The grace of God, the Father, through Christ Jesus, does not make one proud, but it makes one humble. Without true humility, we have not yet become partakers of the Lord’s goodness and mercy. For the grace of God is truly like a stream as it flows downward and not upwards. For we know the streams of God’s grace flow from the wounds of our crucified Jesus. As natural streams seek the lowland, so those of divine grace throw down into lowly hearts.† This is the stark contrast that we see in these two men in the parable: the first, the Pharisees, has no trace of humility within him as he brings before the Lord the much good that he has done to prove his worthiness. The second man, the Tax Collector, brings nothing of his own merit, but only a broken and contrite spirit. It is this one, this outcast of society, who our Lord Jesus praises and says that he is justified. For the saints of God are those who have done nothing good of themselves, and still, they are welcomed into paradise with these words spoken by Christ: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
So let us compare these two to train ourselves in the righteousness of God, turning from boastfulness to humility, worthy of God’s grace.
The first thing that this Pharisee says in prayer before God is that he thanks God that he is not like other men. In a way, this man is right; we are individually created by God, according to his design and for his purpose, as God even knew us before we were in our mother’s womb. Certainly, this is not what the Pharisees mean. He says to God that he is better because he has no sin that he is guilty of. This is utter foolishness; we are all born under sin. For we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Saint Paul says. And St. John says in his first epistle that if we say we have no sin, we make God to be a liar. So who is it? Is it us who are tempted to fall into lies and boast about ourselves, or is it the merciful and just God of heaven and earth?
Meanwhile, the tax collector, who was probably only a few feet away, says, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” This is all this man says in the entire parable. Instead of boasting, we see confession. He doesn’t need to go on listing his sins because God already knows the man’s sins better than he could understand them himself. The Tax Collector knows there is no use in hiding because how can you lie to a God who already knows everything? Therefore, dear Christian, you have no worry to list all your sins before God. You do not need to remember all your offenses that somehow only those in your memory you will be forgiven, because neither does God; instead, He never forgets what His Son has accomplished on the cross; and Jesus proves that to be true when He says, “Come to Me who are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Meanwhile, the Pharisee continues his useless babbling as he states before God known sinners in the community, ‘extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even this tax collector.’ It is as if he said, ‘Lord, I know I am not a sinner because I know what other people have done.’ And if that isn’t bad enough, he is so bold as to even name the people who are present in the temple with him. And from this, we have something to avoid: the spirit of Cain, who looked at his brother’s sacrifice and, instead of looking inwardly to see why God cannot accept it, looked at his brother. For the book of Proverbs says in chapter 28, “whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.’
This is why the Tax Collector has nothing more to say and only asks for mercy. For he believes that there is no worse sinner in the world, other than himself. And this is worthy of imitation, as Saint Paul writes, “not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think of himself.” It is for our eternal benefit to consider ourselves as the worst of all sinners, as Saint Paul writes to Timothy, “It is a faithful saying, and worthy of acceptance, that Christ died for sinners of whom I am chief.” That is our prayer: those who are humbled will be exalted by Christ on the last day, and those who are boastful will be cast out.
And lastly, the Pharisees recall before God all his deeds, all the things that he has done that he believed would earn even more approval than his lack of sin. How easy is it to fall into the same trap? Maybe when we say in prayer, ‘I know I haven’t done everything right, but there’s at least one or two things that I should be repaid for by God,’ the man has not only broken the entire Law but has also retracted the gospel, the promises of Christ that our salvation is paid for by His death. By showing forth what he has done, he forgets God’s grace. For when we stand on our own righteousness, it is like the house built on the sand; it cannot be supported.
The righteous man who confesses his sins has been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, as we are now members of His kingdom, we are justified by Christ through faith, and it is our faith that now conforms us to Christ and His love. We are now free in Christ to love our neighbor, to serve them as Christ has served us.
This first means that when we sin against our neighbor, we must be honest to ourselves and to them. For it is better to come to our brother in Christ beating our chest, than to come with hands in the air saying ‘I know I’ve done you wrong but look at all the good done for you instead’ or maybe we’re so bored to say ‘you may perceive I’ve wronged you, but I was really helping you.’ These words do not come from a repentant heart but from a heart that has not been made low by the Holy Spirit.
Second, this means when we have been sinned against, who is more likely to forgive those who have wronged them, the Pharisees or the Tax Collector? For when a Christian forgives another, it is not just them alone, but Christ is present with them, giving the courage to forgive and the strength to confess. So when we refuse to forgive, we are not withholding God’s grace from our neighbor but from ourselves by shutting out the work of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, rely on the Holy Spirit; He will sustain you. By faith in the Word of God and the strengthening through the Holy Sacraments, our old sinful and boastful hearst are crucified daily and made new through humility. The divine grace that flows to the humble never runs dry now unto eternity. Amen.
† Johann Gerhard, Sacred Meditations, No. 34, The Cultivation of True Humility.
St. John's and Grace Evangelical Lutheran Parish 