Luke 18:9-14

Butler's Comments

SECTION 2

Proud (Luke 18:9-14)

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: 10Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The, Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, -God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.-' 13But 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!-' 14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 18:9-12 Haughtiness: Do not miss the purpose of this parable. Jesus told it to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. He told it to all who think they have something they have earned to present to God as justification. It is a warning to everyone like Job, in the O.T., who audaciously bragged that if he just knew where to find God, he believed he could stand before Him and argue his case. Job found out (Job 38:1 ff.) that he was totally incapable of arguing his case before the Lord after all!

Two men went up into the temple to pray. All the men of Israel could go into the court of Israel to pray at the appointed times of prayer (3 times daily, cf. Acts 3:1). The court of Israel contained the altar of burnt offering and the laver. Only priests could enter the temple proper, Women prayed in the court of women, the next court outside the court of Israel. One of the men was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector, a publican. The Pharisee stoodprobably in a place he could be seenand prayed unto himself. The Greek phrase, pros heauton proseucheto, indicates the Pharisee directed his prayer, not really to God, but to himself! Five times he uses the personal pronoun I in the nominative case! Even as he thanked God he was scorning the publican. That is something to thank God forthat you are able to scorn someone else! Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai said: If there are only two righteous men in the world, I and my son are these two; if there is only one, I am he!

Pride has reached epidemic proportions among men. Children boast about their toys or fight for the front seat in the car. Parents fight at Little League games. Corporations are saturated with ego-maniacs trying to outmaneuver others. Church brotherhoods have their pecking orders. Branches of the military services fight one another. As one man has put it, Name just one person who is conscientiously working his way to the bottom of the heap! Politicians like to say this country is the home of the common manbut who has ever met one?! When we research our family tree we look for kings and statesmennot carpenters or cobblers.
Pride:

a.

is idolatrous self worship

b.

puts self in the place of sovereignty that belongs only to God

c.

is an attempt to appear in a superior light to what we are with an anxiety to gain applause

d.

is a consuming craving for appearance and reputation irrespective of reality

e.

is making oneself very good by the cheap method of making all others very bad.

Pride is extremely difficult to overcome because it takes root even in the essential virtues of life. We become proud of good works; we become proud of humility. It was good that the Pharisee was not an extortioner, unjust and an adulterer. But all his goodness was destroyed by his haughty pride. He was good because God's law told him not to be bad and he was afraid of the penalty of disobedience. He probably would have committed adultery or some other vice if he thought he could have gotten away with it. That is absolutely the wrong attitude toward God's law. He would probably have killed the publican had he thought he could have escaped punishmenthe hated the publican in his heart. Jesus dealt with that kind of legalism in the Sermon on the Mount (cf. Matthew 5:17-47. Pride is the mother of all vice. It is the monster that fouled Paradise when the serpent hissed: Ye shall be as gods. Pride fills hell, drives men mad for more, causes men to say their opinion is the only one, sours friendships, strangles love, devours faith, blinds men to their real needs, and segregates men from their neighbors. A man was meant to be doubtful about himselfbut undoubting about truth. We have very nearly reversed this. Humble and self-effacing we must bebut modest about the gospelnever!

The tax-collector stood afar off. He did not feel worthy to be near the righteous Pharisee. He did not feel worthy of lifting up his eyes to heaven. The Greek verb etupteu is an imperfect verb indicating the publican kept on smiting himself and kept on saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Over and over he confessed his unworthiness (cf. Daniel 9:18). The Pharisee confessed other men's sins; the publican confessed his own. The Pharisee evaluated himself as righteous; the publican evaluated himself as the worst of sinners. The Pharisee reminded God of what he had earned; the publican pleaded only for mercy. The Pharisee justified himself but was unjustified; the publican cried for mercy and was justified.

The publican exhibits classic humility. Jesus taught that true greatness is vindicated neither by great abilities and successes nor by the roar of popular applause but by service. He that would be greatest among you let him be the servant of all. There is nothing chicken about humility. Looking God and His word in the face and believing what He says about you takes a man! No weakling can stand to know the whole truth about himself. Humility calls for that extra-ordinary courage to take it and step down from the throne of one's own heart in favor of God, pick up one's cross, and follow the humble Christ. Humility is not something with which one is born. It has to be learned, it has to be developedand it comes by faith.
The Pharisee was not justified by God. How could he be? He did not think it was necessary for God to justify Him. He believed he had justified himself by his outward righteousness. He would not have accepted God's justification if God had offered it to him (which God had already done in type and prophecy). But the publican knew there was no possible way he could be justified if God did not do it. To justify is to pronounce free of guilt, to make one qualified, to declare pure and true. The tax-collector realized that in light of God's requirement of absolute holiness, he was lost and the only thing he could do was plead for mercy so that God might find some way to pronounce him free of guilt. That was the only way he believed he could ever be cleansed of guilt. We had better believe that too! God had found a waythrough the atoning death of His Son. That was and is still available to anyone who will believe it and enter into it through the covenant terms specified in the New Testament. That involves first of all a humbling of oneself to accept as a gift the forgiveness of God. Next it requires a humble surrender to God's sovereign command to be immersed in water for the forgiveness of sins (cf. Acts 2:38, et al). Then it requires a lifetime of humble discipleship and service to Jesus Christ as He has outlined it in the Gospels and the Epistles. Whoever humbles himself will be exalted, declared not guilty, and given an inheritance in the heavens, uncorruptible and undefiled that will not fade away.

Applebury's Comments

The Pharisee and the Publican
Scripture

Luke 18:9-14 And he spake also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at nought: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I get. 13 But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful to me a sinner. 14 I say unto you, This man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Comments

that they were righteous and set all others at naught.There is no mistaking the purpose of this parable. Jesus directed it toward the self-righteous Pharisees in contrast to the humble people of His day. He was answering the claims of the Pharisees that they were the only righteous ones: they never transgressed a commandment of the Father. But Jesus did not hesitate to point out their sins. A pharisaical attitude is so easy to acquire. It should be shunned, however, for it is sinful. Could there be any worse place to display it than in prayer?

The Pharisee stood and prayed.His prayer was about himself. There are two topics in the prayer: (1) his moral integrity, and (2) his religious activity. As to his morality, he thanked God that he was not like others who were extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like that publican who was also in the temple, praying. As to his religious devotion, he reminded God that he did fast twice a week and that he gave tithes of all he got. He was evidently satisfied with himself, a perfect example of self-righteousness.

But the publican.What a contrast he presented! He stood afar off and would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven. He presented a perfect example of humility: he knew that he was a sinner. He also knew, as he beat his breast and prayed, God be merciful to me the sinner, that the Pharisee was talking about him. While it may be quite easy for one to assume a pharisaical attitude, it is never easy to say, I am a sinner. The Bible record mentions a few who did: Saul, David, Peter, Judas, and Paul. Too often, real humility is absent when we ask God for mercy.

be thou merciful to me.God's mercy that pardons the guilty is available through Jesus Christ who died for all. The publican's spirit of humility is necessary on the part of all who would receive that mercy. Jesus said that he went down to his house pardoned rather than the other one. Then He added, Everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

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