Today we meet two very different characters in the Gospel parable – the Pharisee and the tax collector. Jesus tells the story we are all familiar with. The Pharisee stands at the front of the Temple and in His prayer he boasts that he is not like other ordinary men. He fasts and pays tithes and is honest and not adulterous like the rest. He even compares himself favorable to the tax collector who is in a different place in the temple. The Pharisee has a pretty inflated opinion of Himself.
On the other hand, the tax collector comes before God beating his breast for all his failings and sin. He asks for God’s mercy and forgiveness. He has a pretty deflated opinion of himself. But Jesus says he is the one who goes away justified.
When we read parables like this one, we all tend to identify with one or more of the characters in the stories. I am sure most of us would like to think we are more like the humble repentant sinner than the narcissistic Pharisee. But what is interesting about this parable is that Jesus uses a method of teaching that we also see elsewhere in the gospels.
Jesus presents two extremes on the spectrum - the very boastful and the very humble. And the reality is that most of us fall somewhere in between. If we are honest, there is a little bit of both the Pharisee and the tax collector in each one of us.
The other famous example of this is when Thomas is called the twin in the post resurrection appearance in the upper room. The twin signifying that Thomas is both the believer and the unbeliever. His struggle is to allow the believer to take the more dominant position in his heart.
So too Jesus encourages us today to realize it is easy to look down on the less fortunate in our midst and to boost our own self-worth. But He reminds us that no one of us is perfect and that we have the need for God’s mercy and forgiveness as well.
Let us come before God today with all of our strengths and frailties and ask God to make us one harmonious whole.