There are very few people who do not pray. Most people in the world accept that there is a God who is greater than them and that prayer is a normal activity. Jesus deliberately takes two contrasting characters in His parable. The point of the parable is not about prayer itself, but about the attitude that people have - whether in their hearts they place themselves first or God first.
Jesus’ parable was addressed to those who were: “… confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else.” (Luke 18:9). As always, the disciples were overhearing. They were also sometimes carried away by a sense of their own importance (Mark 10:35-45). They needed to learn the lesson too, if they were to be godly servant-leaders of the Early Church. The parable was of two people who decided to go to the temple to pray (Luke 18:10). The first one was a Pharisee. He did not join in with the crowd of worshippers, anonymous to all exc
Two men went to pray, Jesus said in this parable: a socially respected religious leader, and a socially despised tax collector (Luke 18:10). As the Pharisee prayed, he boasted of his religious superiority (Luke 18:11-12): but the fraudulent tax collector admitted his unworthiness and simply asked for mercy. There was no pretence or bravado, no excuses or 'special pleading' before God. He knew there was no hiding place for his sin, which he admitted as he asked for mercy, like the penitent thief on the cross (Luke 23:40-43).
The disciples, like most Jewish men of that time, had strong views as to who they thought was important. The "batting order" would have been priests, religious leaders, men, women, children and then Gentiles. The expression, ‘Children should be seen and not heard’ is attributed to a 15th century English cleric - perpetuating the idea which is still prominent in many cultures.
One of the features of being human is a deep desire to be confident about our personal eternal destiny. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time.
The rich young ruler, who wanted to be certain of his eternal destiny, faced Jesus' analysis of his heart. Although the man was religious, disciplined and socially moral, he had a secret idol - wealth! It was his security, the centre of his ambitions, the focus of his dreams and the passion of his heart (1 Timothy 6:9-10). So, Jesus told him that if he wanted eternal life with God in the centre, he must abandon the earthly riches which were controlling him and follow Jesus as his Lord and Master. But it was too much for the young man to accept. Despite his hear
Jesus and the disciples watched the rich young ruler go away (Luke 18:18-25). The religious leader had been convicted of what he ought to do but was unwilling to do it. So, Peter, who was often the first to talk, declared that he and all the disciples had chosen to follow Jesus, leaving behind their money and jobs. He was keen to point out that, unlike the self-pleasing religionist, they had made significant sacrifices to follow Jesus.
Jesus always prepared His disciples for what was to come. Like the Good Shepherd, He went before them and prepared them for the next steps, and in His own sacrificial death He taught how those who believe in Him must also sacrifice themselves for His sake (John 10:14-16). But at the time Jesus spoke these serious words to the trainee apostles, the disciples could not believe that their Master would be killed. In their minds, everything was in His favour and, apart from the religious power-holders, everybody seemed to love Jesus.
In Jesus' day, blind people were despised, even though Leviticus 19:14 prohibited any curse on the visually impaired. Often rejected by their families and without any means of earning a living, they resorted to begging. When Jesus approached the city of Jericho a crowd of people accompanied Him, and the procession stirred up noisy interest from those who lived and worked nearby. The blind man, hearing the disturbance, wanted to know what was going on. On hearing that Jesus was coming down the road, he seized his opportunity and shouted out for mercy.
Prayer is not complicated. The word simply means a 'cry'. This blind man cried out to the Lord, the Son of David, to have mercy on him (Luke 18:35-39). The beggar was not a theologian or known to be religiously pious, but his need was so great and he believed that if he called out to Jesus, He would have compassion (Matthew 20:34). The blind man’s heart told him that he could and must cry out to Jesus - even though he was not holy, and Jesus was. That is why his shouting could be heard above the crowd as he asked for mercy.
