For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Luke 18:14 (NIV)
Tax Collectors and Sinners – Part 8
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The Tax Collector came to the temple to pray.
The vilest of men, viewed as traitors, conspirators with Rome and the scum of the earth, Jewish Tax Collectors were public enemies. In Roman-occupied Israel, Tax Collectors were Jews who decided to work for Rome and collect taxes from their conquered countrymen to give to the nation that had overcome them. They were rich, well off men, with beautiful homes and plenty to eat. But often with no one genuinely to share their table with.
Sinners. Shamed. Resented. Outcasts. Deserters. Tax Collectors.
When I see this man for who he really is, I judge him too, just as Jesus audience would have. Of course, he was free to come into the temple, but I’m not sure anyone would have expected him to. This was a man all presumed had turned his back on their culture and dignity. A sellout.
We’ve all talked about these people, right? (Maybe, if we look hard enough, we might confess that some of us have been called sell outs too.)
Then, as he prayed and beat his chest in anguish and in private confession, begged for mercy and forgiveness, he became my fellow man. He could be me.
Would he leave the temple only to continue to live a life of disgrace? Or would his prayer and connection with the Divine see him a changed man? We don’t know. We do know that even as he sat there and cried his private prayer that the Pharisee in his own way was diminishing his act of surrender. Judging it. Deeming it unworthy purely because of who the Tax Collector was.
And this is the Pharisees downfall. Not that he could keep the law and live righteously, but that he judged a man who did not live the same as he.
“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.”
Jesus places the emphasis of his story on the humble heart, not the righteous life. The Tax Collector left the temple right with God, not because he lived perfectly, but because he wasn’t comparing his life with anyone else. He just wanted to connect with God. The Pharisee did live a life that pleased God. He was obedient, surrendered, and disciplined… but in his righteousness he compared himself to others and deemed himself more worthy of God’s approval.
Jesus audience would have seen this in the parable. It would have shocked and confused them – how on earth could this tax collector be found justified in the eyes of God? A Sinner? A shame on Israel? A forgiven son of God?
I’ve read this parable before and thought, “Thank God I’m not a Pharisee…” but the moment I take the Tax Collector’s case and judge the Pharisee, I become the Pharisee. I become the comparer. I become the one who chooses a side, who deems one worthy and the other, not. This parable has a trick that makes us think. And think some more. It messes with our world view and the dualistic notion of “us and them.”
The trick of the parable is that you can’t side with anyone. The Tax Collector is the worst of sinners, and the Pharisee is pious and judgmental.
A second trick of this parable could be found in Jesus closing words, “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.” There is much debate in the theological world over the interpretation of the word “rather.” The original Greek word is “para” and can mean ‘rather than,’ like it has been interpreted here. AND it can mean ‘because of’ and ’side by side.’ Which changes everything. Maybe both men left justified, maybe both men left on a journey with a ways to go…
Perhaps there is grace and room in God’s Kingdom for both the saint and the sinner, the righteous and downcast, the arrogant and the surrendered. Perhaps humility can work its way into any heart. And the trick, as always, is to not choose sides but to remain humble and open to the divine. To not think of others and community and life as ‘us and them’, but rather purely and simply ‘we.'
All of us. Together. On a journey.
Divine grace cannot be limited. It does not choose sides. But to the humble heart, it is as visible and as bright as a brand new day.
Go to Part 9 – About Stories
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