Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Text and Content

This parable appears only in the Gospel of Luke (18:9–14). The text introduces it as a story Jesus spoke "unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others."

• The Pharisee's prayer: Two men go up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee stands and gives thanks that he is not like extortioners (those who seize what belongs to others), the unjust, or adulterers, "or even as this publican." He goes on to declare that he fasts twice a week and gives tithes of all his income.
• The tax collector's prayer: The tax collector stands far off and will not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven. He smites upon his breast and prays, "God be merciful to me a sinner."
• Jesus' conclusion: Jesus says that the tax collector, rather than the Pharisee, went down to his house justified. He closes the parable with the words "every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

The parable is immediately preceded by the Parable of the Unjust Judge, which also concerns prayer.

Background

The Pharisees were a group within Judaism who sought to observe the law strictly and were respected by the people. Tax collectors gathered taxes and tolls on behalf of Rome and the rulers subject to it. Because they frequently collected more than was required, their fellow Jews regarded them as sinners.

The only fast that the Old Testament law required of all the people was essentially the fast of the Day of Atonement. Fasting twice every week and tithing all one's income were therefore acts of piety that went beyond what the law demanded. Some Jews of the period are known to have customarily fasted on Mondays and Thursdays.

The Greek verb rendered "be merciful" in the tax collector's prayer shares a root with words meaning "to make atonement" or "to appease." For this reason, the prayer is sometimes read as a plea for mercy through atonement.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The saying "every one that exalteth himself shall be abased" also appears in Luke 14:11. The parable echoes the confession in Psalm 51:16–17 that God will not despise a broken and contrite heart. It likewise echoes the declaration in Isaiah 57:15 that God dwells with those who are of a contrite and humble spirit.

This scene of a tax collector's acceptance, together with the story of Zacchaeus that follows (Luke 19), illustrates Luke's theme of grace extended to sinners. Because of the word "justified," the parable is also often read in connection with justification as taught by Paul.

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• Justification and humility: The Lutheran and Reformed traditions frequently use this parable to illustrate the teaching that one is justified not by works but by relying on God's mercy. The Roman Catholic Church chiefly presents it as a model of humility and contrition (deep sorrow for sin). Most denominations affirm both aspects.
• Generalizing about the Pharisees: As verse 9 makes clear, the parable targets an attitude of trusting in one's own righteousness and despising others. Some therefore hold that caution is needed in treating the figure in the parable as representative of all Pharisees or of Judaism as a whole.
• Inverted pride: Preachers often point out that the attitude of "thanking God that I am not like that Pharisee" is the same error.
• What the text does not say: The text does not say that the Pharisee's fasting and tithing were false. Nor does it say whether the tax collector afterward left his occupation or restored what he had taken; such details are commonly borrowed from the Zacchaeus story and added. The phrase describing how the Pharisee prayed (KJV: "with himself"), rendered "apart" in some translations, can also be read in the original as "toward himself." Interpretations therefore differ as to whether it means he stood apart from the crowd or that he was speaking to himself rather than to God.

In the Life of the Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church observes the first Sunday of the pre-Lenten period of preparation as the "Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee." The tax collector's prayer is regarded as one of the sources of the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." In Korean churches, the parable is widely used as a sermon text on the posture of prayer, humility, and repentance.