The
parable of the Pharisee and the tax-gatherer (see Luke 18: 9–14) is
not really about prayer, as is often supposed, but on how a man can
be right with God—its purpose is not to teach how to pray, but how
to be justified. Read verse 9: “And he” (that is, the Lord) “spoke
also to some, who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and
made nothing of all the rest [of men], this parable …”. Compare this
now with verse 14: “I say unto you, This [man] went down to his
house justified rather than that [other]”. Verse 9
describes those who thought they were righteous, verse 14
refers to a man who knew he was a sinner, but who yet
came out of the presence of God in the certain knowledge he
was justified.
In the verses
preceding the parable the Lord Jesus had been speaking about His
coming again. He now follows that up by speaking of the only thing
which can enable a sinner to stand before Him when He comes. The
sinner needs to be justified. It is, therefore, not a question about
praying as such, but a question of righteousness. Those that trust
in themselves will find that their own righteousness will not
suffice in that day. By nature we are all unwilling to look our true
condition in the face. Men do not like to hear the whole truth about
themselves and try to make out that they are not quite as bad as
they really are. In a word, man is ignorant of his true condition
and has no desire to be otherwise. It is from this ignorance that
arise the two facts described in verse 9, for they go together:
self–righteousness and the despising of others.
The truth of God reduces everything to its simplest elements.
Presented to us here are two men, two sinners, just like Cain and
Abel. It is the same truth here as there, only under a different
form. There the form of expression was sacrifice, here it is prayer.
Before God there is no difference in sin, “for all have sinned, and
come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3: 23) and no difference in
grace, “for the same Lord of all [is] rich towards all that call
upon him” (Rom. 10: 12). The only difference is whether I recognise
what I am as a sinner before God, as did Abel, or whether I presume
to approach God on my own terms, as did Cain. We are all reduced to
one of these two classes. Here our Lord takes up the subject of
prayer instead of sacrifice in order to bring out the same
difference between the Pharisee and the tax–gatherer as existed
between Cain and Abel. The sons of Adam were alike in that both
sought to approach God through sacrifice but what a difference in
the offerings they brought! Similarly, the Pharisee and the
tax–gatherer were alike in that both needed to pray, but what a
contrast in their prayers! This contrast was all the difference
between being justified and not. All Pharisees are great at praying.
Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee but he never really prayed till after
he had seen the Lord (see Acts 9: 11). He had the form of godliness
without the power (see 2 Tim. 3: 5). Thus it is not prayer in itself
that makes the difference but the state of soul that causes a man to
pray. Indeed, if he prays as this Pharisee did, then he is no better
than the infidel who never prays—both are equally dead before God.
Here then, we have
prayer as the illustration. The Pharisee begins thus: “God, I thank
thee” (Luke 18: 11). For what? For ten thousand daily mercies? For the
goodness of God toward a poor, lost sinner? No, “I thank thee that I
am not as the rest of men”. He has self in view. God is addressed,
but the man’s god is really himself. He prayed “to himself”. It is
self–laudation accompanied by the deprecation of others. He knew
nothing of what he really was as Isaiah did. How did the prophet
learn what he was? Isaiah tells us: “I am undone; for I am a man of
unclean lips … for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts”
(Is. 6: 5). By contrast, the Pharisee had only seen “this
tax–gatherer” (Luke 18: 11). The oldest book in the Bible teaches a
similar lesson. How did Job learn what he was?
He tells us: “mine eye seeth thee: Wherefore I abhor
[myself]” (Job. 42: 5, 6). Before this Job could boast like the
Pharisee: “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was
as a mantle and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to
the lame” (Job 29: 14, 15). Unlike Job, the Pharisee did not know
God and as a consequence did not know himself. The Scripture says of
such that “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). God’s standard is Christ, this
Pharisee’s standard was simply that “I am not as the rest of men”
(Luke 18: 11). We may not be as other men, we may have a certain
standard of righteousness among men, but the question is, are we
what we ought to be? Of course not. It is in the presence of God we
see what we are. There we learn we are lost sinners and that we need
salvation. Salvation is what the tax–gatherer found and what the
Pharisee did not find. The Pharisee thought that fasting twice in
the week and giving tithes of everything he gained would be a
sufficient answer to God’s claims. Indeed, if righteousness lay in
abstaining from food, and not from sin, in giving our property and
not our hearts, then he was further on the road to righteousness
than most others, for God ordained only three fasts in the year and
he fasted twice in seven days. However, he entirely missed the
point, for instead of comparing himself with God’s standard, he
looked only at “the rest of men” and more particularly, at “this
tax–gatherer” (v11). One can almost hear the disdain in his
voice. What a fatal delusion!
How many have stumbled upon this rock of self–deception! Was he
really not an idolater in heart in pretending love for God when he
was adoring self? Well did the Lord Jesus say of his ilk “Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are like whited
sepulchres, which appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of
dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Thus also
ye, outwardly
ye appear righteous to men, but within are full of hypocrisy and
lawlessness” (Matt. 23: 27, 28). Such is the Pharisee! No sense of
need expressed, no felt unworthiness, no repentance, no confession
of sin, no expectation of receiving pardon.
Now turn to the tax–gatherer. Tax–gatherers had much opportunity to
exact more than was appointed and to take things by false
accusation. They were hated and despised by the populace
accordingly. This particular tax–gatherer, however, is not exercised
by how he looks in the sight of man (bad as that may be) but by what
he is in the sight of God. This is always the work of the Holy
Spirit. The Pharisee saw the tax–gatherer, but the tax–gatherer does
not notice the Pharisee. He is completely taken up with God. The
tax–gatherer knows that it is to the God from whom no secrets are
hid that he must give account, and with a trembling step and aching
heart he approaches Him. He is bowed down under a sense of his
unworthiness and takes his proper place “afar off” (Luke 18: 13). He
“would not lift up even his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his
breast” as if acknowledging that there, deep in his heart, lay the
source of all his trouble.
Notice his confession. He does not say merely “me” but “me, the
sinner”. The tax–gatherer pleads no mitigation and makes no excuses.
He has no good deeds to boast of, but simply smites upon his breast
in acknowledgement of his wretchedness. He knew and felt what he
was, and realised that unless God could righteously forgive he was
lost: “O God, have compassion on me, the sinner” (v13). “The
sinner”! It was as if there were no others but himself—just the
sinner and a holy God. A Pharisee might trust to his fastings and
tithes, a convicted sinner can only look to the mercy of God. The
Lord does not represent this tax–gatherer as resting in prayer. If
he did he would have been like the Pharisee. No, he took refuge in
the mercy of God. He brings nothing but a load of sin to be atoned
for, a guilty conscience to be cleansed, a sorrowful heart to be
comforted, and a needy soul to be filled.
Note the divine verdict.
“I say unto you, This [man] went down to his house justified
rather than that [other]” (v14). Because he humbled himself, God
exalted him. He came as a sinner, and went down to his house cleared
of his sins. Of course God must have a righteous basis on which He
can forgive sins but that is not explained here. What we have
illustrated is the man God can bless, and the man that shuts himself
out from God’s blessing. The one sought divine mercy, the other
trusted in himself. The one prayed to God, the other prayed to
himself. The one was justified, the other remained a sinner.
