This passage deals with prayer, specifically the content of the heart of the

person who prays. It deals with humility and the need to have the right
heart in approaching God, not with a legalistic "I am justified by my works"
attitude, but recognizing our need for mercy and grace in light of a perfect
God.
From the start, two flaws are addressed - the tendency to trust in our own
abilities rather than trusting God and recognizing our own failures, and the
act of looking down upon others for their own sins without regarding our
own (plank in the eye).
The need here is to recognize our own desperate need for God's grace and
mercy.
The two visitors are on opposite ends of the social spectrum. The Pharisee is
a respected religious member in a most honored social group, while the tax
collector belongs to one of the most hated professions possible for a Jew.
The two prayers also make a contrast. The Pharisee is sure that he is a
blessing to God: "I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers,
evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and
give a tenth of all I get." How conceited does this sound! Clearly, to the
Pharisee, God is lucky to have such a perfect and wonderful servant.
In fact, his prayer's form is revealing. It starts out like a thanksgiving psalm
in which God is praised for something he has done. But the form is twisted,
since the occasion of thanksgiving is what the man has done for God. Here is
trust in oneself. His real prayer is "God, I thank you that I am so great." In
his own "humble" eyes he is not unrighteous. He fasts above and beyond the
call of duty, twice a week, in contrast to the one fast a year on the Day of
Atonement required of Jews. He gives the proper tithes. He makes no
request of God, he offers no honor to God. This religious man does
everything perfectly.
In contrast, the tax collector senses that he approaches a holy God, a great
and unique being. This man comes with timidity, from a distance, not lifting
his eyes to heaven. While the Pharisee had stood right at the front and
addressed God, the tax collector sits in the corner and recognizes his own

unworthiness. The tax collector knows he is a sinner; the Pharisee is

confident of his own righteousness. The contrast is huge.
The tax collector asks for mercy. He desires to improve his spiritual health,
not focus on any personal achievements. He is aware that the only way he
has access to God is through divine mercy . Such access is not earned
through wors; it is the product of God's grace.
When Jesus evaluates the two prayers, only one petitioner went home
justified. The tax collector's prayer honored God and was heard, not that of
the Pharisee. To drive the point home, Jesus concludes, "For everyone who
exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted." . The tax collector has a humble heart. He is honored by God.
Since this parable is an example story, the call is to be like the tax collector.

In light of last week's large group, this passage ties back to faith and works. More
specifically, the Pharisee here does good things - no one would claim that fasting
and tithing are bad things for Christians to do. No doubt the Pharisee lives a "godly"
life in the eyes of others, and he acknowledges this fact (v.11). In large group we
talked mostly about how faith without works is dead, and how our faith is expressed
through serving others and God. In this case though, the Pharisee has all the works,
but they mean nothing without the proper heart. Though the parable doesn't talk
specifically about the works of the tax collector, we know that he has the heart that
God wants us to have - one of humility.

Are we as Christians too eager to glorify ourselves and look down on the sins at nonbelievers? Are there areas of my life where I need to reexamine my heart and my
motivations and humble myself?