Joyful Moments in Christ

This Bible study lesson is for people who are learning English (ELL or ESL students). It is made for advanced beginner and intermediate English learners. Children who speak English or adults who prefer easy English may also enjoy it and learn from it.

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Lesson Icebreaker Question

Can you share a time when you felt very proud or very thankful? What happened?

Lesson Highlight

In this lesson, we will hear a story Jesus told about two men who went to pray. One man was proud, and the other was humble. We will learn why it is good to be humble before God.

Vocabulary List (GNT)

1. Adulterer — A person who breaks marriage promises by having romantic or sexual relations with someone else.
2. Beat — To hit again and again.
3. Breast — The front part of a person’s chest.
4. Despised — Did not like or looked down on someone.
5. Dishonest — Not telling the truth or not being fair.
6. Fast — To stop eating food for a time, usually to pray or think about God.
7. Greedy — Wanting more than you need, especially money or things.
8. Heaven — The special, holy place where God lives.
9. Humbled — Made to feel small or not important.
10. Humble — Not proud; thinking of yourself in a simple and honest way.
11. Income — Money a person earns from work or other sources.
12. Parable — A short story Jesus told to teach a lesson about God.
13. Pharisee — A religious leader in Jesus’ time who followed many rules.
14. Pity — Kindness and care for someone who is hurting or in need.
15. Sinner — A person who does wrong things against God.
16. Pray — To talk to God.
17. Temple — A special place where Jewish people went to worship God.
18. Tax Collector — A person who gathered money from people for the government.

Summary of the Passage

This passage is about a story Jesus told. Jesus often told stories called parables to teach people about God and how to live. In this story, two men went to the temple, which was a special place to pray and worship God. One man was a Pharisee, a religious leader who followed many rules. The other man was a tax collector. In Jesus’ time, many people did not like tax collectors because they often took too much money.

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed. He told God how good he was. He said he was not greedy or dishonest like other people. He even said he was better than the tax collector. He talked about how often he fasted and gave money to God.

The tax collector stood far away. He did not even lift his eyes to heaven. He hit his chest and asked God to forgive him because he was a sinner. He knew he needed God’s mercy.

Jesus said it was the tax collector, not the Pharisee, who went home right with God. This story teaches us that God listens to people who are humble and sorry for their wrong choices. God does not like it when people are proud and think they are better than others.

Read The Passage

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 Jesus also told this parable to people who were sure of their own goodness and despised everybody else.
10 “Once there were two men who went up to the Temple to pray: one was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood apart by himself and prayed, ‘I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else. I thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there.
12 I fast two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all my income.’
13 But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even raise his face to heaven, but beat on his breast and said, ‘God, have pity on me, a sinner!’
14 I tell you,” said Jesus, “the tax collector, and not the Pharisee, was in the right with God when he went home. For those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great.”

Luke 18:9-14 (GNT)

Most English learners should use the New International Reader’s Version (NIRV) or the Good News Translation (GNT) because they are easy to read. If you want to try something harder, you can read one of the other Bible versions:

• Very Easy: New International Reader’s Version: Luke 18:9-14 (NIRV)
• Easy: Good News Translation: Luke 18:9-14 (GNT)
• Medium: New Living Translation: Luke 18:9-14 (NLT)
• Hard: New International Version: Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)
• Very Hard: English Standard Version: Luke 18:9-14 (ESV)

Comprehension Questions

1. Who is telling this story?
2. Who were the two men who went to the temple to pray?
3. What did the Pharisee say in his prayer?
4. Why did the Pharisee think he was better than others?
5. What did the tax collector do when he prayed?
6. What did the tax collector ask God for?
7. Who did Jesus say went home right with God?
8. What does this story teach about people who are proud?
9. What does this story teach about people who are humble?

Application Questions

1. Have you ever acted like the Pharisee in this story? How did it feel?
2. Have you ever felt like the tax collector, sorry for something you did? What did you do?
3. Why do you think God loves it when people are humble?
4. How can you pray with a humble heart this week?

Theological Insights

1. God loves people who are honest about their sins.
2. We all need God’s mercy because no one is perfect.
3. Being proud makes it hard for us to see our need for God.
4. Jesus teaches that being humble is better than trying to look important.
5. God forgives those who ask for help and trust him.

Closing Prayer

Dear Father, thank you for loving us, even when we make mistakes. Please help us to be humble and to ask for your forgiveness. Amen.

ELL Resources for the Gospel of Luke

More ELL Resources

You can find more Bible lessons for English learners on the main ELL page.

Scripture quotations marked (GNT) are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.