Two men went up to the house of God to pray. One of them belonged to a group of people who had tenaciously preserved their faith in the face of harsh foreign occupation. The other belonged to a group of traitors who profited by collecting taxes imposed by the foreign occupying power. We would naturally think kindly of the loyalist and unsympathetically of the collaborator. Yet the parable in Luke 18:9-14 challenges us with an opposite conclusion. It also challenges us to rethink conclusions that we may have made about people. We simply don’t know a person’s inner attitude. We do not know whether the one is self-satisfied and judgmental or repentant and contrite of heart. A person with a good past may not have a humble heart, and there is always hope for a person with bad past.
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