Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else:
“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank You, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give You a tenth of my income.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’
I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14
Well, what a surprising outcome! The amateur beats the professional. Like the day’s of Open Tennis when Mark Cox beat a number of professionals in the first tournament open to both professionals and amateurs in May 1968 which sent ripples through world tennis. At this time, I am sure, the ripples spread from anyone who got the news on this event too. Imagine the shock of this Pharisee in being told the sinner was justified but he wasn’t. “Oh come on, you can’t be serious!” Now where have I heard that before?
This story turns normalcy on its ear. This Pharisee knows all the Law and Prophets. He is the expert and furthermore he does everything to the nth degree to be holy and righteous. On top of that he has been practicing for years. And you tell me he’s not going to make it. The buzz would have gone through the crowd and out into the highways and byways. This was on the level of world news, much like Mark Cox’s giant killing run at the tournament in Bournemouth in ’68. Unheard of. After Cox’s run to the semi finals where he lost to Rod Laver 6-4 6-1 6-0 there was endless analysis to work out what happened to turn the tennis world on its ear. I am sure the same thing happened with the world of the Pharisees. No doubt they went back to their holy huddle to work out why on earth this upstart preacher from backwoods Galilee would dare to say they were not justified before God.
Well. let’s look at it ourselves. Many knew from the introduction I am sure that there was a potential for upset in this case. Jesus told us the Pharisee, like all pharisees, trusted in himself rather than God. As I said yesterday, dangerous ground. There are some other obvious elements to this story which I am sure you noted and were waiting for the axe to fall on the Pharisee. Did you delight in that? Not too much now, because we are all in the same boat. The Pharisee’s big misjudgment was the degree to which he had contempt for all others around him, coupled with the certainty that he was right before God. But on whose terms?
There are some interesting things hidden in the text of this passage. The first we will look at is the matter of them both standing. As we saw in the last Gem in the Tale of the Tape both men stood and prayed. The verb to stand is the same for each man but there the similarity ends. For the Pharisee there is an interesting addition. It is found in the words [pros heauton] which can either mean “by himself” or “to himself”. It all depends which verb this construction is tagged to. There are some Greek documents which link it to the standing – thus the meaning is “standing by himself”. There are other Greek documents which link it to the verb to pray – thus the meaning is “praying to himself”. There are some who think the standing means the Pharisee stood up in a prominent position so that he could be seen by all those present. If the words in question go with the verb to stand, the idea is that he stood apart from everyone else because he considered himself righteous and did not want to associate with the unrighteous gathered there because as has already been said, he despised them. It is highly likely that he prayed aloud , meaning he took this opportunity to “preach” in the prayer he made, to those he despised. That is perfectly possible. I am sure most of us have been present when someone has used the time of prayer to preach to those gathered.
If on the other hand the words mean “stood and prayed to himself” that also makes sense. The kinds of things he said in the prayer were not the kind that one ought to voice for other people to hear. Rather he was speaking these words to himself. Although we are told he gave thanks to God for those things listed yesterday in the tale of the tape, this “prayer” was addressed to himself rather than God. This prayer was in the form of thanksgiving but it was really self-centred, self-congratulations. He wasn’t thanking God at all. He was thanking himself for what he had done for and by himself.
The blatant hypocrisy of it all is astounding. If he is indeed speaking this prayer aloud it is abhorrent. He makes a list of the things he is not and then adds the things he is, or rather the things he does. He was far more concerned with what he does than what he is. God is more concerned with what you are than what you do. We could stop and analyze each one of these categories of people [extortioners / robbers/ unjust / dishonest / adulterers] but we won’t, despite there being some interesting things buried within. Rather I would like to press on.
At the end of this string he “gives thanks” for the fact that he is not like this lowly despised tax collector. Mmm interesting. It depends which verb is in focus as to what the Pharisee’s focus is. If the focus is the standing, then it is the fact that in the Pharisee’s mind the lowest of the low, tax collector, is standing there too scared to lift his head because he (the tax collector) is unrighteous. If the praying is in focus then the Pharisees has been looking around while the text collector has been looking down, too afraid to lift up his eyes to heaven as they normally did while praying because he feels so unworthy. The Pharisee on the other hand feels so self assured and so worthy. What a contrast! No doubt he was thinking, “How dare this riff raff say prayers in such an unrighteous state. It is clear this tax collector is not fluent in prayer and is having difficulty getting the words out.” Of course all of which is fuel to the Pharisee’s self righteousness and his tendency to despise the tax collector. One fuels the other. His contempt is growing. The Pharisee feels he is sinless and doesn’t need to confess anything. He cites his spiritual pedigree which includes the things he has avoided and the things he has succeeded in doing. He has fasted and tithed more than he is required to according to the Law. He has gone the extra mile and he is proud of the fact. But none of it impresses God one bit.
The tax collector on the other hand stands far off, removed from everyone else. Which makes it clear that the Pharisee is in the centre of it all. Which suggests that the emphasis of the words discussed before in the case of the Pharisee, is on the praying to himself. The tax collector feels unworthy; the Pharisee on the other hand feels worthy. The tax collector won’t look up, while the Pharisee is looking all around. I think the tax collector had his head down the entire time he was in the temple courts. He is beating his breast, signifying his anguish, sorrow and contrition. Everything about these two is polarized. They are at opposite ends of the spectrum. I said two days ago that some commentators claim there doesn’t seem to be a comparison or contrast in these parables. I totally disagree, I think there is huge contrast here. The two are diametrically opposed.
Now notice what the tax collector says in his prayer. Remember his prayer is confession based. The Pharisee’s prayer is based on and couched in terms of thanksgiving. Remember the ACTS mnemonic for categorizing prayer:–
- Adoration
- Confession
- Thanksgiving
- Supplication
These two men are using the form but in very different ways. Notice what the tax collector says – Be merciful to me, a sinner. The tax collector pleads for God’s intervention. The Pharisee feels he doesn’t need God’s intervention, he has the matter covered himself. He is working his way to salvation just fine thanks. But there is more hidden here than meets the eye. The word for mercy is not the usual word for “mercy” [eleeos] but rather the word [hilaskomai] which has the sense of expiation of sin –the taking away or removal of sin. For that we need to look at the concepts of propitiation and expiation. But I will simply refer you to Bible Gem 155 to cover those concepts.
We will continue this very important topic when I will deal with why Jesus finishes this parable with the punchline He does. “I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God.” This is a strange statement to make at the end of a parable on prayer assuming the link is PRAYER as come commentators claim. We will sum it up in the next Gem.
It’s not a case do something don’t just stand there. Rather it’s don’t just do something, stand there.
Al Mohler
The number one job of a leader is to know reality.
Max Du Preez
A fool says what he knows, and a wise man knows what he says.
Jewish Proverb
Don’t preach what you don’t live, don’t promise what you cannot honour, and don’t look down on others while pretending perfection!
Ian Vail
Whenever you fall, pick someone else up.
Ian Vail