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GROUP GUIDE: Luke 18:9-14

Three things that are true about all of us:

All of us are sinners.
We have all been sinned against.
We all crave approval/acceptance.

We all want approval. We change things about ourselves to get it or do different things to receive it, but we all seek approval.

In Luke 18:9-14 Jesus tells a parable about acceptance.

The parable has two main characters: a pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisees were law-keeping people who believed that they (the Jews) were under Roman rule because of their disobedience. While tax collectors were Jews who worked for Romans to tax their own Jewish people. Jesus uses the extremes of society to emphasize His point.

The Pharisee enters the temple and begins to thank God, not for what God has done but for what he has done, even to the point of thanking God that he is not like the tax collector, exalting his moral superiority. He thanks God for his own perceived good actions. He is self-approving or self-righteous.

In contrast, the tax collector is standing far away, symbolizing his hesitancy to come close to the presence of God. He is a self-described sinner who beats his chest in humility and begs for mercy. He is desperate for God and has no perceived goodness on his own.

The tax collector, to the shock of the audience, is held up to be the example to follow in the parable. He is showing them and us what is needed to be right with God, and it starts with humility and acknowledgment that we are broken people in need of rescuing.

There is no other way except through humility and the acceptance of the finished work of Jesus on the cross and the resurrection to be right with God. This is how God approves us and when you realize God accepts you it’s a whole lot easier to accept others.

Three ramifications of being self-righteous and ignoring the gift of salvation (approval from God through Christ):

If you don’t accept God’s approval of you through Jesus, you will spend your whole life looking for acceptance.
If you don’t accept God’s approval of you through Jesus, you will have a constant disdain for others. You will be self-righteous, critical, and full of arrogance.
If you don’t accept God’s approval of you through Jesus, you will find yourself eternally lost.

Discussion Questions

What does Jesus' parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector reveal about the nature of humility and pride? (Proverbs 16:18 - "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.")
How does the attitude of the Pharisee in his prayer reflect common religious attitudes today? (Matthew 6:5 - "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.")
What is the significance of the tax collector's posture and his plea for mercy? How does this relate to repentance and forgiveness? (Psalm 51:17 - "My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.")
In what ways does this parable challenge our perceptions of righteousness and judgment? (Isaiah 55:8-9 - "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'")
What can we learn from the contrasting attitudes of the Pharisee and the tax collector regarding their understanding of their own sinfulness and need for God's grace? (Romans 3:23-24 - "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.")
How does Jesus' teaching in this parable challenge societal norms regarding status and righteousness? (James 2:1-4 - "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.")
What practical steps can we take to cultivate the humility demonstrated by the tax collector in our own lives? (Philippians 2:3-4 - "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.")