Luke 18:9-14; October 26, 2025; Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
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The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector: Luke 18:9-14
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt:
Right off the bat Jesus gets into it, doesn’t he? And pay close attention to the wording here. He is not talking about some people — no, he’s talking directly to these people; it’s a parable to those in his very presence who trusted in themselves.
- “Trusted in themselves.” — interesting phrase. At face value, it doesn’t seem so bad. Heck, we teach our kids to trust in themselves, don’t we? To believe in themselves, to build confidence and self-esteem. This is not the problem then that Jesus wants to address.
- Rather, it’s that they trusted in themselves that they were righteous. You see, they had that false piety that too many of us share, thinking that we alone have made ourselves good, and that we haven’t needed any help from our neighbors, our society, nor from God.
- But even more problematic is that they “regarded others with contempt.” It’s not enough that they thought so well of themselves, no… they just had to disparage others as well, didn’t they?
- What is it about our human condition that we feel like we have to tear others down to build ourselves up? 2,000 years later, we are still doing the same thing!
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
- Two men. A common device used by Jesus which draws you right into the story. Which of the characters will you be most like in the end, he’s asking? The Pharisee or the tax collector?
- Honestly, neither are very well regarded in scripture. Though often the despised tax-collector (cause really, who has ever enjoyed paying taxes?) is represented more favorably than the Pharisee. Which is ironic, of course, because one might have assumed that the Pharisee, who was well-studied in Jewish law and custom, would be the one to be exemplified over the dude from the original IRS.
- But not so! For as it often goes: they who should know better, don’t — and — they who should do better, won’t.
11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
- “Standing by himself.” Arms crossed, shaking his head… the arrogance.
- Especially since he had the audacity to pray using these words: “God, I thank you that I am not like these other people.” Talk about not even seeing the teensiest speck in your own eye, let alone the giant-ass log.
- And what’s more, he even has the gall to point his finger at the very dude who came up the stairs with him to pray at the Temple! Can you imagine?
- I’ve got friends in the corporate world who tell me something about this. Perhaps you know some of them too? These colleagues/“friends” who sell you out the moment they perceive a chance to get ahead. Pointing their fingers, casting blame, dispersions, accusations. Whatever it takes to make themselves look better at your professional and personal expense.
- Sound like anyone you know?
12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’
- Sometimes, simply following the letter of the law isn’t as wonderful as you make it out to be. You can still be an SOB even while doing commendable things.
- Anyone remember Jimmy Savile? Huge British Media Star from the 60s-90s? There’s a Netflix documentary about him you can watch, if you’ve got the stomach. The guy did a ton of charity work, was the honorary President of Phab (Physically Handicapped in the Able Bodied community), was a friend to Magaret Thatcher, was knighted, and was once told by Prince Charles: “Nobody will ever know what you have done for this country, Jimmy…” well, until it was revealed that all along he was raping children, many from the hospitals he started for charity. Not to mention countless other evil things that you can’t even begin to imagine — the police number his victims and crimes over 300 in total.
- Now obviously I don’t mean to compare this Pharisee with someone as demonic as Jimmy Savile. It’s an exaggeration for sure, much like Christ’s parables. But the point stands, that just because you can point to some things you do well and by the book, doesn’t erase the multitude that you do beyond the pages, your hidden sins, as it were.
13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
- Jesus also notes where this guy is standing. Whereas the Pharisee was said to be standing by himself, Jesus says this tax collector was “standing far off”
- Which at first can sound the same. But it’s not. This guy is not posturing; he’s not standing alone because he thinks he’s better than the rest. In fact, it’s the opposite.
- He is standing far off from the Temple, where he came to pray, because he thinks he’s not good enough to enter. That he doesn’t belong.
- But he does. And so do you. So do we.
- Jesus says that this man doesn’t even lift his eyes to heaven. Ever been caught in a lie or an admission of shame? It’s hard to look the person you’ve wronged in the eye, isn’t it? The guilt is too much. And so, like us, this man beats his chest, and says, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
- And then and there, my friends, just like us, also sinners, after he confesses, he is shown mercy.
- With that simple admission, that humble confession, his honest acknowledgment that he is not worthy, and no better than anyone else, Jesus justifies and exalts him. Praise be to God!
14 I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other (the Pharisee), for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
- You see, my friends, in God’s word, in Christ’s world, the first shall be last, the last shall be first; and “none of us have any ground on which to stand, except God’s grace (Confession of 1967).”
- So, don’t ever think you can be like the Pharisee, following all the laws correctly, only to stay arrogant and belittling, and think that your exaltation will follow.
- No.
- For Jesus tells us to be humble. Be humble!
- Especially in this world, which tempts each of us every day to believe that we’re wonderful, the stars of the show, when we’re not. Amen
