January 21
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes toward heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted,” Luke 18:10-14.
Jesus told this parable after He observed how some people trusted in what they themselves could do to get right with God, while they despised others who did not measure up to their man-made standards. The Pharisees were members of a strict religious sect. They felt that they fulfilled the Commandments of God sufficiently and that they also met the requirements of their own man-made religious regulations, and therefore they felt that they could be sure of entering heaven.
During the hour of prayer, a Pharisee stood in the temple and thanked God that he was not a sinner like a lot of other people whom he knew. He could even mention a few – extortioners, unjust people, and adulterers, and specifically, he was not like that tax collector who also had come to the temple to pray and who was standing not far away. The Pharisee took it upon himself to tell the all-knowing God of how good he was and how bad others were.
Not far away stood the humble, penitent tax collector. Indeed, generally, the tax collectors had a bad reputation because many of them were dishonest. The tax collector would not even look up heavenward. He beat his breast and pleaded for God’s grace and mercy. He prayed, “God be merciful to me a sinner!”
Jesus concluded the parable by saying that the tax collector went home justified rather than the Pharisee. The tax collector prayed for God’s mercy and forgiveness, and that is what he received. He was justified. He was declared forgiven.
The Pharisee did not leave the temple with the assurance of forgiveness. The gate to heaven is too narrow for people puffed up with pride! The apostle Peter wrote, “‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,” 1 Peter 5:5-6.
Each of us must come into the presence of the holy and just God and confess our many sins, including our sins of pride. Like the tax collector, we must plead, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” As humble, penitent sinners, we look to Calvary where Jesus suffered and died to pay the price for our salvation. From the cross comes the assurance that God has forgiven all our sins, including the sins of pride. We thank God, not because we are better than others, but because He has called us out of spiritual darkness into the light of the Gospel, the Good News, that we are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.
“Salvation unto us has come
By God’s free grace and favor;
Good works cannot avert our doom,
They help and save us never.
Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone,
Who did for all the world atone,
He is our one Redeemer.” Amen.