Only in Saint Luke do we find the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector at prayer in the temple (Luke 18:9-14). We must read it carefully to avoid clichéd and superficial interpretation that may not reflect what the evangelist intended to share with us.
The Pharisee
We have made this name synonymous with hypocrisy. This negative connotation of the term originated perhaps from the fact that Jesus did upbraid Pharisees on several occasions. An example is when some Pharisees sneered at Jesus after He taught the parable of the dishonest steward; He told the Pharisees: “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts, for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).
Nonetheless not all, not even most, of them can be said to deserve the ill repute that the whole sect had fallen into. Luke himself makes the distinction about Pharisees who were good: One day some Pharisees sought out Jesus to tell Him, “Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill You” (Luke 13:31). We also read in Acts about the Pharisee Gamaliel, “a teacher of the law, respected by all the people,” who cautioned the Sanhedrin to moderation when the apostles appeared before the body (Acts 5:34-39).
Pharisees were rigorous observers of the law and respectable models of piety admired by the public. What the Pharisee in our gospel reading says is undeniably true: he abhors sin, fasts twice weekly, and pays a tenth part of his entire income as tithes. He is no mere show-off. His problem is rather, Luke points out, that he is convinced of his own righteousness and despises everyone else. Symptomatically, he positions himself prominently at the forefront of the temple court where men pray. He is at prayer, yet he is actually turned toward himself and is completely turned on by his own goodness. Is he giving thanks to God or just delighting in himself? His contempt for others is by the way of accentuating his own righteousness.
The tax collector
HE is the type of the sinner. His business is dedicated to injustice and impiety, motivated by greed. He collects the taxes for the Roman occupiers, paying them a fixed sum and squeezing in turn from the people his high profits. Very unpopular with the public who despised these tax collectors for having prostituted themselves to the gentiles, the man in the parable nevertheless finds time to pray to God.
He honestly recognizes that he is a sinner. He naturally hang back, and he dares not even raise his eyes to heaven. He beats his breast as he begs, “Oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” He experiences the total poverty of a sinner; he can only await the forgiveness of a compassionate God. Instead of trying to stand tall before God, he humbly and penitently looks into his conscience and faces the truth of his utter dependence on divine mercy.
Alálaong bagá, the Pharisee and the tax collector, a study in contrast, typify two basic attitudes in relationship with God. One thought himself to be in good standing with God, better than ordinary people. The other confesses himself to be a sinner in the sight of God. The first asks nothing from God, while the second prays for mercy. And the last receives justification from God, while the first not. God wants the Pharisee to see himself after all he has accomplished that he is nothing but “a useless servant” (Luke 17:10), just as the tax collector sees himself as a sinner in need of forgiveness. The truth is we are all sinners who must pray from the depths of our hearts, “Oh God, be merciful to me!” We do this at the beginning of every celebration of the Eucharist. God heeds the prayer of the truthful and lowly sinner, and gives him forgiveness and salvation. For justification is His gift, and not a product of human accomplishment.
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Why did God create Man ?
Because he could.