The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
'... for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.'
In today’s Gospel, Jesus presents us with the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
This story is closely connected to the one which comes just before it about the persistent widow who secures a just decision from a dishonest judge. While the first encourages us to pray and never give up. The second reminds us how, and in what manner, we ought to pray.
However, to fully understand the example Jesus gives us, we should look more closely at first the century audience that He initially spoke to. A faithful Jew at that time would have assumed two things:
- That the Pharisee was a very holy and devout man.
- And that the tax collector was a traitor to his people and a public sinner.
While we might have a negative view of the Pharisees today, this was not that case in the time of Jesus. In fact, nobody believed more, nobody believed stronger, and nobody believed with a firmer foundation of faith through the bleakest and darkest of times than the Pharisees. They were a group that set out to follow the whole of the Old testament, word for word, literally, not only taking into their hearts, but also putting it all into practice … and while Jesus could be very critical of the hypocrisy of many Pharisees, they often had more in common with Jesus than many people realize … Jesus would often teach the same things that the Pharisees taught in the same way they taught it … with the principle difference being that Jesus called for conversion of the heart and not simple obedience.
Why is this important? Because we don’t want to take from this that we are somehow superior to the Pharisees … when in truth … most people of that time could probably place their devotion to their faith alongside the most observant believers of today and find the Pharisees to be more or less the same “super” believers … they would fast more than what was required … and they would tithe more completely than expected … and of course, they would consistently go to the temple to pray the required prayers, including the morning blessing
from which the Pharisee’s prayer in this parable was patterned off of … the traditional text of which goes something like this: “
Blessed are you, Lord our God, king of the universe, who has not made me a gentile.” This would be followed by two additional, yet similar blessings that, taken together, are easily misunderstood without some explanation.
Each blessing is designed to highlight the additional obligations and commandments required of those who recite them each today allowing them to draw closer to God. Keep in mind that the subjects of each of these blessing would have generally corresponded to the various courtyards they were allowed to enter, which also determined how close they could approach the Presence of God in the Holy of Holies. The negative phrasing of all three blessings is intended to convey the humility associated with shouldering such an enormous task, while preserving the sense of gratitude for such a profound purpose … and a reminder that our life’s mission is impossible to complete because it involves constant growth and refinement.
So what exactly did the Pharisee get wrong here? Why was his prayer so deficient?
Luke tells us part of the answer when he identifies the audience that Jesus was addressing as “those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else” … while Jesus himself reinforces that theme at the end of the parable when he says, for the second time in the Gospel of Luke, “
whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
He must
really want us to get that message. But it is not an easy message to get.
- The Pharisee in Jesus' parable thought he was doing great.
- Everyone else thought so too.
- He went to the Synagogue every Saturday.
- He prayed his prayers.
- He didn't commit any big, scandalous sins.
While the Pharisee might be praised for taking the time to go up to the Temple in order to pray, his attitude highlights the danger of self-righteousness.
He measures his worth by his actions and compares himself to others, believing that his own good deeds make him superior. … But Jesus reminds us that we may Not judge our neighbors … because righteousness is Not about outward appearances or comparisons.
It is about the state of our hearts. Self-righteousness blinds us to our own faults and creates barriers between us and others. It leads us to judge and condemn rather than to love and forgive. The Pharisee’s prayer is a stark reminder that pride can creep into even our most sacred practices, turning them into opportunities for self-glorification rather than encounters with God.
On the other hand, we have the tax collector, whom Jesus says “
went home justified.” When tax collector simply cries to God for mercy; he receives it. This does not mean the tax collector was a “good man.” Many tax collectors were unjust, abusive persons who took advantage of others in society, even and including the poor. Jesus’s parable is a bit shocking for his contemporaries because most Jews were justifiably irate at the way Jewish tax collectors collaborated with the Roman regime. They were parasites on society and a social scourge.
And yet, Jesus
praises the tax collector's prayer and
criticizes the Pharisee's prayer.
- Through the centuries, in fact, the tax collector's simple prayer, "O God, be merciful to me, a sinner," has been held up as a complete summary of Christian spirituality.
- The Church Fathers saw in Luke’s tax‑collector the model of repentant conscience.
- Origen explains that the sinner “who has become conscious of his own sin… is preferred before one who is accounted a lesser sinner but does not consider himself”
This prayer makes a connection with God because it recognizes two things.
First, it acknowledges God's greatest quality in relation to fallen mankind, his mercy.
- The word "mercy" comes from the Latin "misericors [mih-SAIR-rih-cores]: miser (wretched, miserable) + cor (heart)".
- Literally, it means to take someone else's wretchedness into one's heart. That's what God does with us.
Second, the tax collector's prayer recognizes his
need for mercy and he wants that from God.
- For a Jewish person of the time, closeness to God and the Temple was reserved for only those ritually clean. This tax collector knows he is unclean. He knows he is far from holiness. He does not feel worthy to walk up to God, but rather keeps his distance, out of humility.
- Pope Francis, in his 2016 General Audience, stresses that humility is the condition that opens the heart of God6. He reminds us that the tax‑collector’s brief prayer “is beautiful because it acknowledges our own misery before a merciful God.”
It is easy to be blinded by spiritual sins like arrogance and vanity.
- The tax collector's sins were more obvious, easier to recognize.
- He cheated and he extorted and he bribed. Those were sins you could see.
But how can we recognize the sins we can't see?
Christ's parable tells us exactly how: by looking at our thoughts about other people.
Every person in the world is loved by God. Jesus died to offer salvation to every single person. His love and his mercy have no limits.
As Christians,
we are called to the same universal respect and love - even for the people who get on our nerves, let us down, or who make our life miserable.
Application for Today
- Pray with Sincerity: Like the tax collector, pray with humility and honesty, acknowledging your need for God rather than focusing on your good deeds or comparing yourself to others.
- Be a Voice for the Oppressed: Reflect God's justice by extending compassion and support to those in need, recognizing their vulnerability and ensuring they are not taken advantage of.
- Share Your Faith: Allow your faith to be a visible and transformative force, inspiring others and guiding your decisions and relationships as you continue God's work in the world.
Comments
Post a Comment