Tale of Two Opposites -- Publican 12/7/08

Sunday, December 7, 2008

THE TALE OF TWO OPPOSITES -- THE PUBLICAN
Luke 18:9-14

You believe in God. You know that He is the Creator and that He sent His Son into this world to die on the cross. But now I want to ask you a simple question. What is it that you want from God? What do your desire from the Almighty? Before you answer, ask God to search your heart. It is difficult for some of us to answer such a question honestly. Am I giving the answer I know I should give? Or, am I truly communicating the deepest desire of my heart? So what is it that you want from God?

If you were here last week, you know that we are considering the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. We might describe it as “The Tale of Two Opposites.” Let’s read it again this morning. Read Luke 18:9-14…
And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10. Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Two men went up to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. Last week we looked at the Pharisee. Perhaps we could sum up the attitude of the Pharisee something like this…

1. He was proud. We see this especially in the fact that he didn’t seem to need to ask God for anything. His attitude was the attitude Jesus identified with the church of Laodicea in Rev 3:17, "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:"

2. He justified himself. Remember that Jesus spoke this parable to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous. Two chapters earlier Jesus said specifically to the Pharisees, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men” (Luke 16:15). They believed that they themselves had attained a right standing before God by their own efforts.

3. They were ungrateful. It certainly doesn’t appear that way on the surface, because we hear the Pharisee begin by saying, “God, I thank you…” But when we begin to examine his overall attitude, we see that the Pharisee was congratulating himself rather than thanking God. Remember that verse we read last week from 1 Cor 4:7, "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?"

This week we want to look at the other man who prayed, the publican, the tax collector. But the best way to view the tax collector is to compare him with the Pharisee. That seems to be Jesus’ intent in choosing these two men as the subject of His parable. So last week, we looked at the Pharisee, the man who had it all. This week we will look at…

II. The Publican – The Man Who Had Nothing

A. In Contrast to the Pharisee; He Was Humble

Let’s begin by acknowledging that these two men had much in common. Of course, there is the obvious. They were both created by God. They were both descendants of Adam, which means they came into this world dead in their trespasses and sins, separated from God. Not even the Pharisee would claim to be an exception to that rule.

The likeness doesn’t end there. In reality, these two men agreed on many things. Their belief system was basically the same. John MacArthur emphasizes this point…

They both understood the Old Testament to be the revelation of God. They were committed to Judaism. They believed in the God of the Old Testament, the Creator-God of the Old Testament, the God who drowned the world in the days of Noah. They believed in the God who revealed His Law on Mount Sinai to Moses, they believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and then the God of Moses and they believed in the God of David. And they believed in the God of the prophets. They believed in the God of the psalmists. They believed in the God of the Old Testament. They believed in the God that had revealed Himself to Moses as gracious, merciful, compassionate, tender-hearted. They believed in the God who was merciful, the God who was righteous and holy. They had believed in the Scripture. They believed in the religious system that had been revealed in the Old Testament, the system of sacrifice, of priesthood… Essentially they believed the same thing, the same God, the same authoritative Scripture.
Both of these men believed many of the truths that we also believe. They both understood that God is both righteous and merciful. They knew well that no man can stand in His sight unless he is righteous. And they understood that the sacrificial system had a role in enabling a man to stand before God.

Both of these men came out of the same background – culturally and biblically. And yet they took different paths in life. As a result, the Pharisee was highly respected and the publican was despised. We talked last week about how the Pharisees devoted themselves to keeping the law of God, at least outwardly. They longed for the praise of men, and they received it. But it was very different with the tax collectors. The tax collectors were despised by Jewish society for two basic reasons. First of all, they were willing to work for the Romans, whose authority the Jews were under. Most Jews resented the fact that these tax collectors were willing to be used by the Romans to collect taxes from their own fellow-Jews. They were viewed as traitors. Not only did they collect the taxes for the Romans, but they generally collected more than needed so they could line their own pockets. You will recall that Zacchaeus was a tax collector and it is recorded that he was rich (Luke 19:2). No wonder they people despised the publicans.

Perhaps it was this separation that made it easy for them to lower their standards morally and religiously, and that is the second reason they were despised. For the most part, the tax collectors had a reputation for hanging around with the undesirables. The word “publican” occurs 23 times in the New Testament. In 9 out of those 23 cases it is “publicans and sinners.” Both Matthew and Mark record that the publicans and sinners came and sat down with Jesus (Matt. 9:10; Mark 2:15). Then Luke joins them in recording the question of the Pharisees, “Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners?” (Matt. 9:11; Mark 2:16; Luke 5:30). Jesus acknowledged that He was known as a friend of publicans and sinners (Matt. 11:19; Luke 7:34). But don’t miss the fact that Jesus Himself recognized and confirmed the reputation of these tax collectors. Matt. 5:46-47, “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so?” Even stronger are the words of Jesus in Matthew 18. Jesus is giving instructions concerning how to deal with a brother in sin. In that context, He says in Matt. 18:17, "And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." Jesus Himself lumps the tax collectors in with the pagans.

So while the Pharisee and the publican came out of the same background and had the same basic beliefs, they were very different in both their behavior and how they were viewed by the people around them. But now we back to the parable of Jesus here in Luke 18. They were alike in that they both went up to pray, but how different they were in their approach to God. Look again at what Jesus says about this tax collector in verse 13, “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

If there is one thing that stands out about the tax collector, what is it? Humility. His humility stands out brightly against the dark background of the Pharisee’s pride. First of all, notice that he stood afar off. While the Pharisee always wanted to be in the center, the Pharisee stood afar off. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for loving to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they might be seen of men (Matt. 6:5), but this tax collector stood afar off. Furthermore, he would not so much as lift his eyes unto heaven. Why? Humility. It wasn’t a false humility. He saw things clearly. He understood that God was righteous and holy, while he was completely undone. Remember that it was after Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up and holy that he confessed his own unworthiness (Is. 6:1-5). So it was with this tax collector.

Earlier we stated that the Pharisee was not only proud, but he justified himself, saying, “I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess” (verse 12). There is nothing of that attitude in the publican. Rather than boasting of his accomplishments, he beat upon his breast. According to Alfred Edersheim, the crossing of the hands over the chest and the bowing of the eyes was a posture of humility. But this tax collector goes beyond that; he beats on his chest. This was highly unusual. There is no mention of such a thing in all of the Old Testament. Edersheim says the Jews sometimes did this in the most solemn part of their confessions on the Day of Atonement. This was an expression of extreme sorrow and anguish. The only other mention of this practice in the whole Bible is found in Luke 23:47-48… “Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. 48. And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned." So we see the sorrow and desperation of this man. Rather than justifying himself, he despairs of himself.

The Pharisee asked nothing from God, but the publican did make one request: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” That is his entire prayer. I’m not sure why the King James and some other translations don’t bring it out, but it is literally “God, be merciful to me, the sinner” (as the NASV renders it). The Amplified gets at the idea: “to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am.” He sees himself as being sinful above all other men. While the Pharisee saw himself above all others, the publican saw himself as worse than all others. He was so overwhelmed by his own sin, he had nothing left with which to view the sins of others.

Edersheim sums up his attitude in these words…
Not only… does he not think of anyone else, while the Pharisee had thought of everyone else; but, as he had taken a position not in front of, but behind everyone else, so in contrast to the Pharisee, who had regarded everyone but himself as a sinner, the Publican regarded everyone else as righteous compared with him, “the sinner.” And while the Pharisee felt no need and uttered no petition, the Publican felt only need and uttered only petition. The one appealed to himself for justice, the other appealed to God for mercy. (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, by Alfred Edersheim, p. 292)

B. An Attitude of Repentance

Tied closely to humility is an attitude of repentance. As I remind you again and again, we come to God through repentance and faith, even as we read of Paul in Acts 20:21, "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." With regard to the Pharisee, we said nothing about repentance. The term isn’t used in connection with either the Pharisee or the publican. However, if I were to ask you which of them demonstrated an attitude of repentance, which would it be? The publican. There is absolutely no question about it.

Repentance speaks of a change of mind, a change of mind about sin, about self, about the need for the Lord. The Pharisee didn’t repent because he saw nothing to repent of. He was like the rich young ruler down in verse 21, who said of God’s commandments, “All these have I kept from my youth up” (Lk. 18:21). The Pharisee couldn’t think of anything for which he needed to repent. He could only think of things of which he could boast.

How different it was with the publican. Though he doesn’t say, “O God, I repent before you,” that is the attitude that is written all over him, both in his actions and his words. If there is one thing above everything else that distinguishes the publican from the Pharisee, this is it. We find this distinction not only here, but throughout the gospels. You will remember that one of Jesus’ own apostles had been a tax collector. Who was it? It was Matthew (also called Levi). After he called Matthew to follow Him, this tax collector threw a big party and invited all his friends. And guess who most of his friends were; they were tax collectors. This is when the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners?” Jesus replied like this: "…They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. 32. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:30-32). The Pharisee saw himself as righteous. Therefore, there was need for repentance. But the publican saw himself as “the sinner,” and through his repentance he became a candidate for God’s mercy.

This attitude of repentance is extremely important, and let me tell you why. There is a sense in which both the Pharisee and the publican believed. We have already discussed how their belief system was basically the same. That’s how it is in our day. Ask people if they believe in God, and you will find that they do. Asked them if they believe in Jesus, and most will tell you they do. Ask them if they believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave, and many will assure you they believe those things. But remember that in John (often called “the Gospel of Belief” because the word “believe” occurs about 100 times) “belief” is used in different ways. Many who saw the miracles Jesus did believed on His name, but Jesus did not commit Himself to them because He knew all men, and He knew what was in man (John 2:23-25).

So if even in the Bible itself there is a belief that saves and another that doesn’t, how can we hope to understand what is the difference? A key is an attitude of repentance. There are multitudes who say they believe but who basically don’t see anything to repent of. While they may say they are sinners, just a casual intellectual confession of that sin will do. How different was the Pharisee, who stood afar off and beat upon his breast. It is this attitude of repentance that is emphasized throughout the Bible. “The Lord is nigh unto those of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit” (Ps. 34:18). “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Ps. 51:17). The high and lofty One who inhabits eternity and whose name is holy says, “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Is. 57:15).

C. A Bold Petition

Let’s look a bit more closely at the petition of the publican. “God, be merciful to me, the sinner.” I have a parallel New Testament, which gives seven English translations side by side. Every single one of them says, “Be merciful to me.” However, the word that is used here is not the normal word for “mercy.” Look down further in this same chapter to verse 38, “And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.” There we find the normal word that means “to have mercy” (eleew). That is not the word that is used here in verse 13. I did find one older English version that translates it very literally: “God, be propitious to me – the sinner!” (Young’s Literal Translation). And what does that word “propitious” sound like? Yes, it is a form of the word “propitiation.” The same is true in the original language.

So now I need some help. From time to time we use the word “propitiation,” and we use it without apology. It is a word that is rarely used in our day, but it ought to be used more, because it is a biblical term and it carries a rich meaning that no other word carries. So what does “propitiation” mean? A propitiation is a sacrifice that turns away the wrath of God. And who is our propitiation? “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins…” (I John 1:1-2a). “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:10). God the Father sent His Son to the cross to be the sacrifice that would turn away His own wrath. Jesus turned God’s wrath away from us by taking that wrath upon Himself. That is why He cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He was bearing the wrath of His Father. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Cor. 5:21). Don’t ever be afraid of the term “propitiation,” and don’t ever apologize for using it. People will tell us that we shouldn’t use biblical words that the world doesn’t understand. That seems logical, but there is a great danger in that logic. We see that danger when we realize that not only has the term “propitiation” been avoided, but the truth it represents is being denied more and more by those who call themselves Christian. We need the word to remind us of the truth.

So the publican literally prays, “God, be propitious to me.” That is, “God, let your wrath be turned away from me.” No, I don’t believe that tax collector understood exactly how God’s wrath would be turned away, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. Jesus had not yet offered Himself as the sacrifice that would turn away the wrath of God. So this publican can be excused for not having perfect understanding. He was not looking from this side of the cross, as we are. He was not able to see things as clearly as we can. We have the God-given, Spirit-inspired record of what Jesus did at the cross and how He rose from the grave.

Now if the publican didn’t understand all this, then what did he understand? He understood that he was under the wrath of God. He understood that he deserved God’s punishment. He recognized that his sin stood between him and a holy and righteous God. This tax collector was well aware that something had to be done about his sin. Fruthermore, he knew that there was nothing he himself could do about it. He didn’t pray, “God, I’m working on my life. Help me, Lord, because I’m doing my best to follow you.” Think about it. He was likely tempted to take that route. After all, there was much to improve. If he was typical of the publicans of his day, that would have left him lots of room for change. He could have promised not to cheat the people any more. He could have examined his relationships and determined to change his set of friends. He might have even considered changing his occupation, but he mentioned none of these things. This publican understood that there was nothing he could do to make himself good enough for God. His only plea was, “O God, let your wrath be turned away from me.”

He trusted God for the details. No doubt, he was well aware that the sacrificial system prescribed by the scriptures had something to do with God’s wrath being turned away, but he didn’t know the details. He must have understood that while it was right to offer these sacrifices, without a proper attitude of heart, they meant nothing. Earlier we read what Isaiah said about how Israel was offering sacrifices, but God did not accept them. The problem wasn’t with the sacrifices; the problem was with the people who were offering them. Their heart wasn’t right with God. That is why he said, “Come, let us reason together, saith the Lord” (Is. 1:18).

This is where the publican differs so greatly from the Pharisee. The Pharisee certainly believed in the sacrificial system. Nevertheless, he didn’t see himself as being in need of anything. I believe the Pharisee could have looked you square in the eye and said, “Yes, I believe that salvation is by grace.” But how can that be? When you finally get down to the bottom line, the Pharisee believed something like this: “Isn’t God gracious that He allows us to earn our salvation.” But that’s not where the publican was at all. The publican gave up on trusting anything of himself and threw himself on the mercy of God. If God didn’t do something to appease His own wrath, then the publican had no hope.

Praise God that He did something not only to turn away His wrath from the publican, but from all those who trust in His Son. Yes, God sent His own Son to the cross. The Jesus who told this parable is the same Jesus who humbled Himself even to the point of death, who bore our sins in His own body on the tree, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. Praise His holy name! “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”

D. A Man Justified Before God

Now we come to the Jesus’ evaluation of these two men. We have hinted at it many times already, but let’s allow Jesus Himself to give us the results of the prayers of these two men. We find it in verse 14, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.” The Pharisee justified Himself; God justified the publican. While the Pharisee convinced himself that he was right with God, it was the tax collector who was really right with God.

Why does Jesus begin verse 14 with the words, “I tell you”? It is obvious that He wants to emphasize what He is saying here, but why? Because this is hard for people to accept. To the casual observer, it certainly looked like the Pharisee was the one who was right with God. And so it is today. Things are not always the way they appear. It may appear like that moral man who goes to church services all the time and reads his Bible is right with God, but the justified one is the man who has nothing to claim to his credit but who comes to himself, repents of his sin, and throws himself on the crucified and risen Christ.

When we were looking at some of what the New Testament said about tax collectors, there is one that I didn’t mention. Let’s not leave it out. On this occasion Jesus was dealing with some other religious authorities – the chief priests and the elders of the people. After telling them a little parable, He made this blunt statement: “Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matt. 21:31). Is that not amazing? How could Jesus say such a thing? Didn’t he realize that the tax collectors and prostitutes were living terribly sinful lives? Was he saying that God didn’t mind them living like that? No, that is not what He was saying. Jesus was simply stating the fact that it was far more likely a lowly tax collector or prostitute would repent and trust the Lord than one of the religious leaders would do so. And why was that? Because Jesus didn’t come to call the righteous to repentance, and the religious leaders thought they were righteous because of the way they lived. Only the person who is willing to admit that he is totally undone will come to the Lord in an attitude of repentance.

That is how Jesus closes His comments concerning the Pharisee and the publican. We read at the end of verse 14, “For everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Who exalted himself? The Pharisee. Who humbled himself? The publican. But the time would come when the Pharisee would be brought low and the publican would be lifted up. While men might never see it, the time would come would God would make things right.

Conclusion

Let me conclude by making three clear statements which I hope will prevent misunderstanding.

1. Justified Publicans Change

There are those who will take Jesus’ parable and twist it to fit their own purposes. Let me explain what I mean. Some will say something like this: “We don’t need religion. We don’t need the church and religious services. Even morality isn’t that important in the end. We just need to remember that God is merciful to the one who cries out to Him. It doesn’t matter how we live. It is a soft heart that makes the difference.”

While there is truth in that statement, it is also filled with lies. While it is true that God is merciful, that does not mean that He will wink at sin. And it does make a difference how we live. We must never get the idea from this parable that the publican left the temple that day to go back to a life of cheating and immorality. The best illustration of this comes in the very next chapter, where we read the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, who also was a tax collector. After his encounter with Jesus, Zacchaeus made this statement: “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold” (Luke 19:8). Though we are not given the details, we know that Zacchaeus had the same attitude that the publican in this parable, for only those who humble themselves will be exalted. He did not say he would give away his goods and restore what he had taken wrongly in order to make himself right with God. Because he had been made right with God, his heart was changed. Justification came first, but it was followed by a definite change. Justified publicans are raised to live a new kind of life, the life of Jesus Christ.

2. Justified Publicans Are Tempted to Become Self-Righteous Pharisees

One of the big questions we have is this: “We know that a person must humble himself to be justified with God, but what about after He is right with God? Does he still cry out, ‘God, be merciful to me the sinner?’” No and Yes. Once a person is justified, he is not the same. Though he still commits sins, his primary identify is not “sinner,” but “saint.” Paul regularly addressed common Christians as saints, as those who had been set apart to God.

We can argue over whether we should say, “God, be merciful to me the sinner,” but what is most important is the attitude of the heart. Without qualification, I can tell you that there is never a time in this life when it is right for us to exalt ourselves. The need to humble ourselves never changes. The danger is that we will forget, that we will lose sight of the fact that we were saved by grace, that we came to God with nothing to offer. God forbid that we should ever think that we are righteous because of something we have done or because we haven’t done certain things.

You will notice that the verse we read last week has become our verse for memory and meditation this month. If we can keep this truth before us, it will go far in preventing us from becoming self-righteous like the Pharisees. "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (I Cor. 4:7). Memorize it and meditate on it for a life time.

3. Both the Pharisee and the Publican Received Exactly What They Desired

You may say, “No, the Pharisee wanted to be justified before God, but he was not.” If the Pharisee had wanted to be right with God, he could have been. His problem was in his unwillingness to humble himself. As we read in Matthew 6, his main desire was to be seen by men. Let’s read from John 12:42-43, "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 43. For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." Not only did the Pharisees miss Jesus, but they made it difficult for others to truly come to Him. The Pharisees set the standard of religion, and the standard is stated in those words: “For they loved the praise (literally, “glory”) of men more than the praise of God.” The Pharisees wanted to be respected, valued, and praised by the people around them, and that is exactly what they achieved.

The publican, on the other hand, cried out, “God, be propitious to me, the sinner.” And that is exactly what he received. God was indeed propitious to him, applying to him the death and resurrection of His Son. That is why he went home justified.

What do you want? Get beyond the exterior. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. What do you really want? Do you want others to think you are righteous? Or do you want to be right before God, regardless of what other people think?

Let me give the classic example. A woman is 50 years old. She has professed Christ for over 25 years. Everyone around her sees her as the model Christian. You’ve never met a nicer person. She is faithful in her church attendance, Bible reading, etc. Nevertheless, she comes to realize that she has never been born again. The Lord has convicted her that she isn’t really His child. Now she is in a dilemma. She wants to be right with God, but at the same time, to admit that she hasn’t been a Christian all these years will be really hard. What will people think? The question becomes: What does she want more – the praise of men or the praise of God?

What do you want?