Exalted through Humility, Part 2
David W Palmer
(Matthew 23:12 NKJV) “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Jesus has another way to look at the concept of humbling ourselves:
(Luke 18:9–14 NKJV) Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: {10} “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. {11} The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. {12} I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ {13} And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ {14} I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Jesus concluded this illustration with the same phrase he used in Matthew 23:12 (above): “He who humbles himself will be exalted.” Here, however, he relates this to being completely honest about yourself: acknowledging your sin, which leads to humble and gut-wrenching repentance; and this in turn leads to asking God for mercy.
On the other hand, Jesus said that the Pharisee in his story fits the phrase: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.” He had a very different attitude in God’s face: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.”
In truth, although this man addressed his prayer to “God,” he wasn’t really communing with God when he said it: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.” The Greek scholar, Robertson, explains that rather than genuine prayer, what he said was: “A soliloquy with his own soul, a complacent recital of his own virtues for his own self-satisfaction, not fellowship with God, though he addresses God.”
Jesus addressed this parable to: “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.” We note the pride of Jesus’s target audience: they “despised others.” Jesus illustrated this perfectly for us in the attitude of the Pharisee in his parable; he looked down on the tax collector. This can only mean that in the Pharisee’s perception, they were both on a ladder of relative standing and importance. His self-justified, “holier than thou” attitude reflected his belief that he was superior—much further up the “religion” ladder—than the humble, repentant tax collector.
It is true that righteousness—right standing with God—is only attainable through trust (faith), but the Pharisee trusted in himself for it. Right standing with God, on the other hand, is truly only found by trusting completely in the Lord Jesus—his death, burial, and resurrection—and in an ongoing relationship, trusting in his role as your Good Shepherd:
(Romans 5:1 NKJV) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Pharisee may have been justified in his own eyes, but this certainly didn’t make him righteous before God. In truth, he fits the category, “God resists the proud”:
(James 4:6 NKJV) But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
We can see God’s resistance of the Pharisees clearly demonstrated in the way Jesus confronted and condemned them in the remainder of Matt. 23. For example, he said:
(Matthew 23:15–16 NLT) “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are! {16} Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! …”
The Son of God emphatically resisted the proud Pharisees. I certainly don’t want to have God resisting me like that, or to be in the firing line of his consuming fire:
(Hebrews 12:29 NKJV) For our God is a consuming fire.
Thankfully, if our hearts are humble, if we confess and truly repent; and if our trust is completely in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ for our righteousness, then our merciful God gives grace to the humble:
(Luke 18:14 NKJV) “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
In his parable to the Pharisees, Jesus said that the outcome of the whole episode was that the repentant tax collector would ultimately be exalted. Listen to what else he said along this line:
(Matthew 21:31 NKJV) “… Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.
(Luke 7:29–30 NKJV) And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. {30} But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.
(Luke 15:1, 16:14–15 NKJV) Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. … {16:14} Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. {15} And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
Our ultimate exultation may not come fully before Jesus’s return, but it will come. So today, don’t be like the proud Pharisee who only prayed with himself. Instead, be more like the repentant tax collector; he humbly acknowledged his sin, and asked for mercy (forgiveness). That’s the right way to go about being justified before God.
Don’t be caught out like the people Jesus was speaking to here:
(Luke 13:26–30 NLT) “Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ {27} And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’ {28} There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out. {29} And people will come from all over the world—from east and west, north and south—to take their places in the Kingdom of God. {30} And note this: Some who seem least important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will be least important then.”
Today, put your focus on the eternal exaltation of being included in God’s kingdom as his son or daughter—forever! Let’s ensure that what we do here and now is aimed at pleasing God, and that it contributes to his dream and vision for his glory to cover the earth.
Have you been like the proud Pharisee in Jesus’s parable—praying only with yourself, rehearsing all the reasons you feel you are justified while looking down on others who you deem to be less holy? If so, maybe you need to come to him today in a humble attitude of repentance, asking for mercy, and trusting him completely to justify you.
Remember to keep your eyes on the big picture, not on the temporary, fleeting moments of life in this world:
(2 Peter 3:10–12 NKJV) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. {11} Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, {12} looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
(Hebrews 11:24–26 NKJV) By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, {25} choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, {26} esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
