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The Parable of the Pharisee
  and the Tax Collector

   Luke 18:9-14

   Good News Translation (GNT)

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  9  Jesus also told this parable to people who
   were sure of their own goodness and
   despised everybody else.
10  "Once there were two men who went up to
   the Temple to pray: one was a Pharisee,
   the other a tax collector.
11  The Pharisee stood apart by himself and
   prayed, [a] 'I thank you, God, that I am not
   greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like
   everybody else. I thank you that I am not like
   that tax collector over there.
12  I fast two days a week, and I give you
   one tenth of all my income.'
13  But the tax collector stood at a distance and
   would not even raise his face to heaven, but
   beat on his breast and said,
   'God, have pity on me, a sinner!'
14  I tell you," said Jesus, "the tax collector,
   and not the Pharisee, was in the right with
   God when he went home. For those who make
   themselves great will be humbled, and those
   who humble themselves will be made great."

   Footnotes
   Luke 18:11 stood apart by himself and prayed;
   some manuscripts have
   stood up and prayed to himself.

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   Commentary taken from
   'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
   (Kingsway)

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

  Luke 18:9-14

Jesus tells a parable about a widow who appealed to an unjust judge for justice.

The judge neither feared God nor cared about men. He was an evil judge, who treated men without justice or mercy. He was waiting for the widow to pay him a bribe; but the widow was too poor.

Her only means of gaining justice was to be persistent. In the end, by her persistence alone, she obtained justice.

Jesus told this parable so that we might follow the widow's example, and be persistent in prayer and not become discouraged and give up.

Then Jesus compared the unjust judge with God. If a wicked and unjust judge would grant justice to the widow, how much more will God grant justice to believers (in Jesus), who cry out to Him?

From this parable we can learn two main things.
First, God may not answer our appeal immediately, but allows us to experience some injustice and persecution in order that our faith might be tested.

Sharing in the suffering of Jesus, in this life, may give a share in His glory in the next life. Therefore, we must understand that if God lets us suffer injustice for some period, it is for our good.

Jesus said that God will see that His chosen ones get justice, and quickly. God's time and our time are not the same. A thousand years is like a day to God. Here the word quickly means "at the right time." God will not delay unnecessarily.

The second thing to learn from this parable is that we must persist in prayer. God wants us to continue in prayer, even though the answer does not come immediately.

God want us to be persistent, especially during times of persecution, to show our faith, Jesus said, "... he who stands firm to the end will be saved". We must continue to cry out to God, with faith, never doubting that in the end He will grant us justice.

He may not grant it in this life, but He will certainly grant it in the next.
But this teaching is not only for times of persecution. We must persist in prayer at other times also.

Is there a friend or relative for whom you are praying? Do you see no answer? Continue to pray.

Are you troubled by some sin or bad habit in your life, over which you cannot obtain victory? Continue to pray. Do not give up.

And God, in the end, at the right time, will answer your prayer.

However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Will He find men persisting in prayer, even though they are being persecuted and killed?

In the last days before Jesus comes again, trouble and distress will come upon all men. At that time many will turn away from the faith. Will Jesus find any that have remained faithful?

Other versions are available here

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