Our Lord uses words with purpose. He is “the Word of God,” after all. No word is out of place. No word is misused. No word could be substituted to improve what God the Son says with HIS words.
And so we should pay great attention when the Lord uses a phrase as seemingly incoherent as, “(he) prayed thus with himself.” What could such an expression mean?
To understand, let’s begin with the dictionary. What is the definition of “prayer”?
It says this: A solemn request for help or an expression of thanks addressed to God or an object of worship.
So, when Jesus says that the Pharisee prayed “with himself,” who (Who?) was the SUBJECT of his prayer?
The simplest answer is that it was not God. In fact, the Pharisee had placed himself as the one to whom his “prayer” was directed, making himself god.
Now, yes, this is a parable. And so our Lord’s use of language is intended to teach, not to accuse a specific person.
But having said this, we need to go back before this account in the Gospel of St. Luke and find what caused Jesus to speak the parable.
In the verse immediately preceding the beginning of today’s Gospel reading, we find St. Luke recording this. “Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.”
You see, beyond our Lord using language to perfection, He also knows us fully. In Matthew 9:4 we find, “And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?’”
And so the parable is given lovingly to those whose hearts He has seen to be judging others, just as He describes in the parable. The loving gift is given to convict the spirits, to cause introspection, to bring to repentance, for we know that it is very soon that our Lord must be calling these same people "blind guides", "hypocrites", and a "brood of vipers." Before going to the indictment, our Lord continues to give His critics room for repentance!
There’s a “legend” (if it’s not true, it’s still a worthy story) of a pastor being hired by a large Christian community who showed up for his first Sunday dressed as a homeless person. The account indicates that he arrived 30 minutes before the service, mingled with hundreds from the community, with only 3 offering a “Hello” to him. He asked some for change to buy food, and none was given. He went into the sanctuary and sat near the front, where ushers arrived to escort him to a more appropriate seat—in the back. When officers of the church stood to introduce their new pastor, people began to look around, only to find the homeless man stand and walk to the front, where he recited St. Matthew 25:34-40 (“I was hungry and you gave Me food….”)
You see, all of us “judge” others around us. All of us (at one time or another) put ourselves in the place of God. Even if we don’t “pray to ourselves,” we (like today’s Pharisee) judge those we find around us.
And for the record, ANY judgment of another by any of us is unjust!
The Stichera sung at Vespers for the day says, “Brothers, let us not pray as the Pharisee, for he who exalts himself shall be humbled. Let us humble ourselves before God, and with fasting cry aloud as the Publican: ‘God be merciful to us sinners.’”
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