The Person of Jesus series
Jesus Makes all things New
Matthew 9:9-17
CHCC: April 4, 2010 - EASTER
INTRODUCTION:
Happy Easter. How many of you got up early and came to the Sunrise Service? At least this year Easter didn’t fall on the same day we move to Daylight Savings time!
I heard about a church organist who overslept one Easter morning. She said, “The service was scheduled for 6:30. At 6:31 the minister called to see if I was coming. Since I live near the church, I was at the organ by 6:45. Then, a year later on Easter morning my phone rang at 5:45. When I answered, I heard the minister announce: ‘Christ is risen! And you’d better rise, too!’”
Christ is risen! So … what has that changed in YOUR life?
Today we’re talking about a man whose life was completely changed because of Jesus. His name was Levi - a nice Jewish name. But Levi was also called by the Greek name of Matthew … and he worked as a Tax Collector for the Roman government. This occupation labeled him an outcast among his own people.
Then along came a young Jewish rabbi named Jesus … and the rest is history. Matthew describes this life-changing moment in one verse: As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Matthew 9:9
From that minute, everything changed for Matthew. He had a new vocation, a new group of friends, and a completely new purpose for his life. One big change is that Matthew went from being an Accountant to an Author. He eventually wrote the first of the Gospels … the one we’re reading today.
The first thing Matthew did as a follower of Jesus was to throw a big party. Matthew records that a bunch of other tax collectors and “sinners” attended his party, along with Jesus’ disciples. So, here Jesus was, sitting in the home of a hated Tax Collector, surrounded by a bunch of notorious sinners, and who should show up to harass him but the ever-present Pharisees.
As soon as they got the chance, the whined to Jesus’ disciples: Why is your leader partying with a bunch of sinners?
Now these Religious Leaders would NEVER enter the home of a Tax Collector. Obviously, they couldn’t criticize Jesus for partying with sinners if they were at the same party. So they were probably hanging around outside the house, observing the wild party from a safe distance. But eventually someone passed the complaint along to Jesus.
On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”
Then he quoted a scripture from Hosea 6:6. “But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:12-13
The Pharisees knew this scripture very well … but they didn’t GET it. They cared nothing about calling sinners back to God. All they cared about was keeping themselves ceremonially clean and untainted by the lowly riff-raff.
They were like doctors who won’t go near a sick person because they are afraid they might catch the disease.
Religious people today can fall into the same trap if we focus so much on keeping the church pure that we end up looking down on the very ones we should lift up.
Some churches work hard to keep the “riff-raff” out --- while God’s whole desire is to reach out to the “riff-raff” so He can save them … from their “riff-raff-dom.”
Speaking of riff-raff, I love this quote by author and former alcoholic Augusten Burroughs who said, concerning himself, “I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.”
The emphasis of the Religious Leaders was making yourself acceptable by strict adherence to the LAW. Jesus presented an entirely NEW paradigm.
In this New Covenant, God extended GRACE to even the worst of sinners.
The greater the sin, the greater the application of GRACE.
Matthew knew what it meant to have a completely NEW life because of Jesus. I think it’s significant that the first teachings this new follower records tell us that Jesus came to earth to make all things new!
Matthew records three word pictures that illustrate this truth: a WEDDING, new CLOTHING, and new WINESKINS.
1. A Wedding
Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" Matthew 9:14
It’s doubtful that the disciples of John the Baptist attended Matthew’s party. John was an ascetic --- he and his disciples lived out in the wilderness. They lived a harsh life, dedicated to fasting and prayer, and they probably avoided parties altogether. And this was a rough time for these men because their leader was in jail … and we know from history that John would soon be beheaded by Herod. It was only natural for them to be sad and confused … and maybe even jealous of Jesus’ successful ministry.
Jesus answered them this way: "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.” Matthew 9:15
This answer reminded these men of what John himself had said about Jesus: The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less. John 3:29-30 The answer reassured them that Jesus WAS the ONE John had prophecied about.
Jesus knew his answer would comfort these friends of John. But his reference to a Wedding also reinforces the theme that Jesus came to make all things new. A wedding represents a new relationship. And that’s what Jesus came to give us.
In a wedding, both the bridegroom and the bride CHOOSE each other. They make promises to each other, and they begin a new relationship that is entirely built on mutual love.
That’s the way it is in our NEW life with Jesus. He has already CHOSEN you. He has made His eternal Vows to you.
The only question left is, “Will you choose Him? Will you return His vows and accept this new relationship with God?” If you will say “yes” to Jesus, you’ll experience an entirely new relationship with God … a relationship that is based on LOVE, not LAW.
Next, Matthew shares two more teachings of Jesus. These sayings … that Matthew put together here in Matthew 9 … were most likely teachings that Matthew heard repeatedly. The illustrations of a wedding, new clothes, and new wineskins, are pericopes.
I used that word to Susan earlier this week when we were talking about this scripture … and she accused me of making the word up! But it IS a real word … I learned it way back in college. In this case, pericopes are brief teachings of Jesus that are grouped together … not necessarily because they happened in one sitting … but because they all illustrate a common theme.
2. New Clothing
In verse 16, Jesus says, "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.” Matthew 9:16
Do any of you own clothing that has a patch sewn on it? People in past generations used to patch clothes. But not any more. If we get a rip, we just run out and buy something new. In fact, from what I can tell now-a-days, if your jeans get ripped they actually go up in value.
In Jesus’ time, just about everybody knew how to patch old clothes. Most of them had to find a way to make their clothes last for years. So if their cloak ripped or wore out, they would simply sew on a patch. They all knew you had to pre-shrink the new fabric. If new, un-shrunken cloth were patched to old garments, the patch would pull away and make the tear worse than it was in the first place!
Here’s the point: Jesus has no interest in “patching up” your sinful, worn-out, ripped up old life. Jesus is not into patchwork. He doesn’t want to “patch-up” your old life; He wants to give you a brand NEW life!
Have any of you ever seen the TV show, What not to Wear? It’s a show where a couple of stylists find a person who is fashion-challenged --- and they give them $5,000 to buy a completely new wardrobe. (Of course, I wouldn’t know about this show except that the women in my family like it … and I can’t help seeing it when I walk through the room.) The point is that before the person get’s their wonderful NEW wardrobe, they first have to throw out their OLD wardrobe.
That’s how it is with us. Jesus gives us an entirely NEW wardrobe … not just patches for the old stuff. He came to cleanse our hearts and outfit us in a while new way of life. He came to make all things new.
3. New Wineskins for New Wine
In the next verse, Jesus said, Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." Matthew 9:17
Wine was a common drink back then because it was less likely than water or milk to be contaminated. The fermenting process killed germs. But they didn’t have any bottling companies. They often put the grape juice in specially treated, leak-resistant goat skins. As the new wine fermented, it would stretch the new wineskins.
Once a wineskin was used, it was all stretched out. The skins became brittle and dry with age. If you put new wine in an old wineskin, gasses would build up --- and BANG! You’d have a big explosion and your new wine would end up all over the walls.
Jesus’ teachings … and the way He lived his life … were like new wine … refreshing! --- but not able to be confined in the old brittle wineskin of the Old Covenant.
The OLD way of the LAW could not contain the NEW way of GRACE.
Everything about Jesus and His teaching was brand NEW. The Kingdom He preached would be different in every aspect. Jesus came to move us …
· From law to grace
· From wearisome efforts at flawless obedience to justification by faith
· From repeated animal sacrifices to one all-sufficient sacrifice
· From a sinful human priest to a sinless high priest
· From the 10 Commandments to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
· From the sign of circumcision to the sign of baptism
· From emphasis on sin to emphasis on the Savior
· From outer conformity to inner conviction
· From a conditional covenant to an everlasting covenant
Conclusion:
Jesus used the illustration of a WEDDING to show that He offers us a new relationship with God that is based entirely on love.
Jesus gave the word-picture of NEW CLOTHES to show that He can do so much more than patch up your tattered life. He will cleanse your heart and give you an entirely NEW way of life.
Jesus gave the metaphor of NEW WINESKINS to show that He offers you an entirely NEW way to live … and grow … in constant connection with God.
Today, we celebrate the day that Jesus rose from the grave. The resurrection of Jesus proves that He has the power to give you life after death. And even more than that … Jesus offers you a completely NEW life that can start right here and now.
The great Easter truth is not that Jesus came to give you a better life.
The great truth of Easter is that Jesus offers you an entirely NEW life.
