Make it Make Sense
what am i always measuring myself against others? frustration many college students feel as they navigate identity, purpose, and truth in a world full of contradiction. Resonance – Where culture and Christianity agree Dissonance – Where culture falls short Fulfillment – How Jesus meets the deeper need
Comparison Culture
The parable, like the p
THE PARABLE (VV. 10–13)
The story begins simply enough: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector” (v. 10).
On the other hand, the Pharisees had justly earned the reputation as, i
The Pharisee’s Prayer
The Pharisee’s prayer began well enough:
First, note the prominence in which the Pharisee placed himself. The contrasting position of the tax-gatherer in verse 13 suggests that the Pharisee moved to the front of the Court of Israel within the temple precincts
Second, the prayer was loud enough for all in the court to hear. He was like the American preacher whose prayer was described as “the most eloquent prayer ever offered to a Boston audience
Third, his prayer was self-absorbed. The Revised Standard Version renders the literal sense of the Greek: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself” (literally, “to himself”). After his initial nod to God, his was essentially a self-congratulatory monologue disguised as a prayer. There are fives uses of the personal pronoun I implicit in the nominative case in the Greek: “I—I—I—I—I.” He was stoned on self
Fourth, our discomfort with his prayer peaks when he drags in the sleazy tax
A life that finds security in comparison is deluded. It is utterly un-Biblical in
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’ ” (v. 13). The contrast is intense. Whereas the Pharisee stood in prominence, the tax-gatherer “stood at a distance,” probably just a step within the confines of the Court of Israel. Whereas the Pharisee stood erect with eyes open to Heaven, the publican could not bring himself to lift up his head. Whereas the Pharisee confidently prayed, the tax collector sorrowed over what he was and what he had done (cf.
The publican had no desire to compare himself with the other man but merely cried out, “
THE DECLARATION (V. 14)
Justified
Jesus declared the meaning of this unusual scene by saying, “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God” (v. 14a). The excellent Pharisee, with his wide phylacteries, strode from the temple confident in his righteousness—such a dramatic contrast with the spiritual unworthiness of the publican. He felt great! But having taken his stand on his own merits, the Pharisee left the temple unaccepted, unjustified, and under God’s wrath.
