He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14 ESV)
This story is about two sinners and the universal human need for justification.
Make no mistake, the Pharisee believed that he was a sinner (after all, nobody’s perfect)–but he was also confident that his religious diligence made him acceptable to God. He had (with the help of God, of course) lifted himself above the bar of acceptability. Yes, although he gave credit to God that he was not like other men, he had, in his own mind, justified himself.
By contrast, that “scumbag” publican saw no hope, in and of himself, to be accepted by God. His only recourse was to cast himself on the mercy of God, the means of which would be shortly revealed in the Cross.
His prayer, “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” commonly called “The Sinner’s Prayer,” are not the magic words by which someone gets saved. No, it was a cry of the heart that actually said, God propitiate me, that is, in mercy turn your wrath away from me, one who justly deserves it.
How is that wrath turned away? Through Christ—who, through His death, reconciles us to the Father and who alone can justify us.
Indeed, this wrath-deserving sinner “went down to his house justified before God.”