One of the problems that familiarity brings when it comes to Jesus' parables is the tendency to reduce them to their simplest terms. The story goes from A to B to C, or this person is a hero and that person is a villain, and so forth. But in this parable, maybe even more than most others, we need to avoid doing that.
In those simplest terms, the tax collector is the hero and the Pharisee is the villain. Pharisees usually are the villains anyway, or at least Jesus' most frequent opponents, and he calls them out on their hypocrisy more than once. So it's pretty natural to see this one that way too, especially when Jesus tells us that the tax collector is the one who went home justified in God's sight.
But let's look at the guy a little bit before dismissing him so quickly. He starts his prayer by thanking God -- which is a good thing and ought to be a part of our own prayers, shouldn't it? His prayer is not a list of things he wants God to do, like some prayers become too quickly. And although his phrasing isn't very genteel, the substance of his thanksgiving is actually not so bad either. He's thankful that he doesn't steal things or commit adultery -- do we always give God the credit when we do well or obey the commandments he gives us, or do we too often pat ourselves on the back? Don't answer -- I'm embarrassed enough when I think about how that one plays out for me.
And what about his actions? The guy tithes, a full tenth of his income. That means he contributes to the Temple's work with the poor who come seeking help! He fasts twice a week, not eating between sunup and sundown as a sign of his religious devotion! My denomination doesn't make you fill out an application to join but if we did and this guy offered this résumé I'd be signing him up before some other church got him.
Now, none of this makes Jesus wrong about him. The reality is the Pharisee's attitude in his prayers shows his flaws. Jesus tells us he "prays to himself," which may mean more than just speaking in too low a tone of voice for anyone else to hear. It may mean that despite his words he really does think he's achieved all of this on his own merits and God ought to be grateful to have such a guy as him. His tone when he mentions all of the bad people he's not supports that idea.
But noting the upside of this Pharisee does remind us that he's not a villain -- he's a regular guy, pretty seriously devoted to his faith even if he thinks a little too much of himself. It's important to see this because otherwise we wind up dismissing him and diminishing the lesson Jesus wants to teach us.
"Well of course the tax collector was justified," we say too easily. "He was the hero and the Pharisee was just a rotten no-good so-and-so." And it's way too few steps from that idea to thinking that we're not so bad ourselves, since we're obviously not villains like that Pharisee is...
You see it, of course. When we make the Pharisee a villain instead of recognizing he's much more of an ordinary or even in some ways exemplary person, we can very quickly do the exact thing he's doing. Which, if you read the whole parable, is what Jesus wants us not to do.
The tax collector was justified because he knew God alone could make him so. The Pharisee wasn't because he didn't acknowledge that. But if the tax collector had elevated his own righteousness and the Pharisee had acknowledged God's role in justifying him it all would have been flipped over the other way.
Which is a good thing for Pharisees and tax collectors both to remember.
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