The superficial connection between this pericope and the preceding one is that they both contain parables about prayer. However the more significant link is the people of faith (v. 8). This parable graphically contrasts the rejectors of Jesus' gospel with its receivers. Jesus drew a verbal picture to identify the characteristic traits of two representative groups of Jews.
18:9 This verse sets the stage for the parable that follows (cf. 18:1; 19:11). "And"signals the continuation of immediately preceding lessons and themes for the reader. Obviously Pharisees are the people that Jesus was criticizing in this parable (v. 10), but Luke introduced Jesus' teaching by highlighting the characteristic about the Pharisees that Jesus addressed. This is a characteristic that many more people than the Pharisees possess, including many of Luke's readers. The only alternative to believing in Jesus is trusting in one's own righteousness for acceptance with God. It always results in elevating oneself at the expense of others and looking down on others.
18:10 The Pharisees generally rejected Jesus and His gospel whereas the tax collectors responded positively (cf. 5:12, 27; 7:34, 37; 15:1-2; 16:20). They were at opposite ends of the social and spiritual scales in Judaism. The former were the epitome of righteousness and the latter of unrighteousness. The temple was the customary place of prayer. Since it stood on a hill in Jerusalem, people literally went up to it to pray.
18:11-12 Standing was a normal posture for prayer among the Jews of Jesus' day. It did not in itself reflect the Pharisee's pride (cf. Matt. 6:5). Even though the Pharisee addressed God in prayer, Jesus noted that he was really talking to himself and reviewing his own self-righteousness. He told God what a superior person he was, using the behavior of others as his standard. He took pride in his supposed superior status and the works that he did that separated him from others. The most pious Pharisees fasted twice a week (cf. 5:33).407This Pharisee was also scrupulous about tithing (cf. 11:42).
18:13 "But"introduces the striking contrast between the two individuals. The tax gatherer's geographical distance from the Pharisee symbolized the difference. His unwillingness to lift his eyes, much less his hands, to heaven in prayer pictures his feeling of unworthiness (cf. Ps. 123:1; Mark 6:41; 7:34; John 11:41; 17:1). Beating his chest expressed contrition, which he articulated in his prayer. He did not boast of his own righteousness but pled with God for mercy acknowledging his sin (cf. Ps. 51). He used God as the standard of righteousness and confessed that he fell short. He knew that his only hope was God's mercy.
"This parable is really the parable of the two prayers. In those prayers appear two kinds of hearts, whose contrast is not only seen in the way they make their request, but also in the way they approach God."408
Literally he asked God to be propitious (Gr. hilaskomai) or satisfied. Since Jesus made propitiation (satisfaction) for the sins of humankind on the Cross no one needs to pray this prayer today. However when the tax collector prayed it propitiation through Jesus Christ's blood was not yet available. It is, of course, permissible today to ask God to be merciful to us as sinners, but we need to remember that He has already done that through Jesus Christ. The good news of the gospel is that God is propitious (satisfied; cf. 1 John 2:2).
18:14 Jesus declared the tax collector justified (i.e., declared righteous, a judicial act, not made righteous; cf. Rom. 3:24-25). God declared him righteous because he looked to God for the gift of righteousness rather than claiming to be righteous on his own merit as the Pharisee did.409Jesus repeated the principle that God humbles those who exalt themselves, but He exalts those who humble themselves (cf. 13:30; 14:11). In the context Jesus meant that to be righteous in God's sight one must acknowledge his lack of personal righteousness rather than pretending to have righteousness that he does not have. Justification depends on God's grace, not on human works or merit.
Many modern Christians have heard this parable so often that we immediately associate Pharisees with self-righteous hypocrisy and tax collectors with humble piety. In Jesus' day the Jews viewed them differently. It was the Pharisees who were the models of righteous behavior and the tax collectors who epitomized sinfulness. Therefore this parable undoubtedly had a great impact on the disciples.
