It’s Good To be A Sinner
Luke 18:9-14
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
St. Luke 18:13 And the tax-collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… In this Gospel our dear Lord Jesus presents us with a lesson based on two individuals: a Pharisee and a tax-collector.
In a 1533 sermon on this Gospel text Martin Luther said that the Pharisees of the Jews had their counterpart in the monks of the papacy. And we would agree. For example, they wore special clothing, they observed special days for fasting and prayer, and they pursued piety with such fervor and intensity so as to make other people appear as nothing but woeful sinners by comparison. The monks of Luther’s day were certain that they were serving God in a better way than most because of their total devotion to piety to the exclusion of serving their neighbor. That’s why the Pharisees were so named, because, said Luther, “a Pharisee is a singular person, one who separates himself from the common herd as something special.”
In stark contrast, the tax-collectors were like extortioners and political hacks of our time. The Jewish tax-collectors went about their business by negotiating contracts with the Romans for a designated sum of money to collect water and land taxes. Then, in turn, they would squeeze and skin the people for a percentage beyond that; after all, they had to make a buck too. That is why they were considered curmudgeons and flagrant sinners for accepting a position whereby they greedily burdened and plagued the people. It was, therefore, thought to be inconceivable that a tax-collector could be a pious individual, just as much as it was inconceivable that a Pharisee could be a scoundrel. That was according to outward appearances.
But our Lord Jesus Christ makes a very different assessment of the two men. He states that it is the tax-collector who is devout and righteous, while the Pharisee is the sinner, and in fact, a very great and despicable sinner. Jesus points out the Pharisees’ two very ugly vices; namely, that they proudly considered themselves better than others which, in itself, is a grievous sin, (for it is of the devil to consider oneself holy and righteous); and second, they despised others. It is the devil himself who has occupied the Pharisee’s heart and has caused him arrogantly to boast.
Let’s take another look at the Pharisee. In the opening verse of our text, Luke records that Jesus “spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.” There’s no doubt that our Lord was directing His words to the Pharisees who, at the end of chapter 17, were with the disciples; at the very least, they were nearby, within earshot. The Greek words that are translated “trusted in themselves” means relying on oneself. And the word for “despising” means to reject and treat with contempt. Jesus called the Pharisees exactly what they were; He understood their lifestyle and actions clearly, and He wanted others to see this clearly as well.
Jesus then went on to speak the parable. Now, the fact that this is indeed a parable reminds us that this is a teachable moment from our Lord in which He uses a fictitious story to make a clear point. He compares the false religion – the religion of self-worship and self-aggrandizement – to true religion – the only true religion of faith and trust in God through Christ and not in oneself.
And look again at what the Pharisee “prayed.” First, Luke records that the Pharisee prayed – and this is the Greek – “toward himself.” He is not speaking to God at all; therefore we are certain that God doesn’t hear or respect this “prayer” because it is neither from faith nor is it directed to God as was the tax-collector’s prayer.
The Pharisee “prayed,” ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men.” And here we see that he is indeed putting himself above and beyond other people and, as was mentioned before, separating himself from the common herd as something special. It is as Luther said in his sermon, that “the devil has occupied his heart and caused him arrogantly to boast.”
But notice the things for which the Pharisee was grateful: He was not like the “extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax-collector.” And to prove that point to God who is not listening, he says, “I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.” “I am doing things right and showing the world how pious and righteous and godly I am. Look at ME! Here are all my works; here is my righteousness, and it’s all MY DOING.” The man is getting a sore arm from patting himself on the back so much.
What the Pharisee does not see or understand is that he himself IS an extortioner, a robber; for by his arrogance and self-pride he is guilty of being the very person he emphatically says he is not. And that goes also for his being unjust, an adulterer, and just as slimy as all the other tax-collectors in town who rob people by extortion. He trusts in himself; therefore, He robs God of His glory by not giving God the glory or credit for all he has accumulated and accomplished. He does not exult in God, but rather in himself, his intellect, his free will, and his power, that he has been able to do so much.
Arrogance and pride go hand in hand. And God most certainly has dealt with it in the past. Consider what happened to Lucifer. He was a most excellent angel, for God had endowed him above all the rest of the angels, and his legions were foremost among the creatures of God. But when he pondered on this fact, that he was endowed among all the rest in wisdom and understanding, he became proud and willfully despised God.
Isaiah (14:12-13) writes, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.”
And this from Ezekiel 28:12, 17: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering… “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground.”
And we all know how Adam and Eve fell – by giving in to the devil’s lie that they would not surely die and that the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil would be good for them. And for their arrogance and self-serving, they were kicked out of Paradise.
To these displays of despising God and trusting in oneself, our lord responded, “For everyone who exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” And in 1 Pet 5:5, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
This is where the tax-collector comes in. “He would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast” (a true sign of contrition and repentance), saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!” That Jesus praises him and not the Pharisee, that Jesus tells us that this man and not the Pharisee went down to his house justified, tells us all we need to know.
By his prayer the tax-collector shows us what true humility is. He understands that he has nothing to offer to God of his own works. It is written, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart – these, O God, You will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). The Lord certainly did not despise the tax collector like the Pharisee did. The tax collector came not in pride but in lowly penitence and faith. He knew he was a sinner, and it is good that he did. This is not fake humility or simply going through the motions. The tax collector stood afar off from those praying in the temple; he knew how his sin cut him off from God and others. He did not raise his eyes to heaven, for he knew he deserved no heavenly blessing. He beat his chest when he prayed in token that he was worthy to be punished severely. He cried out in words that expressed his only hope, “God be merciful to me a sinner!”
The tax collector placed his confidence and trust not in anything about himself but entirely in the Lord and His mercy. He despaired of his own merits and character and entrusted himself completely to the merits and character of God. He relied not on his own sacrifice but on God’s sacrifice. For when the tax collector prayed for mercy, he used a word that has to do with the offering up of the animals there in the temple. He desired the atonement for sin that only God could provide through the shedding of blood.
Remember, it was at these times of public prayer in the temple when an animal would be sacrificed on the altar according to God’s command to cover the sins of the people. Therefore, at the very moment in which the tax collector prayed, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” his prayer was being answered right there in the sacrifice which the Lord provided. The tax collector trusted in the Lord’s sacrificial mercy, and he yearned for the day when the Messiah would come and bring all these things to their fulfillment.
The Pharisee thought he was righteous, but he was not the one who was justified before God. It is the tax collector who went down to his house justified by faith, declared righteous in God’s sight.
And so it is also for each of you who pray in humility and penitent faith, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” It’s good to be a sinner, for Christ’s sacrifice has been made for you – not in the temple, but in Jesus’ body, there on the cross. There Christ, the Lamb of God, was offered up once and for all – for all people’s sins for all time. By His shed blood your sins have been fully atoned for, and by faith you receive that forgiveness and justification and have been put right with God when you believe it. As it is written, “You who once were far off (as the tax collector stood far off) have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13).
You are justified by God-given faith before God; you are declared righteous in His sight through faith and trust in Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection in your place. Only sinners are justified by God, not the self-righteous. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).It is all yours because of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That is what we boast and brag about – not ourselves or our works or our whatever; we boast of Christ’s work for us, always and only. We sing these words in that classic Lenten hymn, When I Survey The Wondrous Cross: “Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ my God.”
In today’s Gospel Christ is there in the temple, the place of God’s holy presence; He is there in the sacrifices, which foreshadowed His own. And Jesus is also there in the tax collector, who humbled himself and was exalted in the end. It is written that the Son of God humbled Himself even to the point of death on the cross, in our place and for our sins. “Therefore, God the Father has highly exalted Him and given Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. (Phil 2:9)
Dear fellow baptized, to be a Christian is nothing other than to be a sinner whose sins have been paid for by Christ, and that’s good, for unless we own the fact that we’re sinners, Christ’s sacrifice means nothing to us. Being a Christian is nothing other than to follow in this way of Christ; to be laid low with Him through repentance and death to sin, and to be raised up with Him through faith to new life and the resurrection of the body on the Last Day. It is to continually be fed with His Word and forgiveness-giving Sacraments in order that you may remain in the one true faith and be certain of your entrance into the life of the world to come.
Don’t make the mistake of looking within yourself like the Pharisee, for there is nothing there but sin and death. Look, instead, outside of yourselves like the tax collector. Look to Christ alone, for in Him alone there is full forgiveness and life.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
