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The following is reprinted with permission
of The Timely Messenger
A Sinner's Prayer
By Gregg Bing
“Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted
in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 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 to 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 ...” (Luke 18:9-14)
Jesus spoke this parable to a particular
group of people who “trusted in themselves that they were righteous.”
This confidence was not based upon their faith in God or His Word, but
upon themselves and what they could do “in the flesh.” This was true of
the nation of Israel as a whole for Paul declared of them:
“For they being ignorant of God's righteousness,
and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to
the righteousness of God.” (Rom. 10:3)
But, Jesus had “certain” people in mind,
no doubt Israel's religious leaders such as the scribes and Pharisees.
These were men who had “confidence in the flesh,” and who, “concerning
the righteousness which is in the law,” considered themselves “blameless”
(Phil. 3:4-6). This type of self-righteous attitude led these men to “despise”
everyone else, viewing them as nothing, as “no accounts.”
The parable tells of two men who went
up to the temple to pray; two men who stood in stark contrast to one another.
One man was a Pharisee, a religious leader in Israel who was highly regarded
by most of the people of that nation. The other man was a Publican, a
tax collector for the Roman government who was hated by most Jews.
The Pharisee’s Prayer
When the Pharisee prayed, the first thing
we notice is his posture, for the Scripture says that he stood. Being
in the temple, God's dwelling place among His people, we might expect
him to kneel or bow in worship, but instead, he stood where all could
see him. We then read of the nature of his prayer for “he prayed thus
with himself.” The word “with” is translated from the Greek preposition
“pros” means “to or toward.” The idea of this preposition can have reference
to the subject of his prayer, meaning that he prayed “about or concerning”
himself. Or, it could have reference to the object to which his prayer
was directed, meaning that he prayed “to or toward” himself. When we look
at the words the Pharisee spoke in his prayer, it seems that both are
true. His prayer certainly centered on himself and his own self-righteousness,
and though he addressed his words to God, it appears that he was merely
talking to himself. Charles Baker, in his book, Understanding
the Gospels, says of the Pharisee that “his prayer got no higher than
his head.”
The Pharisee's prayer consisted of two
parts. First he said, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.” You can almost hear
the contempt in his voice as the Pharisee refers to this “tax collector,”
comparing him to those who committed sins such as extortion (plundering
the goods of others like a ravenous wolf), injustice, and adultery (unfaithful
to one's spouse or possibly unfaithful to God through the sin of idolatry).
In effect, what the Pharisee was saying was, “God, I thank You that I
am not a sinner.” This was the basic attitude of most of the Pharisees.
They refused to acknowledge their sin before either God or men. We see
this attitude demonstrated in passages like this one from the gospel of
Luke.
“Then all the tax collectors and the sinners
drew near to Jesus to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained,
saying, ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them.’” (Luke 15:1-2)
We see this same attitude when the Pharisees
rebuked the blind man whom Jesus had healed:
“They answered and said to him, ‘You were
completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?’” (John 9:34)
Clearly these religious leaders simply
did not consider themselves to be sinners, like everyone else. Why did
they have such an attitude? The answer is found as we examine the second
part of the Pharisee's prayer: “I fast twice a week; I give tithes of
all that I possess.” What a prayer this is! He doesn’t offer praise to
God for who He is, or thanks to God for what He has done. He doesn’t call
upon God to save him or to help him. Instead, he boldly declares his good
deeds for all to hear; good deeds that he is trusting in for his own “righteousness.”
It was all just a religious show. Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees:
“all their works they do to be seen by men” (Matt. 23:5). The Pharisees
cared more about what other men thought of them than what God thought.
Even the man’s good deeds, fasting twice a week and giving a tithe of
all his possessions, were not requirements of God’s law, but were based
on the traditions of men, the Jewish rabbis (Matt. 15:1-9).
The Pharisees had not only corrupted God’s
law by their traditions, they were also ignorant of the fact that the
law was not given to provide righteousness (Gal. 3:21), but “that all
the world may become guilty before God,” for “by the deeds of the law
no flesh is justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of
sin” (Rom. 3:19-20). If the Pharisees had truly known the law of God,
they would have understood that they too were sinners.
The Pharisee, in his prayer, asked nothing
of God, for he felt he needed nothing from God, and as a result, he received
nothing from God.
This Pharisee is typical of many religious
people today who refuse to acknowledge that they are sinners. They are
trusting in their own moral goodness and their own good works, whether
social or religious, to ensure their acceptance by God and to secure themselves
a home in heaven. While these people may be sincere in their beliefs and
even zealous in their religious practice and good deeds, like the Pharisees,
they “have not submitted to the righteousness of God,” (Rom. 10:3), therefore
they remain separated from God, spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins”
(Eph. 2:1).
A Sinner’s Prayer
The tax collector's prayer was quite different.
To begin with, his posture was different. While he too stood, the Scripture
says that he was “standing afar off,” and as he stood “he would not so
much as raise his eyes to heaven.” The Pharisee was filled with pride,
but this tax collector humbled himself before the Lord. He resolved that
he would not even look toward heaven, the true dwelling place of God,
and so he kept his eyes lowered in humble contrition. It also says that
he “beat upon his breast.” The verb tense for “beat” indicates that he
continually beat upon his breast, expressing his sorrow and repentance
and indicating that he was deserving of punishment.
His prayer was simple, but very meaningful,
“God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Unlike the Pharisee, the tax collector
openly acknowledged what he was by nature and by practice: a sinner!
When the scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus why he ate and drank
with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus answered them,
“Those who are well have no need of a physician,
but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32)
The Pharisees considered themselves to
be righteous, so they ignored Jesus’ call to repentance. The tax collector
heard Jesus' call to repentance because he knew he was sick with sin.
Therefore, he called upon God to be merciful to him. He also realized
that he could do nothing in himself to change his sinful condition, and
was therefore dependent upon God's mercy and love.
Even today, we must come to God as this
tax collector did, acknowledging that we have no righteousness of our
own (Rom. 3:10) and that we are sinners who fall short of a holy and righteous
God (Rom. 3:23). We must see that we are powerless to change this ourselves
(Rom. 8:3) and are therefore dependent upon God's love, mercy, and grace
to save us from our sins (Eph. 2:4-10).
Two very different men are portrayed in
this parable. Which one are you like? Are you, like the Pharisee, trusting
in yourself that you are righteous? Or, will you, like the tax collector,
acknowledge that you are a sinner, dependent upon God's mercy?
Next
month we will look more closely at the meaning of the expression,
“be merciful to me.” The tax collector was doing more than just throwing
himself upon God's mercy. His request showed his understanding of God’s
provision for man's sin.
Continued Next Month
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