He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14
Jesus’ disciples had a problem. Everything was a competition with them. It was all about which of them was going to have the top spot in the kingdom of heaven. They basically had a pride problem. They were like the Pharisee in the parable.
Generally, the Jews were like this too. They were “God’s chosen people,” and you better believe they knew and would let you know it too…especially if you were a Gentile. To a Jew, a Gentile was nothing but a worthless sinner. They were like the Pharisee in the parable.
Christians can easily be like the Pharisee too. In fact, I doubt there’s a one of us who can honestly say that they have spent their whole life without ever feeling this way to some degree. After all, on Sunday mornings we are in church! We’re not nursing a hangover or waking up in some stranger’s bed after a night of bar-hopping and carousing, right?
I believe it was Bob Dylan who once wrote, “The walls of pride are high and wide. Can’t see over to the other side.” If that’s too 60’s for you, consider the words of Henry Ward Beecher: “A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as deserves.”
Or perhaps the words of God in Proverbs 30:12: “There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth.” Pride is self-delusional.
Or Proverbs 16:12: “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit.” We don’t like to think of ourselves as being wrong.
Are we like the Christians at Laodicea, of whom Jesus said, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17)?
Let’s consider the Pharisee of the parable. Pharisee literally means “the separate,” a fitting title for their sect because they were basically Jews who wanted all Jews to be strictly separated from all pagan people. Pharisees were very patriotic, very nationalistic, very pro-Israel; “Israel-first,” you might say. They were very theologically conservative, something Jesus acknowledged and commended them for being (Matt. 23:2). However, this turned into them becoming very religiously formalistic (cf. Matt. 23:23).
Was this Pharisee a good man? Yes. A moral man? Yes. A man who gave sacrificially? Yes. In fact, the amount of times he fasted and the amount of tithes he gave were more than what the Law of Moses demanded of him.
Was he religious? Yes…but only on the outside. Not inwardly. Not from a pure heart.
What about the tax collector? The Pharisee (and the Jews as a whole) would consider him to be an extortioner and a traitor because he worked for the Roman government.
He was probably a thief, as tax collectors were known for taking more than they should from the Jews to line their own pockets.
He knew he was guilty of sin, whatever that sin was. Furthermore, he was willing to admit it to God. Unlike the Pharisee, who looked upon himself very favorably and did not confess any sin to God, even though he himself was a sinner (Rom. 3:23).
The Pharisee looked at himself in a very positive light and looked at everyone else (the tax collector, the Gentiles, humanity in general) in a negative light, thinking, “I’m so glad that I’m better than everyone else!” And he didn’t look at God at all. Did you notice how after briefly mentioning the name of God in his prayer, he never mentions God again? All he prayed about was himself, what he does, how better he is than others. He was the exact opposite of Isaiah and Peter (Is. 6:5; Lk. 5:8).
I’m reminded of Paul’s words to Corinth:
“But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged” (1 Cor. 11:31).
“But when they measure themselves by one another compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding” (2 Cor. 10:12).
The tax collector was the opposite. He looked at himself in a very unfavorable light because he recognized that he was a sinner. He didn’t try to compare himself to others nor justify himself. He didn’t take a page out of Adam and Eve’s book and point to the sins of others to distract from his own.
He treated God with reverence; note that he wouldn’t even lift his eyes up to heaven and stood far away, probably far away from the holy place in the temple because he didn’t think himself worthy to approach it. (Unlike the Pharisee, who was standing (literally, “striking a pose”) and praying continually on and on about himself and with himself.)
The tax collector had godly sorrow; note that he beat his breast, a tradition the Jews had when they were sorrowful over their sins.
All he wanted from God was mercy and forgiveness. He was desperate for it.
And God gave it to him. He “went down to his house justified.” Justified is a legal term meaning “not guilty” (even though he was in fact guilty), showing that God gave him grace and mercy and forgave him of his sins.
The Psalmist spoke of the one “whose transgression is forgiven,” describing him as one “in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Ps. 32:1-2). That’s the tax collector. He didn’t deceive himself. He was completely honest about his sins and shortcomings. He recognized the state he was in because of his sins (cf. Ps. 51:1-3).
Why? Because he humbled himself before God…and God exalted him (Lk. 18:14). He looked at himself the way Isaiah did (Is. 64:6), and thus knew that he needed grace. Because of that, God looked to him (Is. 66:2).
The Pharisee received nothing from God, having already received the reward he wanted: praise from men (Matt. 6:5)…in this case, praise from himself. Not only did he not receive justification, but his bigger problem remained: his self-centered, self-righteous arrogance (Prov. 8:13; 16:18; 29:23) , which kept from him the humility needed to spiritually grow, repent, and be forgiven.
He didn’t realize that in spite of all the good he did, he was still an unworthy servant (Lk. 17:10) who needed grace to be saved (Eph. 2:8-10).
Which of the two are we most like? Which of the two do we need to be most like?
Jon Mitchell