Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God I thank thee 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 every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”In this parable Jesus introduces two men who are going up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The way in which Christ tells the parable allows us to overhear the prayers of the two men, but what we really hear is each man describing himself.
- St. Luke 18:9-14
No doubt the Pharisee really was a righteous man by every objective test: he really did give a tenth of his income for charitable and religious purposes; he really had imposed disciplines on himself in excess of what the law required; and he really is glad that he isn’t like those who haven’t kept the prescriptions of the law.
On the other hand, the tax collector was understandably despised. Tax collectors were men who were notorious for taking advantage of their own people – they would collect taxes for the oppressing government, and then they would overcharge the people and keep the excess for themselves – which meant they were able to lead very comfortable lives, but by cheating their own countrymen. This tax collector really had led a life filled with graft and crookedness – but now, he makes a sincere confession of all this before God. He really does want to make a clean break with it all, and throw himself on the mercy of God to receive forgiveness for the wicked things he’s done.
As Christ tells the story, and describes what they say, they reveal some interesting things.
For the Pharisee, the key word was “I.” “God, I thank thee that I am not like other men… I fast twice a week… I give tithes of all that I get…” He was thanking God, but he was thinking about himself. He listed his righteous attributes – and they were righteous, but he felt like he needed to remind God of how he had exceeded even God’s demands.
On the other hand, the tax collector didn’t even lift his eyes from the ground in front of him. He was clear about the state of his soul, and he knew that God saw his sin. So instead of trying to fool God, he does the only thing he can do: he appeals to God’s mercy and pity. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
So this is what each man revealed about himself. For the Pharisee, the center of the world was himself; for the tax-collector, the center of the world was God.
As the parable unfolds, we learn that in addition to telling his thoughts about himself, each man told what he thought about his neighbour. The Pharisee despised other people. He looked at others, and the first thing he did was to thank God that he wasn’t like the crowd of the unwashed, unworthy people that he saw around him – people like this pathetic tax collector, for instance, looking down at the ground and beating his breast. But what about the tax collector? He stood far away from others, because he thought of himself as being unworthy of even standing in the same place as they were.
This is a revealing picture of two very different men. When we look at the Pharisee, and at his attitude towards others, we see a filthy reflection of prejudice – prejudice which perhaps even we ourselves have felt or expressed at some time in our lives – the distaste we have for someone who looks different than we do, or who has customs that are strange to us. When we see an indifference to the wretchedness and suffering of others, it’s a reminder that very often those who have found a comfortable existence for themselves, sometimes don’t really care how the rest of the world is getting on. The Pharisee preened and stroked himself by condemning others, and he made himself even greater in his own eyes by reminding himself about lesser men, and he was only too willing to overlook and ignore any slight shortcoming that he might have within himself.
But the tax collector, rather than justifying himself by finding someone more sinful than himself, instead took the blame for his sins squarely on his own shoulders, and so – because of his humble soul and repentant heart – had his many sins forgiven.
But the lessons of the parable don’t stop there. Not only did each man tell what he thought about himself and his neighbour, but each man revealed what he thought about God. The Pharisee regarded God as a kind of corporation in which he had earned a considerable block of stock. It’s apparent from his prayer that the Pharisee was waiting for honours to be showered on him because he felt he was entitled to them. There are people who think that God somehow owes them something; so when some or tragedy comes, or some sorrow enters their lives, they’re the first to ask, “Why me?’ as if they’re somehow above having those kinds of things happen to them. And if their lives have been respectable by the world’s standards, they want to know why God hasn’t affirmed their respectability by giving them more favours and comforts in this life, because they’ve somehow deserved them. That about sums up the Pharisee and his attitude.
But the tax collector saw God very differently. He understood God as absolute, pure holiness, and a God with so much love that even a miserable tax collector could be pardoned of his long list of black sins. As we look at this parable, we can see that what we think of God has a great effect upon what we think of others, and of what we think of ourselves.
Perhaps Christ’s point in this parable is that the tax collector had a soul that was open to God, while the Pharisee was locked in the prison of his own self-centeredness and prejudice.
So we should look at ourselves, being careful that we don’t fall into the trap of thinking that we somehow “deserve” heaven, or that we can somehow “earn” God’s love and favour. Our Lord told this parable for those “who trusted in themselves, that they were righteous, and despised others…” And it stands as a reminder to us that life, and all its goodness – including the promise of eternal life – is a gift that comes from God Himself – the God who loves us, and who gave Himself for us, so that we can give ourselves to Him.
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Image: "The Pharisee and the Publican"
by James Tissot (1836-1902)