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Luke 18 · a question people ask

Why did the tax collector go down to his house justified, "rather than the other" (18:14)?

In the text

Jesus's own sentence goes on with a for:"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." (18:14). Luke says to whom the parable was spoken: "certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others" (18:9). Here are the two prayers. The Pharisee: "God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men: extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector" (18:11), and "I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get" (18:12). The tax collector, "standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’" (18:13). Luke tells of no word of Jesus on whether what the Pharisee said of himself was true, and of no explanation of justified beyond this verse. These notes add nothing to his words, and make the story a verdict on no people or group, then or now.

From Favor's study of Luke 18

Luke 18: Always pray and not give up

Luke says why before the first story begins, "that they must always pray and not give up" (18:1), and to whom before the second, "certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness" (18:9). And words of one Greek family, as Strong's traces them, stand in both, from the widow's "Defend me" (18:3) to the man who "went down to his house justified" (18:14).

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Last reviewed October 7, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions