Luke 18:9-14 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
The Pharisee is a member of a sect in Israel and is self-righteous. The tax collectors were Jews who collected taxes for the Roman government, they were regarded as traitors by the Jews. They often collected more taxes and put them into their own pockets, and they were despised by most Jews. They were considered as sinners.
Pharisees were self-righteous people, they think they were righteous, despised others, looked down on everyone else, and judged others. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. The Pharisees exalts himself, but in God’s eyes they are not righteous.
Knowing his own sins, the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner. The tax collector humbled himself, confessed his sins and repented, and was considered righteous in the eyes of God. Lord Jesus finally said: for all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
May God bless you and your family. 😊
