The Parable Of The One Who Trusted In Himself That He Was Supremely Acceptable to God, And Was Not, And The One Who Was Doubtful About His Acceptability With God Who Was Made Fully Acceptable (18:9-14).
The parable that we have just considered demonstrated how God's people were to await the coming of the Son of Man in glory in continual prayer. In the parable that follows we will learn how to distinguish between those who will in that Day be taken, and those who will be left, those who are accounted righteous, and those who are not.
Indeed this theme will continue on for some time. For the failure of the Pharisee to come to God because he was so taken up with himself, and the humble and contrite approach of the public servant (Luke 18:9-14), will be followed by the open-hearted response of little believing children who willingly and open-heartedly come (Luke 18:15-17), which will again be followed by the story of one whose riches prevented him from coming (Luke 18:18-30). All are given the opportunity of coming, but not all will take it.
In this parable now we have a twofold picture drawn of one who trusted in himself that he was supremely acceptable to God, and was not, and the one who was doubtful about his acceptability with God, and who nevertheless was made fully acceptable because he repented and called for mercy. It is often called ‘the Parable of the Pharisee and the Public Servant'.
In the Section chiasmus it is paralleled very aptly with Jesus' words about the fact that whatever we do for God can never be brought up as evidence that we are deserving before Him, as justification for our position before Him. Even if we are perfect in all that we do we are simply achieving what it is our duty that we should do. Should we therefore come short in any one thing we will have failed in the fulfilment of our duty and can no longer claim merit (compare James 2:10).
This was what the Pharisee failed to recognise. He thought that he could start with a clean sheet and build up righteousness before God. He thought that he could earn God's favour and build up merit. What he failed to see were all the ways in which he had come short, which more than cancelled out what he had achieved (which was what he should have done anyway). In contrast the public servant came recognising his shortcomings, and claiming no merit of his own. And because of that he was received with forgiveness, and was put in the right with God. He would be ready when the Son of Man came. He was the evidence of faith on earth.
In a day when public servants were held in such hatred, and Pharisees in such high regard, Jesus' words here would have a salutary and important effect in changing people's views, and making them think again, both about the prominence of Pharisaic teaching, and about the open door that the arrival of the Kingly Rule of God opened for sinners of all kinds. All would know that if a public servant could be saved, anyone could!
a He spoke also this parable to certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at nought' (Luke 18:9).
b “Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a public servant” (Luke 18:10).
c “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank you, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this public servant' ” (Luke 18:11).
d “I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I get” (Luke 18:12).
c “But the public servant, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote his breast, saying, ‘God, be you merciful to me a sinner' ” (Luke 18:13).
b “I say to you, This man went down to his house accounted as righteous rather than the other” (Luke 18:14 a).
a “For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14 b).
Note that ‘a' speaks of one who sees himself as righteous and sets others at nought, while in the parallel the one who so exalts himself will be abased, while the humble, who had been set at nought, will be exalted. In ‘b' we have the contrast of two men who went to the Temple to pray and in the parallel we learn the contrasting results. In ‘c' we have the Pharisees prayer, and in the parallel the public servant's prayer. In ‘d' centrally we have the basis for the Pharisee's self-righteousness (possibly the last part of ‘c' should also come in here). This expands on the fact that he trusted in himself that he was righteous.