On the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our Father in heaven and from Jesus Christ our Lord—

Beloved Saints in Christ,

The Gospel written for today says that Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. The Pharisee boasts in himself. The tax collector cannot even look up but instead beats his breast saying, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”

The first thing to note here is that the text says some. By no means was this the feeling of the majority of the ones following Jesus around, but there were some who acted this way. But the distinction is clear. You either recognize that you are poor, miserable sinners and are fully reliant on the righteousness of Jesus because you know you cannot save yourselves, or you trust in your own works thinking you can achieve righteousness on your own. One way leads to the love of the neighbor. The other way, as the text says, leads to despising others. In other words: if you truly trust in Jesus’ work for you, you will love your neighbor. If you trust in yourselves, you will despise your neighbor and treat him with contempt.

This distinction has been seen throughout this season after Trinity. First, it was with the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man trusted in himself…in his work…in his wealth. He left Lazarus hungry, hurting, and humiliated to die. His despising of Lazarus led to treating him with contempt and finally his eternal death in hell.

In another text, we saw one son despise his father and squander all of his inheritance, and yet when he came to his senses and repented and returned, it was his older brother who became the one despising not only the prodigal but also the father who was abounding in mercy and love. This is also at the heart of the account of Cain and Abel heard earlier this morning.

But this distinction is not only seen in the text today or in texts of the season after Trinity. It is evident throughout the Scriptures. You constantly see that those who trust in themselves despise others, and not only do they despise others, they ultimately despise God. They go hand-in-hand. It’s the same distinction we’ve been focusing on in our study of the Proverbs of Solomon in Bible class. Already in Proverbs 1 it is written, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (1:7). It’s the same word in the Septuagint as here in Luke 18.

And what do the rest of the Scriptures tell us? Where else is this word found? And what is the condition of the people who live in such a way?

This trusting in self and despising others is what led to the Babylonian exile. It is written in 2 Chronicles 36, “But [the Judeans] kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy” (36:16). They despised the prophets. They despised the Word. Ultimately, they despised God Himself. About such things, it is further written in Ezekiel, “You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths” (22:8).

There are plenty of other references to the connection of trusting in self and despising others—even God! But the same thing plays out here in the New Testament which is what leads Jesus to teach this parable.

The Pharisees were masters of trusting in their own righteousness and despising others. They paraded around as the holiest of the holy, yet they stole from widows. They scoffed at Jesus when He healed and forgave. They were the ones despising the Sabbath just as in the days of Ezekiel, yet they accused Jesus of breaking the command. And why? No other reason than He loved those in need.

For just a few chapters before our text (and a text you will hear a little over a month from now), Jesus asks the Pharisees, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” (14:5). And the next verse says that they could not answer Him. Why not? Because Jesus was revealing the very thing He reveals in the parable. They trusted in their own righteousness and despised others—to the point that they would leave their own son in the pit of a well, likely to die, simply because he fell in on the wrong day.

So the some from our text despise Jesus so much that they wanted Him destroyed. But, you see, the apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that “God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are” (1 Corinthians 1:28). God sent forth His Son Jesus to be the One despised and rejected by men. And when the some from our text became the many of the crowd late in Holy Week, Jesus was struck, spit on, and sent to Herod. Luke tells us, “Herod and his soldiers treated him with contempt (same word) and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate” (Luke 23:11).

Pilate delivered Him to be crucified. Hanging upon the cross, Jesus bled and died for your trusting in your own righteousness instead of His…for your despising others rather than loving sacrificially. For this sin is common even today. True, it may only be common for some who trust in themselves that they’re so much better than everyone else, but it doesn’t take much for the attitudes and actions of some to spread to the many, for a little leaven leavens the whole lump. And it ultimately leads to contempt and the despising of others.

But this is not the way of Christ’s Church. The apostle Paul also says in Romans, “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (14:10).

Gather now and behold the judgment seat of God! It is the very cross of Christ! It is there that your sins are forgiven. It is there that true and saving righteousness is won. It is no mistake that as Luke concludes the scene of the crucifixion at the death of Jesus that the centurion beholds the One despised, the One treated with contempt, and declares, “Certainly this Man was righteous!” (23:47). And when the crowd gathered to behold the Christ returned home, Luke says they did so, “Beating their breasts” (23:48).

As you behold the judgment seat of God in the cross of Jesus this day, leave your sin. Do not trust in your own righteousness for it only leads to hatred and death, but rather, like the tax collector, like crowd leaving the cross, beat your breast, trusting wholly in Christ’s righteousness and say, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner,” and stand confidently in the forgiveness of sins won for you today and forevermore. In the name of the Father and of the ƚ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.