“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.“Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
6 sermons cite this verse
… and despising all these other people, just able to look down on them all. He says, let me tell you a story. Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The people, the listeners, loved these stories. They just must have waited for the punchline every time. It's so exciting. Here we go again. Jesus got another the Pharisee versus the sinner story. Wonderful. So next we have the Pharisee. He stood up, and he prayed, verse 11, about himself or to himself. God, I thank you that I'm not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector here. What he's doing up at the temple to pray, I will never know. You see where his confidence lies? in what he doesn't do, and then in what he does. What does he do? Verse 12, I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of all that I get. I'm a tither, and I'm a double faster. …
… Notice the two players in the parable, verse 10. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax gatherer. You know, in the Jewish mindset, on the Jewish holiness spectrum, you couldn't find two more opposite people. At the top of that ladder was the Pharisee. On the bottom rung was the tax collector. If Jesus were telling the story today, he would probably tell it this way. Two people went into the church to pray, a preacher and a prostitute. That's how these people would think of these two people, a Pharisee and a tax collector. This Pharisee was praying, but he was praying out loud so that everybody could hear him. And I love this next phrase. He was praying thus to himself. His prayer was really to himself. He thought it was to God, but it was to himself. Notice what he said. God, I thank thee that I'm not like other people, swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax gatherer over here. And then he goes into this recitation of all the reasons God should be honored to have such a holy man in his presence. …
to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else. Jesus told this parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray. One, a Pharisee, that's the professional prayer, and the other, a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, God, I thank you that I am not like other people. What a start to a prayer. I thank you I'm not like other people. Robbers, evildoers, adulterers, Democrats, Republicans. Put whatever you want in there that's not you. That's what he's doing. I get to pray, and they don't get to pray. I get to come to God. They don't get to come to God. I get to have a relationship with God. They get to have a relationship with God. I get to be a preacher. They don't get to be a preacher. I get to worship. They don't get to worship. He said, I thank you that I'm not like robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. …
… that they were righteous, but regarded others with contempt. two men jesus says went up to the temple to pray one of them was a pharisee and the other a tax collector the pharisee standing off by himself was praying thus oh god i thank you that i am not like the other people thieves rogues adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of my income. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven but was beating his breast and saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, Jesus told them, that this man, this tax collector, went down to his home justified rather than the other. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves shall be exalted. Friends, this is the word of God for you, the people of God. Thanks be to God. Okay, so this week I've been wrestling with this text. …
… he's bringing God his resume He's like, I fast twice a week. God, you should listen to me. I pay tithes on my whole income. You should listen to me. I'm not greedy. I'm not adulterous. I don't do all those things. These are all of the reasons why you should listen to me. Remember, those are all good things to do. The things he's doing are all good things. They're very, in fact, he's pretty impressive. I mean, twice a week, struggle for one. Tithes on everything. That means 10% of all of his income he gives to the Lord. It's pretty impressive. Those are not wrong things to do, but they are the wrong way to approach God. This is so important for all of us, especially if we have resume faith. Here's one of the reasons why it's wrong. One of the reasons it's wrong is if I come before God and say, God, here are all the reasons. All these things I'm doing, these are all the reasons why you should love me. …
… Jesus told this parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I give a 10th of all I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. he would not even look up to heaven but he beat his breast and he said god have mercy on me a sinner and jesus says i tell you that this man rather than the other went home justified before god for all those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted two men showed up to the temple to pray though one didn't really pray at all he just stood by himself and boasted in his good deeds, touted his resume. Thank you, God, that I'm not as big of a mess up as all these other jokers here. Anybody got multiple kids, you trying to do the prayer time thing at night? You know, it's always amazing. You got, we got three girls, you know, and we asked them, what are you thankful for today? And inevitably from time to time, there's one like, I'm thankful that my sister won't hit me again tomorrow. And I'm thankful that even though she didn't want to today, that tomorrow she'll share her toys with me. You know, it's like, okay, …