The humble are justified before God (The Pharisee and the tax collector Luke 18:9-14)

The humble are justified before God (The Pharisee and the tax collector Luke 18:9-14)
I once heard a minister say something about children that made a lot of since in the way our Christian walk should look. He said that if you are in a room full of kids and have them line up for a treat the stronger, bolder, more popular, athletic kids will always fill up the front of the line because they want to get theirs first. But if you go to the back of the line, you will find the meek and humble who just simply slide to the back of the line to avoid confrontation and make sure that everyone else gets their first. He said that he would take great joy in going to the back of the line and giving those kids their treats first while making those in the front of the line wait until the end. The kingdom of God works a lot like this minister did in handing out snacks or treats to his youth. In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector we see that Jesus draws the same line, in verse 14 He says that “those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” In other words, those in the back of the line in this world are going to end up being at the front of the line when they enter God’ Kingdom of Heaven.
Self-Righteousness or the feeling that we have everything figured out has the effect of us noticing everyone faults around us. The Pharisee looked at the tax collector and just knew that he was a better person and more spiritual than him because how committed he was to his religion. It is a reoccurring theme throughout scripture that God is drawn to the humble hearted and repulsed by the haughty hearted. Psalm 18:27 says that you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down. Psalm 147:6 says that he adorns the humble with salvation. James 4:10 says that God will exalt those who humble themselves before the Lord. The tax collector knew that he needed help, he did not try to masquerade as something he was not, he simply humbled himself and cried out for help from God. This is why he was justified before God and the Pharisee was not. The word justified (Greek: dikaioo) here means that he was declared to be righteous. So, the guy who was looked down upon by society is the one who humbles himself before God and receives the grace and mercy that the Pharisee thought for sure he had earned. The line has been flipped, the people who thought they was in the front of the line are really in the back and those who thought they was in the rear are really in the front