THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME C

[cappie]

In our Gospel lesson, two people go to the Temple to pray, but only one goes home justified.

First, we meet the Pharisee. He assumes the correct position for prayer: he stands. Yet, he stands by himself, setting himself apart from others. But not too far. From his vantage point, he can scan the crowd of worshippers, can even spy a tax collector hunched over on the edge of the assembly. The Pharisee chooses a place with good sight lines, somewhat apart from others, where he can see and be seen, he offers prayers to God that are meant to be overheard. 

In his prayers, he uses two strategies to puff himself up. One, is about himself. And two, he puts others down.  

  The Pharisee points out to the Lord God what the Lord surely already knows: he fasts twice a week and gives a tenth of all his income. One wonders for whose benefit he says these things. For God? Hardly. For the other worshippers? He probably thinks so.  

We should note a couple of things about what the Pharisee says. The technical term for what the Pharisee does — fast twice a week and tithe on all of his income means he goes above and beyond what is required by the law.  By saying he fasts twice a week, the Pharisee was boasting of an asceticism that went beyond the norm. The same goes for tithing.   He wants God and everyone within earshot to know about his super observance, which goes well beyond that of the others. 

  We don’t get too much psychological theory in the New Testament. But Luke gives a pretty clear explanation in the introduction to the parable. He says that Jesus “told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” People who boast try to portray themselves as righteous. Whether their audience is found in the Temple or on Instagram, braggarts try to prove their righteousness through their superior character and deeds.

Which leads us to the second strategy.  The Pharisee thanks God that he is “not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”  

But more seriously, why do people belittle others?  Again, we don’t find too much psychological theory in the New Testament, but Luke’s explanation is still pretty good.  Self-righteous promotion before God goes hand in hand with demeaning others.  

Second on the scene, we meet the tax collector. He also stands for prayer, but with lowered eyes.  He stands also far off, not wanting to be noticed. Unlike the Pharisee who assumes a position from which to see and be seen, the tax collector tries to fade into the background. There, he beats his breast as a sign of repentance. 

  Tax collectors were contemptible. Not only did they collaborate with the Romans, but they also cheated their fellow Jews.  

When the tax collector does speak, he utters a simple cry for mercy: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” In the Greek text, the tax collector’s entire petition consists of six words. The Pharisee’s speech is twenty-nine words, four times as long. The Pharisee boasts about himself and his deeds, using the word “I” four times. The only thing that the tax collector says about himself is that he is a sinner. Unlike the Pharisee who passes judgment on all manner of people, the tax collector passes judgment only on himself.

But the tax collector does one thing the Pharisee doesn’t. He asks for God’s mercy. The Pharisee gives God a status report highlighting his extraordinary piety and practice.   What’s God’s mercy have to do with it? According to the tax collector, everything. It’s the only thing he asks for.

That day, the tax collector, not the Pharisee, went home justified.

We must remember the parable is not primarily about us. It is about God. In Luke 15:7, Jesus tells us, “There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” The saying about the humble being exalted is a saying about God, who does the exalting, God, who does the justifying, God, who rejoices over the repentance of one sinner. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector might better be named the Parable of the Merciful God.

We may also rightly understand this parable as not only spoken by Jesus but also about Jesus. God’s greatest act of mercy is found in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In John’s Gospel, Jesus’s crucifixion is also his exaltation. It is at once the paradox of Christ’s humiliation and exaltation, and the source of our salvation. As Jesus says, “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). All people — the sinful and the righteous, the humble and the braggarts, the Pharisees and the tax collectors — are drawn into the mystery of redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Now, at the foot of the cross, we can make the tax collector’s cry for mercy our own: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” In Luke’s Gospel, we see this enacted in the penitent thief who says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus replies, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (23:42-43).