Justification: An Inescapable Category

A Meditation on the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector (Luke 18:9-14)

By: Wayne Christensen

As we consider Jesus’ teaching on justification, which Martin Luther called the doctrine by which the church stands or falls, a crucial clarification is in order, namely justification is an inescapable category. Which means it is not a question of whether a person seeks justification, but a question of which type of justification they will seek. Some may protest that I am mistaken, since they have no interest in their standing before God. For the sake of argument, I’ll grant the point, but still assert that one is not therefore immune from this category, it’s just that they have shifted from seeking God’s justification to seeking the justification of others, whether it comes from their peers at school, or co-workers, or a particular political party. This innate hunger to be justified has been with us from the beginning, when Adam and Eve sought to cover their guilt and shame with fig leaves. If we change the word justification to acceptance, it should be obvious that this is just part of human nature. The central issue boils down to whether individuals are trusting in their own righteousness or the righteousness of Christ. In other words, in the pursuit of justification everyone is either following the example of the Pharisee or the tax collector that we see in Jesus’ well-known parable. And Jesus was clear that only one man went down to his house justified (vs. 14).

In this parable, we don’t have to guess who Jesus had in his crosshairs. Luke tells us right up front: “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous” (vs. 9). I wonder what percent of Americans today could be numbered among those who are “trusting in themselves that they are righteous.” Many years ago, R. C. Sproul mentioned that he engaged in evangelism using the Evangelism Explosion program which was developed by D. James Kennedy. In that program you would ask two questions to guide the conversation toward the gospel. The first question was: Do you know for sure that if you were to die tonight you would be with God in heaven? The second question was: If God were to ask you Why should I let you in my heaven? what would you say? Sproul said that when they tabulated the different answers given to the second question, they noted that about 90% of the respondents gave some type of works-righteousness answer, such as, I try to be a good person, I never killed anybody, I try to be generous, I’ve been baptized, I go to church, etc. Let that sink in. 90% (R. C. Sproul, Luke, p. 458)

One of the tell-tale signs that a person is trusting in their own righteousness is seen in the fact that they treat others with contempt. Jesus links the two in verse nine: “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.” The two always go hand-in-hand. By the way, when it comes to self-righteousness no one has a corner on the market. We could talk about a right-wing, conservative version of self-righteousness, in which those on the political right look down their noses at those across the aisle. And returning the favor are progressives on the political left. And if right now you’re thinking, yes, but the other side is worse, that just proves my point.

In this parable Jesus contrasts two men with two different postures and two different prayers, which will end with two different results. And, again, each one of us is either the Pharisee or the tax collector, there is not a third option.

Jesus says, “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector” (Vs. 10). The temple was also known as “the house of prayer,” so if you wanted to pray to God that was the logical place to go. Moreover, God’s very presence was represented by the temple and especially the holy of holies, thus, to go up to the temple is to draw near to God. “The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus…” (vv. 11). The Pharisee is standing, probably very close to the holy of holies. This appears to be inferred, because when Jesus talks about the tax collector he says that he is standing far off. At any rate, before we look at his specific prayer, I need to draw your attention to a technical point in the text that is crucial. The ESV says that he “prayed thus.” However, a more literal translation is found in the NASB, which reads, “the Pharisee stood and was praying thus TO himself...” In other words, he wasn’t really praying to God, he was praying to himself. The NIV translates this verse: “the Pharisee stood up and prayed ABOUT himself…” While that translation is not as literal, it captures the idea. Instead of petitioning God, the Pharisee is really praying to himself about himself. And why wouldn’t he? He’s a wonderful guy.

The Pharisee’s so-called prayer begins well, “God, I thank you.” Sometimes we mistakenly believe the Pharisees didn’t understand grace, but that is not necessarily the case. This Pharisee seems to comprehend that he is what he is by the grace of God, and yet he is still full of himself. Which is a good warning for religious people, including us Calvinists and reformed Christians who cherish the doctrines of grace. But from here on out it’s all downhill. Kent Hughes notes, “After his initial nod to God, his was essentially a self-congratulatory monologue disguised as a prayer. There are five uses of the personal pronoun I implicit in the nominative case in the Greek: ‘I—I—I—I—I.’ He was stoned on self!” (R. Kent Hughes, Luke, p. 627). A more literal rendering of verse 11 reads: “God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men.” This would mean the Pharisee is playing moral king of the hill, and he is triumphantly standing on the top of the heap, with the rest of humanity at his feet.

As if all this wasn’t nauseating enough, it gets worse. “‘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’” (vv. 11b-12). This Pharisee clearly thinks highly of himself, but it’s because he has set the bar pretty low. Notice who he is comparing himself to. The apostle Paul knew better than to engage in these types of comparisons: “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding” (2 Cor. 10:12). This Pharisee then sounds the trumpet and boasts of his fasting and tithing. He actually believes that God owes him justification, since he is more moral and religious than others. But he has completely ignored his own sin. Has he never lied or stolen anything or looked at a woman lustfully or coveted that which belonged to his neighbor, etc.? There are two basic ways to deal with sin: either compare it to the sins of other or confess it to God. Tragically, he chose the former.  The purpose of all this virtue signaling, whether it is recognized by the individual engaging in this grotesque behavior or not, is all a vain attempt to be justified. And it doesn’t matter if the path toward justification is religious, with good works done in order to appease God, or whether it is secular, with good works done to curry favor with the culture at large. And we haven’t even addressed the difficulty of our own guilty conscience which convicts us. We don’t live up to our own standard, let alone the perfect standard of God. Jesus will now turn our attention to the tax collector.

“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!’” (vs. 13).  “Standing far off” probably means he is barely inside the temple grounds. He has come there to pray, but he is very careful not to go in too far, lest people like this Pharisees mock him. Also, he may be leery of getting too close to the holy of holies. Jesus stresses that he “would not even lift up his eyes to heaven.” Ligon Duncan observed that the normal posture for prayer among the Jews was that of standing and lifting up one eyes to heaven. But this tax collector doesn’t feel worthy to gaze into heaven. Thus, Duncan, surmises that this may be the origin of the tradition in which Christians bow their heads and close their eyes in prayer. Regardless, it is definitely a posture of humility. But there is more. In addition to standing far off, and not lifting up his eyes, Jesus says he “beat his breast.” This man is beating his breast as a sign of excruciating agony, due to regret over his sin (see Luke 23:48).

The tax collector’s prayer is also worthy of close examination. “…‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” (vs. 13). This man is engaged in actual prayer to God and has zero interest in praying to himself or about himself. He is under no illusion that he has something of worth to commend himself to God. He prays simply: “God, be merciful to me…” Be merciful to me is literally “be propitious to me.” Propitiation is an important doctrine. First John 2:2, speaking of Jesus, says, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” Propitiation is also found in 1 John 4:10: “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” The simplest definition of propitiation is the turning aside of wrath. To state it in a way that even children can understand, this tax collector understands that he is very, very bad and because of that God is very, very mad. Therefore, he is crying out for God to not be angry with him. John MacArthur notes that this was much more than a general plea for mercy. In essence this tax collector is praying something like: “God, I know that I deserve your wrath, but I am asking you to turn your wrath away from me. And I know that the only way for this to happen is for you to provide a sacrificial atonement for my sin. Will you please provide one?”

The agony and intensity of the tax collector’s posture and prayer is palpable. Why might this be? Observe how the prayer ends: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (vs. 13). Literally this reads, as it does in the NASB, “God, be merciful to me, THE sinner!” The definite article is significant. As this tax collector stands in the temple praying, he too is looking around like the Pharisee, but he comes to a very different conclusion. He sees himself as the sinner, the worst sinner there. Thus, there is no hint of self-righteousness, how could there be when he has nothing to offer God, other than filthy rags (Isa. 64:6). Nor is there any contempt toward others. Why would he look down on others, when he is such a wretched sinner himself, whose only hope is the sheer mercy of God? His disposition is expressed well in the hymn Rock of Ages:

Nothing in my hands I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling;

Naked, come to Thee for dress,

Helpless, look to Thee for grace:

Foul, I to the fountain fly,

Wash me, Savior, or I die. 

Jesus has presented two different men, with two different postures, with two different prayers, and now he will show us two different results. “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other” (vs. 14a). To be justified means to be declared righteous. John MacArthur writes, “Without any works, merit, worthiness, law keeping, moral achievement, spiritual accomplishment, ritual, penance, good works, or any other meritorious activity, this guilty sinner was pronounced instantly and permanently righteous” (John MacArthur, Luke 18-24, p. 21). Since this man didn’t have any righteousness of his own, where did it come from? Martin Luther would say he obtained an “alien righteousness.” It was alien because it was not his own. Rather, the righteousness of Christ was imputed to his account. God answered the tax collector’s sincere prayer, and the great exchange spelled out in 2 Corinthians 5:21 took place in his life: “For our sake he (i.e., God) made him (i.e., Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” When any person recognizes that they are a sinner in need of propitiation, in need of forgiveness, in need of the righteousness of Christ, and they cry out for mercy, and put their faith in Christ, this great exchange takes place. Thus, they can be confident that they will go down to their home justified. Jesus then closes the parable with this principle: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (vs. 14b). But the question remains: which man are you, the Pharisee or the tax collector?