The Tax Collector and the Pharisee Revisited

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

(Gen 1:1)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Two words of theological importance in understanding God are transcendent and immanent. To say that God is transcendent means that he stands above or outside of the universe that he created. Normally we attribute transcendence to God the Father because of his role in creation. Just like a carpenter is not part of a cabinet that he builds, God stands outside the universe because he created it. By contrast, when we call Jesus Emmanuel, we are highlighting his immanence—God with us, as the word, Emmanuel, translates in Hebrew.

Have you ever wondered how God hears our prayers? If God the Father is transcendent and Jesus is immanent, just not standing in front of us, how does God know what we are praying? I have always seen this as a role of the Holy Spirit, God within us. The Holy Spirit is the power of God that sustains and provisions us, grants us spiritual gifts, and hears our prayers. As we read: “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gen 1:2) Hovering requires time and energy, just like your telephone requires electricity.

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, discussed earlier, pictures two worshippers in the temple praying. God the Father is normally considered the object of their prayer, but this parable includes an observer, Jesus Christ, who interprets the parable for us. It is Christ himself who cautions us: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)

The sort of humility in view in this parable is that of self-reflection. A self-reflective person is one who is open to learning from their own experience. I used to tell my kids that there are three kinds of people in this world: those who never learn, those who learn from their own mistakes, and those who learn from other people’s mistakes. While the parable appears to focus on this second type of learner, it is generally true that people who prayer are open to learning from God, which implies that Jesus does not discount the third type of learner.

More generally in this parable we witness God’s attribute of accessibility. God is accessible in prayer (through the Holy Spirit) and he is accessible through Jesus Christ by means of his parables. This accessibility is not constrained by the manner of prayer, but it is better to be humble than self-praising if you want to be justified. Here in this parable we see a God who stands as judge over both our actions and our prayers.

Justification before God

The Greek key term in this parable dikaio means: To take up a legal cause, show justice, do justice, take up a cause. (BDAG 2005). Justify is a legal term as used in Luke 18:14. The idea here is that a self-reflective, humble person is more likely to be right with God than someone full of themselves.

More normally as Americans, we eschew interpreting our relationship with God in strictly legal terms. Being a child of God suggests a more intimate relationship than we might seek in a court of law. But we are neither always obedient children nor always disobedience. Perhaps, a better way to look at it is to say we relate to God on multiple levels, depending on circumstances. The Good News is that regardless of circumstances, we are still members of God’s family.

The Tax Collector and the Pharisee Revisited
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com




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