On Line Bible Study - For the week May 23-29, 2011

Lesson 494

Luke 18: ⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

I was at a meeting recently and someone commented to me that I looked a bit 'weighed down'. How we carry ourselves - our posture, the spring in our step, where we place our arms when talking - all of these physical attributes tell us something about our internal condition. (They were correct, by the way.)

The story we are considering in this lesson is told only by Luke, and it's a story about prayer. Though both men in the story are by themselves, one gets the sense that the Pharisee is 'by himself' in the middle of the Temple. He has a view of the others present because he is able to draw comparisons between himself and them, and in his mind, he comes out on top. Commentator Darrell Bock presumes the Pharisee has gone right into the inner court of the temple. Both his posture and where he places himself speak volumes with regard to how this individual sees himself.

The tax collector, also standing by himself, is 'at a distance'. He is more downcast, not willing (or perhaps spiritually and emotionally unable) to look up to the heavens. His posture and placement suggest humility, perhaps even a self-deprecation that borders on being unhealthy.

The point Jesus makes stems from the two very different ways in which these men present themselves to God - and to others. The words of the Pharisee might suggest that he is bragging that he exceeds the demands of the law. Fasting is required only on the Day of Atonement. Voluntary fasting was sometimes done on Mondays and Thursdays; but our friend here wants God and all the world to know that he is a spiritual overachiever.

If we pause a moment and consider - What exactly can one do to deserve to brag to God? The irony should not be lost on us. And we have to be careful even in our recognizing the irony of the story lest we miss the truth about ourselves. We don't want to be praying: Thank God I'm not like that Pharisee!! That would be to entirely miss the point.

What God honors is what we have no right to be prideful about. The constant challenge is simply this: How can I be humble? What do I do with self-righteousness when it creeps into my thinking, rationalizes its way into how I treat others? There is really only one way that leads to true joy and assurance - we constantly dance between God's unlimited offer of mercy (with arms upraised and shouts of joy on our lips!) and our unending need for it (with backs bent over and groans of "Lord, have mercy on me!" emanating from deep within us).