Luke 18,9-14. 11. Trinity

Luke 18,9-14          4820 

11. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 056

Zachaeus, Luke 19

Zachaeus IV, Bishop of Jerusalem

23. August 2020

1. O Merciful Lord, who desires to forgive; You have given us the seal and assurance of the gracious forgiveness of sins through Your Son Jesus Christ, so that we can fearlessly approach You and be assured of the comfort of Jesus’ resurrection.  Amen. (Starck 88 ¶ 1) 

2. »Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: „Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘O God, I thank You that I am not like other men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying: ‘O God, be propitiated toward me, the sinner!’ 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.“« 

3. Last week we heard Jesus exhort us to know the things that make for peace. Today we hear Him comfort us with the promise that those who are humble shall be exalted. 

4. Jesus told this parable to the Pharisees who trusted in meriting their righteousness and treated others with contempt. This was an ongoing confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees. The universal pharisaic teaching was: a person is declared by God to be righteous based on his obedience to the Commandments, and they didn’t believe they were sinners in need of repentance because of their often sincere zeal in obeying those Commandments. During the centuries after the return from the Babylonian Captivity God’s prophetic voice was silent. Much study was spent on the Torah and its interpretation in light of the prophets and oral tradition. Building on such leaders as Ezra and Nehemiah, the order of the Pharisees sprang up, added its regulations to those of the Torah, and developed a system of obedience to the letter of the Law. Their goal was a strict observance of the Law so God wouldn’t punish them with another captivity. In the parable, when the Pharisee uttered he was not an extortioner, unrighteous and an adulterer, he was honestly stating that he sincerely believe this about himself. In the Scriptures, adultery is often used as a metaphor for a idolatry, and the Pharisees were zealous for worshiping only Yahweh. This helps explain why many Pharisees took such an adversarial stance against Jesus, because they sincerely believe that to confess Jesus as the Messiah was idolatry, particularly because Jesus taught that it was unnecessary for the Jews to follow the traditions of the elders that the Pharisees so highly regarded. 

5. The pharisaic nature resides in each of us. Our fallen sinful nature is quick to establish ways to merit righteousness before God. Adam’s first sin was to disobey God’s one command; his second sin was justify himself before God. Adam is the first Pharisee. The original sin we have inherited from Adam is by nature the attempt at self righteousness. How can I appease God’s anger with my good deeds? How can I deflect God’s wrath by pointing out someone else’s sin that led to my sin. And when we have convinced ourselves that we are meriting our righteousness before God, then we can justify criticizing others we deem worse sinners than we are. 

6. The Pharisee believes in his self righteousness and boasts of it in the temple courtyard at public prayer. He presume to return home righteous. The tax collector, one of the most vile sinners according to the Pharisees, confesses his sinfulness and seeks Yahweh’s propitiation in the temple courtyard at public prayer.  

7. Jesus uses the verb ιλασθητι: be propitiated. God is the subject, and the tax collector wants His forgiveness. He is at the temple praying as the day’s atoning sacrifice is being offered up. He yearns for the Messiah to come to His temple to make the final atoning sacrifice for the people’s sins (Just 684). He confesses that he is the sinner and the guilty one (Just 684). He is the chief of sinners. Only God can forgive him. 

8. The sacrifice (atonement) is the basis for the declaration of the status of righteousness before God (justification) (Just 684). Justification must have Bobby standing before God, for eight is instantaneous; it involves forgiveness, but it also bestows a standing – declared righteousness (Just 684; Stein 451). The Apostle Paul speaks of it this way: »Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.« [Psalm 32,1-2] (Romans 4,6-8). And also: »For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written: Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them [Deuteronomy 27,26]. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith [Habakkuk 2,4]. But the law is not of faith, rather the one who does them shall live by them [Leviticus 18,5]. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree [Deuteronomy 27,26], so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.« (Galatians 3,10-14). The atoning sacrifice is Christ. 

9. The tax collector returned home justified because he had faith in God’s sacrifice, but the Pharisees returned home unrighteous because he rejected God’s sacrifice and instead trusted in his own it’s self-righteousness. Jesus is the atoning sacrifice that merits forgiveness. Jesus is the Righteous One who became the unrighteous one, the sinner, the guilty one and the one crucified by God. This is the atonement of the cross. Christ bears our sin and gives us His sanctification. Jesus humbled Himself so as to exalt us (Luke 14,11). Every time a sinner confesses their sin and seeks God’s propitiation, Jesus lifts them up and declares: you are forgiven; you are righteous; you are My brother and sister. As Jesus exalted the tax collector and cleared him righteous, so He exalts us and declares us righteous. Next week we will hear that Jesus opens the ears of those who are physically death and spiritually death.  Amen. 

10. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, whose deeds are proclaimed among the peoples; pour out on us the Holy Spirit, so that we call upon Your Name and give thanks for the righteousness You have given us.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. 

Just, Arthur A., Jr. Luke 9:51––24:53. Copyright © 1997 Concordia Publishing House. 

Starck, Johann. Starck’s Prayer Book. Copyright © 2009 Concordia Publishing House.