What a difference!
by Faye Schmidt
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He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner’ (Luke 18:13b).
Read Luke 18:9–14
Jesus told this parable to help the disciples better understand how to approach God, reaffirm that the Lord sees all and knows our spiritual state, illustrate righteous behaviour and show whom God justifies.
Jesus surprised his listeners by presenting the Pharisee as a self-righteous hypocrite and the typically despised tax collector as a good person who returned home justified.
This parable was shared to show that pleasing God, finding God and being in right standing with God is not about outward or overt piety, but about worshipping God in truth and love, believing in his promises and obeying God’s law as best as possible.
Redemption for transgressing the law is possible. Jesus says that those ‘even like this tax collector’ can leave and return home justified, not by their own goodness or their own righteousness, but by God’s mercy and the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ. Hebrews reminds us: ‘Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need’ (Hebrews 4:16).
Scripture states that God ‘despises the proud’ but ‘lifts the humble’. Self-righteous people may know how to pray eloquently and appear righteous, but God knows our motives and the condition of our hearts. When we live and approach God in humility, we recognise that Jesus is our only hope for salvation.
The divide between a holy God and a sinful humanity is too great for any human to bridge. Therefore, God sent Jesus to be a ‘light’ that leads to heaven and to our right standing before God.
Jesus lived a sinless life and became the final and perfect sacrifice on Calvary. Because Jesus shed his blood on Calvary and rose again on the third day, we, like the unlikely tax collector, can find justification and redemption.
Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, to be the sacrifice for my sin. Help me always to know that my salvation is through your grace, not my doing. Amen.
Faye Schmidt continues her diaconal calling through governance, having served on the Vic–Tas District Church Board, the General Church Board and currently as chair of the Standing Committee on Constitutions and her congregation, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide. Having lived and worked in many locations in Australia and overseas, Faye has a heart for the stranger and the newcomer and for being open to new ideas, learning from others and responding to needs.
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