Sunday Meditation: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

This is a great parable told by Jesus and one that resonates deeply with me.

 

Jesus addressed this parable

to those who were convinced of their own righteousness

and despised everyone else.

"Two people went up to the temple area to pray;

one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.

The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,

'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity --

greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.'

But the tax collector stood off at a distance

and would not even raise his eyes to heaven

but beat his breast and prayed,

'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'

I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;

for whoever exalts himself will be humbled,

and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

~Lk 18:9-14

 

This is just six verses long, and yet one of the most profound little parables.  Dr. Brant Pitre does a superb job of explaining every little nuance. 

The tax collector Jesus has in mind is obviously Matthew, who will become one of the twelve.  This little dramatization from a movie called Son of God conflates the calling of Matthew with this parable.  It’s not exactly how the Gospels relate the separate passages, but it is a worthy interpretation.

 

'O God, be merciful to me a sinner,’ is a verse every Christian should be in the habit of frequently saying.  I do.