Jesus confronts the Pharisees' self-righteous attitude with a parable of a tax collector and a Pharisee who went to the temple to pray. Jesus condemns the prideful Pharisee who boasted to God about his own good works and praises the humble tax collector who begged God for mercy. Then Jesus explains to His disciples that people must receive the kingdom of God like a child to enter it. God wants us to approach Him in childlike humility and to reject the Pharisees' comparative and judgmental attitude.