The Pharisee and The Tax Collector

Jesus told another story about a Pharisee and a tax collector.

Both went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee praised God, because of his right standing through is obedience to God’s Law. The tax collector begged for mercy, because all he saw was his own sin.

I have a theory about the Pharisees. (As it is a theory, it may be true, but it might also not be true.) They read the Scriptures, and saw all the places where God said: “You are my people. I will bless you.” Then, they looked at history: the Philistines, Assyria, Babylon, and Rome. And they said: “That’s not good. What happened?”

So, they read more Scriptures: “Obey me, and I will bless you. Disobey me, and you’re in trouble.” The, they looked at more history, and said: “Oh, yeah. My bad.”

The say that the bad, that happened to Israel, was a result of their disobedience. So, to get good results, they needed to work hard at obeying God. So, they asked: “How do we obey God?” And they studied, and they mapped it all out. They developed a system. Obey the system, you’re good with God. Disobey the system, and you’re the cause of all the bad stuff.

So, the Pharisee, praising God in the temple, is saying: “I’m keeping the system. So, I know God is pleased with me. The bad stuff is not my fault.”

They did work hard to obey God, but it was in all the superficial areas. They tithed, but the were not loving, merciful or compassionate. They should be obeying all of God’s word.

The tax collector was honest with God. He knew he sinned, and could only stand before God if God extended mercy, and grace. The Pharisee was deluded, because he only obeyed part of the Law. And the easy part at that.