God loves us as we are; aren’t you glad? But he loves us too much to leave us as we are. And Luke 18:10, “Two men went up to the temple to pray…” [Actually, one went up to bray] “… One was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.” Now you know that tax collectors were so hated and so considered to be sinful by the Pharisees. They were not allowed in good company, and their only friends would be among those classed as “sinners” — the dregs of society.
So here we have the Pharisee, and verse 11 “… stood and prayed thus with himself. ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men extortioners or unjust, adulterers or even this tax collector.’” I’m sure he said it with a bit of scorn and contempt. “I fast twice a week, …” he says. “… I give tithes of all that I possess.” His opinion of himself (i.e., self image) was based on comparison with other people, not the glory of God. As long as we compare ourselves with an imperfect image, we’re always going to come out pretty good. It’s so easy to do. So the Pharisee has no clue about the glory of God. He has no clue about the standard that God is requiring.
Verse 13, “the tax collector standing afar off …” He’s standing afar off. That’s important because he knows better than to get close to his Pharisee. “The tax collector stood afar off and would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but he beat his breast.” This is a sign of intense grief! “… saying, God, be merciful to me …” He doesn’t say “a sinner” in the Greek, it’s “the sinner.” It has a definite article. What he’s saying, as far as I’m concerned, I’m the only one. And as far as I’m concerned, I’m the worst one. “He would not so much notice as even lift his eyes to heaven. God be merciful to me, a sinner!”
And what does Jesus say? Verse 14, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” And when we humble ourselves before God, what is the exaltation? It’s the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. This man went down to his house justified. He didn’t try to work for his salvation. He didn’t try to earn his salvation. He didn’t assume that there was any good thing that he could bring that would be enough to gain him eternal life. All he could do is cry out as a helpless sinner for a Savior to have mercy on him.
Do you know that the cry of the sinner is the only thing that reaches the heart of God at the beginning of our relationship to him? It’s not a boast. It’s not a recital of how much we’ve done. It’s the realization that we’re helpless, that we’re hopeless, that we’re useless and on our way to an eternity without Christ. That’s what grabs the heart of our Lord.
This video was derived from a recent audio lesson in Isaiah: >>>HERE<<<