“Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. ‘Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.”

But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.'” (Luke 18:9-14)

Which person are we in this story? I have a friend who once reminded me that not all the Pharisees were blinded by their self-righteousness. Not all of them failed to recognize that the One whom they so often sought to correct was God Incarnate. My friend is correct. The Pharisees were a part of a genuine religious reform movement which sought to bring faithful Jews back to living the fullness of the Law of Moses, precisely so that they could witness to the truth of God’s loving plan to others.

People do not decide to be a Pharisee voluntarily. It happens subtly. The greatest defense we have is to stay in a fresh and ongoing intimate communion with the Lord.

In using this parable, the Lord wanted to communicate a danger which can afflict all of us, the temptation of succumbing to self-righteousness and pride. The Pharisee stands as a warning to any of us who can so easily succumb to that temptation. It is a daily struggle.

They prided themselves on their strict adherence to the Law — and believed they were being devout. Instead, though, they became incapable of seeing the Source and Fulfillment of the Law, even as He walked and taught in their midst.

Falling into the Trap

We can become such men and women without knowing it. People do not decide to be a Pharisee voluntarily. It happens subtly. The greatest defense we have is to stay in a fresh and ongoing intimate communion with the Lord.

This is a particularly dangerous temptation for those who consider themselves to be devout. It is an easy trap to fall into. And “fall” is the operative word. The problem is, we may not know it is even happening to us before we find ourselves awakened to its corrosive effects through the bad fruit it bears, within and around us.

Decades ago I was a leader in a community of believers who had come together because we had all experienced a fresh encounter with the Holy Spirit. This experience had awakened our Christian faith and given us a zeal to bring others into the same experience.

However, over time, some of us fell into this trap. We began to act as though we had the whole thing figured out. We reduced the wonderful action of God’s grace to a formulaic approach and separated those whom we thought had it from those who did not.

I was one of those who fell into that trap. But, by God’s grace, I had my eyes opened in a way which now informs my daily life. I was convicted by the Holy Spirit of my pride. I took time away from leadership to let the Lord teach me what He wanted me to learn.

A friend, unaware of my struggle but concerned for me gave me a print of a famous painting by an artist named Gerrit van Honthorst (1590-1656) which hangs in the London Museum of Art. It is entitled Christ Before the High Priest.

Christ Before the High Priest

I knew nothing of the artist or the painting. However, it was beautifully framed and fit well in the room in the basement where I always took my morning prayer. During an intense period of prayer and reflection one morning, the scene in the painting came alive and entered my heart. The experience shook me, drawing me to repentance. It helped me respond to the Lords deeper call.

The painting depicts Jesus, standing before the High Priest, with His holy hands bound. The Priest is looking up at Him with an arrogant demeanor. With pointed finger, he appears to be addressing Jesus as though he were correcting the One who is the Truth. Before him on the table is the Torah.

Standing in front of this man is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnate Word, Jesus the Christ, the One greater than the Temple, the One who is the Lord of the Sabbath, the One who fulfills every promise in that Book.

Yet he failed to see Him.

I thought to myself, “How could a man get to this point? How could he fail to see the Light of the World before him?” I sensed the Lord prompting a response in my heart as I looked more deeply into the eyes of the High Priest and the eyes of Jesus, as depicted in that painting. I drew close to the painting and sensed the Lord lovingly correcting me with these words, “You have become that man”.

The experience shook me to the core — and changed my life. I pledged to hang that print in every office I had for the rest of my life to serve as a warning, to watch over my relationship with the Lord. I have followed through on that pledge.

We are often called to deal with our own inner Pharisee. When we do, the world begins to look different. We see Jesus with the eyes of living faith and we are changed by the encounter. We are called by Him to be emptied out of ourselves so that we can be filled with His divine life and be used by Him for others.