On the Road to Jerusalem: The Penitent Man

“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."—Luke 18:13-14

Coming to God requires knowing our state before Him.  All too often, we think that we are deserving of God’s blessing.  We are like the Pharisee in the parable in Luke 18.  Jesus told this parable to “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt”—Luke 18:9.  He taught about two men who went up to the temple to pray—a Pharisee and a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, “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”—Luke 18:11-12.  He uses the word “I” five times, which reveals the selfish nature of his prayers.  It wasn’t about anything that God had done in his life, but it was about him and what he did for God.  Externally he seemed like a pretty godly guy—he was moral, sexually pure, fasted, and tithed.  But he also continually compared himself with others, even to the tax collector present. 

Tax collectors were hated during Jesus’ day.  They were hated because they were Jews who worked for the dreaded Roman government and who exacted money from their own people.  This tax collector knew how hated he was.  He wouldn’t even come close to everyone else, but stood far off with head bowed, beating his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”—Luke 18:13. 

Jesus then tells us, “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”—Luke 18:14. 

In approaching God, we must not boast about anything we have done, because we have nothing to boast about in the sight of God. As the prophet Isaiah wrote, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.  We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away”—Isaiah 64:6.  For the Pharisee, his purity, giving and fasting were all done in order to exalt himself in the sight of God.  This is one of the dangers of fasting that we must be on guard against. 

Fasting should be a means of self-denial, not self-promotion.  It should be an expression of repentance, not self-righteousness.  As Phillips Brooks wrote,

“This, then, is the philosophy of fasting.  It expresses repentance, and it uncovers life to God. ‘Come down, my pride; stand back my passions; for I am wicked, and I wait for God to bless me.’”—Phillips Brooks, “Fasting” (a sermon for Lent), in The Candle of the Lord and Other Sermons (New York:  E.P. Dutton and Company, 1881), p. 207. 

May we remember the truth of James 4:6, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  And pray like this:

“Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou has made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”—The Book of Common Prayer, p. 124. Amen.