“Tax Collectors with a Pharisee’s heart”
“Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:10-14 (NKJV)
The prayer of the Pharisee quickly shows his self-righteousness, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men”, reveals his heart; he considers himself to be the sinless example for all men to follow. All “other men” are sinners by his observation, even the tax collector in the temple with him to pray, is judged a “sinner.” This is the heart of a Pharisee, to see himself as the standard by which others are held accountable. Even his prayer is “with himself”, God seems far removed from his self-righteous boasting. By his condemnation of the tax collector, the Pharisee has condemned himself in God’s eyes, while the tax collector is exalted. (See also Revelation 3:17) This Pharisee did not know that he was “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” in God’s eyes. Pride had brought him to the very brink of destruction, which is the natural progression of living according to the flesh and not the Spirit. The Tax collector knew himself far better than the Pharisee knew his own faults.
Most Pharisees in the Bible knew the Laws of God (in the flesh), but did not know the God of the law (by the Spirit); likewise, modern day pharisees know the word of God, but not the God of the word.
Aren’t we Christians, (if indeed we are), simply “tax collectors” who, by trusting in Jesus now recognize the heart of the “Pharisee” that beats within us, and are driven to brokenness because of this revelation? Mercy Lord...
