Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity–greedy, dishonest, adulterous–or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18.9-14)
In many ways, we have today the second part of a pair of parables that Rabbi Jesus tells his listeners, the two bound together not only by the same theme–that being prayer–but also by the fact that both parables–the first being the parable of the Persistent Widow and the Corrupt Judge, the second being this parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector–are unique to Luke’s gospel.
Were that not enough to link the two, Luke makes crystal clear his plan when he puts them back to back and conjoins the two by the adverb also, “Jesus also addressed this parable to those,” a word that the lectionary omits for whatever reason. And, as pointed out last week, these are the only two parables that begin with an explanation for Jesus telling them, leaving no question in our minds as to their intended purpose.
As we can see, that purpose is spelled out in this second parable by the evangelist explaining that Jesus addressed this parable “to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.” So, right from the start, we know this is going to be a warning about self-righteousness and about the peril of judging others.
We are not disappointed. The parable paints a stark contrast between the two principals in the story, the first being a Pharisee, the second being a tax-collector. Given that both personages were well-known figures in the Jewish landscape, the listeners no doubt assume that the Pharisee will come off as a pillar of holiness and the tax-collector will be portrayed as vile and loathsome.
That assumption falls apart quickly, another classic example of Luke’s interest in the so-called “great reversal” that he has presented to us from page one and throughout the entirety of his script. At the end of the parable, the Pharisee is painted as self-righteous and falling far short of God’s expectations while the tax collector comes off as worthy of God’s mercy because of his simplicity and his humility.
As with every other instance of the great reversal in this gospel, this parable intends to shake up and to shatter the assumptions of people, shocking its listeners by showing the tax collector, rejected as a sinner because of his working alongside the Roman occupiers, as embraced by God and showcasing the Pharisee, presumed holy and put on a pedestal because of his position as a religious leader, as distant from the Most High God.
To say the least, it had to have been an eye-opener for the intended audience, not a few of whom were probably Pharisees. In these few words, Jesus knocks them off their high horse and elevates a tax collector, reversing the status of each party and putting before listeners of every age a cautionary tale about those who inflate their moral standing while harshing judging that of others whom they consider beneath them.
That the great reversal should take place in the temple during a period of prayer is not without significance, adding another warning to anyone who might wrongly believe that their prayers in and of themselves will bring them favor from God. The parable exposes the falseness of that belief and reminds the listeners that any prayer that becomes a litany of good deeds done and bad deeds avoided, as if God might not see for himself our holiness, will fall flat before the face of God, earning the one who prays in such a way no brownie points from God.
As we look more closely at the prayer of the Pharisee, we see that it is not really a prayer at all. It is more like a political ad intended to win over God, providing all the good reasons for voting for the Pharisee. It is full of bravado and back-patting, the first words laying out the case for the superiority of the Pharisee who boldly says to God, “I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity.”
Should God be unmindful of what the rest of humanity looks like, the Pharisee gives him a summary, pointing out their greed, dishonesty, and adultery, the listing of faults serving as proof of the inferiority of humanity as a whole when contrasted with the holiness of the Pharisee, his virtues also freely offered as a reminder to God, including the fact that he fasts twice a week and pays tithes on his income.
One look at the prayer of this man and anyone can see that for him prayer has become boasting, piety has become posturing, and love of God has become love of self. Were that not injurious enough to the true moral fiber of the Pharisee, the fact that he assumes the role of God as the one who judges others when he enumerates his own claims while telling God of the failures of others only proves the height of his vanity.
In truth, he is no different than the cast of characters we have already met in the gospel, familiar figures such as the foolish man who thought bigger barns would save him or the rich man who gave no thought to the poor man Lazarus, these and others all bloated with their high estimation of themselves, believing the stories that they told on themselves. And, as we also have seen, Jesus is quick to call the whole lot of them fools.
The prayer of the tax collector, on the other hand, is full of humbleness and self-recrimination, knowing full well his faults and failures. The parable describes his physical posture as corresponding to his internal estimation of himself, stating that he “would not even raise his eyes to heaven, but instead beat his breast” as he prayed.
To strike one’s breast was seen in these times as a sign of penance, expressing in a physical way the remorse, regrets and recriminations that one carries within one’s soul. The only other time the phrase is used in the gospel by Luke is at the scene of the crucifixion when the evangelist writes, “When all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home, beating their breasts.” Placing these two scenes side-by-side allows us to see the depth of the despair that the tax collector carries in his chest, fully aware of his own heinous wrongdoing.
His is a stance of humility as he stands before God, honest in his prayer as he begs of the Most High God to “be merciful to me a sinner.” He knows his own unworthiness and, unlike the Pharisee who finds his superiority when comparing himself to the rest of humanity, the tax collector is keenly aware of his inferiority because he compares himself to the holiness of God, a more objective measure of holiness than the Pharisee can muster.
Unlike the Pharisee who can only see his own supposed greatness, this tax-collector can see only too clearly his own failures, knowing he has fallen far short of the expectations of the Most High God, and realizing that his only hope for salvation is the mercy of God. He recognizes his need for God. And unlike the other person in the temple that day, this one has no list of virtues to present to God in an attempt to convince him of his moral rectitude.
Up to this point as the parable is being told to them, the listeners no doubt shook their heads in agreement, acknowledging the right of the Pharisee to boast of his holiness and accepting the reality that the tax collector truly was a sinner. This was common sense, something everyone with eyes in their heads could see as they looked around them, knowing full well who in the crowd was good and who wasn’t worth a damn.
But then all bets are off the table when Jesus reverses the expected outcome of the story, stating, “I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former.” As with every other instance of the great reversal, eyes popped open and heads were raised in shock. This was not how the story was supposed to end. Far from it. God was supposed to smile upon the Pharisee and send the tax collector to hell where he belonged.
Of course, to defy and to redefine the expectations were precisely the intentions of Jesus in telling the story, the great reversal intending to show that God’s ways are not the ways of the world and that self-assertions of holiness mean nothing to the God who reads the hearts of men and knows fully well what we carry within them.
So, here as with the Good Samaritan and other stories of the great reversal, the outcast is praised and the insider is criticized. The twist will stay to the end of the gospel when the Roman centurion at the cross alone calls Jesus an innocent man while the Jewish leaders castigate him as a criminal, a final reminder that, as Mary said at the start of the gospel, “God has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart, and has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.”
As we can see, there is much that can and should be said about his parable. Much indeed. But were I to draw our attention to the most salient point–at least in my estimation–it would be to focus on the Pharisee’s belief that he “was not like the rest of humanity.” Of all his boasts, that is the most egregious because his failure to recognize his shared humanity with all others clouds his consciousness, making him believe he is better than others, leading him to “despise everyone else,” sure of his sanctity and proud of his status. As always, self-righteousness and harsh judgment of others are flip sides of the same coin.
That failure to see that we are “all born between shit and piss,” as Saint Augustine once pointed out, resulted in the Pharisee not only distancing himself from others, contemptuous and judgmental in his attitude towards those he saw as morally beneath him, but also distancing himself from God, even if he positioned himself front and center in the Temple.
At the end of the parable, the tax-collector whose only virtue may have been his humility is the one who finds himself closest to God, even if he stood off at a distance in the Temple, believing himself unworthy to approach the throne of the Most High God. Jesus’ warning to us could not be clearer when he ends the parable with these words, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
It is a cold and calculated reminder that none of us have cause to be contemptuous of anyone else whatever their condition or position. Before God, we are all sinners and supplicants, desperate for his mercy, our hands empty of any saving grace, our only hope being the words, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”
–Jeremy Myers
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