Luke writes his Gospel around 80 to 90 CE, drawing on earlier sources and eyewitness accounts of Jesus' ministry. In 29 CE, during Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem before his arrest and crucifixion, Pontius Pilate governs Judaea as prefect under Tiberius Caesar, and the Temple operates under high priest Caiaphas, a Roman appointee. Jesus delivers this parable to an audience Luke identifies explicitly: those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. The teaching follows immediately after Jesus' instruction on persistent prayer in Luke 18:1-8, creating a deliberate pairing between how to pray and whom God hears.
Two men enter the Jerusalem Temple to pray. The Pharisee stands and recites his non-participation in five categories of sin: he is not an extortioner, not unjust, not an adulterer, not like other men, and specifically not like the tax collector present. He then lists two voluntary religious acts beyond Torah requirement: fasting twice weekly and tithing all possessions, not merely agricultural produce as Mosaic law mandates. The text states he prayed with himself (πρὸς ἑαυτόν, pros heauton), a grammatical construction indicating his prayer forms a closed loop directed inward rather than upward. The tax collector stands at a distance, will not lift his eyes toward heaven, strikes his chest, and speaks one sentence: God be merciful to me a sinner.