Storytime with Jesus: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Continuing my series on my favourite parables that Jesus taught, here is the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (aka The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector). It is much shorter than the last one! Please read along with me, and I’ll discuss some thoughts below.

Jesus said…

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon 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 every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:10-14)

Two Different Ways of Approaching God

I had a Bible in front of me from the time I learned how to read until adulthood, and I never remember coming across these five little verses. I thought that I was doing pretty well as far as teenagers went; I didn’t drink, use drugs, swear, etc. I was convinced that my church-going and striving to live the standards of my church kept me “pure” from the sin of the world. Comparing myself with the other students in my high school, I probably said a prayer very much like that of this Pharisee at some point or another in my life…

In hindsight, I was lost. The outward actions and outward appearance mean very little compared to the condition of the heart (see Matthew 23:25-29). When I encountered God in a meaningful way for the first time, I had nothing to offer – all I could do was (metaphorically) beat my breast and say “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” It was only at that point that I experienced God’s grace and forgiveness for the first time – years of church-going couldn’t replicate that. Polishing an outward appearance couldn’t ever make me feel justified before God. Like other born again Christians, I now feel justified before God (!) not because of anything that I have done, but because of what Jesus has done for me! What an amazing liberating feeling that is! In the words of one of my favourite worship songs, “Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe; sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.”

Listen to what Jesus is telling you in this parable. Are you the Pharisee, trying to justify yourself before God with your works? Or are you the Publican, with no merit of your own to speak of, and all you can do is call out to God for forgiveness? Which prayer is yours? Think about this carefully – Jesus says only one of these two men was justified.

God bless you, and thank you for reading.