“Judge not, that you be not judged.”
That’s a saying from Jesus that I’m pretty sure you’ve heard. And Jesus told us exactly what he had in mind. It was about people judging others for their piety.
He told a parable to explain it. Two men go up into the temple in Jerusalem to pray, a Pharisee and a tax collector.
To add some context, the Pharisees were the religious leaders of the day, honored in the public square, and tax collectors were considered lowlife scum by…just about everybody.
The Pharisee says, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’”
Now remember, this is said publicly, openly. The Pharisee is boasting about his piety. And he’s using the lowly tax collector to set himself off.
“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’”
And what does Jesus say about him? “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Pharisee is honored by men. But the tax collector is honored by God for his loathing of his sin compared to God’s holiness and for his spirit of repentance.
It reminds me of this: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” No boasting here from David about his holiness, as he did in Psalm 18. Life had chastened him.
And I also think of Psalm 34: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Doesn’t this sound like the tax collector in Jesus’ parable?
And one more, from Isaiah: “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’”
We are sinners. God is holy. Therefore what God honors is the spirit of contrition seen in the tax collector, which glorifies God, more than the show of holiness seen in the Pharisee, which glorifies man.
And what about you, my friend? Are you feeling like you’re not good enough for God today when you look around and see the holiness of others in the Christian church?
You’re right; none of us is good enough for God, and there’s nothing we can do about it.
But remember the tax collector. Come to the temple (church) on Sunday mornings to worship God and beat your poor breast in sincere repentance for the many ways in which you have fallen short of His glory.
Beat your breast and bow your head down to the floor. And the God of heaven who sits on high will see you in your lowliness, and He will lift you up.
