In the parable of the Tax Collector & the Pharisee, Jesus tells the story of two different people who go to the temple to pray. The Pharisee is a good man. He is not a crook, not a womanizer, or a drunk. He faithful to his wife, patient with his children, and steadfast with his friends. He fasts twice a week and tithes on everything. The tax collector on the other hand was one of the most despised people of his day. The tax collector was like a Mafia hit man getting rich on the exploitation of others. He is the opposite of the Pharisee. Both men go to the temple to pray. The Pharisee thanks God he’s not like the all those sinners and lists all his accomplishments. The tax collector, on the other hand, called out to God for mercy as a sinner. In a shocking reversal of cultural expectations, Jesus says the Tax Collector, “went home justified before God“. The shock of the parable is found in the reason Jesus told it. “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else.” Jesus is saying that the Pharisee’s ability to win a game of justification with God is no better than the Tax Collector. The point of the parable is that they are both dead, and their only hope is someone who can raise the dead. In the same way, many people today think that they are not good enough to be Christians. This is a tragic thought. It is precisely because we are not good enough that Christ died for us. Jesus came for the sick and not the healthy. This parable reminds us that until we surrender to mercy, we are like the Pharisee who thinks they are well because of their own merit. The truth is that only those who realize their need for the Great Physician will be “justified before God”.
In the parable of the Tax Collector & the Pharisee, Jesus tells the story of two different people who go to the temple to pray. The Pharisee is a good man. He is not a crook, not a womanizer, or a drunk. He faithful to his wife, patient with his children, and steadfast with his friends. He fasts twice a week and tithes on everything. The tax collector on the other hand was one of the most despised people of his day. The tax collector was like a Mafia hit man getting rich on the exploitation of others. He is the opposite of the Pharisee. Both men go to the temple to pray. The Pharisee thanks God he’s not like the all those sinners and lists all his accomplishments. The tax collector, on the other hand, called out to God for mercy as a sinner. In a shocking reversal of cultural expectations, Jesus says the Tax Collector, “went home justified before God“. The shock of the parable is found in the reason Jesus told it. “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else.” Jesus is saying that the Pharisee’s ability to win a game of justification with God is no better than the Tax Collector. The point of the parable is that they are both dead, and their only hope is someone who can raise the dead. In the same way, many people today think that they are not good enough to be Christians. This is a tragic thought. It is precisely because we are not good enough that Christ died for us. Jesus came for the sick and not the healthy. This parable reminds us that until we surrender to mercy, we are like the Pharisee who thinks they are well because of their own merit. The truth is that only those who realize their need for the Great Physician will be “justified before God”.