The contrast between the prayer of the Pharisee and that of the tax collector gives us a vivid picture of the attitude of prayer. Jesus Himself illustrated, in the form of a parable, the difference between the prayer of the self-righteous and the prayer of the one who seeks after God's mercy.
Jesus said, "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 18:10 - 14, NKJV, emphasis added).
In the above particular passage of Scripture, Jesus was an eyewitness of what was happening at the temple. He was sharing with His disciples, the religious leaders, the Pharisees, and those who were around Him at that time, in the form of a parable. This incident was at the closing of His Jerusalem ministry before He left for the other cities. Jesus used a lot of parables because a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning and it was easily understood by His disciples.
Jesus saw two characters at the temple, the Pharisee and the tax collector. Both of them went to the temple for the same singular purpose - to pray. The Pharisee's eyes were looking at God. But the tax collector's eyes were lifted up only half way and he would not look up to heaven. Jesus saw every little movement that was going on in the temple.
Similarly, Jesus is also in the midst of our Chruch services and our prayer meetings looking and observing every one of us. He knows there are also many "Pharisees" and many "tax collectors" in our worship services and in our prayer meetings.
The Prayer of the Pharisee
Let us turn our attention to the Pharisee. The word, "Pharisee" comes from the Aramaic word "parashiym" which means "separated". The Pharisees felt so strongly that they were the only chosen race because they belonged to the Jews. They gave themselves over to rigid practice of the Mosaic Law which they obeyed to great details. Each time they were quick to jump to the conclusion that the Jews did not obey or observe as much details as they were. And because of this they assumed that the Jews were all sinners and they could not come close to heaven. The Pharisees were "separated" and legally self-righteous.
Jesus said, "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.'" (Luke 18:11, 12).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. In his whole prayer, the Pharisee mentioned God only once. But five times he said, "I". His prayer was self-centered. Jesus said, "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matt. 12:34). The Pharisee spoke thus because his heart was conceited.
2. The Phariseee congratulated God for having such a nice fellow as he was - unlike the extortioners, unjust and the adulterers! He even put down the tax collector by comparing himself favorably with him.
3. The Pharisee fasted twice a week. Moses Law requiered the Jews to fast only on the Day of Atonement which was called "the day of fasting" (Jer. 36:6) to remember God's goodness of the Passover Lamb. The school of the Rabbi and the school of the Pharisees were trying to suggest to us that the two days of the week, Monday and Thursday were special days of prayer. According to their traditional belief, Moses went up to Mt. Sinai on a Monday, and after he received the Ten commandments, he come down on a Thursday. And so the Pharisee not only fasted twice a week but also had special prayers in these two days.
4. Mondays and Thursdays were market days for all the Jews in Jerusalem and the surrounding cities. Before the people went to the market they would go to the temple to pray to God. The Pharisees had the greatest opportunity to have their prayers heard by a great naive audience. People would think how spiritual their leaders were. But Jesus was there and He saw the spiritual gimmicks and spiritual bankruptcy of the Pharisees who were His fellow Jews. Similarly Jesus sees what is going on in His Church today. Many of His people come to Church just to show others how religious they are, and not genuinely come to worship God and get to know Him.
5. The Pharisee tithed all that they possessed. Moses Law required the Jews to tithe crops, oil, wine, and herds of animals (Lev. 27:30 - 33; Deu. 14:22 - 29). The tithes were given to support the Levites (Num. 18:21 - 32). But the Pharisees tithed everything, even the garden herbs.
Jesus said to them, "But woe to you Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone" (Luke 11:42).
The Pharisees and the religious leaders were majoring on the minor. The major side of the Law they did not obey. You can also find many self-centered and self-righteous "Pharisees" and religious leaders in the Church today.
The Prayer of the tax collector
A tax collector was a Jewish agent or contract worker who collected taxes for the Roman Government. But he knew very little about Moses Law. All he knew was to carry out the wishes of Caesar. The tax collectors were despised by their fellow Jews because under the Law, a Jew could not tax another Jew. In fact a Jew could not even receive interest from another Jew because Jew and Jew were brothers.
The tax collectors were classified generally as "sinners" (Matt. 9:10, 11; Mark 2:15), because they were allowed to gather more than the government required and then to pocket the excess amount. Instead of collecting 20% tax, they usually collected 40% so that the other 20% could go to their pocket! John the Baptist addressed this when he urged tax collectors to gather no more money than they should (Luke 3:12, 13). Furthermore, the tax collectors were hated because their fellow countrymen viewed them as mercenaries who worked for a foreign oppressor of the Jewish people.
We need to bear in mind that Jesus always hates sin but loves sinners. And so it is not surprising to note that Jesus accepted and associated with tax collectors. He ate with them (Mark 2:16). he bestowed His saving grace upon them (Luke 19:9), and He even chose a tax collector (Matthew) as one of His twelve disciples (Matt. 9:9). By His attitude toward the tax collectors, Jesus showed that God's covenant of grace extends to all people - not only the "righteous" who observed the Law of the Old Testament. In fact, His message was that God would welcome the repentant and humble tax collector, while He would spurn the arrogant Pharisee.
With the above background in mind let us look at this particular tax collector who came to the temple to repent before Jesus and to ask for God's mercy.
Jesus said, "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!'" (Luke 18:13, emphasis added).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. The tax collector stood afar off because he was too ashamed to come near Jesus. He was conscious of his unworthiness to approach the sacred place where God had his Holy habitation. Furthermore he stood isolated from the others in the temple - the marketing crowd. The crowd would recognize him right away because his job was very prominent.
2. Jesus' statement concerning the attitude of the tax collector - "would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast", was symbolic of repentance. The tax collector was conscious of his guilt. He felt that he was a sinner. Shame and sorrow prevent his looking up. Men who are conscious of guilt always fix their eyes on the ground. He stood there, came to Jesus, broken and hopeless, knowing that God would anytime strike him dead. If not because of God's mercy he could never be never be found in the presence of Jesus.
3. The tax collector prayed, "God, be merciful to me a sinner"! Very short and straight to the point without justifying or finding excuse for his sin. He simply confessed that he was a sinner and acknowledged that he needed God's mercy. The only similarity between his praying and the Pharisee's prayer was that they both mentioned "God" once. But the Pharisee never admitted that he was a sinner and never admitted that he needed God's mercy.
The phrase "be merciful to me" in the Hebrew language is more vivid which means, "God, let your anger be removed from me. If you don't remove your anger and forgive my wrongdoing I will have no mercy".
Conclusion
Jesus said, "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 18:14, NKJV, emphasis added).
The word, "justified" means "accepted and approved by God", or "just-as-if the person did not sin". God, therefore, declares the person as righteous. In this case it means that in their prayers, the tax collector and the Pharisee, one was approved and the other not; the "one went down to his house" with the favor of God in answer to his petitions, the other not.
The phrase, "for everyone who exalts himself ..." is God's universal way to deal with people - believers or non-believers. Men will perpetually endeavor to bring down those who endeavor to exalt themselves; and it is God's plan to abase the proud, to bring down the lofty, to raise up those that be bowed down, and show His favors to those who are poor and needy.
When we see the contrast of the prayer of the Pharisee and that of the tax collector we understand that Jesus loves pepentant sinners and opens His ears to their prayer. When we see the contrast of different type of believers in the Church we understand how Jesus readily answers prayers and grant the petitions of those who come humbly before Him, just as they are - without hypocrisy and without displaying a false facade.
God declared, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heave, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14, emphasis added).
God's eyes see our heart and see our attitude in prayer:
"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him" (2 Chron. 16:9).
One of the wonderful promises of God in this endtime hour is:
"It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear" (Isaiah 65:24).
The condition to receive this promise of God is simply this - pray with the right attitude!
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