The gospel passage is about a tax collector and a Pharisee who both went to the temple to pray. The tax collector brags about his righteousness, but the Pharisee is humble and repentant. According to Jesus, it is the latter that went home justified (which means, in the Jewish context, the person was judged not guilty or considered innocent and righteous before God).
It should be noted that the Pharisee and tax collector described in the passage are extremes. Not all Pharisees were cocky and self-righteous, many of them followed the requirements of the Law and were good examples to others. Also, not all tax collectors were repentant. Many of them were extortionists, collecting money in behalf of the Roman empire and making fat commissions. So we should bear in mind that the ones described in the passage are not prototypes, but tendencies that were apparent among these groups at that time.
Observation and Interpretation
While this is a lesson on humility and in accepting our sinfulness before God, an understanding of some Jewish religious practices would help provide depth and nuance in the message of this passage.
- The setting in the story is a public worship in the temple, and not a private or devotional visit by the tax collector and the Pharisee. When a Jew says that he or she is going to the temple to pray, that most likely means attending a public worship activity. In the parable, this would refer to the atonement ritual, which is done twice daily, and is the only daily service in the temple. Many attend these services.
- The Pharisees believe that one must strictly follow all the requirements of the Law (the Ten Commandments, plus so many other additional laws regarding rituals, fasting, and prayers) in order to be righteous before God. The tax collector, on the other hand, violated several of these laws and were despised. Given his situation, there was no way he could ever become righteous because the Law required returning the money that he has stolen (by over-collecting taxes), and there was no way he could possibly find all the people that he stole from. He was doomed.
- Since this was a public worship, one can now imagine how physically apart the two characters were from each other. The tax collector “stood off at a distance” (verse 18) and the Pharisee was likely away from the rest of the crowd as well because he was grateful he was not like “the rest of humanity.” Being a Pharisee, he was also quite careful of being in contact with the crowd since there may be some of them who were “unclean”, and that would contaminate him and certain cleansing rituals would then be required.
This distance between the two characters provides a significant nuance in the story. They were very much apart from the crowd and from each other, and yet… the Pharisee looked around and noticed the tax collector; enough for the former to compare himself with the latter. The Pharisee saw the tax collector and used him to further prop up himself.
The message of this passage is more than just humility versus self-righteousness. Jesus also deplores the self-righteousness based on comparing one’s self with others.
Generalization:
While we are generally conscious of our sinfulness before God, a genuine humble attitude requires we stand alone before God, and never beside someone else. When we say, “I know am not perfect, but at least I am not like him who has another woman,” or “I know I spend a lot on myself and I should think of others, but I don’t have as much jewelry as she does," are we not being like a Pharisee? There may be other quotes such as: “At least I go to prayer meetings and go to confession regularly,” or “Did you fast for the SE Weekend? (I did.)”
Application:
- In what ways do we compare our goodness (or lack of it) with others?
- Next time you pray and fast for someone, keep it a secret; don’t let anyone know. It’s just between you and Jesus.
(Trivia: The tax collector was described as having “beat his breast.” This is usually not done by men, but by women. The only time that men would do this gesture is to show extreme remorse.)
Luke 18:
9 He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.
10 “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
13 But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
14 I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
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