“Yes; it really is true…There is enough love to go around”

(The story of the Tax Man and the Pharisee. Luke 18: 9-14)

Today we come to Jesus’ intriguing story about two men who just happen to be in the same place at the same time. They’re in the Temple…

And on the face of it these two men couldn’t be less like one another …one’s a tax collector…he works for the hated Romans who currently occupy Palestine – it’s a military occupation remember…the other’s a Pharisee a fully paid up, card-carrying member of the Jewish Teachers’ Union.

One of them – the tax collector man is regarded as a collaborator of the occupying forces – a Quisling; almost certainly despised and probably feared by the Jews; the other, an honourable teacher highly regarded as a wise and respected community leader.

Both of them ‘pray’…the Pharisee with his abundance of good deeds is thankful; The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’

The tax gatherer simply asks for mercy. ¹³ “Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”

And there we have it…two men as different as chalk and cheese. Or so we might be tempted to think.

I’m pretty sure that over the years I’ve thought of it like that.

But now, having thought about it a bit more carefully and I suspect more generously I think I’ve been wrong.

So I’d like to try and put the record right if I can.

So we start by asking why would Jesus have told a story like this?

Well, you’ll recall that Jesus is really interested in only one thing thru’out the whole of his ministry…the arrival of what he called the Kingdom of God…this arrangement between people where life would be lived gracefully, generously and mercifully…

where care for the person sitting next to me here in church or on a bus or airplane ….or the person standing in line in front of me,

or the person I might pass while pushing my shopping trolley along the aisle in the supermarket, is as important as anything I might wish for myself.

This isn’t a new idea of course … the Hebrew prophets had been banging on about it for centuries …a way of living that reflected the generosity of their God…Yahweh.

But by and large the pleading and urging of the prophets had eluded the nation as a whole – generally the pleading and the predictions of the prophets – the spokespeople for Yahweh went unheeded – for some reason they didn’t get it – and many regarded the military occupation of their land as some sort of divine retribution while life went on with people believing – at the same time – that there was no need for anyone to be any different.

^18;9-12 So (Jesus) told (t)his (next) story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people…two men went to the Temple to pray…

(One of them, a) Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’

And as we catch a sniff of what looks like pompous self-promotion we might be tempted to say (under our breath of course!)  “Oh, good on you…well done you. Didn’t you do well” We might even be inclined to side-line him – to dismiss him – as someone who isn’t very nice…a bit conceited perhaps.

The (other, a) tax gatherer simply asks for mercy. ¹³ “Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”

And it’s likely that we might be tempted to think “Now there’s a really good man. He gets it” Chances are we might even identify with him – for we know ourselves well!!

And if we did this we set up an understanding of this story that we’re so familiar with.

Because it’s the way Luke ends the story;

“This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God”.

Our sympathies are very likely to be with the tax man and not the Pharisee. The sinner turns out to be a saint…while the saintly Pharisee turns out to be…well less than a saint – we might think he was up himself … a bit of a snob.

Which is where our hearing of the story usually ends and we tend not to hear the rest of what Jesus says…

If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you’ll become more than yourself.”

Luke tells us that Jesus told this story to his disciples. I think then that what Jesus is saying is that the habit of judging other people negatively isn’t a trait the fits with Jewish values…remember that we’re talking here about a story told by a Jew to Jews…

and I’m pretty sure that we can make the jump to saying that judging other people negatively is not a trait the fits with Christian values either…it’s a human trait and one which we all to commonly fall for.

But while this is an important point – a moral point – that’s not the major talking point of this story.

The major point emerges out of a problem which you’d never guess after hearing this morning’s bible reading.

The problem is v¹⁴ “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God”.

Both men were in the Temple which it seems is a safe place where both seek solace and comfort; let’s assume that both were genuine in their prayers…both wanted Yahweh’s recognition – they both want to be understood – both were likely lonely and isolated. Both of them are searching for  the same thing… peace of mind and since they’re both Jews they were almost certainly also seeking the acceptance of Yahweh – who recall is the God of the covenant…that agreement made by Yahweh that he is on their side and watching their backs.

To put it simply…they both want to be loved.

Did both of them find what they were looking for?

Well I’m pretty sure the answer is “Yes” and the reason is that there is – tucked away in v 14 a small and confusing Greek preposition…it’s the word  “para” from which we get our words ‘paradox’ and ‘parallel’ even – believe it or not – ‘parable’.

As well as this verse 14 is disputed – scholars debate whether or not it was even part of the original story and interestingly, we could remove the verse and the story loses none of its meaning…It adds nothing to the story line.

For reasons that no one quite understands or can explain, Luke gives the Pharisees bad press – thruout his gospel.

So…the way the story’s told by Luke, the Pharisee ends up looking like the bad guy while the taxman ends up looking sweet.

And that’s because the translators have used that little Greek word para to suggest

some sort of antagonism…one against the other…and so we get;

“This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God”.

But consider the other way this word is used….it’s also used to suggest some sort of juxtaposition…where two things are placed close together  in contrast to each other.

Now if there’s any truth in that, the text should read …“This tax man, and the other (alongside him, the Pharisee), went home made right with God”

One translation has this…..“To you I say, descending to his house, this one is justified alongside the other.” And like any good parable that would’ve been a revolutionary idea to devout first century Jews.

These men were different in almost every way possible yet they walked on parallel tracks when they found themselves in the Temple seeking Yahweh’s blessing. Remember they’re very likely looking for the same assurance – the same blessing…why else would they be there?…both were sincere both were devout…and both sought relief from the same Yahweh.

For Jesus finishes the story with these words

“If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you’ll become more than yourself.”

 Or to put it in simple English….”If you’re a bit sniffy and regard yourself as better than the next person sooner or later you’ll come a cropper, but if you’re comfortable with who you are in your own skin you’ll be better than just OK”

So that’s the good news.

But wait….there’s more and …it may be the greatest challenge of this parable…we are part of a community.

Said like that it sounds rather obvious but think about for a moment…

We  form  and belong in a community where we live in the plural…we pray in the plural “Our Father…give us….Forgive us….”

We live in a community where each of us is responsible for the other…and that means that the sin of one of us can impact – negatively –  every other one of us.

And it means that the good deeds of one us can have a positive impact on the lives of every other one of us. And the good any one does can rub off onto me and protect me…and you too of course.

The Jews have this wonderful notion of ‘zechut avot’…Hebrew for ‘stored up protection’…the idea that allows others to be justified….made right with God. This is the passionate belief held by Jews that even if we sin – and we will – the benefits of the good deeds of Abraham  and of Isaac and of Jacob the could be transferred to us!

Does that sound fanciful?

Well it sounded like an a great idea to Paul – who you’ll recall promoted himself as the Pharisee supreme – when he proposed that it was the faithfulness of Jesus the Christ that allows us to be justified – made right with God.

“Yes … it really is true…There is enough love to go around”

Enough for tax collectors and Pharisees. It’s the same love that wrapped itself around these two men as they walked home.

Now we don’t know what happened to these two men after they left the Temple … its an outside chance but they may have gone home together for pizza and a cold beer? And established a community of two where they shared blessings because of their shared gratitude. It’s possible that as a result of their longings and petitions they were now enfolded by the grace of Yahweh.

“I’m not religious, but I do love the concept of grace, of a gift so profound that it could never be earned or deserved. And so when I cite grace here as the final and most important force in friendships, I mean it in two ways. One is the forgiveness that we offer each other when we fall short. The other is the space that creates for connections—and reconnections—that feel nothing short of miraculous”.

(The Atlantic June 2023)