<\/p>
Kenneth Bailey helpfully emphasizes that Jesus\u2019 parable of the Pharisee and the publican takes place in the temple, and he suggests convincingly that it is set during a public worship service. The fact that both men go up to the temple at the same time, and the fact that they are both \u201cstanding off\u201d (presumably from others) indicates that this is one of the daily sacrifices. Luke 1 indicates already that there was prayer outside the temple while the priests ministered within, and other Jewish sources indicate the same. Likewise, the publican\u2019s prayer is \u201cGod, be propitious\u201d or \u201cGod make atonement on my behalf,\u201d apparently referring to the \u201cpropitiating sacrifice\u201d done at the temple. The publican is justified because his faith and humility and plea for mercy \u201cappropriate\u201d the benefits of a sacrifice; the Pharisee does not appropriate the benefits of the sacrifice, and thus is not justified. <\/p>\n
This significantly changes and deepens the force of the parable. It is indeed a parable about humiliation and exaltation (v 14), and it is a slam against the pride and separatism of the Pharisees. (Interestingly, in the light of the New Perspective Debate, and of Dunn in particular, Luke makes it clear that nationalistic pride, or sectarian pride, is intimately connected with confidence in one\u2019s own law-keeping. If Paul is addressing the former, therefore, he must also in some fashion be addressing the latter.) But the issue is even more about the abuse of the temple and its rites. This makes sense contextually: Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem, where He will disrupt the temple activities and call the temple a \u201cden of thieves.\u201d On the way, he tells this parable about a Pharisee who thinks he\u2019s righteous and who uses the temple as a way to broadcast his superiority to fellow Jews. Throughout Luke, we have been told that the Pharisees are NOT righteous, and that makes this Pharisee\u2019s boast all the more galling. Boasting confidence in one\u2019s self and contempt and abuse of the poor ?Ethese are precisely the activities that led to the destruction of Solomon\u2019s temple, and they are going to bring an end to Herod\u2019s as well. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kenneth Bailey helpfully emphasizes that Jesus\u2019 parable of the Pharisee and the publican takes place in the temple, and he suggests convincingly that it is set during a public worship service. The fact that both men go up to the temple at the same time, and the fact that they are both \u201cstanding off\u201d (presumably […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-luke"],"yoast_head":"\n