Theophylact on The Publican and the Pharisee

Thirty-third Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 18:10-14

From The Explanation of the Gospel of St. Luke
by Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria

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. For 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 his accomplishments 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 at first resemble the words of a grateful man. For he says, God, I thank Thee. But the words that follow are full of foolishness. For he does not say, "that Thou hast made me to depart from extortion and iniquities." Instead he says, "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, [compare other men to himself unfavorably] and judge them? For certainly 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 condemn 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 it is also said of the publican that he stood, see what follows: he would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, so that he was stooped in posture. But the eyes of the Pharisee, together with his heart, were lifted up to heaven in boastful exaltation. Nonetheless, how the Pharisee arranged the words of his prayer can still instruct us. First he says what he is not, and then he declares what he is. For after he says, God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, naming this, this, and this, then he declares his good deeds, fasting twice a week and giving 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. For one 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, saying, 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, being the plural form of Sabbat. Whence it is that mian Sabattn [Mk. 16:2] is the first day of the week, which we call "the Lords Day" [Sunday]. Among the Hebrews mian means the same thing as first. (1) There is also another, more profound, explanation of 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, (2) 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 to 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 apply yourself diligently. [Dt.12:11,17; 14:22,28; 26:12.] So much for the Pharisee. Now we turn to the publican and see that he is the Pharisees 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 said no other words than, God be merciful to me a sinner. Because of all these things he went down to his house counted righteous, rather than the other. For every proud heart is unclean in the Lords eyes, and the Lord resisteth the proud but He giveth grace to the humble. [Prov. 3:34, I Pet 5:5] But one might wonder why it is that the Pharisee is condemned for speaking a few boastful words, while Job receives a crown for speaking many such words. (3)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 misled from the path of virtue. For if men came to hear that Job was suffering because what he had done was sinful, they would not act as Job had. As a result they would become haters of strangers instead of hospitable to strangers, merciless instead of merciful, and unrighteous instead of righteous; for such were the good deeds of Job. Therefore Job enumerated his virtues so that others would not be misled and harmed. 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, "You, 0 Christian, be the first to tell your sins, so that you may be counted righteous."

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1. Mian is the Greek cardinal number, meaning "one," used in this idiom instead of what would be expected, the ordinal number, prtn. This echoes the Hebrew expression.

2. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the Church has always taught the faithful to fast instead on Wednesdays and Fridays, in remembrance of the Lords betrayal by Judas and His crucifixion. The earliest documentary proof of this practice dates from the year 120 A.D. and may be found in The Teaching [Didache] of the Twelve Apostles. See The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts, 1994, p. 379.

3. See Job 29, wherein Job states that he had saved the poor out of the hand of the oppressor, helped the fatherless, put on righteousness, been the eye of the blind and the foot of the lame, and much more.