NOTES for Luk 18:1-17
When we say that God is not like us, this does not simply mean that He is kinder, stronger, wiser than we are. It means that He sees the world differently from the way we see it. When before us there appear at the same time a pious, honest, decent person and a rich tax farmer with many tears and sorrows on his conscience, our sympathies instinctively are not on the side of the "new Russian." The story of the Pharisee and the tax collector is calculated precisely for this reaction: God sees differently; He has different ideas about faith. If one says, "Thank You that everything is fine with me," and another says, "Have mercy on me," then the decisive point turns out not to be piety, not the observance of fasting or other prescriptions. It is simply that one needs praise, and the other needs love. God sees each person's heart; as for us, it is good if we see our own.