Submitted by Pastor Reggie Koop, Watson Baptist Church

In Luke 18:9-14, we have a parable with two parties. One is a Pharisee and the other one is tax collector. Jesus continually teaches His disciples to be humble. And many verses in the New Testament teach us to be humble. But when we begin to read this parable, don’t we say, “I’m glad I’m not like this Pharisee?” Right there we are not being humble. Something we have to think about. Not all the Pharisees were bad as well as not all the tax collectors crooked. And, not all disciples are humble. Remember James and John? They asked Jesus if they could sit on his left hand and right hand in heaven.

Verse 10, during Jesus’ time, the people were to go to the temple to pray. Traditional times for public prayer are 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. (Acts 3:1), “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.” But a person could pray privately at any time. Now, how about verse 11? In this Pharisee’s prayer, no adoration, confession or supplication – only thanksgiving. His thanksgiving, moreover, is self-centered and, therefore, not pleasing to God. It would seem that the Pharisee is both standing by himself and praying to himself.

In assessing his own character, he compares himself only to the worst elements of his society, and pronounces himself excellent by comparison. When picking a standard by which to measure ourselves, we need to look higher. The only faithful standard is Jesus. If we compare ourselves to Jesus, our sin will be obvious and we will not be tempted to the kind of pride that taints this Pharisee.

Going on to verse 13, the tax collector, like the Pharisee, stands by himself, but his reason is different. The Pharisee feels too good to associate with common people, but the tax collector feels too bad. The tax collector’s prayer is simple and direct. He cannot claim any high standard, and can hope only for mercy. The tax collector is humble, which allows him to ask for mercy. God answers his prayer, and the tax collector goes to his home justified.

We thus have a righteous man (the Pharisee) going down to his house as unjustified/unrighteous and an unrighteous man (the tax collector) going down to his house as justified/righteous. The point is obvious. Justification/righteousness is not something that we can accomplish on our own. We can only receive it as a gift from God.

The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector reminds us that our salvation depends on grace. All of us approach the throne of grace with empty hands.

Application: 1) Always be in prayer. 2) Be humble when you approach the throne of God. 3) Tell others.