What's Wrong With The World?

In this parable, we again see the dichotomy between a Pharisee and tax collectors. While we hear “Pharisee” and immediately draw negative connotations, Jesus’ crowd would not have, especially in relation to tax collectors, who were deemed sinners par excellence. It is clear that the Pharisee is a decent person, while the tax collector is not, which is reflected in their postures and prayers. But in a great reversal, Jesus states that the tax collector went home justified, while the Pharisee did not. In the following verses, we see a parallel account of what it means to come to God. Infants are entirely dependent - they have no merit and bring nothing to the table. Even the disciples initially miss the point, but Jesus says only those who come like children can enter the kingdom of God. 

What does all of this mean? The kind of justification and righteousness we need cannot be achieved of our own. Those who trust in their own righteousness must do so only in relation to others and not the holiness of God, leading to blindness in ourselves and contempt towards some other group. The alternative is found in what Martin Luther called the Great Exchange - our sins are laid on Christ and his righteousness is laid on us.