The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

 

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:  “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 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!’ 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.” (Luke 18:9-14 ESV).

 

Tax collectors were despised for two reasons. They were traitors because they collected taxes for the oppressive Roman Empire. And they overcharged their fellow Jews and kept the extra money for themselves. Because of these sins against God’s people, tax collectors were considered unclean. So it’s a surprise that in his parable Jesus speaks of a tax collector praying at the temple, where he wouldn’t be welcome.

The Pharisees, however, worked hard to be pure and spotless, to be able to say, “I’m not like them.” If any of the Jews were righteous, it was the Pharisees. But Jesus says the tax collector in this story was justified, not the Pharisee. That surely shocked his first listeners. It might be a shock to us as well.

 

Today we don’t have the same system as the Jews of Jesus’ day. However, we may have to avoid a similar pitfall. I have seen such evidence in many situations. We speak with disdain, and sometimes derision of those that believe or behave differently than we do. I see this in political and religious differences. Some of the things I’ve read from people I know to be believers in social media directed toward others in a difference over a political point of view are very much like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable, because they will then appear to be the most righteous in their religious practice. Carrying a big Bible and spewing hatred toward those who differ with us is not the way of Jesus. In fact, He says this is the act of an unjustified person.

 

We have to be careful not to be like the Pharisee, the one who despises others, even as we see that he’s a hypocrite. Jesus’ judgment in this parable raises the question of how our assessment of people squares with God’s assessment. If we judge people as less than ourselves—whether Pharisee or tax collector—we are in danger of excluding ourselves from God. It’s that serious.