Luke 18:9-14 is Jesus’ parable about two men who pray in the temple, one a proud religious leader and one a despised tax collector. The point is that God accepts the humble who admit their need, and that self-congratulation shuts the door to his mercy. Jesus tells it to people who trusted their own goodness and looked down on everyone else.
The setting is a temple courtyard in Jerusalem, where people came at set hours to pray. Luke places the parable right after Jesus’ teaching on persistent prayer, so the reader is already thinking about how and why we come before God.
9 He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others. 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14 (WEB)
Luke 18:9-14 Summary
Jesus opens by naming his audience: people who were sure of their own righteousness and who treated others with contempt. He then sets two men side by side in the temple. One is a Pharisee, a man known for careful observance of the law, and the other is a tax collector, a Jew who collected revenue for Rome and was widely regarded as a traitor and a cheat.
The Pharisee’s prayer is a list of his achievements and a comparison with the people around him. The tax collector, unable even to raise his eyes, asks only for mercy. Jesus ends with a reversal: the one who went home right with God was the tax collector, because the proud will be brought low and the humble will be lifted up.
Context of Luke 18:9-14
Luke wrote this Gospel for a readership that included Gentile believers, and he pays unusual attention to God’s concern for outsiders, the poor, and the socially despised. Tax collectors and sinners appear often in his account as people Jesus welcomes. The parable fits that pattern and gives a sharp picture of who truly belongs in God’s presence.
The verses just before it (Luke 18:6-8) deal with persistent prayer and the faith that waits for God’s justice. The verses just after it (Luke 18:15-17) describe people bringing infants to Jesus and his call to receive the kingdom like a child. Together they show that prayer rests on trust and dependence, not on credentials.
Luke 18:9-14 Verse by Verse
James 4:6
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
(WEB)
James echoes the same reversal Jesus describes, reminding readers that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. The line gives the parable’s principle in a single sentence that is easy to carry through a hard week.
Isaiah 66:2
For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be,” says the LORD: “but to this man will I look, even to he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.
(WEB)
Isaiah names the kind of person God looks to: one who is humble, contrite in spirit, and trembles at his word. The verse shows that this posture has been God’s delight for a long time, long before the temple scene Jesus describes.
A Prayer Based on Luke 18:9-14
Lord, I come to you today knowing that I cannot earn my place before you. Some days I am tempted to look at my efforts and feel secure, or to measure myself against people who seem to fall short. Show me where pride has crept in, and free me from the habit of comparing myself with others. Make my heart honest before you.
Where I have failed, let me say so plainly and not hide behind excuses. Have mercy on me, the way you showed mercy to the one who could only ask for it. Lift me up in your time, and teach me to live humbly before you and generously toward others. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Jesus tell this parable?
Luke states the purpose at the start: Jesus spoke to people who trusted their own righteousness and looked down on others. The parable is aimed at that attitude, showing that God’s acceptance depends on humble dependence rather than on a comparison of one’s record with someone else’s.
Was the Pharisee’s prayer wrong because he fasted and tithed?
Fasting and tithing were good practices in Jewish life and are not condemned here. The problem is the attitude behind his prayer, which centers on himself and uses God’s name to compare himself with others. Religious acts can serve God or can feed pride, and the parable exposes the second.
What does it mean that the tax collector went home justified?
Justified means declared right before God. Jesus says this man received God’s acceptance because he came honestly, admitting his sin and asking for mercy. The verdict rests on God’s mercy toward the humble, not on any merit the tax collector could claim.
