We like to think of ourselves as having well-grounded intellects, as having the ability to see right from wrong, as being good and sound judges of character.
All too often we ‘pre-judge’ situations based on totally irrelevant things. There are categories of people whom we’ve historically pre-judged as being worthy of our trust—teachers, police officers, doctors, priests. And yet we know in our own days (and even recent days) how some outlier members of these ‘categories’ have shown themselves to be unworthy of such trust. We live in a fallen world! Only God truly knows the hearts of those He has created!
And this brings us to the image painted lovingly by our Lord in today’s parable (Luke 18:10-14). From the superficial categorically based kind of pre-judgment, those of that time would have seen anyone whose profession was ‘publican’ to be completely untrustworthy. They were seen as thieves, scoundrels. They misused the authority given them by Rome to steal, not only from the rich, but from any whom they thought they could steal! It’s the image of last Sunday’s Zacchaeus, as well as many others who were set in place and protected by the Roman authorities to extract a tax from the citizenry in their area. And a corrupt government allowed thier appointed publicans to take whatever else they chose to take—as long as the government got their ‘quota’ - first!
Meanwhile, those known as Pharisees were seen as above reproach, “men of God” who would never consider a misstep or to plot anything sinful or harmful to others. They were the ones trusted to arbitrate civil affairs. They interpreted the Law of Moses. They settled disputes.
When taking a superficial look at the Lord’s parable for this day, one would immediately jump to exactly the opposite conclusion from that which He shows us in the end.
What is it that makes the Pharisee ‘bad’ within the parable? It is precisely his focus on his own belief in the aforementioned pre-judgment, actually believing it of himself. And from the text of the parable, there is much to support such a perspective, if it is true. He does not extort from those he is set to judge. He keeps to his own wife. He gives his required tithe. In all of these, there is ‘good’ to be found.
And if we look for the good in the Pharisee by our pre-judgment, we’d look for the unjust in the publican. But in his own words, we find no evidence of the evil.
In the words of the two men, all we truly find is the result of their own self-assessments. For the Pharisee, there is only praise for himself for how good he judges himself to be. For the publican, there is only one cry—for mercy from God!
A plea for mercy comes from only one source—a broken and contrite heart, in the words of the Psalmist. The publican knows his sin. And he brings that sin to God asking the only thing he CAN ask of the Just Judge—mercy.
As we enter the ‘vestibule’ of the Great Fast in these preparatory Sundays, let us examine our own hearts and souls, and then find ourselves to be a companion of the publican, offering our own tears, as does, with the deepest repentance.
No comments:
Post a Comment