Two men went to pray.
Pharisees - they loved the law and lived by it - very moral, respectable. Tax collectors. - Worked on behalf of the Romans - traitors to their own people.
1. The wrong comparison. Pharisee compares himself to everyone else, like a job interview to God. Probably telling the truth. Disaster if we think these self assessments get us right with God.
2. The right comparison. He only compares himself with God - he is 'the' sinner. God knows us through and through. Maybe excuse ourselves, little failures. This parable can make us feel uneasy. By ourselves we are in trouble.
3. How do we go home justified. (v14). Humility is thinking more about God than ourselves. We are only justified by God's mercy, which we all need every day. Possible through Christ's death.
