Scripture · Luke 21:1-2
Luke 18:14 · The Pharisee and the tax collector
The Pharisee and the Publican
“I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The man nearest us has hidden his face against a column. Behind him, another man stands upright with a raised hand. In John Everett Millais’s small watercolor, their different postures make us look twice at the verdict Jesus gives in Luke 18:14.
What does The Pharisee and the Publican show?
A barefoot man in a deep blue robe bends toward a spiral column, with his hands drawn close to his chest. His face is almost entirely concealed. Farther back, the Pharisee stands on a shallow step in pale robes and a red cap, lifting his face and one hand as other figures gather nearby.
Millais gives the bowed figure most of the foreground. The difference in scale directs our attention toward the person who seems least able to present himself confidently. Aberdeen dates this watercolor to about 1860; its modest size invites close attention to the gestures rather than a panoramic view of the temple.
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What does Luke 18:14 mean?
Jesus tells this parable to people who trust in their own righteousness and look down on others. Both men go to the temple to pray. The Pharisee lists his fasting and giving while comparing himself favorably with other people; the tax collector stands at a distance and asks God for mercy.
The final verse reverses the comparison. The man who has asked for mercy goes home justified. The criticism falls on self-exaltation and contempt, not on prayer or generosity themselves. Millais’s arrangement helps us notice how easily a person’s outward standing can mislead us about the prayer being offered.
Millais brings the bowed tax collector close to us, giving visual weight to the man whom Jesus says went home justified.
Sources
Aberdeen: Parable — The Pharisee and the Publican. Museum record gives the approximate 1860 date, watercolor medium, and sight dimensions.
Aberdeen collection photograph on Wikimedia Commons. Exact image supplied through the museum’s Wikimedia partnership.
Luke 18 — Berean Standard Bible. The prayers of the Pharisee and tax collector, and Jesus’ closing judgment in verses 9–14.
Also from Luke:The Angel Appearing to ZachariasAnnunciation
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