The Pharisee And The Tax Collector Or The Pastor And Irs Agent Series

I love that story because it reveals in a comical way that we can compare ourselves to someone else and end up feeling pretty good about who we are when in reality, it is we who stand in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. When we think things such as: “I might be bad, but compared to those people, I’m a saint.” That doesn’t cut it with God. It distorts the true picture. The issue is who you are and what you are becoming if you persist in living life your way. Those who choose to live a life of separation from God and His righteousness, will eventually get what they have wanted all along - eternal separation from Him. The Bible names this place Hell.

Summary: After listening to what Jesus had to say about this guy, it is clear that his righteousness was sufficient for himself; he did not need the righteousness that God was providing in Jesus. His religion was his righteousness. He had set a standard, a lifestyle, a concocted scheme and a set of rules that he felt fairly comfortable with being able to meet. And, he was sure going to make life hard for those who had not set the same high standards that he had set for himself. He was a product of his own achievement. Ironically, Jesus came offering a Kingdom and a Kingdom ethic that was not achievable outside of His work in our behalf. In fact, it was impossible, and that impossibility was designed to bring us to the end of our own striving and to simply cling to Him and His righteousness, but he Pharisee missed it.

Transition: As the narrative passes from the Pharisee to the Tax Collector, this is Jesus’ point precisely.

The Tax Collector (IRS Agent), The Prayer, The Result

Definition: The tax collector was usually a Jew that had been employed by the Roman government to exact taxes on people and collect what was due, plus whatever else he could get out of the payee. Tax collectors were Jews who worked for the ruling Roman authorities. They were considered both extortionists and traitors - extortionists because they were notoriously noted for collecting more taxes than was owned and pocketing the difference – and traitors because they served the occupying power of Rome. They were not appreciated and esteemed in the community, like the Pharisee.

Explanation: With this in mind, going to the temple to pray as this man had done was not something he would have done often. But for some reason, probably a guilty conscience, he needed a place to go where he could talk to God about his spiritual condition. He is overburdened by his spiritual condition. He won’t even look up toward God. The burden of sin had so pressed him down that he could only manage to cry out seven words: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” And as he is saying this he keeps on beating his chest, marking, so to speak, the source of his sin – his heart. He recognized the holiness of God; he knew the great gulf that lay between himself and God – “[he] stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven.” His seven words reached the ear of God.