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‘Two men went up into the temple to pray.’
Luk_18:10
I. A like purpose.—Outwardly there is little difference—the one was a Pharisee, the other a publican. Both came from their homes. They would thus bring with them family wants, cares, sins (Job_1:5; 1Pe_5:7). Both went to the Temple. They would thus feel they were going into God’s presence (Exo_29:42-43; Psa_27:4). Both came for the same object—to pray (Mat_6:6). Further, both stood. This was customary (1Ki_8:22), though in times of deep humiliation they knelt (Dan_6:10; Act_9:40; Act_20:36). Hence outwardly there was little noticeable.
II. A different method.—But God shows us what was going on within. He lets us see the state of their hearts.
(a) Look at the Pharisee (Luk_18:11-12). He prayed—very good (Pro_15:8). But how?—‘with himself’ (Php_2:21; 2Co_5:15). What does He say? ‘God, I thank Thee.’ A very good beginning (Psa_100:4). But what next? ‘that I am not as other men are.’ All the world is very bad, but he is very good. ‘I fast,’ etc.; and so he tells God all the good deeds he has done (Mat_6:2; Mat_6:5). But has he no sins? He does not confess them (Pro_21:2). Has he no wants? He does not mention them (Rev_3:17-18). Has He no love? He does not show it (1Co_13:5). No, he trusts in himself that he is righteous (Pro_20:6). And what then? He does not need or want a Saviour (Mat_9:13).
(b) Look at the publican (Luk_18:13). We do not read that he prays. He does not lift his eyes. He feels that he has sinned against Heaven (Luk_15:18). He stands afar off. Sin has set him at a distance (Isa_59:2). He smites his breast—as judging himself (1Co_11:31). Does He ask for anything? Yes, mercy. He first places God very high; last he places himself very low; and mercy he puts between. ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner,’ or, as it might be, ‘The God, the good, the great, be merciful to me the sinner,’ as if he were the only sinner in the world. Such is the spirit of the true saint (1Ti_1:15; 1Jn_1:8-10). Such is the spirit of true worship (Psa_51:17; Isa_66:2; Mat_5:3). Emptied of self to be filled out of Christ’s fullness.
Bishop Rowley Hill.
Illustration‘Why did our Lord employ against the Pharisees language which is not only severe, but seems positively harsh and almost unloving? They were moral in their lives and scrupulously exact in their religious duties. They were regarded by the common people as superior beings; orthodox in their views (See Act_23:8), sedate, charitable to the poor, frugal in their mode of life. Why, then, did the Baptist, himself an ascetic, speak of them as “vipers,” and why did our Blessed Lord so often address them as “hypocrites”? Because they “trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.” They “trusted in themselves, and”—therefore—they “despised others.” The one frame of mind led to the other. They compared themselves with others, first having commended themselves, and then struck the balance in their own favour.’