Beyond the Weekend: Parables
The stories Jesus told and what they mean for your life today.
Why did Jesus teach in stories? Because the deepest truths about God are often found in the ordinary moments of life.
In the parables, Jesus takes everyday things, a lost sheep, a dinner party, a farmer planting seeds and uses them to show us what God is really like and what it means to follow him.
This summer, we’re spending seven weeks in the parables from Luke’s gospel. Whether you’ve heard these stories a hundred times or this is your first time, you’re invited to come and hear them fresh.
June 27/28–August 8/9
The Pharisee's Prayer
Read: Luke 18:10-12 | Listen: Luke 18
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.” Luke 18:11
As people gather around Jesus, he has a story to tell. Jesus’s stories, or parables, are fictional tales that connect everyday realities with deeper spiritual truths. Here, he tells a story involving a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisees are a strict sect of religious teachers who maintain a high view of God’s law and their own traditions. The problem is that in their devotion to spiritual things, many of them have developed a proud attitude. Rather than a posture of humility and dependence, they look down on others out of a sense of superiority.
In the same way, the longer we’ve been around spiritual things—church, Bible reading, or other practices—the more prone we are toward a self-righteous attitude that looks down on others for lesser discipline or devotion. This mindset can creep into any arena of life. It’s possible to be a proud parent who looks down on others whose kids behave slightly worse than our own. It’s possible to judge those who struggle with substance abuse if that’s never been our issue. The gravitational pull of our fallen hearts is to look down on others who don’t share the same struggle as ourselves.
TODAY: Take time to confess any self-righteous attitude. As you do, remember the assurance: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
