13

Unlike the Pharisee, who stands boldly in the temple reciting his prayers of self-congratulation, the tax collector stood “afar off” or “at a distance,” perhaps in an outer room, but certainly far from the Pharisee who would have been offended by the nearness of this man.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

Tax collectors, because of their association with the Romans, were seen as traitors to Israel and were loathed and treated as outcasts. This man’s posture spoke of his unworthiness before God. Unable to even lift his eyes to heaven, the burden of his guilt and shame weighed heavily upon him, and the load he carried had become unbearable. Overcome by his transgressions, he beats his breast in sorrow and repentance and appeals to God for mercy. The prayer he speaks is the very one God is waiting to hear, and his attitude is exactly what God wants from all who come to Him.

Verse 14

The tax collector exhibits precisely what Jesus spoke about in the sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)

Being “Poor in spirit” means that we have nothing to offer God. We are spiritually bankrupt. The tax collector recognizes his sinful condition and seeks the only thing that can bridge the gap between himself and God, “Have mercy on me,” he cries, and we know from the end of the parable that God heard his prayer for mercy and answered it. Jesus tells us that the tax collector went away justified because he had humbled himself before God, confessing that no amount of works could save him from his sin and that only God’s mercy could.

If we are truly broken-hearted over our sin, we can be assured of God’s boundless love and forgiveness in Christ. No amount of goods works, church attendance, tithes, community service, loving our neighbor, or anything else we do is sufficient to take away the blot of sin and enable us to stand before a holy God on our own. That is why God sent Jesus to die on the cross. His death is the only “work” that is able to cleanse us and make us acceptable to God.

Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Conclusion: The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector contains the very essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus spoke to the issue of self-righteousness and the damning affects it would have on those who trusted in their self-righteousness to be right with God. This knowledge is essential if we are to totally understand His mission when He came to earth, which was to save sinners – those who knew they could not save themselves. Today, Jesus is still saving sinners. Those who try to exalt themselves with their self-righteousness will be humbled and those who humble themselves, seeing their spiritual poverty and need for forgiveness and salvation in Christ alone will be exalted. They will be saved.