9-14. And He spake this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus within himself, God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house counted righteous rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. The Lord ceaselessly purges the passion of pride, in many ways. This passion, more than any other, disturbs our thoughts, and for this reason the Lord always and everywhere teaches on this subject. Here He is purging the worst form of pride.

Now there are many offshoots of self-love. Presumption, arrogance, and vainglory all stem from this root. But the most destructive of all these kinds of self-love is pride, for pride is contempt of God. When a man ascribes hiaccomplishments to himself, and not to God, this is nothing less than denial of God and opposition to Him. Therefore, like enemy to enemy, the Lord opposes this passion which is opposed to Him, and through this parable He promises to heal it. He directs this parable towards those who trust in themselves and who do not attribute everything to God, and who, as a result, despise others. He shows that when righteousness, which is marvelous in every other respect and sets a man close to God, takes pride as its companion, it casts that man into the lowest depths and makes demonic what was God-like just a short time before.

The words of the Pharisee—God, I thank Thee—appear at first to be the words of a grateful man. But what he says next is foolishness. He does not continue, “that Thou hast made me to depart from extortion and iniquities,” but instead, “I thank Thee that I am not an extortioner or worker of iniquity.” He attributes this accomplishment to himself, as something done by his own strength. How can a man who knows that what he has, he has received from God, dare to compare other men to himself unfavorably and judge them? If a man believed that he had received as a gift good things that in truth belong to God, he would not despise other men. He would instead consider himself just as naked as his fellow men in regards to virtue, except that by the mercy of God his nakedness has been covered with a donated garment. The Pharisee is proud, ascribing his deeds to his own strength, and that is why he proceeds to condenm others. By saying that the Pharisee stood, the Lord indicates his haughtiness and lack of humility. In the same way that a humble-minded man is likewise humble in his demeanor, this Pharisee by his bearing displays his pride. Although the publican also stood, he would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, so stooped was he in posture.

But the eyes of the Pharisee, together with his heart, were lifted up to heaven in boastful exaltation. Nonetheless, the manner in which the Pharisee arranged the words of his prayer is instructive. First he says what he is not, and then he declares what he is. After proclaiming, God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, enumerating their faults, he then declares his good deeds—that he fasts twice a week and gives tithes of all that he possesses. The order of his prayer shows us that we must first refrain from wickedness, and then set our hand to virtue. We must not only turn away from evil, but also do good (Ps. 33:14). In the same way, a man who wants to draw pure water from a muddy spring first cleans out the mud and only then can he draw pure water. Consider this as well, that the Pharisee did not say, “I thank Thee that I am not an extortioner or an adulterer, as other men are.” He could not endure even the association of his name with such vile terms, and so he uses them in the plural, casting these terms at other men, and avoiding the singular, which might associate him with sin. Having said, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, by contrast he points to himself: I fast twice in the Sabbath, meaning, twice in the week, for the week was called “the Sabbath,” taking its name from the last day of the week, the day of rest. The day of rest was called Sabbat, and the week was called Sabbata—the plural form of Sabbat. Whence it is that (in Greek) mian Sabatton (Mk. 16:2) is the first day of the week, which we call “the Lord's Day” (Sunday). In Hebrew, mian means the same thing as first.

There is another layer of meaning to this parable. Against the passion of adultery, the Pharisee boasted of his fasting, for lustful desires arise from eating and drinking to excess. By restraining his body through fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, as was the practice of the Pharisees, he kept himself far from such passions. He also resisted extortion and injustice by giving tithes of all his possessions. “I am so opposed to extortion and wronging others,” he says, “that I give alms of everything I have.” Some believe that a simple and single tithe is prescribed by the law; but those who carefully examine the law will find three forms of tithing prescribed. You may learn this from Deuteronomy, if you diligently peruse it.

So much for the Pharisee. Now we turn to the publican and see that he is the Pharisee’s exact opposite in every regard. He stood afar off, and kept himself at a great distance, not only in physical location, but in his demeanor, in his words, and in his compunction of heart. He was ashamed to lift up his eyes to heaven, for he considered his eyes unworthy of heavenly vision because they had desired to see and to enjoy the good things of earth. And he smote himself upon the breast, striking his heart, as it were, because of its evil designs, and awakening it because it had been sleeping. And the publican uttered no other words than God be merciful to me a sinner. By doing all these things, he went down to his house counted righteous, rather than the other. For every proud heart is unclean in the Lord's eyes, and the Lord resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble (Prov. 3:34, I Pet. 5:5).

One might wonder why it is that the Pharisee is condemned for speaking a few boastful words, while Job (see ch. 29) receives a crown for speaking many such words. The answer is that the Pharisee stood and spoke these vain words under no compulsion, and he condemned others for no reason. But with Job, his friends pressed him and bore down upon him more fiercely than did his own calamities, telling him that he was suffering these things because of his sins. Job was compelled to enumerate his good deeds, but he did so for the glory of God, and so that men would not be led astray from the path of virtue. If men came to hear that Job was suffering because what he had done was sinful, they would not act as Job did. As a result they would become haters of strangers instead of being hospitable to strangers, merciless instead of merciful, and unrighteous instead of righteous—such were the good deeds of Job. Therefore Job enumerated his virtues so that others would not be misled and harmed, and this was why he spoke as he did. Shall we not say that his words, which may seem boastful, in fact are radiant with humility? Oh that I were as in months past, he said, wherein God preserved me (Job 29:2)! Do you see that he attributes everything to God and does not judge others? Instead he is judged by his friends. But condemnation rightly falls upon the Pharisee, who attributed everything to himself and not to God and judged others for no reason whatsoever. For every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled and condemned by God; and he that humbleth himself when he is condemned by others shall be exalted and counted righteous by God. The Lord is saying, “Be the first to tell your sins, 0 Christian, so that you may be counted righteous.”

The proud, whose eyes are constantly raised heavenward while their hearts cleave to the earth, are not pleasing to God; it is the humble and meek, whose eyes are cast down earthward while their hearts are filled with heaven, who please Him. The Creator of mankind prefers men to count over their sins to Him rather than their good works. For God is a physician, who comes up to the bed on which each one of us is lying, and asks: “Where is the pain?” The man who makes use of the physician’s presence to tell him about all his pain and weakness is wise, and the man who, concealing his pain, boasts of his health to the physician, is a fool. As though a physician visits men because of their health, and not their sickness! “It is evil to sin,” says wise Chrysostom, “though here help can be given; but to sin, and not to admit it—there is no help there.”

Imagine now that we are patients in this hospital of the world. The sickness that every one of us is suffering from has the same name—unrighteousness. This word includes all the passions, all lusts, all sins—all the weaknesses and enervation of our souls, our hearts and our minds. But such are the characteristics of these illnesses of the inner man that only those who are healed are aware of the terrible sickness from which they had been suffering. The sickest are the least aware of their illness. Ponder, then, on all this. If you protest: “I am righteous; this applies to the sinners around me,” then this means that your illness has reached its peak. If, though, you beat your breast in repentance and reply: “It’s true; I am sick and need a doctor,” then this means you are on the way to healing. Do not, then, be afraid; you will get well.