There is a hazard for the modern Christian who reads this parable. What I mean is, we don’t want to view the Pharisee in this parable in such a way that we end up doing exactly what he does. It might be tempting to congratulate ourselves because, unlike this Pharisee, maybe we’re not self-righteous. It might be tempting to pride ourselves in the fact that we trust in God’s grace and not in our own good works. And so, it might be tempting to view this Pharisee with some contempt. Of course, if we did that, we would end up doing exactly what he does. So, there is a hazard we need to be aware of when we read this passage.
Things would have been very different for a 1st cent. Judean who heard this parable. For a 1st cent. Judean, Pharisees were considered models of what the good, pious, and religious life should look like, at least from the outside. So, consider that there’s no reason for us to doubt the Pharisee when he says he fasts twice a week and gives a tenth of all of his income. He’s probably telling the truth. And, in that culture, to do those kinds of things would have been admired as good religious practice. All that to say, it might have been very surprising for a 1st cent. Judean to hear that this Pharisee was not justified in the sight of God. How could someone so righteous not be justified in God’s sight?
And likewise, for a 1st century Judean, there were few people more worthy of contempt than a tax collector. Tax collectors were considered traitors to Israel. Moreover, they were often suspected of pilfering the taxes they collected to line their own pockets. So, it wasn’t just Pharisees, people in general had a tendency to view tax-collectors with contempt. And, the tax collector in this parable makes no bones about it, he has done some unrighteous things and he knows it. And so again, it might have been very surprising for a 1st cent. Judean to hear this tax collector leaves the Temple that day, justified in the eyes of God.
So, what’s going on here? Two chapters before this Jesus says to the Pharisees, “You…justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts.” Part of what this parable does is remind us that way people appear to us on the outside may or may not reflect how God knows them. God knows the heart. As this parable indicates, God knows the prayers of our hearts. God knows what we cherish and what we despise.
And so, this passage gets right to the “heart” of the problem in the opening verse. It says “(Jesus)…told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” As we’ll see, those two things are connected. Self-righteousness, this idea that I am to be credited for my righteousness, almost invariably leads to contempt for others who are not like me.
You’ll also notice that Jesus ends the parable by saying, “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” That one statement points us to the root problem within the human heart. We can sum up this root problem in one word: pride.
Pride is a simple, and yet profound shortcoming. What pride tries to do is take what rightfully belongs to God and attribute it to one’s self. I mentioned that the Pharisee is probably telling the truth in what he says. So, when he says, “I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” That’s probably true. And, when he says, “I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” Again, that’s probably true. And we should go ahead and say, all of that is good. It is good that he fasts and gives his tithe. It is good that he doesn’t go around stealing, and pilfering taxes, and other kinds of roguish, unscrupulous behavior. All of that is good.
The problem is not the good things this Pharisee does, nor the sinful things he doesn’t do. The problem is his pride. Now, to be fair, his pride can be a little tricky to catch. I mean, after all he is thanking God for these things. How can he prideful if he is thanking God? Well, the clue to his pride is the way in which he holds others in contempt. The source of his contempt for others is his pride in his own self-righteousness.
Think of it this way: The self-righteous person truly believes their "right-ness" is their own doing. In their minds they say to themselves, “I do the right things, all on my own. If I can do it, so can you. But you don’t do it. Therefore, since you don’t do it and I do, I’m better than you.” This is the logic of the prideful heart. The self-righteous person believes they have every reason to look down their noses on other people. But, again, they are attributing to themselves what only God can do.
And, to be generous here, it is so easy in our own every-day living to forget that it is God who enables us, not just to live, but also to know what is good, to will what is good, and to do what is good. "For, in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Paul says the same thing in Philippians 2 when he says, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” And this is where the Pharisee stumbles, he doesn’t really consider the Source of his being, the Source of his mind, the Source of his will, and the Source of all the opportunities he is given to use all that he is for the good. So, although the Pharisee speaks words of thanksgiving, really all he is doing is admiring himself and how wonderful he is compared to other people-all the while forgetting God.
Let me give you another way to look at it. In the 15th chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus gives this wonderful image of the himself as a vine, presumable a grape vine. He says, I am the vine you are the branches-abide in me, abide in my love-and you will produce much fruit. That metaphor of Jesus as the vine is helpful in showing where this Pharisee goes wrong. So, here’s the image: God the Father is the vine-grower, Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. The fruit that the vine grower is producing is found on the branches that abide in the vine. In other words, there is no such thing as a branch floating around in mid-air, not connected to the vine, that still produces fruit. To produce fruit the branch must be connected to the vine. It’s a pretty simple image. But the primary point Jesus is making is that without the vine there is no fruit.
In John 15:4 he says, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. (And then to kind of drive the point home he says) I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” Again, in him we live and move and have our being. So, Jesus is saying there the same thing that Paul was saying.
Whatever good we do, that goodness comes from God. God is the source of all that is good, even the good things in which we participate. This is exactly where the Pharisee gets things wrong. In spite of his prayer, he acts as if he himself is the vine-grower, the vine, and the branches all rolled up in one. And here’s the interesting part, the Pharisee has fruit. The problem is that he is not acknowledging the Source of the fruit. He’s not acknowledging the One who enables him to fast and give his tithe and not steal and not be roguish and unscrupulous. As Jesus put it, he trusts in himself for his righteousness.
The tax collector on other hand, doesn’t appear to have much good fruit, and he acknowledges as much. He comes right out and says, “I’m a sinner.” But, where he gets things right is that he understands if he is going to be righteous at all, it must come from God. And so, in an act of faith, the tax collector relies wholly on God’s mercy to do for him what he cannot for himself. To use the metaphor that Jesus does, he somehow knows that without the vine and the vine grower, he can do nothing.
I imagine in the future that tax collector will be hard pressed to view others, no matter who they are, with contempt. How could he? He has already acknowledged that he is a sinner who is wholly dependent on God, that he alone can’t do it. How could he ever look at another person as if he were better than them? He couldn’t look down on others without the pain of being grossly inconsistent with the truth he knows about himself, and about God.
This is the really the beautiful thing about God’s grace. The Christian who is truly in touch with both their need and God’s grace will, more often than not, be humble and gracious towards others. If they know God’s grace for themselves, they also know they have no basis upon which to see themselves as somehow better than others. And, if they take pride in anything, it is in God who is gracious and merciful towards sinners. To the glory of God, Amen.
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