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This week we are continuing our study of Chapter 18. Please read verses 18:9-14 every day this week and, if possible, use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 18:9 (New American Standard Bible)
‘And He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:’
In an age where there is so much equality and openness, it’s difficult for anyone under a certain age to appreciate exactly what the Scripture is saying to us in this verse. Generally, in most areas of the civilised world, discrimination because of age, ethnicity or sexuality is prohibited by law and so we struggle to understand the depth of meaning that this verse has. Jesus brings to our attention the attitude of religious leaders toward other people. The verse in the NASB says ‘viewed others with contempt’. Other translations say ‘looked down on everybody else’ or ‘despised everyone else’. These Pharisees basically thought that if you weren’t a Pharisee then you ‘amounted to nothing’. It really was a horrible thing and perhaps we fail to realise how bad this really was. As I said, in our modern world, it’s hard to see how dreadful this really was. Can people really be that horrible to other human beings?
It was not so long ago in South Africa that apartheid not only existed but it was evident that the evil had spread into the hearts of so many citizens of that country. For anyone under the age of 25, this system of racial segregation and discrimination is confined to the history books but for many of us, we understood and witnessed its horror. This system of apartheid consisted of two major areas: where public facilities and events were segregated based on race and also where housing and employment opportunities were dictated by the person’s ethnicity. As recently as the 1980s, millions of non-white South Africans were being removed from their homes and placed in segregated ‘homelands’.
Black South Africans were prohibited from using the same facilities as ‘whites’. There were even areas of the sea that were set apart for use by ‘the white race group only’. Blacks were unable to eat in the same restaurants as whites and they also paid higher taxes. Violence toward anyone who wasn’t white became more and more common as these poor people began to stand up for themselves. If you were black in South Africa at that time, then you really were treated as ‘nothing’ and received nothing but scorn and contempt.
White South Africans considered themselves better than everyone else just because of the colour of their skin. My earlier question was ‘Can people really be that horrible to other human beings?’ The sad answer is yes. The depravity of human nature cannot be questioned when we take a look back at the history books. Jesus is saying that even within religious circles where there should be greater awareness of the grace of God, these Pharisees had hearts of stone.
The prophet Ezekiel says: ‘I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.’ Please take a few moments today to thank Him for what He’s done in our lives and ask Him to continue to use us to bring an awareness of His grace to all we come in contact with.
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