Today in God's Word—August 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
August 11, Luke 18
Isn’t it odd that religion, which seems to be a highway for approaching God, very often becomes a roadblock on our path to God? This is true because human pride sees an opportunity in the ritual of religion to perform, to earn, to merit approval by getting it right and doing it well and often. It’s true in many churches today. It was true among the most diligent practitioners of religion in the days when Jesus walked among them.
The controversy between Jesus and the religious establishment with all the accusations about Sabbath breaking, association with undesirables and loyalty to human tradition came down to this: the self-righteous spirit of the scribes and Pharisees would not allow them to receive the teaching of repentance from Jesus. Having no sense of being lost, they weren’t looking for a Savior.
We learn from the context of some parables and the content of others that Jesus frequently addressed the Pharisees in his stories. The story of the Pharisee and the tax collector who went to the temple to pray is especially pointed. One of the characters is named “the Pharisee.” That wasn’t very subtle, was it? And Luke’s introduction to the story makes the original audience and intent of the story quite clear: “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.”
Self-righteousness and contempt for others are companion vices. When one is present, the other is not far away. We’re used to sound bites on the news telling us a lot about a person in only a few words. The same thing happens when we listen to a few words of the Pharisee’s prayer. In about 30 words, he compared himself to others, made a catalogue of others’ sins and called God’s attention to his diligent execution of religious duty.
In contrast, the tax collector, a sinner of such disrepute to Pharisees that they had their own
special category, was humble and broken about his own sinfulness when he prayed to God. He was not telling God how wonderful he was or how terrible other people were. His prayer was a simple plea for mercy and an acknowledgment of his need for it. And Jesus said the tax collector was the one who went home right with God. Jesus’ kingdom principle of humiliation as the way to exaltation is at work in this story. One of the epistle writers would say, years later, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Where is your trust? What is your opinion of yourself? How do you see and treat others? These questions are interrelated in a dynamic way. What would a 30 word sound bite from your prayer tell us about your answers to these questions?
From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide for Your Journey Through the New Testament, Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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