Examine Yourself: Pharisee and Tax Collector Parable

Luke 18 sets the table with a hard word from Jesus. Jesus tells this parable to people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. The text presses a person to examine himself, because self-examination can be the difference between life and death, not just with melanoma, but with the soul.

Jesus puts two men in the temple. The Pharisee is not a cartoon villain. The Pharisee is respected, trained in Scripture, disciplined, moral, and serious about religion. The tax collector is the opposite in that culture, a collaborator with Rome, a man down there with the prostitutes and the losers, a man everybody would have known was crooked.

The Pharisee prays a legalistic and comparison prayer. His prayer is full of “I”: “I fast,” “I give,” “I am not like other men.” The prayer climbs the ladder of religion, one rung at a time, and the higher religion climbs, the easier contempt becomes. The heart can look down a spiritual nose at the person outside Amaco and say, “What a loser,” without seeing that self-righteousness has already taken over.

The tax collector stands far off and cannot even lift his eyes. His prayer has no list of achievements, no résumé, no self-defense. His cry is, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” That mercy is propitiation, God providing what sinners cannot provide for themselves. Jesus in my place is the gospel in four words. Jesus turns away the wrath of God, not by ignoring justice, but by satisfying it at the cross.

Jesus gives the shock at the end. The tax collector goes home justified rather than the other. Justification means just as if he had never sinned. The bad man goes home right with God, and the good religious man goes home still in his sin, because the one trusted mercy and the other trusted performance.

The gospel leaves no room for an answer that begins with “I.” If God asks why entrance should be given into heaven, every “I tried,” “I went,” “I gave,” and “I did” misses the point. “Nothing in my hand I bring, but only to the cross I cling.” Christ alone saves, Christ alone justifies, and Christ alone lifts the debt that no sinner could ever pay.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Self-examination guards the soul Second Corinthians calls a person to examine himself to see if he is in the faith. The heart can stay busy with church things, good things, even beautiful things, and still miss the central gospel. Honest examination does not look for religious activity first, but asks whether Christ crucified and risen is being trusted as the only hope. [26:06]
• 2. Comparison misses God’s holy mark The Pharisee measures himself against the tax collector, but God’s standard is never the person doing worse down the street. Sin means missing the mark, and the mark is the perfection, holiness, justice, and goodness of God. Comparison can make a sinner feel taller, but it cannot make a sinner righteous. [39:51]
• 3. Mercy comes by propitiation The tax collector’s cry for mercy is not a vague hope that God will overlook sin. Propitiation means God provides the sacrifice that turns away righteous wrath. The cross shows that God’s love does not cancel justice, because Christ bears judgment so mercy can come cleanly and fully. [42:14]
• 4. Justification lifts the whole debt The tax collector goes home justified, just as if he had never sinned. Justification is not God pretending the debt was small, but God declaring the debt paid because of Christ. The relief of a cancelled bill is only a tiny picture of the freedom given when sin, guilt, and judgment are removed. [46:53]
• 5. Every I-answer fails The question “Why should God allow entrance into heaven?” exposes the foundation of the soul. Every answer that begins with personal performance is the Pharisee’s prayer in a new outfit. The only safe answer begins with Christ, because his blood and righteousness are the only ground that can stand before God.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [25:01] - Skin cancer and self-examination
• [26:06] - Examine yourself in the faith
• [28:09] - Violet and Vanessa
• [32:12] - Jesus targets self-righteous contempt
• [35:11] - Two men in the temple
• [37:37] - Two very different prayers
• [39:51] - God’s perfection is the standard
• [41:02] - The Pharisee and the ladder
• [42:14] - Mercy, propitiation, and the cross
• [46:29] - The tax collector goes home justified
• [51:48] - The heaven question
• [54:50] - Examine the heart before God

Bible Reading

Luke 18:9-14
“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ‘Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get." But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.’” [24:46]

2 Corinthians 13:5
“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” [26:17]

Romans 3:23
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Observation questions

1. In Luke 18, what details show the difference between the Pharisee’s prayer and the tax collector’s prayer? [37:37]
2. According to Luke 18:9, who is this parable aimed at, and what two heart attitudes are named there? [32:12]
3. What are some of the specific things the Pharisee points to in himself when he prays? [38:29]
4. What bodily posture and words mark the tax collector’s approach to God? [41:30]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus says the tax collector went home justified rather than the Pharisee. What does that reveal about the difference between trusting personal performance and trusting mercy? [46:29]
2. Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Why does comparing one person to another fail as a way of measuring righteousness before God? [39:51]
3. The tax collector asks God to be merciful to him, and that mercy is tied to propitiation. How does that deepen the meaning of his prayer beyond simply saying, “Please overlook my sin”? [42:14]
4. Second Corinthians 13:5 calls people to examine themselves. What kinds of outward religious activity can make a person feel secure while still missing the heart of the gospel? [26:37]

Application questions

1. When the heart starts saying, “At least I’m not like that person,” what settings tend to bring that out most—at church, at work, online, in the family, or somewhere else? What does that reveal about where self-righteousness may be hiding? [39:15]
2. If God asked, “Why should I let you into my heaven?” what would the honest first draft of the answer sound like? Would it begin more with “I” or with Christ? [53:30]
3. Some people know how to stay busy with good and even biblical things, but still rest in those things instead of in Christ. What good habits or church activities might quietly become a substitute for simple trust in Jesus? [27:01]
4. The tax collector came with no résumé, no excuse, and no self-defense. Is it hard to come to God that way? What usually makes a person want to explain, soften, or balance out sin instead of simply confessing it? [42:57]
5. The standard is not the person doing worse down the street, but the holiness of God. How would daily repentance change if that was remembered in moments of pride, irritation, or contempt? [40:14]
6. Justification means the whole debt is lifted because of Christ. Where is there still a tendency to carry guilt as if payment has not really been made? What would it look like to rest more fully in what Jesus has done? [46:53]
7. Self-examination can be the difference between life and death for the soul. What would honest spiritual self-examination look like this week—not vague feelings, but real questions asked before God? [55:08]