Do not despise others
Thirtieth Sunday - Year C
Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18; Psalm 34; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14
The Pharisees were a ‘separatist’ movement aimed at renewal Israel’s commitment to their religious tradition and at rejecting any foreign influence. The tax collectors were Jews who collected taxes for the Romans and their nature of work required frequent contacts with Gentiles. How did both groups react to Jesus? In general, the Pharisees were opposed to Jesus’ inclusive message of God’s Kingdom. On the other hand, the tax collectors were drawn to His message of God’s mercy (Luke 15:1). How did these both groups relate to each other? The tax collectors were considered sinners and second-class citizens by the Pharisees (Mark 2:16).
In the parable, the Pharisee is an example of "those who were convinced of their righteousness and despised everyone else" (Luke 18:9). He flaunts his pious deeds and considers “other men” to be "extortioners, unjust, adulterers" (Luke 18:11-12). By comparing himself with sinners, he does not realize that he is a sinner himself. By exalting himself above the tax collector, he forgot the proverb that says: "God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble" (Prov 3:34 LXX; 1 Pet. 5:5). Therefore, he went home humbled (Luke 18:14).
It is one thing to feel righteous in our own eyes and another to be justified by God. The Bible teaches that no one is righteous (Rom. 3:10) but we are all in need of righteousness that comes from God (Rom. 3:21-25). This righteousness comes to us through the Only Righteous One, Jesus Christ (Luke 23:47) who does not despise anyone but calls all to repentance and holiness of life.
The tax collector asks God to “be propitious”. In the temple worship, the blood of sacrifice for the sin offering was poured out upon the "propitiation" - the cover of the ark of the covenant (Heb. 9:5; Lev. 16:5.14). But we have much greater “propitiation" than the cover of the ark, namely Jesus Christ. God has shown His mercy to us sinners by giving His only Son (John 3:16). Jesus Christ is "the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).
Saint Paul was once also convinced of his righteousness (Phil. 3:6), but then one day he realized the greatness of his sins (1 Tim. 1:15). Today we meet him in prison, abandoned by everyone (2 Tim. 4:16-17). He no longer boasts of his justice but expects a "crown of justice" from God (2 Tim. 4:6-8), namely eternal salvation. This trophy crowns his radical following Christ from Damascus to his martyrdom in Rome.
In the parable, the tax collector went home justified, not the Pharisee (Luke 18:14). The danger that threatens us today is falling into another extreme, that is, thanking God for the fact that we are not like the Pharisees. Nicodemus was also a Pharisee and yet he alone defended Jesus against unlawful treatment by other Pharisees (John 7:50-52. Then together with Joseph of Arimathea, he buried our Lord after the crucifixion (John 19:38-42) while Jesus’ disciples were hiding out of fear. Let us not despise other people. “We will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Rom. 14:10).
“The Lord is a God of justice who knows no favorites” (Sirach 35:12). He does not categorize people into Pharisees and tax collectors. God “hears the cry of the poor” (Ps. 34:7) and transforms a Pharisee into a preacher of the Gospel to the nations (2 Tim. 4:17). No one is excluded from the Kingdom of God. Instead of despising others, we are called to proclaim to the whole world the message of salvation (2 Cor. 5:19). Sin is universal and all need God’s mercy (CCC, 588). Therefore, let us be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20) and embrace one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.