Luk 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the
one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11 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.
Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of
all that I possess.
Luk 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.
Luk 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.
God be merciful to
me… a sinner!
None of our actions,
not a single one entitle us to eternal life.
Out of the blue a
friend stops by and holds out a gift to you for no reason at all other than
they love you. Were you entitled to that gift? No. Did anything you do warrant
them giving you that gift? No. Have you
ever given anyone a gift for no reason at all other than you love them? Or do
you live your life based on the - 'They gave me this, so I'll give them that,'
system? Or 'I did them a favor, now they owe me a favor.' Is this the way you
live? Does the opposite prevail with you then? They didn't give me this so I'm
not giving them that, and they didn't do me a favor, so I'm not doing them a
favor. Is this the way you think it should be? A constant giving and receiving
based upon fairness of getting and giving? It's a sad way to live, it really,
really is. We can't give a single thing
to our Savior to warrant the gift of eternal life he offers us. When we keep the moral commandments we aren't
keeping them to earn a ticket to salvation. They are just, they are good, they
are right, they are love. I don't keep the Sabbath to earn eternal life, I'm
not punching a card on a weekly basis to show I've kept the Sabbath. I don't
earn points for every commandment I keep. The BEST I can ever hope for is by
keeping the moral commandments I am doing the will of my Creator, my Redeemer
and I am LOVING Him and Others! And
notice I said 'hope for', because people can keep the moral law perfectly and
still do it only to the letter without the true love. People can put on the
outward appearance of being commandment keepers while inwardly they are
seething with hatred, with selfishness, with deception. When Jesus gave the parable in the above
verses He was trying to get across this message.
A Pharisee- upright
in all ways following every moral commandment given and all the ceremonial
laws, and all the various laws passed down from Moses, as well as living a life
that to ALL outward appearances was perfect. Even in his own eyes this man was perfect
so much so he could pray to God in the temple and THANK God for NOT being like
those who were not perfect as he was. His pride was so vivid in his words, so
blatant and yet he could not see that pride for what it was. He was so focused
on his perfection and the imperfection of others that he was blinded to his own
faults, his own shortcomings which made him anything but acceptable in the eyes
of God.
The ordinary man not
a Pharisee but a publican - a tax collector, one who worked to collect taxes
for the government of Rome- read this excerpt-
'During the time of
Jesus in first century Israel, there were publicans and tax collectors who
could walk up to a man and tax him for what he was carrying, and much more.
These tax collectors were hated and despised because they were usually fellow
Jews who worked for Rome.'
A fellow Jew working
for Rome, coming to the temple alongside of a Pharisee. The Pharisee, a Jew who belonged to a sect of
believers in God who were very strict and sought a life of purity hoping to be
closer to God through their beliefs.
These two men were opposites on the scale - one living a pure life
devoted to God and what they believed to be God's ways, and the other living a
life serving Rome, yet acknowledging God.
Which was justified?
The strict ritualistic law keeper, or the one who recognized his filthy
sin-stained life? Only those who
recognize their sin stain as something they cannot of their own selves get rid
of will have the hope of being justified by Christ. We must GO to God to become
clean! We cannot ever rid ourselves of our sins, they must be taken from
us. Even if we get to a place that we
believe we are not breaking a single moral law, we cannot ever get to a place
in our hearts that through a single prideful thought, a single unloving moment
we are sinless, not ever! Only Christ in us accomplishes that! Only being
totally devoted to His ability to save us from ourselves can we have hope, true
hope!
Yes, we have moral
laws and yes, we are to do all we can to love God and love others through
following those moral laws, but in and of themselves they'll never save us. To
shun them and outright refuse to not even try to follow the law of love is a
slap in God's face. To accept them and comprehend they are given to us so we
have the truth of love, this is embracing God fully. Jesus kept every single moral law! Jesus
revealed the love in every single moral law. Jesus went so far as to rip down
the belief that we don't sin because we keep from physically doing what our
corrupt heart lusts for. Jesus revealed
the moral law was much more than outward show. Did Jesus tell the adulteress
her adultery was okay? No! He told her to SIN no more! However none could cast
that first stone because they knew their own guilty hearts condemned them. They
might not have lain with this woman and committed adultery with her, but it's
quite possible they all desired her in their hearts, in their thoughts. They
could ALL have been guilty of adultery in their minds and Jesus was there to
reveal their true selves, telling them to cast the stone at her if they had no
sin. They couldn't cast that stone, not
a single one of them. Did this mean adultery was acceptable?! NO! It meant they
were all guilty of sin, guilty of death because of their sin! All of them were in need of salvation, and
all of us are in need of salvation!
By the grace of our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! May we comprehend His worth and our
worthlessness without Him!
Amen!
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