Luke 18:14, commentary and pictures

Two men came to the same place to pray with opposite hearts, one full of self-praise as righteous and the other knowing himself a sinner with no claim to favor. The humble one who stood afar off, would not lift his eyes, and asked only for mercy went home justified rather than the self-righteous one whose prayer was of no value. God judges the heart and not outward appearance, rank, talent, or display of virtues, so pardon comes by sensed need, confession, and faith laying hold on mercy and the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, not by fasting, tithing, or comparison with others. The rule laid down is that everyone who exalts himself shall be abased and he who humbles himself shall be exalted, for God resists the proud and self-sufficient but dwells with and gives grace to the humble and contrite. True humility therefore gives up self-glorification and self-trust, counts self as nothing, and lives in dependence on Christ alone with reverence, self-searching, and confession.

Setting and Verdict

Two men came to the same place to pray and to meet with God with opposite attitudes, the Pharisee full of self-praise and considering himself righteous, while the publican recognized his own need and made no claim to mercy or approval. The humble publican who knew his sin, claimed no merit, and asked only for mercy went home justified rather than the self-righteous Pharisee, for his desire was for pardon and peace and he was blessed with justification. The self-important, self-righteous Pharisee's prayer was unanswered and of no value, in contrast to the humble publican's humility before God as opposed to haughty self-sufficiency and confidence in deeds, for those who exalt themselves will be brought low and those who humble themselves will be exalted. The humble sinner who recognizes unworthiness and seeks mercy is justified rather than the self-righteous person who confidently claims holiness, for the publican's posture shows humility while the Pharisee's self-confidence has no sound basis, and a sense of unworthiness brings a person nearer to God than claims of piety.

God judges the heart rather than outward appearance, rank, talent, education, or position, and not as men judge. While men display virtues and friends may praise and flatter and think good work recommends a person to favor, God sees disobedience and serious faults and reads the intents and purposes of the soul. The parable was given to reveal how heaven regards the proud, pretentious boaster and how God looks upon the soul who feels true need, knows himself a sinner, and longs for greater nearness to God, for Christ came to lift up the fallen, and the humble penitent is accepted and made precious while the self-important man who esteems himself righteous is rejected. Value with God does not come from temporal wealth, greatness, or position, but from abiding in Christ, and the sinner who knows his need has more discernment of heavenly things than the man confident in himself, for the farther men separate from God and disobey His commandments the more self-confidence, selfish thought, and selfish action they develop. To exalt self is to think little of sins and much of virtues, to get high in one's own eyes, to be stirred and angry when spoken against instead of closely investigating, to turn away from reproof of sin as from a disagreeable picture while not ceasing to sin, and to cherish pride that makes deaf and blind to compassion, mercy, and truth, while to humble self is to learn meekness and lowliness of heart, to wear the yoke and lift the burdens and become one with Christ, to behold Christ in order to think little of self, and to submit to the unpleasant work of soul cleansing and bruising of self on which health of the soul depends.

The two men divide all worshipers into two classes, first seen in Cain and Abel. Cain came self-righteous with only a thank-offering and was not accepted, while Abel came as a lost sinner trusting unmerited love through blood pointing to the Lamb and was respected. The same division was later seen in Peter, who first boasted that he was not as other men and would not fall, then after denial repented bitterly like the publican and found mercy and pardon.

The humble, penitent sinner receives pity and forgiveness, while the proud person who feels no need of a Saviour receives no such response. Herod's pride and rejection of the knowledge he had received left him without the instruction and comfort offered to those who sought mercy.

Humble Sinner Accepted

The tax collector stood at a distance as one unworthy, unwilling to lift his eyes toward heaven, beating his breast in anguish and self-abhorrence, knowing he had no merit of his own. He made no comparison with others but stood as if alone before God, with only a desire for pardon and peace and only one plea as a sinner for mercy. His lowly posture showed humility before God in contrast to haughty self-sufficiency, and his prayer was offered in dependence on God rather than in pride over goodness. The humble and repentant one went home justified rather than the self-righteous one, for those who exalt themselves will be brought low and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

His prayer showed a dependence reaching out to lay hold upon Omnipotence, for to him self appeared as nothing but shame. All who seek God must see self in the same way, letting self become nothing and recognizing their need rather than relying on self. Justification comes by a faith that renounces all self-trust, by which the needy suppliant lays hold upon infinite power. Faith and prayer work together like arms by which the needy reach for infinite love, and faith sees the benefit and value of making peace with God. By contrast the prayer without such dependence has no value and is not heard.

A sense of unworthiness brings a person nearer to God than confident claims of piety, holiness, or sinlessness, whose self-confidence has no sound basis. Justification rests on God's mercy rather than on such claims, and a claim to holiness does not establish standing before God. The sinner who knows his need and longs for greater nearness to God has more discernment of heavenly things than the man confident in himself. Christ came to lift up the fallen, so the humble penitent who feels his true need is accepted and made precious with God while the self-important man who esteems himself righteous is rejected. The farther men separate from God and disobey His commandments the more they develop self-confidence, selfish thought, and selfish action, for value with God does not come from temporal wealth, greatness, or position but from abiding in Christ.

Humility means giving up self-glorification and recognizing that sufficiency is in Christ alone. As Christian experience advances, repentance deepens and pride gives way to shame over sin and dependence on Christ, while the self-exalting will be brought low and the humble lifted up. Those who consider themselves sinless do not feel their need for wisdom, light, strength, forgiveness, and continuing growth in grace. Recognizing unworthiness leads to grieving over sin and dependence on mercy, and the one who so grieved and pleaded went home justified rather than the one who boasted of goodness.

Proud Worship Rejected

The Pharisee came without feeling himself a sinner in need of pardon, trusting his fasting, tithing, prayer, and outward life as merit to recommend him to God and to win human esteem. He judged himself by other men instead of by God's holy character, and sought to buy heaven by meritorious works of his own. This included self-imposed fasting and prayer carried even to the injury of health, which God has not required and which deceives those who practice it.

His self-trust made him despise, accuse, and condemn others and look down on those he considered sinners. While displaying his virtues and congratulating himself on his goodness, he was blind to his own disobedience and greater faults. God sees the heart where men praise and flatter, and true righteousness does not produce such self-exaltation and contempt, which manifest a false righteousness and shut a person off from grace and communion with God.

His upright posture expressed haughty self-sufficiency, self-congratulation, and spreading his virtues before God. To exalt self in this way is to think little of sins and much of virtues, to get high in one's own eyes, to be stirred and angry when spoken against instead of closely investigating, and to turn away from reproof of sin as from a disagreeable picture while not ceasing to sin. Such proud, self-reliant prayer with little reverence and human superiority prepares no one to approach God, and the self-exalting Pharisee who praised himself was not heard.

He is the picture of false sanctification, where religious duties such as fasting, prayer, and outward humility do not make a person accepted when the heart is proud and self-righteous. Those who profess sanctification while entirely ignorant of the work of grace upon the heart depend wholly upon feelings and emotions once experienced, and stubbornly urge tenacious claims of holiness and sinlessness with many words, repeating that God leads and teaches them and that they live without sin, while bearing no precious fruit as proof. These pretensions delude their own souls and lead astray many who earnestly desire to conform to the will of God, and speaking of personal spiritual poverty while feeling superior, together with refusing reproof, exposes the false humility and pride.

A prayer that tells the Lord of one's own devotion and prayerful life and what one has done, praising and adoring self in pride and self-sufficiency while despising others, has no value, is not heard or blessed, and does not justify. Recounting works before God proves the lack of blessing, and such self-exalting words with pomposity and irreverence should never be spoken again, for the humble publican went home justified while the self-righteous Pharisee did not. The Pharisee goes home unjustified because he stays anchored and entrenched in self-righteousness as in a fortress where neither God nor man can do anything for him. To be justified a person must break down the walls, surrender to God, seek the Lord, grasp the promises, and wrestle till victory is gained, for exalting self is talking of self and magnifying past deeds while excusing faults and keeping Jesus out, and failure leaves the soul enshrouded in dense darkness.

Becoming just in one's own eyes, wise in one's own opinion, and lifted up by past light and experience forfeits the humility that must mark followers. Such ones think they need not be taught, think they know it all, despise instruction, and cast teaching behind them, while constantly pointing to personal righteousness, devotion, and prayerful life and depending on merits. They are left to their own ways to be deceived about themselves, holding a hard spirit at war with God's work and without union with the meek spirit of Christ.

Religious profession without obedience and good fruits does not make a person right with God, and words and actions reveal the true condition despite boasting of goodness. Those with greater light and greater knowledge are under increased accountability to advance that light by not only professing belief but practicing the truth, which is following the light by constantly elevating and becoming more spiritually minded. Without this they remain self-righteous and unjustified, blind to wrongdoing, and face judgment if they reject the means God provides to correct them.

Cherishing a spirit of Pharisaism excludes Christ from the thoughts and keeps the heart from being bound up with His heart. Refusing to relinquish a high estimate of self and to humble the heart before God and cast oneself wholly on Christ's mercy places a barrier between the person and the Saviour and shuts out the power out of and above self needed for spiritual life. Such pride and self-righteousness shut the person off from grace and bar the way to heaven, while humble recognition of sin opens the way to seek pardon and receive Christ's righteousness.

Justification Through Faith Alone

The verdict turns not on merit, outward deeds, or comparison with others, but on sensed need, confession of sin, and plea for mercy. The one came without feeling himself a sinner in need of pardon, trusting fasting, tithing, and outward life as merit to recommend him to God and win human esteem, judging himself by other men instead of by God's holy character. His self-trust made him despise and accuse others, manifesting the spirit of Satan, leaving him destitute of divine blessing and unable to commune with God. The other stood afar off as unworthy, would not lift his eyes, smote his breast in anguish and self-abhorrence, knowing he had no merit, making no comparison, standing as if alone before God with only desire for pardon and peace and only plea for mercy as a sinner crying for mercy, and he was blessed and justified. The two divide all worshipers into two classes, first seen in Cain who came self-righteous with a thank-offering only and was not accepted and Abel who came as a lost sinner trusting unmerited love through blood pointing to the Lamb and was respected, and later seen in Peter who first boasted he was not as other men and would not fall, then after denial repented bitterly like the publican and found mercy and pardon.

Justification comes by faith that renounces all self-trust, by which the needy suppliant lays hold upon infinite power. His prayer showed dependence reaching forth to lay hold upon Omnipotence, while the other's prayer had no value. To him self appeared as nothing but shame, and all who seek God must see self in the same way, letting self become nothing and recognizing need. Faith and prayer work together like arms by which the needy reach for infinite love, and faith sees the benefit and value of making peace with God.

It rests on God's mercy, divine grace, the atoning blood, and the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour alone, not on claims of holiness or sinlessness. A sense of unworthiness and reluctance to lift the eyes to heaven can accompany a heart nearer to God than confident claims of piety. Pharisaical righteousness springs from self and not from Christ, having its foundation in self alone, trusting in one's own good works for salvation and trying to buy heaven by meritorious works of one's own. That includes self-imposed fasting and prayer carried to the injury of health and rigorous fasting which God has not required, which deceives those who practice it and leaves the soul unsustained. Religious duties such as fasting, prayer, and outward humility do not make a person righteous when performed in a self-justifying spirit, and to consider oneself thereby entitled to heaven is deception, because works cannot purchase entrance there. The lesson is to reject self-exaltation and seek salvation through Christ alone, relying on divine grace and the atoning blood, with reliance on the one great Offering sufficient for all who believe, the publican representing those whom God justifies and the self-righteous Pharisee representing those who exalt themselves, and humility being necessary for entering heaven. Christ and true godliness bring health to the body and strength to the soul.

Pardon and peace require a knowledge of self that results in contrition. The Pharisee was not justified because he felt no conviction of sin, and his soul encased in self-righteous armor could not be reached by the Holy Spirit. Only the one who knows himself to be a sinner can be saved by Christ who came to heal the brokenhearted, preach deliverance to captives, give sight to the blind, and set at liberty the bruised, while those who are whole need no physician. A sinner must know his real condition to feel need of help, must understand his danger to flee to the refuge, and must feel the pain of his wounds to desire healing. The humble confession of a sinner who takes responsibility for guilt without excuse or deception is acceptable to God, for whom blood is pleaded so that he is justified, while self-justification that shifts blame onto others or God is its opposite.

Humble Exalted, Proud Abased

The verse lays down the rule that pride ends in humiliation and humility ends in honor, that everyone who exalts himself shall be abased and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. The humble, repentant publican went home justified rather than the self-righteous Pharisee, whose haughty self-sufficiency and confidence in his own deeds stand in contrast to humility before God. Its lesson is to humble ourselves and learn from the great Teacher, receiving instruction from Scripture as a privilege. Humility means giving up self-glorification and recognizing that sufficiency is in Christ alone, and as Christian experience advances repentance deepens and pride gives way to shame over sin and dependence on Christ.

God rejects the prayer of those exalted in their own eyes and accepts the prayer of the humble, so self-exaltation brings abasement and rejection and self-humbling brings exaltation and acceptance. The self-righteous person who points to personal righteousness, devotion and prayerful life and enumerates good deeds is not regarded, while the sinner who pleads for mercy moves pity and goes justified. Becoming just in one's own eyes, wise in one's own opinion, and lifted up by past light forfeits the humility that must mark followers, leaving such ones to be deceived about themselves. Humility is necessary for receiving Christ's presence and God's blessings, for it is a heaven-born quality that must be present to enter heaven and will be seen in the church, the world, and heaven. God gives grace to the humble while resisting the proud and self-sufficient, dwells with the humble and contrite to revive them, honor follows humility, the poor in spirit belong to the kingdom of heaven, and humility is a mark of excellence of spirit.

Christ calls and justifies the humble, outcast sinner, even the despised of the nations, drawing him by loving-kindness to come, while He never countenances those who stand apart in self-esteem and look down upon others, welcoming sinners while rejecting the self-exalting attitude. Spiritual success depends on present humility, and if people will not humble themselves under God's hand, painful providence may humble them. Humility includes acknowledging guilt and shortcomings, confessing sins, seeking forgiveness from people harmed, and making the heart ready, and God works with those who clear away these obstacles through confession. To exalt self is to think little of sins and much of virtues, to get high in one's own eyes, to be stirred and angry when spoken against instead of closely investigating, to turn away from reproof of sin while not ceasing to sin, and to cherish pride that makes deaf and blind to compassion, mercy, and truth, whereas God does not judge as men judge, for friends may praise and flatter and think good work recommends a person to favor, but God reads the intents and purposes of the soul. To humble self is to learn meekness and lowliness of heart, to wear His yoke and lift His burdens and become one with Him, to behold Him in order to think little of self, and to submit to the unpleasant work of soul cleansing and bruising of self on which health of the soul depends, and if this is refused the Father must bring down into the valley of humiliation to give a proper estimate of self, for slumbering on in imperfection and human praise ends in the second death rather than being justified.

Humbling oneself before God is not a downward step but an upward one. Those who accept true religion must step down from self-esteem and self-righteousness and humble themselves before God, and those who place themselves in connection with the living God as sons and daughters are taking steps upward.

Living Out Humility

Prayer is to be offered in dependence on God and not in pride over personal goodness, with lowly posture and plea for mercy showing humility before God rather than haughty self-sufficiency. Humble prayer, not pride and self-sufficiency, prepares a person to approach God, while the self-exalting prayer that praises self and looks down on others is not heard. Prayer that God accepts is made with humility of mind and reverence toward the living God, with careful searching of heart and with bringing soul, tongue, and words to God to glorify Him. This includes putting right wrongs done by speech against others. The proud, self-reliant prayer with pomposity and irreverence, with little reverence and human superiority while despising others, stands as a warning.

The lesson is to humble ourselves and learn from the great Teacher, receiving instruction from Scripture as a privilege. To humble self is to learn meekness and lowliness of heart in His school, to wear His yoke and lift His burdens and become one with Him. It is to behold Him in order to think little of self, and to submit to the unpleasant work of soul cleansing and bruising of self on which health of the soul depends.

Humility includes acknowledging guilt and shortcomings, confessing sins, seeking forgiveness from people harmed, and making the heart ready. God works with those who clear away these obstacles through confession, and spiritual success depends on present humility. True humility leads to stopping evil and seeking reformation, for seeing self as God sees brings shame and sorrow over wrongs and their influence on others, whereas pride trusts its own ways and thinks confession humiliating.

Humbling oneself before God in confession is honorable and leads to being exalted. Confessing sin to the Maker and seeking forgiveness through the merits of the crucified and risen Savior lifts a person up before people and angels. This is distinct from kneeling before a fallen human and disclosing secret thoughts to a priest, which dishonors and degrades the person.

Doing better than others is no reason for self-flattery, and treating oneself as righteous by favorable comparison with people who do wrong is warned against. The right response is to examine one's own heart and yield it to God with willingness to follow. High ambitions and desire to make a show reveal self-exaltation and need for conversion, while humility is part of character formed by receiving the word. Workers who speak harshly or act with self-sufficiency need humility to recognize defects and walk rightly, humbly confessing faults before God rather than regarding themselves as righteous and condemning others.

Those who learn meekness and lowliness do not flatter themselves that their own methods are best or criticize and depreciate their brethren by comparing work with their own, but esteem others. Self-sufficiency, pride in personal righteousness and merits, and wanting to be first are opposed to the humility required, and the spirit of criticism, jealousy, and fault-finding exposes this pride rather than true righteousness. Striving for superiority brings the Pharisee's sin and strengthens pride and hardness of heart, while God justifies and exalts the humble.

The humble who do not trust in their own importance or righteousness but wait on God in trusting faith are honored by Him. Humility should distinguish God's people from the world, and they should seek to be faithful servants rather than seek honor and position for themselves or strive to equal or surpass one another.

The lesson is to reject self-exaltation and seek salvation through Christ alone, relying on divine grace and the atoning blood, with the humble penitent accepted while the self-important person who esteems himself righteous is rejected. Value with God does not come from temporal wealth, greatness, position, or outward display, but from abiding in Christ and coming humble and contrite to a promise that will not fail. Humility is difficult to learn, especially for the rich and self-indulgent who treat wealth as proof of importance or as making them independent of God. The farther people separate from God and disobey His commandments the more self-confidence, selfish thought, and selfish action they develop, while the sinner who knows need has more discernment of heavenly things than the person confident in himself.

Holding to familiar beliefs while rejecting a message sent by God does not put anyone in safety, for the humble and not those who exalt themselves are exalted by God. People who pride themselves on goodness and consider themselves better than others are spiritually blind. They must seek God as sinners rather than trust in standing, or they will fail to develop Christian character and be lost.

Those who are self-righteous need their hearts softened and subdued by the Holy Spirit and brought to humble, sincere faith. This humility enables them to win children to Christ. Zeal that savors of Pharisaism is not of Christ, and extremes of false charity and unbending severity are to be avoided where kindness, mercy, and love would be effective.