God Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner

Luke 18:9-17

Key Verse 18:13

In this passage Jesus came up with two categories of people who are good in receiving and entering the Kingdom of God: a tax collector and people like a little child.

1. Verse 9 describes the problems of some people. Why is it a problem for anyone to be “confident of one’s own righteousness”? Verse 9 also indicates that confidence of one’s own righteousness will most likely lead one to looking down on everybody else. Why is it a problem for a man to look down on anyone?   

** It is a problem in that like a cancer patient who does not know that he has cancer, he does not know that he is a sinner. His real problem is the problem of not knowing that he has a problem. Confidence in one’s own self-righteousness blinds man’s eyes to see his fallen condition and therefore the need for salvation. 

** The Bible says that each person must consider others as better than himself. Phi 2:3. Looking down on everyone causes division and conflicts among fellow human beings. In addition if anyone looks down on everyone, that person has no one to learn anything from, so that person will never grow up. 

2. Verse 10 says that the two men went up “to the temple” to pray. What is the purpose of the temple? (1Ki 8:27-61; Isaiah 56:7)

** The temple is the place where sinners can come to God the Father, so that their sins would be forgiven and be reconciled to God. So to speak, the temple is the only spiritual clinic where one can be treated of his sin problems. All the details of the temple then are designed to treat the problem of sin, so that a sinner would rid himself of it, and thereby re-established his relationship with God the Father. 

3. Think about the Pharisee’s prayer in verses 11-12. What do the following words tell us about the man? 1) [he] prayed about himself; 2) I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector; and 3) I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. 

** He does not have a prayer topic. He thinks that he is a good person, so he does not need God to do anything for him. 

4. Verses 13 describes the way a tax collector prayed. What do the following expressions show us about him? 1) He stood at a distance; 2) He would not even look up to heaven; 3) beat his breast; and 4) God have mercy on me, a sinner. 

** 1) He regards God as holy, but himself as a sinner, who is not worthy to even come close to God the Father; 2) He is ashamed of himself; 3) He feels sorry for his sins; and 4) He asks God to show mercy [of forgiving and cleansing him of his sins] on him.  

5. Think about Jesus’ comments on the two men’s prayers in verse 14a. What does it mean to be “justified” before God? 

** It means his sins have been forgiven, so his relationship with God was restored. 

6. Verse 14b says that it was because the tax collector humbled himself that the Lord God exalted him. Why is this so? 

** Being humble means assessing oneself to be at a lower level on the scale of lets say 1 to 10 (with 1 being the best and 10 the worst) considering himself as the worst sinner.  This humble attitude opens up the room for God to work on him. 

7. Verse 17 includes the phrase, “like a little child”. How does a little child receive the kingdom of God? How is “receiving” (the kingdom of God) related to “entering” it?  

** The kingdom of God refers to Jesus Christ himself. Little children simply trust in Jesus and welcome Jesus without any hindrance such as preoccupation. 

** Receiving is beginning, entering is finishing. We receive to enter. No receiving no entering. We thus believe and accept Jesus and then enter through his gate. 

The end

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