9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be [a]humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Such a clear distinction is made here by Jesus when comparing a self-righteous Pharisee to a humbled tax collector.
One feels deserving of exaltation while the other pleads for mercy knowing he is a sinner. To use a modern colloquialism, the Pharisee is virtue signaling for his own glory while in stark contrast the tax collector confesses his sin to God in far fewer but more significant words, humbly. May we all be so humble.
