9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed1 thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 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!’ 14 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.”
Section Overview
If the previous paragraph spoke of final vindication, then the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector—which for good reason is one of Jesus’ most famous parables—tells us that surprises are in store on the final day, that those who are justified do not fit human conceptions.213 We have seen such reversals regularly in Luke’s Gospel: a humble virgin bears the Messiah (1:32–35); his birth is revealed to shepherds (2:8–20); the poor, the hungry, those weeping and hated are blessed instead of the rich, full, happy, and esteemed (6:20–26); the centurion has greater faith than those in Israel (7:1–10); the sinful woman is forgiven instead of the Pharisee (7:36–50); the Samaritan is the one who shows mercy instead of the priest or the Levite (10:25–37); the rich man in this life will have no treasure in the next (12:16–21); the prodigal receives God’s forgiveness instead of the older brother, which means that tax collectors and sinners are included instead of Pharisees or scribes (15:1–2, 11–32); Lazarus receives an eternal reward instead of the rich man (16:19–31); and a Samaritan returns and gives thanks instead of Jews (17:11–19).
This account functions much like the preceding parable, for which we saw Luke introducing an explanation at the onset (18:1) before recording the parable (vv. 2–5) and then Jesus’ explanation (vv. 6–8). We have much the same thing here: Luke introduces the parable by telling us that it is intended for those who trust in their own righteousness and despise others (v. 9). The parable proper is found in verses 10–13. Both a Pharisee and a tax collector go to the temple to pray. The Pharisee praises and thanks God for his morality and religious devotion. But the tax collector is ashamed of his sin and asks God to have mercy on him as a sinner. Jesus then comments on the parable in verse 14: the tax collector is justified before God instead of the Pharisee, for the Pharisee has exalted himself but the tax collector has humbled himself before God.
Section Outline
IV. Galilee to Jerusalem: Discipleship (9:51–19:27) . . .
C. The Last Leg of the Journey (17:11–19:27) . . .
3. Entering the Kingdom (18:9–30)
a. Parable of Pharisee and Tax Collector (18:9–14)
Response
There is a story I heard once—I do not know if it is true, but if it is not it should be—in which a Sunday school teacher taught this parable and asked little Johnny to pray. Johnny prayed, “Thank you, Lord, that we are not like that Pharisee.” We laugh because Johnny missed the point of the parable, but as we smile at what Johnny said, are we not silently congratulating ourselves for being more insightful than Johnny? Are we not saying, “Thank you, Lord, that I am not like Johnny”? We miss the force of the parable if we think of the Pharisee as a terrible person. When we hear the word “Pharisees” we think of hypocrites, of religious show-offs who lived to get praise and honor from people instead of God. We think of people who made detailed rules for others to live by but did not live by those same rules themselves. When Jesus first told the parable, however, his hearers had a different point of view. The Jews of Palestine in the first century did not think of the Pharisees as hypocrites or religious show-offs. The Pharisees were the most respected religious group in Jesus’ day.
What Jesus said about the Pharisee was designed to shock us so that we would look at our own lives. If the best and most religious people of Jesus’ day were not pleasing to God, then everyone is in trouble. In other words, the point of the story is that the Pharisee is just like us.
The connection between the Pharisee’s trusting in his goodness in verse 9 and exalting himself in verse 14 should also be noticed, for it reveals to us his root sin. It is pride, self-exaltation, self-protection—which is another way of talking about idolatry. C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity includes a chapter on pride that he titles “The Great Sin.”217 We see from the life of the Pharisee that pride is competitive: it looks down on others. It is pride that makes us angry or hurt when someone else is noticed and we are ignored.
What about us in our religious devotion? Do we secretly congratulate ourselves because we do our devotions and lead morally respectable lives? This is what makes religion so insidious and dangerous. Our very faith can become a means of self-worship. Do we think of ourselves as specially favored by God and part of an elite group because of our commitment to him?
A story from Larry Crabb’s Men and Women makes a similar point. A Christian husband felt a strain in his marriage and so came for counseling. His wife was sullen and angry, but he was trying to act patiently toward her despite her attitude. In other words, he was just like the Pharisee, doing all the right things on the outside. As he sat with Crabb, it was revealed that he was in fact very angry with his wife because she was boring, undisciplined, and overweight. When it became clear to him that he was angry, he acted like the Pharisee that is in us all. He did not say, “God be merciful to me, a wretched sinner, because I have failed to love the one person I promised to love.” Instead he blamed his wife because she used to be interesting and attractive but now was boring and overweight.218
The important thing about the tax collector was not his bodily movements but what he was feeling in his heart. He felt unworthy to be in God’s presence because he knew he was a sinner. True humility is present if we feel our sin, misery, and shame when we come into God’s presence. The third verse of Charles Wesley’s hymn “Jesus, Lover of my Soul” includes these admissions: “I am all unrighteousness” and “False and full of sin I am.” A saving encounter with God will make us deeply aware of our own sin. The tax collector called himself a “sinner.” We use terms like “maladjusted,” “dysfunctional,” or “lacking in psychological wholeness.” We like to excuse our sin rather than admit it. God wants us, though, to leave all our excuses behind and deeply and humbly admit to him that we are sinfully consumed with ourselves, that our number one priority is our own comfort and joy at the expense of others. We have no excuses that will ward off judgment. We deserve his anger and wrath. Our only hope is for him to show us mercy and grace. Our hope for forgiveness comes from the cross of Christ, where God poured out his terrible wrath against sin.
The good news of the gospel and this parable is that God is merciful to those who admit they are sinners, to those who are contrite in heart. We do not have to pretend we are righteous; we can admit that we have struggles and sin. This is the way to forgiveness and, paradoxically, to righteousness.