New Wine And Old Wineskins Series

Title: New wine and Old wineskins

Theme: To show that to gain for the future we have to let go for the past.

Text: Mark

Mark 2:18 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"

19 And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

Introduction

Throughout the gospels we see this constant battle between the religious leaders (Pharisees – strident followers of the law, Sadducees – more liberal workers of the law (political), scribes – interpreters of the law) and Jesus.

Their Battles Include

Sabbath Worship/Healing

Mar 2:27 And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Eating Food

(Mar 7:14-19) Again Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, "Listen to me, everyone. Understand this. Nothing outside of you can make you ’unclean’ by going into you. It is what comes out of you that makes you ’unclean.’ "

Then he left the crowd and entered the house. His disciples asked him about this teaching.

"Don’t you understand?" Jesus asked. "Don’t you see? Nothing that enters people from the outside can make them ’unclean.’ It doesn’t go into the heart. It goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body." In saying this, Jesus was calling all foods "clean."

Paying Taxes

(Mat 22:17-22)Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money." So they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They said to Him, "Caesar’s." And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s." When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

Others included Divorce, ministry to sinners,

Yet Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (Mat 5:17)

Illustration – Wiersbe Mark 2

There are two ways to destroy a thing: you can smash it, or you can permit it to fulfill itself. An acorn, for example, can be smashed with a hammer, or it can be planted and allowed to grow into an oak. In both instances, the destruction of the acorn is accomplished; but in the second instance, the acorn is destroyed by being fulfilled.

I believe there was two reasons that they seem to hate Jesus so much:

1. Jealously. They didn’t like it because he had a following and did not include them. They figured if it was religious it would have to go through them and approved by them. It was not their idea and they were not getting the credit so they didn’t like it.

2. Resistance to change. They didn’t like change. Actually not too many people like change. It is so hard for us to see change.

Their most hated verse was.

God is up to a new thing

(Isaiah 43:18-19) "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. {19} See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

Paul said:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).

You see they had their system. They had their way and it worked for them, or they thought. In their mind everything was okay. Surely they were having to compromise and put on a show but that is what everyone did.

As we have been studying the disciples we have notices a deep desire to follow Christ. It was as if they were sitting on the outside looking in going I want more.

I get this same impression from Nicodemus. As he came to Jesus by night something had piqued his interest. Something told him that there was more than just what he saw.