Luc. 18:9-14.
Now he said to some who presumed themselves to be pious, and despised others, the like: Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself thus: I thank thee, O God, that I am not like other men, robbers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this publican; I fast twice a week, and give tithes of all that I have. And the publican stood afar off, neither would he lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you: This man went down justified into his house before him. For he that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that abaseth himself shall be exalted.
In today's gospel, our dear Lord Christ teaches us how to be righteous Christians and humble. For through this virtue alone one comes to grace. But where this virtue, namely humility, is not present, God cannot be pleased or gracious. As we see here in these two persons, the Pharisee and the tax collector.
2) The Pharisees were among the Jews, like the monks in the papacy, had special clothing, special days for fasting and prayer, and practiced holiness so much that the other people were vain sinners against them.
*) Held in the house, 1532 and 1533.
they were. Therefore they also had the name that they were called Pharisees. But "Pharisee" in Hebrew language means as much as a special one, who separates himself from the common crowd and wants to be something special.
(3) The tax collectors, on the other hand, were just like the castles and bailiffs in our country, who paid and accepted water rates and land rents and other things from the Romans for the aforementioned money, and then scourged and scraped the people as they wished. That is why everyone considered them to be miserly and public sinners, who had such an office, in which they were stingy and caused all kinds of trouble to the people. Therefore it was not to be supposed that one of them had
Just as it was not to be assumed that there was a mischievous one among the Pharisees.
4 But our dear Lord Christ makes a different judgment here, saying that the tax collector is pious and righteous, but the Pharisee is a sinner, and a very great and shameful sinner. For Lucas makes it very vexatious and so vile, *) that it is a wonder. For thus he begins the similitude, "There were some that presumed to be righteous, and despised others."
5 These are two ugly vices of the Pharisees, that they not only thought highly of themselves, which would have been sin enough; for hopefulness is a devilish sin: but despised others also. Then think, what is the use of such a hypocrite, if he immediately prays and fasts himself to death, because the devil sits in his heart with such hopefulness that he puffs himself up and says: "If I did not make myself holy, I would have to wait a long time for our Lord God; but I fast so much, I pray so much, I do this and that, which others do not do: I give my tithe faithfully. If the others could give the priests nothing but straw and stubble, they would; but I am not like that, I am more pious etc.
(6) Thus the two most abominable vices abound in the holy man, that he is so excellently hopeful and presumptuous, and so deeply despises others, saying, They are nothing but robbers, unrighteous men, and adulterers; but in particular he masterfully depicts the publican. He, he says, stands there, scourging and scraping everyone, taking what he can. I am not such a bad boy, praise God: I am a living saint against whom to reckon etc. Such pride and hopefulness is also a very annoying vice in the eyes of the world, as the common saying testifies, "If you are something, be it; but let other people be something too. How then may it be before our Lord God? It must be a thousand and a thousand times more contrary to him, where one wants to be presumptuous and hopeful against him.
(7) That this gospel is primarily
*) disagree [b c].
Our dear Lord Christ is teaching us what true righteousness is and how to distinguish and recognize it from hypocritical righteousness. As if to say, "You will find a man who walks as a living saint; he fasts, he gives alms, he does not break marriage, he does no one wrong, he likes to go to preaching. Who can interpret all this otherwise than that he is a pious man? But I tell you, if you want to know him rightly, you must not look at such appearances, which even a rogue can lead; but you must look at what it means to be righteous before God. For this Pharisee is pious because of his outward life, so that one should wish, as far as outward conduct is concerned, that all the world were as he is. But this is not yet enough, and beware lest thou rest and rely thereon. For here you see how under such a holy life there is such a great devil's hope. For the sake of such hope, the devil could not stay in heaven; Adam and Eve could not stay in paradise; how could he stay in the church?
Fasting is right, praying is right, tithing is right, keeping a pure marriage, not robbing, not doing wrong to anyone, is all right and good in itself. But the Pharisee is so disgraceful with such hopefulness that it becomes pure devil's muck. For so it goes in the world, whoever does good to another, that he may catch him and make him his own, does him more harm than good. As the saying goes: Nihil carius emitur, quam quod donatur: Good given is received most dearly. How can God be pleased with holiness, since one wants to throb with it and pride against it? There holiness becomes a twofold mischievousness.
(9) So does the hypocrite here also: O God, saith he, seest thou also that thou hast in me such a righteous man? The world is nothing but robbers, unrighteous men and adulterers; but I am righteous etc. In such hopefulness, let him do what he will, even if he sweats blood and lets himself be burned with fire, it is an abomination before God and the greatest sin. Therefore Christ speaks here:
If you want to be pious, be right, and beware that you are not hopeful saints. For though ye stumble, or sometimes fall into the mire, it shall not grieve me so, as if ye had all holiness, and were trustworthy.
(10) Therefore conclude this lesson with a subtle and significant saying: "He who exalts himself will be humbled; but he who humbles himself will be exalted. So that everyone may learn to be humble and not despise anyone. For this is humility, that I think nothing of myself, but much of others. But he who thinks highly of himself, and thinks how he is learned, beautiful, rich, pious, is called hopeful. As the Pharisee does, he considers his fasting, tithing and other things, and therefore thinks highly of himself. This is what the Lord has forbidden. On the other hand, the tax collector is not seen as a pious man, but as a man of true humility. For he boasts nothing, and asks only that God may be gracious to him. This also, saith the Lord, learn ye to say, I can boast of nothing: for though I would boast that I am learned, rich, mighty, yet our Lord God may say, Dear man, whence hast thou? Did you get it from yourself? No. Where from? Is it not my gift? Yes, Lord, it is yours. Why do you boast then? If any man should boast, it should be I who give thee all things. Thou shalt not do it, but say, Though I be rich, yet I know that thou canst make me poor in an hour; though I be wise and learned, yet thou canst make me a fool with a word. That would mean to be humble and not to boast about yourself and to despise others, because you are more beautiful, more pious, richer than others.
(11) That would be fine if we used such hope against the devil and said: I have God's word, I know it; I have done so much good with it, I have taught, comforted, admonished this one and that one; I have helped this one and that one with almsgiving; I know it is a good work; and in spite of the devil, you should blaspheme it'. Against the devil, I say, such things go, that they may be praised; for we have it not from him. But against God, since we
If you have everything, you should not boast, but humble yourself.
(12) After this, one should not despise one's neighbor either, but think thus: Since all the gifts of our Lord God are His own and come from Him alone, even though I have more of them than my neighbor, I know that our Lord God can pronounce a judgment between me and my neighbor, who has barely a tenth of my gifts, and be as favorable to him as to me. Why should I boast or exalt myself? If I have much, I should be afraid not to misuse it, and always think: God does it according to his pleasure; to one he gives much, to another little. But it may well happen that he is more merciful to him who has little. Cause: he who has much must give the more account; but he who has little may endure the less.
(13) But the Pharisee does not do this here; he goes out on a limb: I am not like other people; neither am I like this tax collector. I tithe; the tax collector robs alone. I cheat no one; so this one scarfs and scrapes all the world. In sum, the Pharisee makes himself think that he is alone and has everything; the tax collector is nothing and has nothing. But, thou double-minded wretch, shalt thou not say, True, I tithe diligently, I fast and do as much as I can; but I know not how to build upon it. Dear Lord God, it is your gift, and do you think that this tax collector is more pleasing to you than I am? So he should have lifted him above himself, or even let him go beside him, saying, "It matters not whether I have much or little, but whether anyone has a gracious God. Why then do I want to defy and despise others, because it all depends on God's mercy, and not on what each one has for gifts. But he does not do so, but defies in his piety, and even as he stands before God and prays.
14 Therefore the Lord has forbidden us not to be presumptuous because of our piety. Again, he wills that no one should despair because he has already fallen into sin and been deceived by the devil. For we all have one God, who has bestowed his mercy upon us, as
a mantle, over the pious and the sinful, over the learned and the unlearned, over the rich and the poor; for he is the God of us all. Therefore, we should not exalt ourselves, but be humble: do not look at whether we have much and others have little. For God can be more gracious and gentle to him to whom he has given little than to him who has much; indeed, he can strip you naked again, and clothe one who is naked and bare more beautifully and adorn him with more excellent gifts than he does you. Why then would you despise others and exalt yourself?
(15) In the world there must remain such inequality of persons, statuses and gifts that one is considered more and higher than the other. But for this reason we are not unequal before our Lord God. For since nothing but grace counts with Him, it is impossible for anyone to boast and be proud before Him. Let them all humble themselves, and know that although we are unequal among ourselves, God is not unequal for that reason: He has no other heart or eye for him who has much than for him who has little. So that we should all learn to hold on to his grace and mercy. For both. The righteous and the sinner, the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, are both of our Lord God. What we have, we have all from him; but of ourselves we have nothing but sin. Therefore let no one exalt himself above another, but let him humble himself and fear. For though there be good, yet is it all the gift of our Lord God. He shall boast of it, but not you: but you shall use it with thanksgiving and in the fear of God; for he cannot suffer pride, nor throbbing, nor defiance. .
16. But just as no one should exalt himself on account of his piety or other gifts, so God does not want you to despair when you find yourself a poor sinner, but to trust in His goodness and take comfort in it, saying, "Well, if I do not have as much as this one or that one, I have the same God, who will also be gracious to me. Therefore I will be content, I will go, I will wait for my position and office in the measure that God has given me; I will not despise anyone,
I do not want to exalt myself, nor do I want to worry that others have more than I do. For I am content that I have the same God that they have; and that God is not therefore an unequal God, although we men are unequal among ourselves. This is what the Lord means when he concludes this parable, saying, "He who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." As if to say, "If I find such saints who are able to give it to me, the less they think of themselves, the more I will give them. On the other hand, whoever has something, and therefore wants to be worthy of hope and high esteem, I will take from him one thing after another, until I finally cast him in disgrace into the abyss of hell.
17 If the Pharisee had not been so hopeful, but in all humility had brought his gifts home to God, saying: "Lord, you have shown me much mercy, that you have so graciously protected me from this and other sins; this is your gift, which I rejoice in, but I do not exaggerate it, nor do I despise anyone because of it; for you can take it again if you wish etc.God would have given him even more gifts from day to day and could not have been hostile to him. But because he is foolish, and judges others, and despises them, and says, I am all, the publican is nothing; then our Lord God strips him so purely that nothing remains in him to be praised. For there it is written in the judgment of our Lord Christ, "The publican went down justified before him." That is, the Pharisee is unjust, condemned and belongs in hell with the devil. What does he get out of his boasting? On the other hand, the tax collector who says, "God, be merciful to me," becomes a saint in the Church and has a merciful God, as he prays.
(18) This is what Christ wants to teach us all, that we should know from day to day what we are and what we have. If thou hast money, a sound body, a house, and a farm, have need of them; I am well pleased with them, and will gladly give them thee, and will give thee more; but boast not, neither despise any living man for them. Remember, when you see one who does not have what you have, that he can have as gracious a God as you. Therefore despise him
Do not let him walk beside you, and God will be praised by both; otherwise the false saints will dishonor and revile God, even though they do not do so with their mouths and in public.
19 For he who would judge by the words alone must say that it is not wrong for the Pharisee to say, "God, I thank you. For the true saints also use such words in their prayers, but with a different heart. For when they thank God for something, they confess that it is His work and gift; they did not receive it from themselves. But this is not the Pharisee's opinion; otherwise he would have said: That I am not an adulterer, nor a robber, nor an unjust man, O Lord, I have no one to thank but Thee. For my sake, if it had been out of your grace, I would have kept house just like other people. For we are all equal; one may not boast of anything above another. But this Pharisee does not think so, but even turns back, saying, "I thank thee that I am not as other men." So he draws all his virtue into himself, as if he had it from himself and not from God. For otherwise he would say: You have given it. He does not do that, does not pose himself differently, as if he were so rich and could give to God; thus he does not thank God, but himself, his reason, his free will and powers, that he was able to do so much.
(20) Now it is true: to whom God gives something special, he should recognize it and esteem it highly. For what would it be that you would deny that you are no more learned or better than an ass or any other unreasonable animal? Thus, to whom God gives money and goods, he should not be so unreasonable as to say: I am a poor beggar and have nothing. Whoever has something good
If a man has done something, helped and advised poor people, he should not promise that he will say, "I have done nothing good. No, it should not be like that; God's gifts should be recognized, praised and held in high esteem. But besides this, one should humble oneself and say: My God, it is yours and not mine; you have given it, otherwise I would have to give it as well as others; I thank you for it. That would be right, if we thus humbled ourselves. But the goods of our Lord God are not to be esteemed small or small, but to be recognized and esteemed great; and yet not to be proud, nor to despise others, but to say, as has often been said, Dear God, it is your gift that you have given me; if another does not have it, there is no harm in that, for he has just as gracious a God as I have: why then should I despise him?
21 The Lord wants to teach us such humility in today's gospel and warn us against pride. For it is decreed: He who exalts himself shall be thrown down again. God has not given it to His own people, but has rejected them for the sake of pride. Other great kingdoms were also destroyed because of such sin. Lucifer was therefore cast out of heaven, Adam and Eve out of paradise.
22 Therefore learn to say, Lord, what I have is yours; you gave it to me, you can take it away. In this way the hope will remain outside. For who would insist on what is uncertain? But whoever does not want to do this and thinks that he has everything of his own, finds here his judgment that God wants to strip him so clean that he will keep nothing, and on top of that he will be unjust and of the devil. God grant His grace that we may remember such teaching and keep it, amen.