Luke 18:9-14
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.
“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 everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Ang Talinghaga Patungkol sa Fariseo at Maniningil ng Buwis
Lucas 18:9-14
9May ilang mga nagtiwala sa kanilang mga sarili na sila ay matuwid at hinamak nila ang iba. Sa kanila ay sinabi rin ni Jesus ang talinghagang ito. 10Dalawang lalaki ang umahon sa templo upang manalangin. Ang isa ay Fariseo at ang isa ay maniningil ng buwis. 11Tumayo ang Fariseo at nanalangin siya sa kaniyang sarili ng ganito: Diyos, pinasasalamatan kita na hindi ako katulad ng ibang tao. Hindi ako katulad nila na mga mangingikil, mga hindi matuwid at mga mangangalunya. Hindi rin ako katulad ng maniningil ng buwis na ito. 12Dalawang ulit akong nag-aayuno sa loob ng isang linggo. Nagbibigay ako ng ikapu sa lahat ng bagay na aking tinatangkilik.13Ngunit ang maniningil ng buwis na nakatayo sa malayo ay hindi man lamang niya itinataas ang kaniyang paningin sa langit, sa halip ay kaniyang binabayo ang kaniyang dibdib. Sinabi niya: Diyos, pagkalooban mo ako ng iyong habag, ako na isang makasalanan.
14Sinasabi ko sa inyo: Ang taong ito ay umuwi sa kaniyang bahay na pinaging-matuwid at ang isa ay hindi. Ito ay sapagkat ang bawat isang nagtataas ng kaniyang sarili ay ibababa, at ang bawat isang nagpapakumbaba ay itataas.
1 comment:
Prayer states one’s relationship with God.
The way we pray reveals that relationship. The Pharisee prays as a character who “prays to himself” or “with reference to himself.”
But his prayer has been transformed into boasting. He has become full of himself that he seems not to need God anymore.
Moreover, he assumes the role of judge and despises others. He reminds God of the deficiency of the tax collector, in case God has not noticed.
In contrast the prayer of the tax collector is of utter simplicity and truth. Indeed he is a sinner. Indeed he needs God’s gift of righteousness because he has none of his own. In praying to God to have mercy on him, he asks God to give him what God “owes” him: Mercy and forgiveness.
At the end of the story, the tax collector is the one justified by God, that is, God has placed him in right relationship with God. On the other hand, the Pharisee needed nothing and asked for nothing; he received nothing.
The tax collector, by contrast, recognized he needed God’s gift of righteousness, and so he received it.
Let's all pray to God and ask Him to bless us all forever!
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