Today’s Scripture Readings

Gospel Reading

NRSV

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’

The Pharisee wasn’t necessarily a bad man, but he was the product of a bad religious system. He performed all his religious duties with scrupulous care and prided himself on that. But he had never gone down into the depths of his heart and discovered there his own sinfulness and his need for God’s mercy.

By contrast, the tax-collector was regarded as a vile sinner who was in cahoots with the hated Roman occupiers. But he does go down into the depths of his heart, and from there he cries out for God’s mercy. This is the religion the real God wants. The tax-collector humbles himself, trusting not to his own efforts but to God’s grace. The Pharisee sees no need for humility because he has so much to be proud of.

We can spend much of our life trying to prove ourselves worthy, trying to earn our salvation. But this is a futile exercise, and God doesn’t ask the impossible of us. He asks that we trust not to some religious system but to a relationship with him which leads us into an experience of who we really are and who God really is.