Tag Archives: two men

LUKE’S GOSPEL…WHOSE RIGHTEOUSNESS?- 46

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“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 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. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “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.’ “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.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭18‬:‭9‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus’ story uncovers a deeply-embedded false notion that we, corrupted humans, can somehow do something to satisfy God’s righteousness enough to turn away His wrath because of our sin. Many false religions have this notion built into their belief system. 

Humans are naturally plagued with the idea that, somehow, we are obliged to seek God’s approval by our own efforts. Even those who claim to be God’s children have this persistent, pernicious, underlying thought that we must do something to prove that we are “good enough”. 

A rich man came to Jesus with the question, “What good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?” Wrong question!

Jesus’ parable highlights this trend, even in some parts of the global church, that is still alive today. It’s there, whether we like it or not. Some streams of the church function on this notion…in others, despite the teaching of “Christ alone”, this thought still persists in the subconscious mind of the believer. (I guess this idea must be a part of our old nature which still carries guilt and seeks to appease an affronted God). 

Jesus’ story had a target audience that openly taught and believed that God could be satisfied by compliance with His laws. The more fastidious and meticulous they were at obeying His laws, and even the man-made laws that were designed to protect His law, the more “righteous” they were in their own eyes. 

This law-conscious group consequently despised the riff-raff who didn’t “keep” the law and whom they, therefore, disdained and dismissed as “sinners”.  So, Jesus deliberately chose, in His story, to contrast a Pharisee with a tax collector because, in the eyes of the Pharisees, tax collectors were the epitome of “sinners” because they collaborated with the hated Romans. 

In Jesus’ story, the prayers of these two men revealed the core of their thinking. 

The Pharisee’s prayer, according to Jesus was, in fact, not even  addressed to God but only to himself. Jesus deliberately contrasted him with the tax collector, “I’m better than that guy!” but his words dissipated at the limit of his breath. Despite God’s breath being in him, he was so corrupted by his own importance that it was not God’s breath that came out of him but the “hot air” of his own belief system. His “thanksgiving” was focused on a rehearsal of his own hollow achievements. 

The Pharisee left his place of prayer…not justified, not changed…just the same self-righteous sinner who was a little more pleased with himself, a little more entrenched in his own delusional pride than he was before he prayed. 

Now…the tax collector! Somewhere, somehow, something  had happened to trigger his conscience. Did he see, for the first time, some of the outcomes of his extortion in the poverty of the people he had heartlessly defrauded for his own benefit? Did he see hungry, dirty children crying in the street because of him? Did he really “see” his own grand home beside the hovel of his neighbour because of his greed? 

His conscience bit deep into his soul. With downcast eyes, his shame washing over him like a tidal wave, he beat his chest in despair, crying out, “Oh God, forgive me! Please forgive me for my greed. Forgive me for what I have done to my own people. Have mercy on me for I have sinned grievously.” 

Which one did God hear? Which one did the Father listen to…was His own heart attuned to self- congratulation or a cry for mercy? What does the Word say?

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103‬:‭8‬-‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

As the terrifying wave of guilt had drenched him with fear, so the gentle blanket of peace began to enfold the guilty sinner. Forgiven! Justified! Declared “Not guilty!” the tax collector romped home, his heart as light as a feather. 

Which one would you rather be?

To end where we began, we must cultivate in our hearts, no matter what we do or achieve for God’s kingdom in this life, this overriding thought…”God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Jesus alone is my hope for eternal life. Without Him, I am nothing. 

Pride says, “I did it all by myself!” Humility says, “Father, forgive me for have sinned!”

…“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

No matter what we do “for God”,  if it’s not done “in God” or “through God”, it is nothing, like banging a empty drum. Our only motive is the gratitude that reveals our love for the one who had done it all for us. 

To be continued…

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – HE IS NOT THERE!

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HE IS NOT THERE!

“They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, ‘Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here but raised up. Remember how He told you when you were still back in Galilee that He had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross and in three days rise up?’ Then they remembered Jesus’ words.” Luke 24:4-8.

Funny how their grief blotted out the women’s ability to think straight! Had they remembered Jesus’ words, they could have saved themselves a whole weekend of emotional pain, and unnecessary activity and expense. Instead of weeping useless tears and spending their time and money preparing to preserve the body of Jesus for a little while longer, they could have enjoyed their Sabbath in anticipation of their beloved Master’s return.

I have often wondered why their minds refused to receive the promise of His resurrection. His disciples had heard the same information many times but they still didn’t get it. For some reason the women, who were far more receptive than the men, didn’t get it either. They believed He was dead and that He would stay dead and their belief brought forth the flood of grief that shut out the possibility, for them, of His words being fulfilled.

Not even angelic visitors from the other side could convince them that Jesus was alive. The appearance of these two men was so startling that the women were overwhelmed and fell down in worship. They must have made an impression on them. No one can meet an unearthly being like these and not take note!

It took this powerful visitation to remind them of Jesus’ promise, but even that did not seem to have the desired effect on them. They remembered, yes, but what else? As the story unfolds, we will see how unbelief was like a disease that spread among Jesus’ followers.

As much as this was part of their journey, so it is a part of ours. The robust faith of the early church was the product of a painful process of failure and learning which formed the foundation of their unshakeable confidence in their Lord. He was as dead as anyone could be, but He rose again and was powerfully alive and at work in and among them.

They only knew that because they had passed through the terrible grief of their loss to the indescribable joy of His resurrection. Their faith was not automatic and neither is ours. But our experience must never end at the tomb with eyes blinded by sorrow and ears deaf to His promise. Like them, we must pass through death to resurrection, through sorrow to joy and through despair to hope.

No matter what our pain or loss might be, it gains its true value only when we come through it to a faith in God stronger and more secure than before the trial. Suffering has no value if it does not take us into a peace and security that does not make sense in the natural. It is rooted in a God who is with us and for us because He did not leave His Son’s body to rot in a rocky tomb.

No religion, based on human imagination with roots men’s minds, not in history, can match the story of Jesus. His life, death and resurrection happened as God said it would, and with that comes the certainty that everything else He said is true. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (NIV).