When Pride Teaches Humility

Gospel

THE HOLY GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

ACCORDING TO LUKE

Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."

LUKE 18:9-14

Sermon: The Rev. Dr. Maryann Amor

The Pharisee is proud. The tax collector is humble. So don’t be proud; be humble.

Simply put, this is how Jesus’ parable in the Gospel is typically interpreted. The Pharisee is the antithesis of what we are called to be — so we should model our prayers and our lives after the tax collector.

But there’s a problem. By interpreting the parable this way, we end up saying, “Thank you, God, that I am not like the Pharisee.” In other words, we do exactly what Jesus is warning against…we are judging another, looking down on them.

So if that’s not the best interpretation, is there another? If we shift our focus slightly — from judging the Pharisee to exploring his possible impact on the tax collector — we begin to see something new, more life-giving.

The Gospel opens with an introduction to Jesus’ audience: “Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” Jesus isn’t speaking to a random group of people, but specifically to people who believe their goodness puts them above others.

Then we meet the Pharisee. Pharisees were respected Jewish leaders — devoted to prayer, fasting, and keeping the law. But in Luke’s Gospel, they’re often portrayed negatively — not because they were bad people, but because Luke’s audience, mostly non-Jews, already viewed them with suspicion.

This Pharisee prays, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people — thieves, rogues, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” Yes, he thanks God, but everything he says is about himself.

Then comes the tax collector. For those of us participating in The Chosen discussion group, we’ve gotten to know Matthew the tax collector really well — he is quirky, intelligent, but isolated because he is a Jew who works for Rome. When he visits his mother, she says to him, “How could you use the gifts God gave you to hurt your people?” That’s the weight all tax collectors carried. They were seen as traitors and outcasts.

And the tax collector in the parable knows that. He can’t even look up to heaven. All he says is, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” No excuses, no long speech — just honesty and humility.

Then Jesus concludes: “This man went home justified, rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Now, as I said, the easy interpretation is don’t be like the proud Pharisee; be humble like the tax collector. But that doesn’t really work, because we end up saying, “Thank you, God, that I am not like the Pharisee,” doing what Jesus says not to do.

So we have to shift our interpretation. What if the Pharisee, by speaking about his piety, actually impacts the tax collector? Scripture doesn’t tell us that the tax collector overheard him — but if we imagine that he did, it opens a window into how God’s grace might work through anyone. The tax collector hears the Pharisee praying confidently, sure of his righteousness. This reminds him how far he has fallen from his faith. Hearing the Pharisee’s prayer stirs in him the painful awareness of who he has become — and that moment leads him to cry out, “God, have mercy on me.” In this way, the Pharisee’s pride becomes something God works through to change the heart of the tax collector.

So maybe this parable isn’t comparing the two men, but showing us how God can use anyone — even the proud, even the unaware — to draw someone else closer to Him. The Pharisee thought he was above the tax collector, but in that very moment, God used him to bless the one he looked down on.

This interpretation is filled with good news for us today. It shows that none of us are beyond being used by God. Even our worst traits — pride, arrogance, self-reliance — can become conduits of God’s grace. God takes us as we are and works through us. And God also brings others into our lives to humble us — people who, like the Pharisee was for the tax collector, show us our own need for mercy.

And maybe this is what true humility really looks like. Because if we take humility seriously, we can’t be like those Jesus was speaking to — those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt. To be humble is to know we can’t trust in our own goodness or assume we’re better than anyone else. It’s realizing that we need one another — that our lives are intertwined, and that God works through these connections.

We shape and influence each other in ways we may never realize. We might never know how a word or action impacts someone else — just as we might not recognize how someone has quietly shaped us until much later.

To be humble, then, is to live with this awareness — that we are all participants in the same mercy, given to us by the same God. Humility keeps us open to grace, both in giving it to others and receiving it ourselves, because God is always at work among us, through us, and between us. And when we live in this way — open, honest, and aware of our need for God — that’s when we are lifted up. That’s when the promise of Jesus’ words comes true: those who humble themselves will be exalted. Not exalted in status or pride, but fully raised into the life and love of God.

So today’s parable isn’t comparing a proud Pharisee and a humble tax collector. It’s not telling us to be like one and not the other. Instead, it’s about all of us. We all come before God together, each with our own mix of pride and humility, strength and weakness. And the good news is that God meets us here — humbling the proud, lifting the lowly, and drawing us all into mercy. When we realize that we are all connected in this way, God exalts all of us into His life and love. Amen.