The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Read the parable
- Luke 18:9-14 Primary account
Context
Luke says Jesus aimed this parable at "certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others". Pharisees were widely admired for piety; this one fasts twice a week and tithes all he acquires — exceeding the law's requirements. Tax collectors ("publicans") collected revenue for Rome and were despised as extortioners and collaborators. Both men go up to the temple at the hour of prayer; the publican stands afar off, smiting his breast — a rare gesture of extreme anguish.
Meaning
The Pharisee's prayer is a catalogue of comparisons — "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are" — a prayer with himself, needing nothing. The publican has one sentence: "God be merciful to me a sinner", a plea for atoning mercy. Jesus' verdict inverts every expectation: "this man went down to his house justified rather than the other". Justification — being declared right with God — is given to the self-condemned who cast themselves on mercy, not to the self-congratulating. "Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Go deeper
Two free lessons walk through the parables as a whole: The Parables of Jesus and Interpreting the Parables.