Flip the Coin:
Pharisee or Publican?
Rev.
Stephen E. Stults
St.
Barnabas Anglican Church
11th
Sunday after Trinity, 2012
In today’s Gospel, Our Lord draws a perfect contrast
“to some who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous, and despised others” by drawing a wonderful word picture of a
Pharisee and a Publican. This parable is a short, but pithy picture of human
nature. It might even be said that it
represents two sides of one coin.
Here we see two diametrically
opposed classes of society; the Pharisees and the Publican. We know that the
Pharisees were often the objects of Christ’s scorn and usually were the example
of what “not” to be. There were also notable
examples of righteous Pharisees, such as Nicodemus and certain unnamed others,
who secretly believed on Christ. Yet, recall
the origin of the Pharisees, how they arose to defend Judah and Israel Judah Jerusalem Babylon Jerusalem ,
including the fabulous Temple
of Solomon
God, however, was not done
with His People. Far from it. Much later, under the reign of Artaxerxes the
Persian and then Darius the Mede, Jerusalem’s wall and Temple would be rebuilt,
as related in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra.
Although it was indeed glorious to have the Temple in Jerusalem again,
it had nowhere near the grandeur of the former temple, nor could it be. Many of the ‘old hands’, those who had seen
the original Temple, actually wept openly when they saw the “new” one. Later, Jerusalem would be savaged again by the
Greeks, until Judas Maccabeus and his sons led a successful revolt against the
Hellenization of Judah. It was during
this period that the Pharisees arose, men so zealous for the Law and for the
purity of Jewish belief. Their calling
was to safeguard Jewish society from the evils of heterodoxy, so that the
suffering brought on by idolatry could never happen again.
This was a most worthy goal. Yet, like all things human, absent the
guiding Spirit of God, Phariseeism virtually became its own religion. It became twisted and self-centered. They
Jews sought righteousness through their own deeds and their interpretation of
the Law, thus ensuring, even requiring God’s favor towards the nation of Israel
That brings us to the Gospel selection for the day. Christ
clearly draws a contrast between the self-righteous Pharisee and the humble,
penitent publican. Thus, Our Lord draws a fascinating parallel between
appearances versus reality. Those of you
who took college-level English literature courses will recall that as a major
theme in literature, and in life.
Imagine the scene.
Here is the Temple, glorious, large and impressive. It must have seemed like acres of smooth
stone. Now we see the Pharisee, dressed
in his long robe, no doubt with flowing phylacteries and all, standing and
praying to himself. It is highly likely
that he presented himself to be received by the Temple, as one who truly
belonged there. In short, he probably walked in like he owned the place.
Now, considering
his “prayer”, some commentators have observed that this “prayer” is not really
a prayer at all, but rather an “address” to God[1] The Pharisee proceeds to list his righteous
acts and behavior before God, rehearsing them, if you will, almost to demand
God’s favor and justification. He gives tithes of all that he possesses, he
fasts twice weekly; he is, by all accounts, a righteous man. There is a problem, however; he knows
it. Just as a person who is aware of their good looks, nothing “poisons the
well” more than self-knowledge about one’s own virtues. While he does do good
deeds, actions worthy of praise, his attitude of self-righteousness undoes all
his good deeds. Thus, he parades his righteousness before man and God, fully
confident that he is seen as such before both.
Our Lord then tells us of the publican. Here is a man who was universally despised as
both a tool of the Roman occupiers and as an extortioner. Recall that publicans, or tax collectors, as
the NKJ version translates it, were Jews employed the Roman state to levy and
collect Roman taxes. Often, they asked
for and received more than what was due, in a fraudulent manner. No wonder they were hated, not only as
symbols of the occupation, but also as taking advantage of their position to
wring as much money as possible out of the population.
This may be why another Publican, ”short of stature”
Zacchaeus, in Luke 19:8, said that he would restore four-fold to anyone from
whom he had over-collected when Christ told him that He must stay with him that
day. This act of repentance on Zacchaeus’ part prompted this wonderful
statement from Jesus: Luke 19:9-10 9
And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he
also is a son of Abraham; "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save
that which was lost."
Similarly, let’s examine the publican’s behavior in the
temple from today’s Gospel. He stood
“afar off”, not even daring to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he looked down and “smote upon his
breast, saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” The contrast couldn’t be clearer.
What really drives home the point of the parable is
Christ’s last statement: (Luke 18:14) “I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who
humbles himself will be exalted."
We know this by conventional wisdom, in sayings such as “Pride goeth
before a fall”, which is actually taken from Proverbs 16:18-19: ”Pride goeth before destruction, and an
haughty spirit before a fall. 19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the
spoil with the proud.”
Thus, the humble publican was justified before God, while
the Pharisee was rejected. His supposed righteousness meant nothing, while the
penitent publican, despised by men, was favored by God. Of course, there is a
great lesson in this for us.
We think that it is not far-fetched to think that this
picture, both the Pharisee and the Publican, reflects all of us from time to
time. Certainly not in these extremes,
but it essence this may be very accurate.
For example, there are days that all of us, in some
degree or another, play the part of the Pharisee. Not that we dress up in long robes and seek
the greetings in the marketplace, as Christ once said, but rather that we might
get a bit of self-righteousness.
Something has gone well, or we have exalted ourselves in some manner
because of some event. Or, we have read
some Scripture and think, “Yea, that might be me!” In short, we enjoy some sort of
self-exaltation that is not godly.
On the other hand, at other times, we get a truer sense
of our own self-worth. That is, we
realize that we are what we are: sinners desperately in need of a Savior. Like
the publican, we hardly dare to lift up our eyes to heaven.
It is at this point that we are the closest to our
salvation, in this priest’s humble opinion.
That is, rather than trying to fly on the rotten wings of supposed
self-worth, we realize that we need the wings of the angelic host to carry us
to Heaven. Not that angels can save us,
but they can carry out the commands of Jesus, their Lord, and bring us into His
presence. This is salvation, and not the
other.
The lesson to us is plain: we rely, not on our own
righteousness, but that of Jesus Christ.
As Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
When we, like the Pharisee, depend on our own works for
justification, or feel pride in our goodness, or indulge in self-righteousness,
we run the risk of being rejected by God.
Yet, when like the publican, we approach God in a lowly and humble
spirit, relying only on the merits of Jesus Christ, we have eternal
justification and redemption.
Yes, it may be that we are like two sides of one coin:
Pharisee one day and Publican the next.
Yet, as we grow in Christ, the Pharisee will fade and the Publican will
flower. That is, our dependence on self
will lessen and our need for God will grow stronger every day. It is at this point that our salvation is
closer than we thought.
Thanks be to God!
Luke 18:14 4
"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who
exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted." AMEN.
In the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.
