Luke 18
by Pastor David Groendyk

This is the final chapter of Luke before Jesus enters into Jerusalem for his fateful final week of life. There would be no more urgent time for Jesus to press home what it looks like to be a citizen in the kingdom of God than right now. Reading through this chapter, three big themes jump out to me: the nature of true faith, the deceptiveness of self-righteousness, and the necessity of God’s mercy.

True faith requires perseverance and persistence (vv. 1–8). It’s interesting to see how Jesus implies that believers will face injustice in life, but also that believers will experience troubles and frustration in prayer. Despite those hardships, however, faith knows that there is only one God to turn to, and if even ungodly and horrible earthly judges show compassion and execute justice, how much more will God do so for his beloved children? Our merciful God will surely vindicate his people. What have you grown weary praying about? What do you need to know about God in order to persevere in faith and prayer?

True faith is utterly self-abasing, humble, and meek (vv. 9–14). The Pharisee here is boasting in what a good person he is, while the tax collector falls back solely on God’s mercy, knowing that he is a sinner who deserves hell. The true believer knows he can only be saved if God condescends to his lowly level and has compassion on him. But how difficult it is to rely on God’s mercy alone! Probably the inclination in all of our hearts is to say, “God, thank you I am not like that Pharisee.” If that’s what you think, then I have news for you: you are the Pharisee! How deceptive self-righteousness is. How easy it is to be a “Christian” and yet totally miss the point.

The same goes for the rich ruler (vv. 18–30). By most accounts, both the Pharisee and the rich ruler are “good” people. They obey God’s commandments, fast, tithe, and pray. But neither have salvation. Neither of them recognize their utter helplessness or fully depend on God. They must be like the infants whose parents bring them to Jesus (vv. 15–17). Or they ought to act like the blind beggar crying out for help, knowing that Jesus was his only hope (vv. 35–43). We must abandon all pride or boasting in our own “good” or “godly” accomplishments, repent of our attempts to justify ourselves, and rest on Jesus’ merits for us. In what ways does your heart incline to be like the Pharisee and the rich ruler? What would it look like for you to change your life to live like the tax collector, the infants, and the blind beggar?

Finally, take a moment to meditate on the heart of Jesus in this chapter. Notice how approachable he is that he would hold infants. Notice how compassionate he is that he would veer off of his journey to help a blind beggar crying out for help. Notice how patient and merciful he is to deal with ugly, rebellious sinners and give them salvation. His arms are open to sinners. He doesn’t hold sinners at arms’ length until they clean themselves up and make themselves presentable. Rather, the people he holds at arms’ length are the very people who think of themselves as presentable! There is no God and no Savior like this one who is so gracious to those who need it most. Meditate on that reality today.