Are you a Pharisee or Tax Collector?

Are you a Pharisee or a tax collector?

We’ve been studying prayer in our Sunday school class and we recently considered the prayers of the Pharisee and the tax collector described in the 18th chapter of Luke’s gospel.

The Pharisees are prominent throughout the New Testament, but they don’t exactly enjoy a stellar reputation. Let’s face it, most of us equate the word Pharisee with hypocrite or a group of people who “got it wrong” when it came to their spirituality. After all, didn’t Jesus himself call them out on numerous occasions throughout the Bible?

Christ did have his differences with the Pharisees to be sure, but He really seemed to have a bigger problem with how they practiced rather than what they preached.

Pharisees at the time of Jesus were a well respected group. They were regarded by the public as holy and righteous people. The Sadducees were a little more upper crust and more aloof, but the Pharisees related more to the common people.

The Pharisees were among four major groups within Judaism at the time of Christ. The others were the Sadducees, the Zealots and the Essenes.

Christ criticized the Pharisees for those who were rigid and unforgiving. But Jesus didn’t condemn all of their beliefs and practices. Quite the contrary. Consider the scripture from the book of Matthew.

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”
The words of Jesus in Matthew 23:2-4

So you see, the Pharisees didn’t have it ALL wrong. Their biggest problem seemed to be that their hearts simply weren’t in the right place.

That is clearly evident in the comparison of the prayer of the Pharisee and that of the tax collector in Luke Chapter 18.

The Pharisee gets it wrong from the beginning. The scripture says he stood up and “prayed about himself”. He went on to thank God that he wasn’t like other people, such as robbers, adulterers, evil doers; even the tax collector who was presumably standing nearby him in the temple! The Pharisee then rattled off a list of his spiritual accomplishments. He fasts twice a week (far more than required by the law) and tithed everything he owned (again, above and beyond the Old Testament requirements)

The tax collector was less verbose and straight to the point. He simply kept his head down (would not even look up to heaven) beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Tax collectors were considered scum back in the time of Jesus. They worked for the hated Romans, and collected taxes under a system that was corrupt and unfair. They pocketed for themselves what amounted to extortion money.

This tax collector could have entered the temple not unlike the Pharisee, thinking he too was high and mighty. But he chose a different path. He prayed from the heart, knowing he was unworthy to even stand before a holy God. No excuses. No list of accomplishments. No condemnation of others.

We are saved, not by our deeds, but by the mercy of a loving God. Humility is a trait that God appreciates. Pride goeth before the fall comes to mind from Proverbs.

But standing humble before God is sometimes difficult. We live in a world that too often has its values upside down. You must have some list of accomplishments, you must have an impressive resume, you must belong to the right clubs, you must hang out with the right crowd. Sound familiar? I think that too often such things can stand in the way or hinder us from being genuine.

It is easy to foster the sin of Pride in a world that seems intent on emphasizing accomplishments, material things and pedigree.

This parable about the two prayers attacks any pride or sense of superiority we might be feeling from our piety and obedience.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:14

We need to check our hearts before we pray. Make sure they’re in the right place. God doesn’t want us to recite our spiritual resume and accomplishments, he wants us to reach out in humility, thanking him for his loving kindness and mercy we surely don’t deserve.

May we keep that in mind during Holy Week, as we reflect on the Lamb of God who sacrificed it all to save us, a bunch of lowly sinners.

Steve Fandel

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Welcome, and thanks for dragging yourself over to Live|Bold! My name is Greg Arnold and I am pumped to see you here. This interactive online community is here to point every man toward the cross. Whether you have been a follower of Christ for ages, or you are just stumbling into this strange new world of faith, we have something of value to offer you. This online e-zine is a cross between a blog, a social network, a resource center, and a pulpit. My hope is to inspire you to live your faith on the outside and be a real man for God. We need you in the fight.