BURIED TREASURE: Exploring The Parables Of Jesus
by J. W. Jepson, D.Min.
Life In Christ Center, 3095 Cherry Heights Road, The Dalles, Oregon 97058
(541) 296-1136
Copyright © 1997 by J. W. Jepson
All rights reserved, including the right to grant the following permission and to prohibit the misuse thereof:
The Author hereby grants permission to reproduce the text of this article, without changes or alterations*, as a ministry, but not for commercial or non-ministry purposes.
*Permission is given for publication of excerpts and condensed versions.
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22.
A TALE OF TWO SINNERS
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon 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 every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
--Luke 18:9-14
A TALE OF TWO SINNERS
Our Lord describes two men who went into the temple to pray. But the main subject of this parable is not prayer. It is being right with God. This is one of Christ's clearest messages on justification by faith.
These two men had many things in common. Both were Jews. Both went to the temple. Both prayed. Both had a desperate need for righteousness.
But at the most essential point these two Jews were complete opposites. That essential point is: How are we justified before God? On that crucial issue the radical difference between them is found in where each man put his trust.
Jesus aimed this parable at smug, self-righteous people. It does not exhaust the subject of justification by faith, but focuses rather on the core issue.
Legally--that is, so far as the Jewish law and customs were concerned--these two men were at opposite extremes. The despised publican was a renegade who collected taxes for the hated Romans, pocketing huge surpluses for himself. Yes, he was a sinner, and Jesus did not deny it.
By contrast the Pharisee was an honored man. He was scrupulous in his observance of the law and the traditions. His family could point to him with pride. His wife could boast confidently that her husband was no playboy. He fasted twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays, good days to display one's religion in the marketplace). He tithed on everything he acquired (quickly--nominate him for church treasurer!). When he boasted about living a clean life, Jesus did not dispute the claim.
But he was lost. Both men were lost. The difference was the publican realized it, but the pharisee did not.
Both men went to the temple to pray. Let us watch them.
Certain of his moral qualifications, the Pharisee goes right on in. But the publican, realizing his guilt, stands way back.
The Pharisee is praying "with himself." We listen in. "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess."
From what he said, we sense that he considered himself to be better even than most other Pharisees.
After telling the Lord what he is not, he proceeds to inform him "what a good boy am I," evidently assuming that the Almighty appreciated the information. Of course, he was not really thanking God, but only congratulating himself. Obviously, that is not prayer. It is only ego-exercise. It is pride.
All sin is selfishness in one form or another, and pride is selfishness in its most primary form.
Pride is comparative, and pride is competitive. It regards self as "better than...." It enjoys what it possesses only if it is more or better than what someone else is or has. Pride focuses on the sins and shortcomings of others. It pleads a self-merit that is purchased with the debased currency of disdain.
It is always easy to be good by contrast. Pride measures against others. But it never dares to measure itself against God. No soul who has a proper view of the character of God ever pleads its own goodness.
By looking down on others, he was able to look up to himself. He was sure that he had done all that the law of God required, plus much more, thus creating a surplus of righteousness and a claim on God, making the Almighty his debtor. Such is the impenetrable wall of Pharisaism.
Apparently this Pharisee overlooked Isaiah 64:6: "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags."
Meanwhile, the publican was standing on the far side of the court, his eyes looking down but his heart reaching up. He was at the crisis of conviction.
What brought this man under such agony for sin that he could stand it no longer? What made him desperate to get right with God? We do not know the sequence of events, but we can be sure that God had a hand in it. God wanted this man, and He was after him. Such is the loving faithfulness of the Lord. No sinner comes to such an awakening without the gracious influence of the Spirit of God. Conviction's deepest misery often occurs at the verge of salvation's jubilant joy.
"God be merciful to me, the sinner!" (verse 13). Now, that is real praying. The soul that is desperate for mercy will get right to the point.
The mercy of God--that is the only basis of our justification. The publican's confession implied honest repentance, for no one who is honest with God will continue in sin. But confession and repentance, though necessary, could not of themselves save him. He was saved by mercy alone, received the moment he threw himself in faith upon God's mercy.
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5).
Jesus declared: "This man went down to his house justified rather than the other" (verse l4). The justified man went home to live a justified life. What joy there must have been in that home!
Where did the Pharisee go after he left the temple? Scripture does not tell us. Probably he went right on living his "clean" religious life, praying, fasting, and tithing--right into hell. God could not give the man mercy because he did not want it. He saw no need for mercy. He had a fatally false estimate of his own moral character. He was trusting in himself.
Millions of the Pharisee's spiritual descendants have fallen into the same trap. They proliferate in churches and out of them.
Multitudes are trusting in their own merits, religious and non-religious. Challenge the average man-on-the-street or person-in-the-pew to repent and trust Jesus Christ alone for salvation and righteousness, and they will retort by telling you how good they are. So few seem to understand that the only way of salvation is the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, received by faith alone.
Let us never forget that we can be outwardly upright and yet lost. Most people who are depending on their own merits to get them to Heaven fall far short of the Pharisee. Tell the Pharisee who fasts twice a week and pays his tithes how good you are, and he will sneer at you.
So we must stop trying to beat the Pharisees at their own game. It will never work. We must simply be honest with God and plead, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." There is mercy right now for all who will come to Jesus Christ in faith.
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