Fourth Homily on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee
By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin
"Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14).
By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin
"Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14).
To certain people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and humiliated others, Jesus Christ told the following parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not as other men are — extortioners, unjust, adulterers — or even as this publican. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ Now the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote himself on the breast, saying, ‘God make atonement for me the sinner.’ I tell you,” Jesus Christ adds, “that this publican went down to his house justified, but not that Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
So, this is what it means to boast about oneself and demean others! Look at this Pharisee praying in the temple of God. He took nothing from anyone, did no wrong to anyone, and led a chaste life; he fasted twice a week; he gave a tenth of his estate to the Church and the poor. Who would not say that this Pharisee was a righteous man? Yet it was not he who went home justified, but the tax collector. Yes, this virtuous Pharisee ruined all his virtues by praising himself and demeaning his neighbor.
But look at this publican praying in the temple of God. See how he stands apart from everyone, how he beats his chest, how he lowers his gaze; by all appearances, he is a great sinner. Yet this great sinner went home justified. Yes, this great sinner is justified because he condemned himself, recognizing himself as the sinner he truly was.
Let us not, listeners, humiliate others and in turn boast of ourselves. To boast of ourselves is to humble ourselves. Both God and people cease to love those who dare to boast. Our good deeds cease to be good when we boast of them. We lose the due reward for our labors when we tell everyone about them with self-satisfaction. Likewise, to humiliate others is to humiliate ourselves. We ourselves become low before God and men when we humiliate our neighbors; we dishonor ourselves when we speak ill of others. And how can we speak worse of others? How long will it take for a bad person to become better than us? How long will it take for him to correct himself and receive justification from God? How long will it take for him to say with the publican: “God make atonement for me the sinner?” We see and hear that this person offends, robs, lives dissolutely; but do we see, do we hear, how he beats his sinful chest, how he weeps for his sins before God? We know how he sins every day, how he commits iniquity every hour; but do we know that at the very moment we condemn him, he, perhaps, on his knees, in tears, stands before the merciful God and prays from the depths of his soul: "God make atonement for me the sinner!" Perhaps, at the very moment when we say, "This man did this, this, this, this," at that very moment God says to him, "I forgive you this, this, this, this, and this, and I forgive you all."
Therefore, listeners, we may condemn our neighbor at the very time when God justifies him in His righteous judgment. Let us remember that even the lowest sinners are not far from deep humility; and "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
