Friday, 4th Week of Ordinary Time

Luke 18:9-14

Today’s parable of the self-righteous Pharisee and the acquitted tax collector should be read in relation to the parable just before it, of the unrighteous judge and persistent widow. Most modern translations speak of the widow demanding “justice” of the judge, and Jesus’s promise that God will grant “justice” soon enough. But the Greek word really means something closer to “vindicate.” In other words, in this parable, the widow is seeking vindication.

In today’s reading, we see that it is the tax collector, guilty of collaborating with Roman oppression, who “went down to his house justified.” In other words, it was the tax collector, standing in God’s court of justice and confessing his guilt, who went home, “acquitted” by God. The Pharisee, on the other hand, was so full of himself that he couldn’t even pray to God, but instead “prayed to himself.”

We all want, and in many cases, deserve vindication. And God will “listen patiently” to our prayerful cries for vindication (18:7). At the same time, perhaps the more we pray to God for our vindication, the more we will become open to our need for acquittal. And perhaps we will become more open to praying that those who are unrighteous to us may be convicted within themselves, and seek the same acquittal that God gives to those who are honest, to themselves and to God.

Interestingly, Jesus doesn’t say that the tax collector quit his job. Perhaps he had a family to feed, and couldn’t afford to quit. What matters most to Jesus is the tax collector’s honesty. Above all, prayer is honest conversation with God. It may be honest anger at God’s delayed vindication. It may be an honest appraisal of our need for forgiveness. Ultimately, prayer is a process by which we grow in honesty. And at the end of that journey is God’s mercy and forgiveness. Always pray and do not lose heart (18:1).