To view this sermon, click on the link to our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/7DkcZC4Z5sc?si=XkutTVeIfvK1Dn5x

Luke 18:9-14 The Pharisee and the Tax Collector – which are you?

I want to take you back to school and exams. We looked forward to exam time! Probably not! A favourite way of phrasing a question was ‘compare and contrast.’ That is exactly what Jesus does in this parable; He compares and contrasts a Pharisee and a tax collector. Although it is a parable, it may be based on a real event. Whether it really happened or was a story, we know it is realistic. We have written examples of the prayers of some Pharisees which bear a remarkable resemblance to this Pharisee’s prayer. This is very realistic.

We see two men in the same place – the temple. They are both doing the same thing – praying. But that is as far as the similarity goes. These two men are poles apart. Which of these two men are we like? We may want to say we are not one or the other. But the truth is everyone of us is either one or the other.

First, let us look at the Pharisee. He is full of himself. Standing was a normal posture for prayer. But what is abnormal is the nature of this man’s prayer. He addresses God and initially refers to the Lord. But subsequently, he never refers to the Lord again. The Pharisee is talking to himself about himself. He is congratulating himself. There is no confession of sin, of seeking forgiveness. He stands in the presence of a holy God yet feels no sense of guilt. When Isaiah is in the temple and God’s presence is so real, Isaiah can only confess he is a man of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:1-5). In Luke 5:8 Simon Peter fell to his knees saying, ““Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” In the presence of divine power, Peter can only humbly bow, acknowledging his sin.

This Pharisee, in his pride, praises himself for avoiding the vices so prevalent in others. Then he parades how devoted to his religion he is. The Old Testament only required fasting for one day a year, on the day of Atonement. But the Pharisee voluntarily fasted twice a week (Monday and Thursday). The law required certain crops to be tithed (Deuteronomy 14:22). But the Pharisees went further, even tithing the herbs from the garden. This went way beyond what was required and expected, in order to establish their righteousness and to parade their religious devotion. What the Pharisees said was no doubt true, but he does not see the sin in his heart undoes all his deeds. The Pharisee despises the tax collector and many others.

Pride is always a sin and a mistake. It is the deadliest of sins. We live in an age when we are told to love ourselves, we are not to be down on ourselves. That means we are encouraged to compare ourselves favourably to others. That increases our pride. There can be no pride when we compare ourselves to the righteousness of God. When we compare ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ, to His perfect, sinless life, there can be no pride. There can be no pride in a Christian.

The deadliest form of pride is religious pride. It is the most deceptive lie. It is the cause of many being condemned to eternal damnation in hell. It is the most dangerous thing in the world to think we are acceptable to God because we go to church, we pray, read the bible, do good works and serve him. None of these compensate for the overwhelming sinfulness of our lives. We can never earn our salvation. Being proud is natural, the normal inclination of our hearts.

Let us consider the tax collector. He is also full, but not full of himself – he is full of repentance. This man knows and feels his sin. Whereas the Pharisee despised others, the tax collector despised himself and acknowledged he is a sinner. Tax collectors with doubly hated: They were regarded as collaborators with the Roman authority, and also regarded as thieves. Although despised by others as a traitor, none despised this man more than himself. He is ashamed of himself.

We see in the tax collector three things:

Firstly, He stands at a distance. He goes to the far corner of the temple, far away from the holy of holies, to pray. He does not come close to the presence of God. Secondly, he does not even lift up his eyes to heaven. Thirdly, he continually beats his chest as a demonstration of remorse for his sin. He knows he can do nothing other than hope that God would have pity on him, a sinner, “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!’”(v.13).

To be merciful is to be propitiated. It’s not a word that is familiar to people today. It is a Bible word which means to remove wrath, for god’s anger to be redirected away onto another. The tax collector knows he cannot escape God’s wrath. He can only hope God will lovingly turn His wrath away from him. He knows he does not deserve mercy but he asks for it anyway.

Have you felt the weight of your sin, the enormity of your rebellion against God? You must come under the conviction of your sin, acknowledge your sin. In Matthew chapter 5 Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This does not mean poor in material terms – blessed are those who know they are spiritually bankrupt before God. Jesus goes on to say, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This refers to those who mourn deeply for their sin. They know the depths of the corruption that is theirs and they grieve how they have offended a holy God.

We must accept we are Pharisees by nature and justly the object of God’s wrath, that we are the tax collectors and sinners by nature and justly deserve God’s wrath, before we can even begin to hope that He will have mercy on us. We can have mercy because He showed no mercy to His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He died in our place on the cross bearing the responsibility for our sin.

Jesus propitiated God’s wrath at Calvary. God’s just wrath against my sin was mercifully turned away from me and consumed Jesus in my place. My sin was paid in full at the Saviour’s death. God’s wrath burnt itself out on Jesus as He was condemned in my place. Our only hope of mercy is found in repenting of our sin and trusting in Jesus Christ alone. There can be no pride, only brokenness.

Jesus said it is the tax collector, not the Pharisee, who returns home from the temple justified – acquitted of all his sin, reckoned to be righteous. He is penitent therefore he is justified. He alone of the two is viewed as if he had never sinned at all. The Pharisee saw himself as being righteous but in fact was full of sinful pride, whilst the tax collector knew he was full of sin but he is declared righteous.

Here is the greatest contrast of all between the two men, a turning of the tables. The proud Pharisee is humbled whilst the humbled tax collector is exalted. That is God’s way. In James 4:6 we read, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” God confounds human expectation. It is not the self-confident religious who is saved but the penitent sinner.

It is only safe for you and I to be on our knees, lest the wind of God’s wrath should blow us to eternal damnation. We have to stay on our knees, not just in prayer, but constantly remind ourselves, ‘on your knees.’

Each of us needs to be justified, to be declared righteous. This is only possible if we are clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. There is no other way to know forgiveness of sin except to take Jesus Christ as our Saviour. Will you repent of your sin and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation today? Now? Will you be on your knees now? You don’t have to do this physically. Be humbled before God, as you are convicted of your sin, and cry out, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ The penitent sinner who humbly seeks God’s mercy will find it because of the life and death of Jesus.

We cannot earn mercy but we can receive it if we humble ourselves, confess our sin and depend totally on Jesus. Have you done so?

The Pharisee or the tax collector – which are you? It is for you and God. Make sure that if you are being a Pharisee, you are a tax collector humbled before God, trusting in Christ for forgiveness. It is the only way. May those of us who have been humbled by God’s grace be like the tax collector. May His continuing grace to us keep lest we stray to be a bit like the Pharisee.