This parable was addressed to people “who trusted in themselves, that they were righteous.” It may have been presented in the actual location where the “story” was set (between the altar and the temple wall). Jesus shows two men who enter the temple specifically to pray. In the ancient Hebrew mind, actually praying IN the temple was being as near God’s presence as was humanly possible. The men enter at one of the normal hours for prayer, but the similarities between them end at this point.
Jesus’ words make a clear distinction in the attitudes of the two men: The Pharisee prays “with himself” — as if including God in his prayer was incidental, almost an afterthought. This man was selfsatisfied and considered himself basically selfsufficient; the time and location for his prayer appear to have been chosen for his own glory rather than God’s. The words of his prayer almost seem to “congratulate” the Almighty for having such an excellent, wonderful worshipper as himself! In himself he sees only the sins he had avoided (extortion, injustice, adultery), but not the things he left undone, such as faith in God. He boasts of how he had gone far beyond the “bare minimum” of the law in matters such as fasting and tithing, but he seems to have left undone the “weightier” matters of true justice, mercy and faith (as in Matthew 23:23).
The publican (a tax collector for the Roman government) presents a vivid contrast to the Pharisee. Here is a man hated and despised by virtually all his countrymen, considered a traitor to his nation, consigned in the minds of his neighbors to the lowest pits of hell. As Jesus depicts him, the man probably had not been in the temple for a long time – he is clearly uncomfortable and ill at ease there. He positively avoids the area of the altar, hugging the perimeter wall. Unlike the Pharisee, he will not so much as raise his eyes heavenward, instead pounding himself on the chest in anguish. The words of his prayer (in Greek) specify “God, have mercy on me THE sinner” (echoing the emotion Paul described in 1 Timothy 1:15, describing himself as the “greatest” or chief sinner).
Like the Pharisee, this man also divides people into two categories; himself and others. Where the Pharisee thinks of himself as better than all others however, the lowly tax collector considers all others better than himself (note Philippians 2:3).
Jesus directs us to the basic lesson of this parable when He says in verse 14 that it was the publican who “…went down to his house justified rather than the other….” The fundamental difference between these two men is that the tax-gatherer did not “condescend” to speak to God in prayer, nor did he make excuses or try to blame others for the condition of his soul. Instead, he acknowledged plainly and directly that he needed Divine help, and his prayer was like the sweet smell of incense before the Lord. The Pharisee’s prayer, however, must have seemed more like a bucket of ice water in the Father’s face!
The tax collector had gone to the temple because he needed to; he wanted to be heard by God. The Pharisee, however, merely entered the temple to make sure that he was “seen being righteous” by his fellow hypocrites. Surely there is a practical application for this parable to our own attitudes in prayer! If we worship and pray “out of habit” or merely in fear of what others might think of us, we will entirely miss the point (and the blessing!) of praying, and our effort is wasted.
-Dave Rogers
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