The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

The Main Things, Plain Things collection – October 23rd, 2022 (7-minute read)

The verses for today’s bible study can be read at this link: Luke 18:9-14 or you can open your bible to the passage. I suggest that you read the passage before continuing this article.

Like last week’s parable of the Judge and the Widow, this one also tells us the main point of the parable at the beginning. Jesus was talking to people who considered themselves righteous, but thought they were better than others. This section of Luke occurred as He was traveling to Jerusalem, teaching His disciples as they walked. They had encounters with Pharisees challenging Jesus along the way. It's likely that this parable was intended for one of those encounters. This story was also meant to remind His disciples that God sees and considers both the internal and external when He judges the nature of our behavior.

Neither of the two men who came to the temple to seek forgiveness in this parable were good people. The Pharisee was an oppressor and a hypocrite. The tax collector was a traitor and a cheat…