LUKE 18:9-14 HUMILITY IN PRAYER

HUMILITY IN PRAYER

Luke 18:9-14

Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

Susie: Jesus addressed the following parable to those in the crowd who had a holier than thou attitude.

Susan: Most people have that attitude at one time or another. In your youth, you do not necessarily know better; and society tells you that you are better if you have certain things or know certain things. We predispose out children to have this attitude until God humbles them with a trial or two.

Susie: We may have grown up with the idea that all people on the street are criminals or somehow deserving of their homelessness instead of having compassion for their predicament. Or we may have been taught that people of a certain race have a greater propensity toward evil. WRONG!

Susan: Any time that we classify ourselves as superior to another person, we are forgetting that without Jesus we are nothing and can do nothing because of our sin problem. Without redemption we are all lost and without hope.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Susie: The people Jesus address were self-righteous, depending on their own good deeds to make them right with God rather than realizing the impossibility of that endeavor and seeing their need for the saving grace purchased by Jesus on the cross.

Luke 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

Susan: Pharisees were the most legalistic sect within the Jewish religion. They were considered authorities and ruled on matters of Jewish law. Publicans collected taxes for the Roman government. They were despised because they often were double or triple dipping, charging the Roman tax plus extra to line their own pockets. Before Matthew (aka Levi) and Zacchaeus accepted the call to follow Jesus, they were both publicans.

Susie: A man from each of these groups went into the Temple to pray.

Luke 18:11-12 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

Susan: The Pharisee stood in such a way as to be noticed by all and prayed as The Voice puts it “in honor of himself”. It sounds like he has brain damage to me because as a religious authority, he should realize that pride is never pleasing to the God he is supposed to be serving.

Susie: The Pharisee thanks God that he has not committed a litany of sins, including that of being a tax collector; but he neglects to confess his sin of pride. He reminds God that he tithes but fails to bow in humility before the Creator of the universe, to offer Him the sacrifice of praise. Before we well up with our own pride, thinking we have never done this, we must ask ourselves if we have ever prayed ostentatiously, using the biggest words we can, rather than offering a simple petition to the Lord.

Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

Susan: The publican sees no worth in and of himself. Being acutely aware that he is a sinner, he falls on the mercy of God.

Susie: He does not extol his own virtues to the Lord but beats his own chest in agonizing realization that he could never measure up to God’s righteousness.

Susan: The Pharisee was leaning on his own righteousness and good works which the Bible says are as filthy rags.

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Susie: In contrast, the tax-collector humbles himself before the Lord in realization that he cannot measure up and must plead for mercy.

Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Susie: The publican asked for and received mercy. He went home cleansed from his sin. The Pharisee proudly proclaimed himself righteous and did not even seek forgiveness. Therefore, he was not made right with God.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Susan: The Pharisee was totally self-assured and confident, and he did not think he needed to ask God for mercy and forgiveness. In contrast, it seems that the publican knew that he had nothing to offer God, and the Lord was the only One who could give him what he so desperately desired and needed—a clean heart. He was aware that God would be justified and could squash him like a bug.

Susan: Everyone that builds himself up, promotes himself, will be brought down. Everyone who walks in humility will be promoted by God. We particularly liked the Amplified version:

Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man went to his home justified [forgiven of the guilt of sin and placed in right standing with God] rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself [forsaking self-righteous pride] will be exalted.

Susie: James puts this concept into the form of a command:

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Ponder this and apply it: In the first eight verses of this chapter, we learned to be persistent in prayer. In this passage, we are instructed to come to the Lord in humility. Are you thinking you can be good enough to get into heaven or have you knelt at the foot of the cross and thrown yourself on the grace a mercy of the Lord Jesus? If you have not surrendered your life to Him, pray now acknowledging that you are a sinner who can never be good enough to reach God and trust in the blood of Jesus shed on the cross to cleanse you and cover you with His righteousness. Humbly coming to God in faith, trusting in His mercy and grace, is the only way to have a right relationship with our Heavenly Father.