The Sinner God Hears

The Sinner God Hears

Jesus told this story to some who had great self-confidence and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a dishonest tax collector.” –Luke 18:9-10

If only we could hear the parables of Jesus with the fresh ears of those to whom they were spoken. Many of us have heard them so many times as Sunday school stories that we don’t realize how shocking they are, how they turn our understanding upside down, how they show us what we don’t want to see about ourselves. Sunday school handouts gave those of us who grew up in church a fuzzy picture of what a Pharisee is—something like a cross between Snidely Whiplash and a member of the Taliban, and certainly someone evil. But in reality, Pharisees were the middle-class pillars of society in their day. Far from being the wicked people we envision, they were the highest moral ideal in their culture.

We’ve learned to view the tax collector with a sympathetic eye because we know how his story ends. But to the original hearers of this story, the tax collector was the evil one, a traitor who sold out to the Roman occupiers and lined his pockets with the hard-earned money of the Hebrews. They had no sympathy for him, only contempt.

As Jesus’ hearers listened to this story, they were surprised that the tax collector had the guts to even enter the Temple, while the Pharisee seemed right at home there. The Pharisee prayed, “I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there!” (Luke 18:11). They weren’t sure what to think when they heard that the tax collector “stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner’ ” (Luke 18:13).

We are tempted to read this parable and feel relieved that we are not like the Pharisee. But self-righteousness comes to us so naturally, we don’t even see it. Do you see yourself as a self-righteous Pharisee or a humble tax collector? Perhaps a bit of both? A contradiction of faith and repentance mixed in with unbelief and pride? We might as well admit it, because we can’t hide it from God. Won’t you humble yourself and ask God to show you the reality of who you are on the inside? That’s a prayer he bends down to hear, a person he turns toward.

Merciful God, keep me looking in the mirror to see my sin and need, instead of looking down my nose at others.

DIGGING DEEPER