The case of the Pharisee and the tax collector: justification and social location in Luke's Gospel

Currents in Theology and Mission, April, 2005 by Stephanie Harrison

The episode

But he [Jesus] also spoke this parable for the sake of certain ones, ones who have confidence in themselves that they are just and who despise the rest.

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying these things: 'O God, I thank you because I am not just like the rest of humanity: swindlers, unjust ones, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice during the week. I tithe everything that I acquire.'

But the tax collector, stopping far off, did not even want to lift his eyes toward heaven, but instead he was beating his breast saying, 'O God be merciful to me, the sinner!'

I say to you all that this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted." (1)

Introduction

Luke's brief account of the Pharisee and the tax collector (18:9-14) presents a seemingly simple story of pride in one's own accomplishments turning into contempt for others who don't measure up. In the narrative, the Pharisee thought he was just but went home unjustified, while the tax collector knew he was unjust and God justified him. It seems to be an open and shut case of humility winning out over self-exaltation. Despite the obvious interpretation, this case deserves a second look.

Without firsthand knowledge of Pharisees or first-century tax collectors, we are left with biased biblical witnesses about these characters ringing in our ears. We are made deaf both to the nuances and to the shock of the story. We may find it too easy to identify with sinful tax collectors and too easy to vilify Pharisees. Or, perhaps most dangerously, we may fall into the trap of believing that a humble attitude about our circumstances--our sin and our position in society--is enough to warrant our own justification.

Throughout this essay, I argue that Luke's view of justification has as much to do with our social location and our willingness to show mercy as it does with an inner attitude of humility or of being right with God. Given this supposition, the reason the tax collector is justified goes beyond his penitent attitude. He is justified because he occupied a marginal position within society. And from this position, where he received no mercy from others, he recognized his own need before God. On the other hand, the Pharisee remains unjustified because his central position in society gives him power and authority to show mercy to others, which he fails to do with respect to the tax collector.

In this paper, I present this story as something of a legal case, a framework that allows for a thorough investigation of what righteousness means to the Pharisee, to the tax collector, and ultimately to Luke. I am choosing to present this story as a "case" for three reasons. First, while this story is often linked to the preceding story of the persistent widow and the wicked judge (18:1-8) by virtue of the common subject matter of prayer, the two stories are also linked by a host of "righteousness" or "justification" words. (2) Second, one of the historical contexts for speaking of justification or righteousness was a legal one. (3) Finally, exploring the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector as a legal case serves as means to "hear" both sides, while exploring what constitutes justification for Luke.

Challenges of the case

There are two main areas of knowledge that we need to set aside while undertaking this inquiry. First, Paul's spin on justification is a difficult paradigm to shed, even briefly. It is easy for us to assume that Paul's notion of "justification by faith through grace apart from works" is the same notion of justification as Luke, Matthew, or John might have. However, for the sake of this inquiry, it is necessary to bracket any Pauline understanding of justification. For this reason, I use words that are less theologically loaded, such as "align" or "upright" and "unaligned" or "upside-down."

Second, we need to set aside our preconceived notions of Jesus, the Pharisee, and the tax collector. We are accustomed to a Jesus who opposes the Pharisees and who befriends tax collectors and sinners. We are accustomed to identifying ourselves with the tax collectors and sinners and distancing ourselves from the Pharisees. This acculturation to the text removes much of the force of the story. We must bracket what we know of Jesus and must hunt to find the real story of the Pharisees, the tax collectors, and the sinners.

Opening arguments: Expectations of justification

Pharisees as holy. From the Pharisee's point of view, his case is open and shut in the story. He is clearly upright according to the law, according to covenant tradition, and according to his own self-assessment. However, Luke presents Pharisees in a much different light. In order to understand how Luke is portraying Pharisees as different from the norm, it is helpful to explore background information on Pharisees in general.