Luke 18:9-14
9 [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 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.”
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Some portions of Scripture are familiar and important enough that all we need to hear is the book and chapter, and our mind recalls most of the content. For example, when you hear someone mention Psalm 23, you have all the sheep and shepherd imagery that the Psalm contains. Maybe you don’t have Psalm 23 completely memorized, but you know the general content. So, I have a pop quiz for you on this last Sunday of August, what comes to mind when you hear Genesis 3? Typically known as ‘The Fall [into Sin].’
It is somewhat unfortunate. Yes, that is when mankind and all creation became infected with sin. And because of that sin, we are born under God’s judgment and condemnation. So, yes, it is a fall. But when we label it ‘the Fall,’ we can easily forget how we fell. Mankind fell by trying to go up. Now, I’m not going to suggest that we rename that chapter in our minds, but I do want you to recognize the direction of the Fall.
God told Adam and Eve to not eat of the tree, but they decided to do it anyway. The devil asked the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Eve responded mostly correctly by pointing out the big downside of eating, “If we eat from it God says we will die.” (Now, she also adds not touching the tree to God’s prohibition against eating from the tree, but that’s for another time), “God told us to not eat it or we would die.” But Satan poo-poos the downside. “You won’t die; instead, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil.” The devil lies saying that the sin will only be beneficial to Adam and Eve.
The text goes on to say that the tree looked good for food, it was a delight to the eyes, and it was desired to make them wise and like God knowing good and evil. They both took and ate. They fell into sin, but they fell by trying to go upward. They rose up in pride. They exalted themselves. Believed in themselves. Trusted in themselves. They desired to rise high, up to godly and divine status. Ever since that moment, everyone who has ever been born has the same desire to exalt themselves.
Now, to the parable. Jesus tells this parable to individuals who continue in that line of thinking, they are falling up. They trusted (lit. they ‘persuaded’ or ‘convinced’ themselves) that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. That is why the two men in the parable are so different.
As the Pharisee prays, he is looking around at the lives of others – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, and tax collectors – and at his own life – his fasting and tithing. Now, all these works are, actually, good things. It is good and right to not be like the sinners that surround you, and it is good and right to do the good works that the Pharisee does. The Pharisee’s problem is not his good works. His problem is that everywhere he looks are places where he won’t find Jesus, the Righteous One, who makes sinners righteous. The Pharisee won’t find Christ by looking at his good life, and he won’t find Jesus by looking at the sins of his neighbor. All he sees is his goodness which leads him to pride. And his pride means that he goes home not justified. The Pharisee fell up. He went to the Temple of God, where God had promised to atone for sins, but the Pharisee receives no atonement.
The tax collector does go home justified. Think of all the things the tax collector could have prayed; he could have prayed, “God help me to be more like this Pharisee. Help me to live better, fast better, pray better, and tithe more.” But he doesn’t. The tax collector goes up to the Temple and sees only two things: the just demands of a holy God and his own sinfulness and depravity. He looks at himself where there is no hope and to God where the only hope lies. He sees the gap and cries out for mercy. Our translation records his prayer as, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” This translation is weak on two points. First, it is not just ‘a sinner’; he prays, ‘the sinner.’ The only sins he sees are his own. Second, the translation of his prayer, ‘be merciful,’ falls short.
Throughout the Gospels, many people call to Jesus, “Lord, have mercy,” or in Greek, “Kyrie eleison.” They ask Jesus to do exactly what He has come to do, to be their Lord who has mercy. It’s a good prayer. But what the tax collector in this parable prays is something similar but importantly different. The tax collector prays to God (lit.), “Be propitiated to me, the sinner.”
To propitiate means to make an atoning sacrifice. And the tax collector prays that God would be made to be, that God would become the atoning sacrifice for him. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, this word was also used for the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant. The place where the high priest would sprinkle the blood on the Day of Atonement and where God promised to meet with His people (Ex. 25:22; Lev. 16) was called by the same word. Jesus is that place where God makes the atoning sacrifice. 1 John 2:2 says, “[Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” Jesus is your Great High Priest who makes the propitiating sacrifice of Himself.
Now, our problem is that we flip the parable upside down. We easily swap the Pharisees’ prayer with our own version, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men, self-righteous, pretentious, holier-than-thou types, or even like this Pharisee. I don’t take so much pride in my good works.” But when you do that, you are literally being the Pharisee. Repent.
The Pharisee’s problem was not his fasting or tithing, it isn’t even that he was glad that he wasn’t like the “really bad” sinners. His problem was that he trusted in those things and does not trust that Jesus will forgive him and be the propitiation for his sins.
In the end, it is the tax collector who leaves the Temple with God having become the propitiation for his sins, so he goes down to his house justified. And that is an important point to keep in mind.
The tax collector goes home declared by God to be holy and just no matter how despicable he was. He goes home a changed man. He now goes down to his house to live out a holy life. God could have forgiven and propitiated him and swept him immediately up into heaven like Jesus did with the thief on the cross. But God doesn’t. And God hasn’t done that for you – not yet anyway. The tax collector goes home justified and that makes a difference for him, his family, his neighbors, and for the entire world.
By God’s grace freely given through Jesus, the tax collector is exalted; he is lifted up. What Jesus says in Matthew 5 about Christians being the light of the world is fitting here. You aren’t the light of the world because you do all the good works of the Pharisee in this parable. Instead, you are forgiven and justified by Jesus who is the light of the world. That forgiveness and mercy joins you to Jesus who is the light of the world. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, you are given the gift of faith and enlightened. The Holy Spirit then places you on a lampstand so that you, the justified, give light to the whole house (Mt. 5:14-16).
Since the Fall, our thoughts have been upward, but God’s thoughts have been downward. We sinners keep reaching for the heights, but Jesus has come down into the depths to raise you up and seat you with Him in the heavenly places (Col. 3:1-3).
Dear saints, don’t fall up. Don’t exalt your good works as though you are better than others. And don’t exalt your sinfulness as though you are better than the self-righteous because that isn’t humility either. Both of those are falling up. Instead, be exalted down. The most exalted you can be is to be one of the sinners for whom Jesus has come and given His life as a propitiation, an atoning sacrifice. And, dear saints, Christ has done this, and He has done this for you. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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