Lk 18:9-14
v9. The audience – self-righteous. Causes you to loathe others that you don’t find righteous.
v10. Pray – v1. A holy man and a traitor.
v11. Prayed to himself – not heard by God. Asked for nothing. (Rev 3:17) Lukewarm.
v12. Works in addition to blessings in v11.
v13. Didn’t feel worthy enough to get any closer. Mercy – (1 Jn 4:10) Forgiveness of sins.
v14. Made righteous, not by works but by the work done on the cross. No one is more justified than another, only you are or you’re not. Exalted – accepted by God.
Don’t we compare ourselves to others? But there is a moral standard to compare ourselves to. Why? Pride.
Who are the characters?
- Pharisee – prideful, self-righteous
- Tax Collector – humble, trusts God
“There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people except Christians ever imagine that they are guilty themselves…” “There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it in ourselves, the more we dislike it in others…” – C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)
What human beliefs are shattered?
- The reliance on one’s own acts of righteousness to be accepted by God
- That God is a respecter of persons – no favorites
- Comparing ourselves to others instead of Christ
What divine wisdom is revealed?
- God is the standard of righteousness and no one can justify themselves