August 12, 2024
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is only recounted in the book of Luke in chapter 18. Among other things, through the comparisons made between the two characters of this parable, the basic element of salvation is touched on. We’ll start by looking at the two characters in the story.
The Pharisee: Pharisees were members of Jewish society who held very strong beliefs about obeying both the laws of Moses and the traditions handed down “from the fathers.” These traditions were not part of the laws of Moses, but the Pharisees put them on the same level as the law. The name Pharisee means “separated” or “separated one.”
Pharisees strove to observe the law of Moses, especially those laws that had to do with tithing and purity. Many Jews didn’t adhere to the purity laws concerning food, food preparation, and the washing of hands, so the Pharisees were careful about who they ate with so as not to become ritually unclean. Some of them criticized Jesus because He ate with sinners, and they looked down on His disciples because they ate with unwashed hands (Mark 7:5). They also criticized Jesus on more than one occasion for violating the Sabbath laws (Luke 13:14; John 5:16).
Pharisees were known to go above and beyond when it came to religious matters. The written law only required fasting once a year on the Day of Atonement, yet some Pharisees fasted twice a week, in a self-imposed act of piety. They tithed everything they acquired, which was also beyond what the law required.
Most Jews did not adhere to the Mosaic law as strictly as the Pharisees did; therefore, the Jews of Jesus’ day considered the Pharisees to be very righteous and pious.
The Tax Collector: There were three types of taxes which were required by the Romans, who ruled Israel during the time of Jesus: the land tax, the head tax, and the customs tax system. The taxes were used to pay tribute to Rome, which had conquered Israel in 63 BC.
The tax collector in the parable would have most likely been connected to the customs system. Throughout the Roman Empire there was a system of tolls and duties that were collected at ports, tax offices, and at the city gates. The rates were between two and five percent of the value of the goods that were transported from town to town. The value of the goods was determined by the tax collector. While there was some measure of control, tax collectors would often value the goods much higher than their actual worth, in order to make a profit. Those being taxed considered this institutional robbery.1
When some tax collectors came to John the Baptist to be baptized, they asked him what they should do, and he responded, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do” (Luke 3:13)—which is a sure sign that they were overcharging for their own benefit.
Tax collectors were seen as extortioners and unjust, and were considered religiously unclean, and their houses and any house they entered were thus considered unclean. The hated tax collectors were put in the same category as sinners and prostitutes (Matthew 21:32), and were shunned by respectable people.
The tax collector in the parable is certainly not an upstanding character; he’s a rotter and he knows it, as evidenced by his actions in the temple and his prayer.
The Parable: The parable starts by saying, “He [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt” (Luke 18:9).
Luke gives an introduction explaining that the parable is about those who think that they can attain righteousness through their own merit. Jesus is directing this parable to those who trust in themselves, who feel they are righteous, and who consider others inferior and undeserving of respect.
The parable continues, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector” (Luke 18:10). The words “went up” and later in the parable, “went down,” refer to the elevation of the Temple Mount, which was the high spot of the city.
It was customary to pray twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, as this was when the two daily sacrifices for atonement were offered in the temple. The original listeners would assume that the Pharisee and the tax collector were going up to the temple to attend one of the daily atonement sacrifices and to pray.
“The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get’” (Luke 18:11–12).
The Pharisee stood by himself when he prayed; he separated himself from the other worshippers. If his clothes touched those of a person who was unclean, then he would be unclean too. And as one who was meticulous when it came to being pure and holy, that just wouldn’t do. He stood as he prayed and lifted his eyes upward, both of which were the custom in Jewish prayer.
It was also the custom to pray out loud, so there is a good possibility that others could hear his prayer. It could be that he meant his prayer to be a “preachment” prayer; you know the kind—where a person prays in a manner that is intended to preach a sermon to others rather than truly addressing the Lord.
He doesn’t confess any sin, he’s not thanking God for any of his blessings, and he isn’t asking for anything for himself or others. He seems to be pointing out to others how bad they are, and showing contempt for them, and publicizing his own righteousness and obedience to the law. He’s comparing himself to others and pointing out how religiously conscientious he is compared to them.
He fasts twice a week, meaning he fasts 104 times a year compared to the one time a year required by the law. While the law spoke of tithing those things which were grown in the ground and tithing animals which were watched over, he tithes everything he acquires. He does this just in case the person who sold the item to him didn’t tithe on it as they should have.
The Pharisee is not a hypocrite; he no doubt actually does refrain from the sins he lists and he does fast and tithe more than required. But he is self-satisfied and self-righteous. He looks down on others who don’t keep the law as he does, and thanks God that he “isn’t like them.” He views himself as the epitome of righteousness, and the original audience of the parable would have seen him that way as well.
The tax collector’s demeanor and prayer are completely different: “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” (Luke 18:13).
The tax collector stands far from others for the opposite reason—because he’s a sinner and he knows it. He won’t lift up his eyes to heaven because he feels unworthy. He extorts money from others by overcharging them. He’s a swindler. He doesn’t feel that he deserves to be standing with God’s people, or that he’s worthy of conversing with God. He’s standing apart, beating his breast, and he prays: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
The Greek word used in this verse for “be merciful” means to make propitiation for. The tax collector is asking for propitiation, or atonement, for his sins. His cry isn’t for general mercy; it’s for atonement, for the forgiveness of his sins.
Author Kenneth Bailey expresses the situation of the tax collector beautifully. He wrote:
One can almost smell the pungent incense, hear the loud clash of cymbals, and see the great cloud of dense smoke rising from the burnt offering. The tax collector is there. He stands afar off, anxious not to be seen, sensing his unworthiness to stand with the participants. In brokenness he longs to be a part of it all. He yearns that he might stand with “the righteous.” In deep remorse he strikes his chest and cries out in repentance and hope, “O God! Let it be for me! Make an atonement for me, a sinner!” There in the temple this humble man, aware of his own sin and unworthiness, with no merit of his own to commend him, longs that the great dramatic atonement sacrifice might apply to him.2
And we see that it does. Jesus ends the story with: “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).
This ending would have been a shock to the original listeners. The Pharisee would have been seen as the righteous, respected one, as he not only obeyed the law but went beyond it. The tax collector, on the other hand, would have been considered the sinner. He was hated and reviled by virtually everyone, and with good reason; there was no way he could be seen as being righteous.
Yet who does Jesus say goes to his house justified, made righteous?—The one who knows that he’s a sinner, who humbles himself, knowing that no amount of works could save him, who looks to God in true repentance for His mercy, forgiveness, and salvation.
When it comes to God’s saving grace, the one who humbly acknowledges his or her need for God is the one who receives salvation. Not those with the exalted self-opinion, who trust that their good works and religiosity are going to save them. Now don’t get me wrong; doing good works that help others is good, but those works aren’t what get you saved. You don’t earn a bunch of good points that cancel out your bad points. You can’t earn salvation or forgiveness for your sins. It’s simply a beautiful gift offered by God.
While this parable speaks of the need for personal humility before God in prayer and warns against being self-righteous about our own works and looking down on others with a judgmental attitude, its most important message is about God’s grace. The message is that our works don’t save us; God’s grace does. God has made a way for our sins to be forgiven and for us to enter into a right relationship with Him because of His great love, mercy, and grace.
Jesus is telling His listeners that it is through God’s love and grace that people are justified, that our sins are atoned for, which the apostle Paul expressed as: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).
While salvation through grace, not works, is a main point of this parable, other points can be learned from it as well, such as:
The parable reveals that God is not a God impressed with pious acts and feelings of superiority, He is, rather, a God of mercy who responds to the needs and honest prayers and repentance of people. As it says in Isaiah 66:2: “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
Self-righteousness and pride, thinking highly of oneself and putting others down, are signs of an attitude that is out of alignment with the way God views people. An effective way to bring an inflated view of self down to size is to compare yourself with God’s greatness and His perfection, rather than comparing with the supposed faults and sins of others.
God is a God of love and mercy. He loves humanity and He made provision for us to be saved through Jesus’ sacrificial death. He’s passionate about saving all people, even those who seem to be the worst sinners in the eyes of the world, people like the tax collector in this parable.
As Christians, we are called to do all we can to help others know Him through living our lives in a manner that shows the love, mercy, and understanding that our loving Savior has shown to each of us. And then, to share with others the wonderful news that the way to know God is simply to accept His free gift of salvation by grace.
Originally published June 2013. Adapted and republished August 2024. Read by Jon Marc.
1 Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1992), 809.
2 Kenneth E. Bailey, Poet & Peasant, and Through Peasant Eyes, combined edition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985), 154.
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