2195 Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector

Luke 18: 9-17

“Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else:

Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’

I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Who are you more like – the Pharisee or the tax collector? To see yourself in this story Jesus tells, lets understand who each were.

A Pharisee was a religious leader. They studied and taught scripture. They were very serious about obeying God’s law.

To the Pharisee, everything was a box to be checked, and in order to be right with God, all boxes must be checked. It was all performance. And for those who didn’t perform to their standard of God’s law, they were judgmental.

Their desire to obey God wasn’t the problem. The problem came when outward obedience became more important than the condition of their hearts. The Pharisee had all the checked boxes, but his heart was unchecked.

His behavior looked right, but his heart had become filled with pride and judgment.

A tax collector was seen as someone who had sold out to the Roman government. Because they worked for the occupying power and were notorious for taking more than was owed, tax collectors were deeply despised by their own people. They were viewed as traitors, cheats, and sinners. Nobody liked a tax collector, and most didn’t even want to be seen with them.

So here you have two very different men. One had an impressive religious résumé. The other had a terrible reputation. Both went to the Temple to pray. But their prayers revealed something much deeper than their reputations. Their prayers revealed their hearts.