The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

The Pharisees were an influential Jewish sect known for their strict observance of Jewish laws related to ritual purity and tithing. In conventional wisdom, no one would be thought of as more righteous than the Pharisees.

Tax collectors were Jews employed by the Roman Empire to collect taxes. Not only did they collect for the hated Roman Empire, they often cheated their own people by collecting more than was due and keeping the extra for themselves. In conventional wisdom, no one was a more despised sinner than a tax collector. Jesus no doubt shocked His audience when He said the sinful tax collector was justified (declared not guilty of his sins by God) instead of the Pharisee!

But when the Pharisee prayed, he was very confident of his own righteousness. He heaped praise on himself and contempt on the tax collector. He failed to recognize that he, himself, was guilty of the sins of pride, self-righteousness and contempt for a fellow human being.

In contrast, the tax collector did not claim any merit of his own. He fully recognized his own sinfulness and his need for God's mercy.

Like the tax collector, we must recognize that we are all imperfect sinners by God's standards (Romans 3:23), and we must depend on God's mercy for our justification. Anyone who is self-righteous and looks at other "sinners" with contempt is actually committing a serious sin!

Related Verses

 * Proverbs 26:12
 * Matthew 5:5-9, 7:1-5, 9:10-13, 18:10, 20:25-28
 * Mark 9:35
 * Luke 6:32-42, 7:36-50, 14:11
 * John 8:1-8
 * Romans 2:1-4, 3:23, 14:10-12
 * 1 Corinthians 4:5, 10:24,13:1-7, 16:14
 * Ephesians 4:1-6
 * Galatians 6:1-3
 * Philippians 2:2-8
 * 2 Timothy 2:22-25
 * James 2:12-13, 4:11-12
 * 1 John 1:8