[Machine transcription]
Jesus told the parable to some who trusted themselves that they were righteous and treated
others with contempt.
You may be seated.
In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Dear Saints, we should not live like beasts and act like animals.
We should endeavor to be good people.
But everybody knows that.
Every religion and every philosophy in the world says that we should try to be good and
upright and moral.
We should live not for ourselves and our wants and desires, but for others, something greater
than ourselves.
But that’s about where every other religion and doctrine stops.
It doesn’t have much to say after that.
But, Christianity, and especially our Lord Jesus, is particularly interested in the dangers
of goodness, or the dangers of good works.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do good works, we shouldn’t work to serve and bless our neighbor.
That’s all true.
We should love and serve one another.
We should strive to keep the law as much as we can, praying that the Lord would give us
His Holy Spirit and the strength that we need.
But, there is a danger, a particular danger, a theological danger that comes from good
works.
It’s the danger of Phariseeism.
And Jesus goes after it.
In fact, He’s been going after it time after time in the parables.
The parable of the prodigal son, remember the older son in the field who refused to
come into the party?
That was the Pharisees.
Or remember the unworthy stewards, or remember the unworthy servants who were waiting?
Meaning that this was all Jesus getting after the Pharisees, but now he comes to this parable
and there’s no trying to figure it out.
He just says, there was a Pharisee and a tax collector who went into the temple.
He’s telling it to the Pharisees and they don’t have to wonder, who’s he talking about?
He’s talking about them.
A Pharisee and a tax collector go up to the temple to pray.
Now both the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple recognize that when they go
church, when they go to the temple, they’re standing before God who is the
judge. In other words, to go to church is to go to court. To stand before the
throne of God is to stand before the judgment throne. And the Lord calls us
into that throne as accused sinners, those who are guilty of breaking His law,
those who have not kept His law perfectly in every way. We come into the
Lord’s court as guilty to see what the Lord will do about it.
But look what happens to the Pharisee when he shows up in court.
He says, ah, never mind this being accused, I’m going to be the lawyer.
Can you imagine it?
He goes to defend himself.
Someone in Bible class that was in the early service says that you know one thing about
the person who goes to court to defend themselves, that they’re going to lose.
It’s a foolishness to try to stand and defend yourself in court.
But that’s what the Pharisee does.
The Pharisee is going to go into the court of God and he’s going to make the case for
himself, for his righteousness, for his goodness, for the fact that he should be able to go
and stand before the Lord on the judgment day and be accepted into eternal life.
That’s the case that the Pharisee is going to make.
And not only that, he starts to like this lawyer business so much that not only is he
defending himself, but now he’s going to become the prosecutor for everybody else.
Not only is he presenting himself as good and holy and righteous, but he points to everyone
else and, how does Jesus say it at the beginning, some who trusted themselves that they were
righteous and they treated others with contempt.
So now the Pharisee is prosecuting everybody’s case.
Can you remember what he says as he stands before the judge?
It’s quite amazing, this prayer that he offers.
God I thank you that I am not like other men standing by himself I’m not like
other men extortioners unjust adulterers or even like this tax collector I fast
twice a week Moses says we should fast twice a year I fast twice a week I give
tithes of all that I get Moses says we should get tithes of the crops I give
tithes of everything boy Lord I’m so holy let me know if you want to take a day
off, I’ll take over running the universe for you.”
Now we look at the Pharisee, we just want to shake our head at the foolishness of this
whole endeavor, the whole Pharisaic endeavor, but here’s the point, all of us, all of us
are tempted to this Phariseeism.
All of us have a little Pharisee living in the heart.
All of us have a heart that’s shaped by this desire to exalt ourselves and to cast down
everybody else, to make a case for our own goodness and our own righteousness and to
despise the people that are around us.
This is a temptation for every single one of us, for you, for me, for everyone you
know.
That’s why Jesus has to get after it and teach that there’s a danger in being good.
The danger is pride.
The danger is that you think that because you’ve managed to do something good and keep
God’s law even just a part, that you think that that’s enough and that God is probably
pretty proud of you, and He wants to welcome you into heaven because of your great goodness.
Repent, repent.
If we stand before the throne of God as our own defendants, as our own, what, defense
attorneys, as our own advocates, if we try to offer in the courtroom of God our own works
or our own efforts, we stand condemned, lost forever.
But there is another way. Now, when I was looking at this parable and saw that
Jesus says there’s a Pharisee and a tax collector who go into church and pray, I
was wondering, Lord, isn’t there something in between? You know, the Pharisee stands
right up front and the tax collector’s all the way in the back. It’s like, what about the
people who sit in the middle? What about the people who try to do good and every
once in a while manage it, but you know, they’re not as good as you think they
They are, but they still are repentant.
No, the Lord won’t have it.
He puts you at front or in back.
You’re one or the other.
Spiritually, when you stand before him,
you are either bringing something of your own
or you are falling on your face,
begging for mercy, knowing that there is nothing
that you can do, nothing that you can add,
nothing that you can bring, nothing that you can say
to convince the Lord of your own goodness or worth.
No, there is only one prayer,
and that is the prayer for mercy.
God be merciful.
This tax collector, he can’t even lift up his eyes.
He can’t even, he doesn’t even know,
you know, the Pharisee knows everybody who’s there.
I’m not the tax collector.
But the tax collector has no idea who’s even around him.
He doesn’t even lift up his face.
He just beats his chest and says,
God, be merciful to me, a sinner, be merciful.
That’s my only hope, is that if you would overlook my sins
and if you would forgive them
and if you would have mercy on me
and if you would be gracious,
because I have nothing to bring, nothing to offer,
for, nothing to commend myself, no case to make, no hope at all, not in myself, but only
in you and your goodness.
So Jesus puts us in the back of the court, bends our eyes down, puts our hand beating
our own chest, and puts the curiae in our mouth, this prayer begging for mercy.
That is our only hope.
In life and in death, that is our only hope, to stand before the Lord on the judgment day.
But listen to what happens.
The tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat
his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
I tell you, says Jesus, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.
This one is forgiven.
this one is shown mercy, this one is set home righteous and set free just, dear
saints, just like you. For all your sins are forgiven. The blood of Jesus covers
all your guilt and shame and he loves you. You are sinners. I know Jesus does
too, but you are sinners who are forgiven. You too go home justified. So let us
rejoice that God the Holy Spirit through his word puts to death in our hearts
this Pharisee that always wants to make its case and brings this new man to life
that rejoices in nothing at all but the kindness of Christ and the love of God.
May God grant it for Christ’s sake. God be merciful to me, a sinner, amen. And the
peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and
minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
