The passage
      v9. Luke notes that the parable is directed to people who are confident of their "own righteousness" (goodness) before God, and who therefore assume that they are members of the kingdom of God.
      v10. Two men went to the temple to pray, probably for private prayer.
      v11. The Pharisee declared his confidence in his own righteousness. Like Paul, he could say "as to righteousness under the law, blameless", Phil.3:6. This is a common attitude for those who have adopted a "merit" religion, still, he was a good moral man.
      v12. In fact, as Jesus tells the story, the Pharisee had exceeded the law's demands. The law certainly didn't require fasting twice a week, nor was a person expected to give a tithe of everything they purchased.
      v13. The tax collector, on the other hand, was anything but good. As part of a graft-ridden occupation which collaborated with the Roman government, he was a despised member of Jewish society. Unlike the Pharisee, he proclaimed his sinfulness and asked that God cover him from the righteous judgement that was coming his way.
      v14a. Jesus now draws out an application from the parable. The Pharisee had justified himself, in the sense of proclaiming his own righteousness. The tax collector proclaimed his loss and, relying on God's mercy, asking God to turn aside his righteous anger. In so doing, says Jesus, the sinner was justified by the grace of God, that is, he was declared righteous as a free gift of God's kindness. Thus, possessing a righteousness from God, he is included with God's "chosen ones" and saved from judgement. The instrument, by which he received this gift, was faith. Although faith is not mentioned, the sinner clearly relied on God when, in his prayer to God, he asked him to act in mercy toward him. Such is faith. Such faith made Noah an "heir of the righteousness that comes by faith", Heb.11:7.
      v14b. The final saying is a typical, "the first shall be last....." type of saying that points to the great reversal. It is a warning to those who think they stand, to beware "least they fall." It is a warning to the self-righteous that in the day of judgement, in the day of vindication, they may be the ones condemned. Only the righteousness that comes from God can preserve us in that day.

Gracious Truth
      It's strange how childhood memories stay with us. I remember my 5th class teacher reading us the story of the Pharisee and the Publican, as we used to call it then. Which, by the way, was a disturbing title for me, since my grandmother was a "publican". She managed a hotel, and "publican" is the name given a person who runs a hotel in Australia. So, the story got my attention, but it always worried me.
      Our teacher made a point of emphasizing that the Pharisee got what he asked for, which was nothing, while the evil person got what he asked for, which was everything. Still, that seemed a bit unfair to me. How was it that the good man wasn't rewarded for his goodness? Why was the evil man seemingly rewarded for his evil? What disturbed me was that I thought I was one of the good boys. I had even attended Sunday School for a year or two before "graduating".
      Martin Luther, while lecturing on the Psalms, 1513-15, discovered the secret of Jesus' words. Like so many godly people, before and after, he had devoted his life to godliness, but all he ever felt was "forsaken". The more he tried to honour his God, the more his rebellious nature seemed to show itself. It was a July afternoon, filled with the lightening of a summer storm. There in Psalm 22 were the words, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Christ forsaken! Like the brilliance of the lightening, truth leaped out at Luther. "Thou forsaken for me? God came to Sinai with terror, but now in forgiveness."
      The self-righteousness of the Pharisee denies the reality that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." The truth is that our eternal acceptance in the sight of God is only ours by the gift of a God-given righteousness which is appropriated through faith (ours for the asking). God's gracious truth for us today is that a person is justified by grace through faith and not by works of the law.

v8b
      plhn "however" - but. The meaning of this particle is somewhat confused. Here it is often treated as an exceptive, eg., "however", NIV, "and yet", Moffatt, "nevertheless", TNT, "yet", Torrey, and sometimes as an adversative, "but" NJB. The particle does sometimes have a resumptive and/or continuative sense, a more classical usage, but a usage which Margaret Thrall (Greek Particles in the NT.) has identified in Luke. This well may be the sense here. "So then, back to the central issue, the return of the Son of Man, will he find faith on the earth?"
      elqwn (ercomai) aor. part. "when [the Son of Man] comes" - The participle forms a temporal clause. We should always remember that the coming of the Son of Man is a coming to the throne-room of the living God where he will take up his eternal crown, Dan.7:13. In this now/not yet moment, all creation will bow before him. Given the context, the sense is "when he comes before the Ancient of Days to vindicate his people, that is, realize their hope of a kingdom, which hope is ignored and maligned by this sinful generation, will he ......"
      ara + fut. "-" - then [will he find]. Interrogative particle with the deliberative future setting up a question.
      thn pistin (iV ewV) "faith" - the faith. Given the presence of the definite article, does Jesus mean us to understand a particular faith? Possibly a general sense is implied, "faithfulness". I suspect that Plummer is right when he links this faith to 17:22-37, as the faith which endures to the end in the face of much tribulation. Such faith is "the necessary faith, ..... faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Saviour."

v9
      de - but, and, also. Continuative? If Luke intends a close link with v1-8, particularly v8b, then "also", in the sense of "in addition to what he had said before", TH., expresses well this continuative sense; "He also told the following parable", Moffatt.
      proV + acc. "to [some]" - to, toward. Possibly, "he then addressed this parable to ....", NAB, etc., but it seems more likely that the preposition here means "with reference to", or "against" the Pharisees, so Fitzmyer, ie. Jesus is still speaking with his disciples and asks them to note those who will not stand in the day of the coming Son man; they will not stand for it is "the one who is righteous through faith [who] will live." "He gave this parable also, in reference to certain people who felt secure in their own righteousness", Rieu.
      touV pepoiqotaV (peiqw) perf. part. "who were confident" - the ones having confidence, being persuaded, convinced, trusting. Participle functioning as a substantive. "Were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance", Peterson.
      ef eJautoiV "in their own" - in themselves. "They trusted in themselves instead of God", Jeremias, Parables.
      oJti + part. - This conjunction with a participle usually introduces content, what was "in themselves", namely "righteousness" = "moral performance", but cause or reason is also possible, so Nolland; it was "because" of their moral performance that they felt secure in themselves and therefore did not need to rely, in faith, on the divine provision of righteousness.
      eisin pres. "-" - they are [righteous]. They "trust" that "they are righteous", present tense = what they thought at the time, translated "confident within themselves that they were / because they were righteous."
      dikaioi adj. "righteousness" - righteous. "Conduct that makes one acceptable to God", Marshall; "upright", Williams.
      touV ..... exouqenountaV (exouqenew) pres. part. "looked down on [everybody else]" - the ones ... despising, holding contempt for [others / the rest]. Probably not "despised", NJB, "utterly despised", Plummer, but "scorned", Williams; "looked with contempt", Barclay.

v10
      proseuxasqai (proseucomai) aor. inf. "to pray" - The infinitive expressing purpose, "in order to pray." Morning and afternoon (evening) prayer services were a regular feature of Temple worship, although people could come and pray at any time.
      telwnhV (hV ou) "tax collector" - Surely we need to contextualize the term "tax collector", given his hated status in Jewish society. Here was a Jew working for the Roman government and feeding off his fellow Jews, "a graft ridden occupation", Ellis, as such he was viewed as a traitor, a collaborator. Today's "tax man" bears no resemblance. "Publican", AV., is not helpful as a "publican" in Australia is a person who manages a hotel / a pub. This caused me great confusion since my grandmother was "a publican"! What about "a bent / corrupt politician"?

v11
      staqeiV (iJsthmi) aor. pas. part. "stood up" - having taken his stand. Attendant circumstance passive participle, identifying an action accompanying the main verb "prayed": part. + "and" + verb., so NIV. The expression simply implies the positioning of oneself to make an important statement. The Pharisee may have made the statement for all to hear, but probably not, rather he settles himself so that he can address God and does this in the usual standing position, possibly with arms outstretched and quietly speaking to himself. Today, a person might kneel down to address God. "The Pharisee posed and prayed like this", Peterson.
      proshuceto (proseucomai) imperf. "prayed" - was praying. The imperfect is possible inceptive, "began to pray."
      proV acc. "about [himself]" - to, toward. Literally "to", meaning he prayed to himself rather than God, is unlikely. Possibly "concerning himself", Nolland, so NIV. Probably in the sense of "stood to pray" = an Aramaic ethic dative, Manson, Sayings, so "said his prayers", Moffatt.
      oJ qeoV "God" - Nominative of address with the force of a vocative. eucaristw "I thank [you]" - I give thanks [to you]. Nolland rightly notes that this prayer can be seen to express "thankful joy"; in another context we have here "the ideal of a pious man." So, what has this Pharisee done wrong? Probably nothing really, he is presented as a good moral man. There is nothing wrong being thankful for our advantages before God, yet we face disaster if we think our goodness secures our eternal salvation.
      oJti "that" - Again, either expressing content or reason, "that", or "because".
      oiJ loipoi twn anqrwpwn "other men" - the rest of men. Expressing exclusivity; "everyone else", NJB.
      arpageV (ax agoV) "robbers" - "Extortionist".
      adikoi adj. "evildoers" - unjust. Used of a sinner in general.
      moicoi (oV) "adulterers" - Possibly more general, "immoral".
      h kai "or even" - Identifying the tax-collector as of "the same class as the other people named", TH. "Or, for that matter", Manson, Sayings.

v12
      nhsteuw pres. "I fast" - The present tense, being durative, implies ongoing fasting. "Twice a week" is beyond what the law requires.
      diV tou sabbatou "twice a week" - twice per sabbath. Distributive genitive.
      panta adj. acc. "all" - everything. Accusative of reference. He was rigorous in his tithing.
      ktwmai (ktaomai) pres. "[all] I get" - [everything as much as] I acquire. Tithing a purchase is not required because the tithe is already paid when the money for the purchase is gained in the first place, yet this man went beyond the requirements of the law and "tithed everything that came into his possession", Stein.

v13
      eJstwV (iJsthmi) perf. part. "stood [at a distance]" - having stood [far off]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action that accompanies the action of the main verbal phrase "was not willing to raise up". Either, away from the people, or in the outer court of the Temple. "Stood far away and would not lift even his eyes to heaven", Moffatt.
      hqelen (qelw) imperf. "he would [not even]" - was [not] willing [even]. "Was not willing" in the sense of "would not even dare."
      ouk ... oude "[he would] not even" - Double negative emphasizing his bowed state, his deference toward God, particularly his unworthiness to approach God.
      eparai (epairw) aor. inf. "look up" - to lift up. Infinitive of means expressing what he was not willing to do. "Not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven", NJB.
      etupten (tuptw) imperf. "beat [his breast]" - was beating, striking. The imperfect is possibly iterative expressing repeated action, "kept on beating his breast."
      iJlasqhti (iJlaskomai) aor. pas. imp. "have mercy [on me]" - pardon, propitiate. The sense here, particularly in the passive voice, is possibly "pardon / forgive", although "propitiate / mollify", or at least "expiate / make amends", cf. Ex.32:14, is also possible. It's hard to ignore the Old Testament atonement association of this word, particularly the use of the verb for the turning aside of God's wrath from the sinner to the sacrifice, or at least, the providing of a sacrifice that can make amends for the sinner, cf. Ps.24:11, 64:3, 77:38, 78:9; note also NT. use of the verb and noun: Rom.3:25, Heb. 2:7, 1Jn.2:2, 4:10. The setting of the story, namely, the temple, further implies an atoning sense. It's also interesting that such a theologically charged word is used for this story. Why not just the usual word for "have mercy"? So, are we to agree with Bock who suggests that the tax collector "asks God to show mercy through atoning forgiveness"? Given the root meaning of the Hebrew equivalent, "to cover", we might say that he "sought God's mercy in order to have his sins covered and the divine wrath removed from him", Stein, see also Johnson. It seems likely that the choice of this word gives us another clue into the substance of the mustard-seed faith that enables us to stand when the Son of Man comes: it is a faith in Jesus, particularly his atoning sacrifice, which sacrifice justifies. So, a broken sinner, standing in the temple, might well pray; "O God, on my behalf, unworthy sinner that I am, cover me with your eternal love, turn aside your vengeance onto this your righteous sacrifice."
      moi dat. "on me" - Probably a dative of advantage, "for my advantage"
      tw/ aJmartwlw/ (oV) "a sinner" - the sinner. Possibly "have mercy on me for my sins, Moffatt, but more likely "have mercy on me the sinner", Plummer, the definite article identifying this particular sinner. "The sinner that I am", Rieu.

v14a
      legw uJmin "I tell you" - Serving to emphasize what follows; "I assure you", Phillips.
      ouJtoV "this man" - Referring to the tax collector.
      dedikaiwmenoV (dikaiow) perf. pas. pat. "justified" - having been justified. Passive is probably theological, identifying God as the one who justifies. The perfect tense indicating a completed and ongoing state. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the main verb "went down." As with "propitiate / expiate", this word is also theologically charged; a word used only here in the gospels. It's not hard to imagine that this gospel story could well have shaped Paul's understanding of justification by faith; it could even have triggered his "Lutheran/Wesleyan" experience on the Damascus road. At the simplest level, "justified" means "forgiven", it is just as if he'd never sinned. Yet, there is more to the word, this tax collector was declared right with God, approved in God's sight; God considered him eternally righteous/holy in his sight, even though morally he is not, nor ever will be, a moral man. He asked God to "cover/atone for" his sins, and he did.