LENTEN LANTERN - Day 3
THE ONLINE LENTEN MEDITATION FROM St JOHN’S M.T.C, U.K
Luke 18:9-14

Thank God: I am not like other men

The two main characters of the parable are as different from one another as can be – the Pharisee and the publican. Pharisees have the reputation, especially in Luke’s gospel, of falling into that unfortunate category of religious hypocrites. They tend to be the moneyed and elite religious class. This means they have the means to observe the law in all its complexity, down to the tiniest stroke. The complete observance of the law was out of the financial reach of the poor most of the time. The poor couldn’t afford the Temple offerings to be made for ritual cleansing after illness, after childbirth, after the normal rigors of a life of labor. Not so the Pharisees. They thought of themselves as models of holiness and righteousness. If Pharisees were models of holiness and righteousness, tax collectors were models of a different kind: they were mostly thought of as models of greed, uncleanness and dishonesty. They worked for the Roman Empire making themselves rich off the misery of their own people. Tax collectors were
considered as traitors.

Both these men go to the Temple to lift their voices in prayer. The Pharisee give thanks that God did not make him like four different kinds of people he clearly thinks are inferior, including tax collectors… and he singles him out. He thanks God for giving him a heart for Jewish piety. He fasts. He tithes. In just these two areas he shows himself to be someone who not only obeys the law, but goes beyond it. By the tone of what he says, he reveals that he is pleased with the state of his religious observance. He says, thank God I’m not like other, lesser people. Then Jesus turns our attention to the tax collector. But before we hear his words, Jesus paints a vivid picture with three brushstrokes. First the tax collector is standing far off, not at the center or front of the Temple where we assume the Pharisee stood. Second, he does not even raise his head as if to look towards heaven, but keeps it bowed. Third, he is beating his breast, an action signifying repentance. This is a snapshot of someone who is so filled with remorse or shame
that he is wearing it visibly on his body. He utters just seven words. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” There is no pride in what he says. There is no pride in what he does. He looks down on no one except himself. And, Jesus tells us, the Pharisee who thanked God that he was ‘not like other men’ was judged harshly, while the tax collector who sought mercy as a sinner ‘went home justified’.

“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov.16:18). Pride is a serious, possibly even malignant, mistake for a disciple. The Greek myth of Icarus is the most spectacular example of a fall from pride. Icarus’ father Daedalus had perfected the art of making wings from feathers and wax. Icarus loved the sensation of flying and forgot his father’s warning not to fly too close to the sun. When he made his mistake the wax melted, the wings failed and he fell into the sea. In terms of the distinctions we are forming here, it is Pride that comes
before a fall.

Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt (Luke 18:9). Sometimes, we are very much like that awful Pharisee. Hence, this parable is a cautionary tale, telling us that our focus should not be on our own excellence, but rather on God’s unfathomable, immeasurable generosity.
 

Lord, help us this day to come before you with a humble and a nonjudgmental mind. Though we were unworthy you cleansed us and made us worthy to come before you. It is not by our might, wealth or our good deeds we stand before you.
- Amen