There are five points in which the Pharisee and the publican agree; there are five points in which they differ, and there are five special lessons which the incident urges upon the attention of all men in all ages.
I. The points in which they agree are obvious. (1) They had the same object. Their object was to pray. (2) They got to the same place. Two men went up into the Temple. They met on common ground; they both spoke in the Temple. (3) They were in the Temple at the same time. That is clear from the fact that the Pharisee said with a contemptuous side-nod of his lofty head, "or even as this publican." (4) They addressed the same God. (5) Each of the men talked about himself. Each described his own case.
II. Look next at the five points of dissimilarity. (1) The one was self-satisfied, the other was self-discontented. Not one word of self-depreciation escapes the lips of the Pharisee; not one word of self-praise is uttered by the publican. (2) The Pharisee was socially contemptuous, the publican was self-condemned. The Pharisee made short work of other men. He detached himself from society, standing loftily above it, and awarding to it the most self-complacent maledictions. The publican made no reference to other men. He was filled with self-shame and self-sorrow. The question lay between himself and God, not between himself and other men. (3) The one lived in duty; the other hoped in mercy. He only truly lives who lives in hope of the mercy of God. The Pharisee showed a well-brushed coat, the publican pointed to a wounded heart. (4) The Pharisee saw separate points of excellence, whereas the publican was stunned by the condition of the whole character. (5) The one was flippant, the other was reverent. Where there is no reverence, there can be no worship.
III. What are the lessons which the incident urges upon the attention of men in all ages? (1) That self-righteousness is unrighteousness; (2) that self-trust is practical atheism; (3) that social contempt is not personal piety; (4) that self-boasting goes before destruction: (5) that man's only standing-ground before God is the ground of God's sovereign mercy.
Parker, City Temple,vol. i., p. 145.
References: Luke 18:10. Homiletic Quarterly,vol. iv., p. 428; A. P. Stanley, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xii., p. 136; Preacher's Monthly,vol. x., p. 219; R. S. Browne, Sussex Sermons,p. 153; Bishop Lightfoot, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxvii., p. 65.Luke 18:10-14. Homilist,new series, vol. iii., p. 158; vol. iv., p. 465.Luke 18:11. J. Keble, Sermons for Sundays after Trinity,part i., p. 406; H. P. Liddon, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxxii., p. 113.Luke 18:12. Preacher's Monthly,vol. ii., p. 236; A. Plummer, Church of England Pulpit,vol. xxi., p. 207. Luke 18:13. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. iv., No. 216; J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons,7th series, p. 65; 4th series, p. 199; G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines of Sermons,p. 245; Clergyman's Magazine,vol. i., p. 74; R. Scott, University Sermons,p. 182.