"And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." [Luke 18:13-14]
In Luke, Jesus tells a parable of two men praying; it was directed toward “certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.” [Lk 18:9] In the parable there was a Pharisee, a religious elite; he, praying not to God but in reality only to himself, exalted himself in prayer and despised another man praying near to him. The other man in the parable, the one despised of the Pharisee, a tax collector, would not even look up to God but beat his chest and cried out in desperation to heaven, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” [Lk 18:10-13] Jesus tells us that it was “this man [who] went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” [Lk 18:14]
Truly, for us, this is a wonderful thing. For it is the man who realized he was a sinner who was justified and forgiven. It was not the man who thought he was in no particular need for such a thing. The man who thought everything was okay and that he was in perfectly fine shape did not go home justified; on the contrary, he went home condemned: that man, though in the temple, was not even heard by God for he “prayed…with himself.” [Lk 18:11] And such a truth should comfort us, if we have indeed seen that we are sinful; for that is the very attitude that God has respect for and looks down upon with mercy and love. This is one of our Father’s greatest blessings, that He is not looking for perfection but honesty and humility; He is not looking for a perfectly righteous man, but one who sees his unrighteousness and calls out to God for mercy.
And praise to our God who is so plentiful in mercy and ready to forgive to those who look to Him for it. For it is written, “for thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.” [Psa 86:5] And again, “but thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” [Psa 86:15] Our Father is “ready to forgive” and He is full of mercy toward those who call on Him.
But there is another piece to this passage. Notice the word “merciful” in the tax collector’s prayer. This is a word that is only used twice in the New Testament. Once here and once in Hebrews 2:17. The word means to “extend propitiation.” Propitiation is atonement for a wrongdoing that appeases the wrath and gains the favor of the offended party. The man does not simply just cry out for “mercy” as we would commonly know the word to be; but specifically, in the parable, the man cries out for propitiation.
In Hebrews we see the word used again. See it in bold letters. The writer says that because we “are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that has the power of death, that is, the devil…Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” [Heb 2:14; 17] Jesus, through death, atoned for our sins, thus reconciling us to God and granting us that glorious favor of God which is due Christ but imparted to us for His sake.
The man who recognizes his sinfulness and in humility cries out to God for the propitious blood of Christ to cover his wrong, is the man who is justified in God’s sight. It is not the high and lofty man who never sins, but the one who when He sins, is honest with God, both of his sin and his inability to fix the problem and so cries out for Christ again. Let us always be found at the cross of Christ in humility, looking to God for mercy and acceptance, for it is there that we are accepted in His sight, for it is written that we who are saved are “accepted in the beloved.” [Eph 1:6]
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