¶ The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector is the parable Jesus told to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.
Two men went up to the temple to pray.
The Pharisee stood and thanked God he was not like other men.
The tax collector stood far off, would not lift his eyes, and said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.
Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
Luke names the audience before the story. The target is self-trust and contempt, not prayer itself. Both men go to the right place. Both speak to God. The difference is the sermon each man preaches in God’s house. The Pharisee’s prayer is a résumé: not a thief, not unjust, not an adulterer, not this tax collector; I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all I get. God is addressed. The self is the subject. The other man is a prop. The tax collector has no list. He has distance, a downcast face, a struck breast, and one sentence. Merciful here is the language of the atonement, a plea for God to be propitious. Jesus’ verdict is a scandal in that temple: the sinner goes home justified. Declared righteous. The religious man does not. Justification is God’s act, not the fruit of comparison.
Paul will preach that same verdict from the Law and the Prophets.
Luke has already shown tax collectors drawn to Jesus and Pharisees muttering. This parable is why. The door of the kingdom is not a mirror. It is mercy. Exalt yourself and you will be brought low. Humble yourself and God will lift you. The warning still fits any pew that prays, I thank You I am not like that man.
- The parable is aimed at the self-righteous, not at honest Pharisees only.
- Two prayers. One is about the self. One is about the need.
- Contempt is the twin of self-trust. Jesus yoked them in the first sentence.
- Justified is the surprising word. The tax collector receives what the résumé was trying to earn.
- Distance and downcast eyes are not theater. They match the truth of a sinner before a holy God.
- Fasting and tithing are not condemned. Trusting them against a brother is.
- Home is the test. Who walks back down the steps right with God?
¶ Key Aspects of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
- The Audience – Those who trusted themselves and despised others.
- The Temple – Both men in the place of meeting.
- The Résumé Prayer – Thanksgiving that is comparison.
- The Mercy Cry – A sinner asking God to be propitious.
- The Verdict – This one justified, not the other.
- The Principle – Exalt and be humbled; humble and be exalted.
- The Way Home – Righteousness as gift, not as score.
- Luke 18:9-14 – “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 18:13 – “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
- Psalm 51:1, 17 – “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love… The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
- Isaiah 57:15 – “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
- Isaiah 66:2 – “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
- Romans 3:23-24, 28 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift… For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
- Romans 4:5 – “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
- Romans 10:3 – “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.”
- Luke 15:1-2 – Tax collectors and sinners drawing near; Pharisees and scribes grumbling.
- Luke 5:32 – “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
- Matthew 23:12 – “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
- James 4:6 – “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
- 1 John 1:8-9 – If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves; if we confess, He is faithful and just to forgive.
- Titus 3:5 – He saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy.
- Philippians 3:9 – Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ.
- Proverbs 30:12 – “There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth.”
- Revelation 3:17 – “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”
He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.
God, I thank You that I am not like other men… or even like this tax collector.
God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
This man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.
Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. The one who humbles himself will be exalted.
He justifies the ungodly. A broken and contrite heart He will not despise.
Do not pray a mirror. Pray mercy. Go home justified, or do not call the walk worship.
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