A Tale of Two Prayers: Luke 18:9-14

When we look at the illustrations Jesus shared with those in the crowds that followed Him, we discover that Jesus regularly challenged people through His parables in exactly the way they needed to be challenged. Only in some occasions do we actually read how those Jesus spoke to responded to these challenges.

In our passage and parable for this episode, Luke describes exactly who Jesus spoke this message to before sharing the parable, and Jesus’ concluding words give the big theme that is just as significant for our lives today as it was for those living in the first century.

Our passage and parable are found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read from the New International Version. Starting in verse 9, Luke writes:

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.”

In this passage, Luke makes it clear exactly who Jesus was talking to with how he sets up Jesus’ parable. Luke describes those Jesus was speaking to as “some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else”. This statement describes something that is blatantly obvious in other people, but almost impossible to see in the mirror. It is easy to see the arrogance in others and almost impossible to see it in ourselves.

Jesus’ parable in our passage describes two of the most opposite people imaginable in first century culture. About the only similarities present between these two people is that they were both men and that they were both in the temple praying. After these two details, almost everything else is different about them. It is interesting to note that the Pharisee’s prayer does not focus on anything the Pharisee needs help with, but the tax collector’s prayer only includes the request for help.

Each man’s prayer is significant in its own right. While I don’t think that giving thanks to God is wrong in prayer, or that prayers need to always include more things than simply requests for help, I see the biggest difference in these prayers in the attitudes that each man had towards God. The Pharisee’s attitude towards God was one expecting admiration. In contrast, the tax collector’s attitude towards God was one hoping for mercy. The Pharisee elevated himself by comparing himself to others worse than he was, while the tax collector simply acknowledges his sinful state while requesting help.

Both men in Jesus’ example were sinners, but only one recognized his sin and his need for help.

This leads into Jesus’ big concluding theme that the tax collector “went home justified before God”. While those in the culture wouldn’t have faulted either of these men for their prayer or their attitude towards God, Jesus challenges the cultural norms in that society by saying that the self-righteous, self-exalted man did not receive what he had hoped.

Actually, the Pharisee in Jesus’ illustration had no need of prayer. There was no request for help and there wasn’t anything shared that God would not have already known. The Pharisee’s prayer wasn’t aimed at opening his heart to God but instead it was aimed at reminding God of how good he was.

After sharing that it was the tax collector who was justified, Jesus tells us why. Jesus tells us in the last portion of verse 14 that: “all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The big truth we would be wise to remember is that exalting ourselves before God will never result in God’s favor being poured down onto us. If we come before God like the Pharisee came to God, and we spend all our time sharing with God our list of accomplishments and the things we do well, we are basically telling God that we don’t need Him. Looking at the Pharisee’s prayer, the Pharisee had no need of God. The Pharisee was stuck, trapped in a works-based theology that is the opposite of true Christianity.

Most belief systems set standards that we must reach in order to be saved. True Christianity teaches that God’s standard is so high that there is nothing we can do to actually reach His standard, but that God sent Jesus to stand in our place and to reach that standard for us.

Our response in Christianity says that we obey Christ because we are thankful for what He has done for us. Obedience in true Christianity doesn’t mean we are working to gain our salvation, but that we live for God as our way of saying “thank you” to God for the gift we do not deserve. God has asked us to obey because God knows obedience leads to life, love, and peace.

Satan is the one who teaches that obedience neglects the gospel message and that anything in our lives that resembles obedience falls into a works-based religion. Jesus teaches that obedience to God’s truth, when understood in light of His sacrifice for us on the cross, is what sets us free.

When we come before God in prayer, we would be better served by modeling the tax collector’s attitude. The tax collector recognized that he is a sinner who needed a Savior, and the tax collector asked God for mercy. The tax collector humbled himself before God and Jesus tells us that God accepted his prayer.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As always, intentionally seek God first in your life. When you pray, be sure you intentionally humble yourself, that you glorify God, and that you seek His will for your life. I doubt God would ever reject a prayer acknowledging our need and desire for a Savior to help us with our sins.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. While pastors, speakers, authors, or even podcasters can give you ideas to think about, be sure to filter everything you learn through the pages of God’s Word and let His Holy Spirit guide you into the truth He wants you to learn and know.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, or chicken out of, where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!