The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Message by Josh Mutter – November 7, 2021

Questions to ask while reading the parables of Jesus

What is this parable teaching me about God and his Kingdom?
What is this parable teaching me about what it means to be a part of God’s Kingdom?

Luke 18:9-14 NIV

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Big Idea – God accepts the humble and rejects the proud.

Observations: