Matthew 9:14-17 Both Are Preserved WC
McCarter
Introduction
We will pick up where we left off last week with Jesus
saying, “For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
This kind of ministry will turn the Jewish world upside down. The Pharisees and
Scribes do not comprehend it, not even the disciples of John can come to an
understanding. Jesus has already weathered an attack from the Pharisees. They
were not bold enough to face Jesus with their scorn, but went to Christ’s disciples
instead. Now Jesus will be faced with a critical question from the disciples of
John the baptizer.
Jesus will answer the immediate, smaller question and then
go on to describe the bigger picture. So often we get caught up with the small
stuff and completely miss the large. We spend a lot of time packing a suitcase,
but we miss the boat. You see, the Pharisees and John’s disciples had one thing
in common. Both groups were extreme legalists. They were excessive in their
rule-keeping, and their laws came from not only the Old Testament, but also the
traditions that they had established. They spent so much time tending to the
details of the Law that they completely missed the Word of God who became flesh
and dwelt among them.
READ Scripture-
This is the Word of God
Question and Answer
vv14-15
The Law of Moses only commanded that God’s people fast on
one particular day, the Day of Atonement. Yet, the custom of the Pharisees and
disciples of John was to practice fasting on a regular basis, even twice a week.
Probably on several occasions the strict, legalistic Jews of the Pharisees and
disciples of John found themselves fasting while Jesus and His disciples were
feasting. It was so outrageous that Jesus’ disciples did not fast that the
disciples of John put themselves in a category with the Pharisees, a group of
which they were very critical. Remember, it was John who said to the Pharisees, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to
come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of
repentance. . . .” I mean every good, law-keeping, righteous Jew fasted
often; even twice a week. Yet, Jesus and His group had never been known to
fast. This is strange, if not scandalous.
Jesus responds to the question with a question of His own.
He answers allegorically, but the truth is apparent. There are plenty of times
in life to mourn, but a wedding is not one of those times. A groom’s buddies
are not going to grieve while they are with their friend. They are going to
celebrate. They are going to enjoy themselves. “The bridegroom’s [friends]
cannot be fasting while the feasting is at its height!” (Morris, 224). Jesus
says that as long as He is present, the disciples have no reason to mourn. They
have no reason to fast. Then Jesus foreshadows His coming death and future ascension
back to heaven. That will be a time for fasting. The book of Acts tells us that
the early Christians did spend time fasting.
Biblical Christianity is not about religious performance,
but about faith. It is not our accomplishments to which God responds. The
Father responds to the accomplishments of Christ. Thus, we are to trust in what
Christ has done and not in ourselves.
Connective: Jesus
has now answered the direct question, but He will go on to give the men more
than they were asking for. He will tell them what they really need to know.
Unshrunk Cloth on an
Old Garment v16
I have some old jeans that have holes in them. I wear them
to work in. I went and bought some of the iron-on patches and followed the
directions line by line, but down to the last patch they all fell off. This
would hold true especially of materials in the New Testament times. A garment
would shrink when it was washed and it would become worn over time. Now if you
took a new piece of cloth that had not been shrunk and placed it on the old
garment, what would happen? The first time the garment was washed the patch
would shrink. There would be tension, and the tension would tear the garment
even more. The hole would become larger.
The ministry of the Lord Jesus was not going to be a patch
for traditional, legalistic Judaism.
New Wine into Old Wineskins
v17
New wine refers to
wine that is still fermenting. Old
wineskins refers to a container that is practically worn out. In ancient
times, people would make liquid containers out of animal skins, usually goats.
They would skin the animal, tie up the feet and neck, and leave a small
opening. Fermenting wine would have lots of pressure from the gases. New skins
have flexibility, they have some stretch. An old skin loses that stretch and
cannot withstand the pressure from new, still fermenting wine. The pressure
would cause an old skin to burst. If that happens, you have lost both the wine
and the skin. What people would do is put new wine into a new skin so that both
are preserved.
The new wine of faith in Christ cannot be poured into the
old wineskins of traditional Judaism.
Notice that Jesus does not completely do away with structure
(wineskins). There are new skins for the new wine. We are not under law but
under grace. We live in the age of the Spirit. He has come to dwell within all
those who have accepted Christ by faith. He writes the law of Christ, the royal
law, upon our hearts. This is the new skin in which the new wine is poured.
Conclusion
This is the point in the sermon when you are supposed to
say, “So what?”
First, we do not have to do “religious” things because
everyone else is doing them.
Many of the
“righteous” Jews of the first century fasted, but Jesus’ group did not.
Second, have you noticed the new vs. old idea?
Jesus was not going to force the
new work He was doing into the old frame. Attempting to patch the old would
have made an even worse tear from the tension. Attempting to pour the new into
the old would have caused so much pressure that both the old and the new would
have been lost.