The tax collector in Jesus’ parable offers no comparison that makes him look good. He stands at a distance, beats his breast, and asks God for mercy. Jesus says that he goes home justified.
The short prayer carries a word that also appears in the description of Christ’s priestly work.
The Word
ἱλάσκομαι (hilaskomai) means to be merciful or to make propitiation. In Luke 18:13 it is the plea for God’s mercy. In Hebrews 2:17 it names the high priest’s making atonement for the people’s sins.
The form in the prayer, ἱλάσθητι (hilasthēti), is a passive imperative. It can be expressed literally as be propitious toward me. In ordinary English, the NET’s be merciful to me communicates the petition. The grammar is a request for God’s gracious action, not a formula by which a sinner controls him.
Range of Meaning
Mercy and atonement belong together in this word family. Hilastērion explores the related noun used in Romans 3:25 for Christ as the mercy seat. Hebrews uses the verb with sins as its object: Christ makes atonement for them.
We should not force every possible aspect of the word family into the tax collector’s short sentence. Jesus does not provide a biography of the man’s theological education. He shows a sinner asking God for the mercy he cannot claim on the basis of merit.
Where You’ll Meet It
The tax collector prays:
“God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!” (Luke 18:13, NET)
The Greek expression includes the definite article: literally, to me, the sinner. The man puts his own sin before God. The article does not establish that he believes nobody else has sinned or that he has calculated himself to be statistically worse than everyone else.
The contrast is with the Pharisee’s self-confident comparison. Jesus tells the parable against trusting in one’s own righteousness while looking down on others. The tax collector’s justification is God’s verdict, not an award for performing humility more successfully.
Hebrews 2:17 places the related action in Christ’s priestly office. Having truly shared our humanity, he is the merciful and faithful high priest who makes atonement for the people’s sins.
What Confessional Lutherans Hear
God’s mercy does not require pretending that sin is harmless. Christ’s atoning work addresses it. Nor does propitiation mean that sinners persuade an otherwise unwilling God to become loving by producing a sufficient offering of their own.
God gives the Savior. The sinner receives his mercy. The tax collector’s prayer and the high priest’s work belong together as need and provision, though the parable itself does not unfold every detail of that relationship.
Our confession of sin has the same direction. We name the truth about ourselves before the God whose promise gives us reason to ask for mercy. The strength of that promise is not measured by the intensity of our remorse.
So What
You may pray plainly. You do not need a successful comparison, an excuse, or an impressive explanation of your failure.
Ask for the mercy Christ has secured for sinners. The one who knows your sin has also given the high priest who makes atonement for it. His verdict can send you home forgiven.