The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted (Luke 18:9-14)."

Pharisees held to a liberal interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures with the aim of making following the Torah open to all. He a leader among his fellow Jews, a mentor for those who wish to follow God’s law as revealed in the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. He is meticulous in his religious observance and is generous with his money. He is respected. The problem is not his piety, his religious life, but his inability to see his own dependence upon God. He walks away from the Temple with his piety intact but without experiencing God.

Tax collectors were collaborators who profited from the Roman occupation and the oppression of their fellow Jews. They were venal, unscrupulous, and dishonest. They over taxed, gave the Romans their due, then kept what was left for themselves as salary. They lived well when others did not. They accepted bribes. Yet, this particular man comes to the Temple and without pretense. He stands before God without excuse. Without conditions. Without expectations. Without self-loathing. Without a single claim except a trust in God’s mercy.

Sometimes the immensity of our sin, our betrayals, our wrong-doings, can thankfully drive us to the God of Jesus Christ. Major mistakes are sometimes needed for us to see our need for God’s grace and forgiveness.

What is it that allows us to come before God and be honest? Why can we bow ourselves down before our maker with our faces in our hands and say to God what we cannot sometimes say to others? To understand what allows us to open our hearts and reveal our deepest selves to God is to understand Jesus’ revelation of God. Jesus reveals a God who loves us with an unbounded passion; a God who desires our lives to be immersed in the Kingdom of God. Jesus reveals to us that the compassion and mercy of God draws us not only closer to God but closer to who we are meant to be.

God’s love for us is not dependent upon our religious acts, our prayer life, our worship, our good works, our giving to the needs of others. It is not something we can coerce or for which we can bargain. It can only be received. And when we are broken and have broken others, the only thing that can restore us and hopefully them is the reception of God’s love, compassion, and especially mercy. Because this is the God that Jesus reveals we can always humble ourselves before God and know that it is God’s Self and not ourselves from where our salvation comes-The Reverend Adrian A. Amaya.