Luke 18:11

“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank you, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this public servant.' ”

‘Stood and prayed thus with himself.' It was normal to pray standing, thus it would not need to be mentioned. The mention of it is probably therefore in order to bring out his pompous attitude. He wanted to be seen and admired. He would probably pray aloud, which was normal, but he did it quietly (‘with himself'). This too was normal practise. Rabbis who prayed loudly were criticised.

The Pharisee was full of pride at the wonder of his own life and achievements. Surely God must see that he stood out from all others. He had never tried to cheat people out of their possessions, or extort money from them, he had never behaved unjustly towards anyone, he had never committed adultery, and he had certainly not betrayed his people like ‘this public servant' had. And it was probably all true. But what he did not realise was that the thing that stood out as separating him from the rest of men was above all his arrogant pride. What was not there in his life was any sign of repentance or awareness of need for forgiveness. He was self-satisfied and His heart was hardened against his own sin.

A further glance at his prayer will bring out its main emphasis, ‘Look God -- I -- I -- I -- I -- I.' He was like a bullfrog puffing out its chest to attract attention to itself. It was all about himself. He had no wider vision.

We must not assume that all Pharisees were like this. We may think of Nicodemus in John 3:1, and of Gamaliel, to name but two. But a good many certainly were, and all too regularly they echoed the popular prayer, ‘I thank you that you have not made me a Gentile --- I thank you that you have not made me a woman'. And they not only prayed it, they thought it. Some went even further. One Pharisee once said, ‘If there are only two righteous men in the world, I and my son are those two. If there is only one, I am he.' The Pharisee praying in the Temple would not have stood a chance against him.