• Introduction
• Part 1: You are NOT Pursuing the Humility of the Gospel if You Exlant in Yourself and Reject Christ's Righteousness
• Part 2: Why Jesus Chose a Pharisee for His Story
• Part 3: You are Pursuing the Humility of the Gospel When You Exalt in the Mercy of God and Humble Yourself
• Part 4: Do You Live Like You Have No Righteousness of Your Own?
• Part 5:  Do You Pray Like a Tax Collector?
• Conclusion

“It is curious how modern scholars ignore this Greek article. The main point in the contrast lies in this article. The Pharisee thought of others as sinners. The publican thinks of himself alone as the sinner, not of others at all.” 

“The publican is so overwhelmed by the sense of his own unworthiness, and rightly so. It is a great mistake to regard the publican as a decent sort of fellow, who knew his own limitations and did not pretend to be better than he was. It is one of the marks of our time that the Pharisee and the publican have changed places; and it is the modern equivalent of the publican who may be heard thanking God that he is not like those canting humbugs, hypocrites and kill-joys, whose chief offence is that they take their religion seriously. This publican was a rotter; and he knew it. He asked for God’s mercy becausemercy was the only thing he dared ask for” (T. W. Manson, quoted in Geldenhuys, Luke, p. 452). 

“Being deeply conscious of God’s presence,he takes hold of God in prayer (cf. Isa. 64:7), and from the very depths of hisbeing cries out, ‘O God, be merciful to me, the sinner.’ He is earnestly and fervently begging God to be propitiated. He is hungering and thirsting for the one great blessing, namely, that God’s anger may be removed and his favor obtained.” 

“Old Testament, New Testament; David, the tax-collector, Paul; all unite here, in ascribing salvation, from start to finish, to the mercy(God’s love revealed to those in misery) and grace (God’s love shown to the undeserving) of God. See Ps. 51:1; Luke 18:13; Eph. 2:8; Titus 3:5.” (Luke,pp. 820, 822).

“He is so deeply under the impression of his utter unworthiness before Godthat he remains standing far from the holier parts of the temple and does noteven venture to raise his eyes” (Geldenhuys, Luke, p. 451). 

“I thank thee, Jehovah my God, that thou hast assigned my lot with those who sit in the house of learning, and not with those who sit at street corners. For I rise early and they rise early: I rise early to study the words of the Torah, and they rise early to attend to things of noimportance. I weary myself and they weary themselves: I weary myself and gain thereby, while they weary themselves without gaining anything. I run and they run: I run toward the life of the age to come,while they run toward the pit of destruction” (William Hendrickson, Luke, p.820). 

“I thank Thee, O Lord my God and God of my fathers, that Thou hast cast my lot among those who frequent the schools and synagogues,and not among those who attend the theatre and the circus. For, both I and they work and watch – I to inherit eternal life, they for theirdestruction” (Alfred Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life, p. 32). 

• The Pharisee's fasting: the normal fast was refraining from food and drink for 24 hours, from sundown to sundown. It was often accompanied by refraining from sex and from wearing leathershoes. (Dictionary of Judaism, Neusner, “fasting” on p. 224). Jews only required to fast once a year according to Leviticus 16:29. This Pharisee fasts twice a week. Probably on a Monday and Thursday, which just so happened to be the very same days in which most people would go to the market to shop! Any coincidence there? Absolutely not. Jesus told us in Matthew 6 that the Pharisees pray and fast for one purpose: to be seen by other people.
• The Pharisee's giving:  Jews required to tithe only certain kinds of income. He tithed from all of his income, including vegetables, fruits, and yes, even herbs and spices. (See Deut. 14:22,23; Luke11:42)  Some went so far as to not even eat with other non-Pharisees for fear that they might be eating from food that had not been tithed (Edersheim, Life and Times, 2:291)  James Hastings (Dictionary of Christ and Gospels, 2:356) writes, “In Luke 18:12 [Jesus] illustrates how compliance with external requirements,especially when these are exceeded, as in the case of the Pharisees, and dissociated from the corresponding state of heart,breeds a culpable and overwhelming self-righteousness.”