Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'  And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

- Luke 18:9-14

Yesterday we read that Jesus spoke a parable to His disciples, after His teaching on His Return, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying:  "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.  Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.'  And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'"  Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said.  And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?  I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector."  Jesus sets a new parable with two men who are quite different from one another.  The Pharisee is a highly respected and careful observer of the details of the Law, says my study bible, while the tax collector is despised as a sinner who collaborates with the occupying Roman forces, a person who betrays and cheats his own people. 

"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'" We note that all of these things the Pharisee does are good (that is, fasting and tithing).  My study bible calls them the primary weapons against the passions of lust and greed (adultery and extortion).  But, without humility and repentance in the heart of a person, outward practices are worthless.  Here they lead to pride and judgment of others in the example Jesus gives us.  We should also note that Christ tells us the Pharisee prays with himself, for, as my study bible puts it, "God is absent where there is boasting."

"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'"  Jesus gives us a description of the tax collector, an image of humility before God, with an awareness of the state of his own soul -- he stands far from the altar of sacrifice with eyes cast downward.  The prayer he prays is the foundation of the Jesus Prayer, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner," which has become Christian practice for centuries.  His refrain, "Lord have mercy" permeates liturgical worship and personal prayer everywhere.

"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  To be justified, my study bible tells us, means to be forgiven and set right with God.  The tax collector is, in other words, shown to be righteous before God, upright.  Inward humility, as Jesus often teaches, is blessed, while pride in outward deeds is condemned.  This is the most basic criticism Jesus repeatedly makes of the Pharisees.

 This parable is clearly about judgment, especially as it follows yesterday's story about the widow who, through persistent prayer, got the judge to hear her case, and also Jesus' teachings on the time of the End, or His Second Coming, and Judgment.  While the widow was one put upon and shunned and done injustice to, here we have the tax collector, one who is nominally a sinner.  A tax collector would have been someone with material power, and the backing of the Roman Army for his trade or livelihood.  Tax collectors could be extremely unfair, routinely charging more taxes than were owed in order to make extra money for themselves.  As the Pharisee indicates, it was perhaps widely observed that such men could easily be extortioners, unjust, and adulterers.  Let us note that in the language of the Pharisee, the tax collector by reputation comes below all these, as the Pharisee adds, "Or even as this tax collector" to that already disdainful list!  So we're given to understand that this tax collector is truly a person disliked and looked down upon in community; he's not an innocent, like the widow in yesterday's reading.  But the story of the tax collector is one of incredible insight and value to all of us, because Jesus places a kind of honest self-knowledge and acknowledgment of our own flaws as the centerpiece of justification; that is, to be viewed as righteous in the eyes of God.   This stands legalism and perfectionism on its head, and gives us a way to understand the role humility has to play in our lives.  It really doesn't matter whether one is an exalted Pharisee or a disdained tax collector, the requirements of God are a humble heart -- and in Jesus' hands, the parable He teaches becomes one of absolute and uncompromising fidelity to the truth of our own state.  It is the same as He teaches when He says we must look to the plank in our own eye before we can help anyone else with a speck in theirs (Matthew 7:3-5).  In this time in which we await His return, this is right where our focus needs to be.  The tax collector is not justified here because he criticizes himself or has some overly negative view of himself.    It is humility and an honest gaze at his own spiritual state that justifies him.  Let's also note that he doesn't proclaim his sinfulness to all and sundry, nor does he make a show before God of what a miserable specimen he is in order to gain some sort of favor by grovelling, as if to worldly autocrat.  If we think that, we've missed the point entirely.  He knows that God knows him fully already.  God's gaze is clearly felt by him.  And here is another important insight from the parable:  the tax collector completely and totally trusts God.  Moreover, and every bit as important (especially in light of the contrast with the Pharisee), he does not "talk with himself."  He is in dialogue with God.  To ask for God's mercy is to be dependent upon God, to seek the relationship of faith.  Furthermore, by his actions we see that judgment is clearly of God, not of ourselves -- be that judgment negative or positive.   All in all, with all these factors taken into consideration, he is a model of prayer, and prayer is what Christ calls us to, especially at this time between His Resurrection and His Second Coming.  He stands as our example of what we are to be about and how we are effectively to pray.