MATTHEW 9: 14-17 [THE MESSIAH REVEALED SERIES]
DON'T REFORM BUT BE TRANSFORMED
[John 3:22-36/ Mark 7:18-22, Luke 5: 33-39]
Here is another incident that goes along with the preceding 2 which shows Jesus in conflict with current opinion & practice. Jesus did not conduct His ministry as the Pharisees thought He should, & even the disciples of John the Baptist failed to understand His unusual style of spiritual leadership, so Jesus again breaches with traditional religion rather than compromise to gain popular support.
Many in that day, such as John & his disciples, realized the faults & failures of Judaism. They also realized their own faults & failings. Thus they were wanting to reform themselves & reform Judaism. Jesus was not out to reform Judaism but to transform Judaism into something new. He was not out to give life to old form but to give life to a new form, a new way to God (CIT).
In this passage as substantiation of His right to change man's way to God, Jesus makes another bold assertion, supported and validated by His miraculous works. He is the Divine Bridegroom of honor. Just as with the Divine Physician it is another claim to be the long awaited Messiah-King. (Isa.62:5; Hos. 2:20).
I. THE NEW QUESTION, 14.
II. THE NEW BRIDEGROOM, 15.
III. THE NEW GARMENTS, 16.
IV. THE NEW WINE, 17.
Not only did the Pharisees question Jesus' participation in this feast with tax collectors and sinners, but disciples of John the Baptist also came and asked Jesus in verse 14 a question about taking part in such feasts. "Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus had been responding to the Pharisees and was still close by the tax collectors and sinners, when a group of followers of John the Baptist came to question Him. They asked why Jesus' disciples did not fast. The Pharisees fasted twice a week (Lk. 18:12) and John's disciples fasted as well. Jesus and His disciples were not conforming themselves to the practice of committed religious people of the day.
Both groups knew each other since certain disciples of Jesus were former followers of John. So the question was a sincere one as they could not understand based on Old Testament teaching how a holy man and His disciples could not fast. Were not the times bad? Were they not seeking God and demonstrating their sincerity by refraining from food in order to find Him? So again the basic issue is the relationship of Jesus, His teaching, and His disciples, to Moses, his law, and his disciples (the Pharisees saw themselves in this role).
II. THE NEW BRIDEGROOM, 15.
Jesus answered them in verse 15 that the kingdom is like a great feast, like a wedding banquet. "And Jesus said to them, ‘The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast."
Jesus answers with reference to a Jewish wedding feast. The attendants of the bridegroom [lit. sons of the bride chamber] are those who act for him, in his interest, and bring the bride to him. Then Jesus takes the figure of the bridegroom for Himself, which John the Baptist also previously proclaimed Jesus to be in John 3 :29. John even calls himself a friend of the bridegroom. The Old Testament pictures the relationship of God and His people as a marriage (Hos. 2:16-29; Isa. 54:5-6) as does the New (2 Cor. 11:2; Eph 5: 22-23; Rev. 19:7- 9, 21:9-10, 22:17). Jesus liked to use analogy of a wedding or marriage to describe His relationship to His people (Mt. 22:1, 25:1-13). What a dowery of riches and wonder are foreshadowed in this encouraging emblem which will never really be understood until the Marriage Supper of the Lamb when His bride is made ready.
Jesus' presence on earth was like a wedding feast with Jesus as the bridegroom. His disciples were filled with joy. It would not be right to mourn or fast when the bridegroom was present. There would come a time though when fasting would become appropriate, and that is when the bridegroom is taken away. [Jesus did teach His followers how to fast (6:16-18).]
The statement about Jesus being taken away from them is an early indication in Jesus' ministry that He would not reign in His first coming. The taking away of Jesus anticipates His death. It is a hidden allusion to a tragic end of Jesus' full and free life as well as the loss and despair His followers would experience.
There are still experiences in life that cause us to grieve over the absence of Jesus and long for His presence and power, Fasting grows out of the circumstances of life (Mt. 4:2; Acts 3 14; 2 Cor. 11:27). It is an expression of the inner cry of the heart for greater comfort or blessing from God. When people are born again by faith in Jesus they renew their faith by fasting. They had not yet experienced new birth, so there was no reason to fast.
III. THE NEW GARMENTS, 16.
Jesus now uses two illustrations from everyday life to point out the fundamental breakage between the old forms of worship and religion in Judaism and the new spirit and grace of the Messianic age. The first is the New Garment in verse 16. "But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results." Jesus acknowledges the old form but also prepares the way for the new form. He pictures the old form or religion under the law as an old garment Garments of that day were usually wool and would shrink like flannel does today. No one takes a piece of unshunk [agnaphos] cloth to patch [pleroma - fill up] a hole in an old garment that has seen better days. If you did when you washed and dried it, the new patch would shrink and tear away, leaving the hole worse than ever. The word pulls away is schisma, were we derive our word schism. Jesus is saying the old garment of Judaism was worn too thin to be able to repair or reform it. It needs to be discarded. Jesus is weaving a new cloth and it will not be cut to fit the old but become a new garment, a new religion.
IV. THE NEW WINE (17).
Jesus used a second analogy of the new wine in verse 17 to underscore the same message as the parable of the old garment. "Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
In Biblical days (and even today in areas of Palestine) wine was not stored in bottles, but in skins sewed around the edges to form watertight bags. [Our word bottle comes from the Spanish word bota, a boot or leather like container.] The skin is that of a goat or kid which is durable and light. The head and feet of the animal are removed an the skin is stripped off whole. It is tanned and the openings are sewn up leaving one leg or the neck as an opening. These skins then are used to transport liquid.
When fresh or new wine ferments it undergoes a chemical reaction giving off gasses which causes expansion that stretches the wineskins. Fresh or new leather can stretch and expand, but old leather has already stretched as much as it can. Fresh wine in old wine skins would burst the old leather. Jesus indicated that legalistic Judaism will not be able to handle Jesus' truth and power. Israel was too rigid and unresponsive to carry His message to the world, God would use the New Covenant church to accomplish that goal. If God pours His Spirit into legalism it will burst it and what people value about their religion will be ruined.
Verse 17 ends with a significant statement (both are preserved) referring to the new wine in the new wineskin. The Gospel is not contradictory to the truth of the Old Testament but it cannot be contained within its legalistic structure. Jesus did not come to patch up the old religious system of Judaism with it's rules and traditions. "His purpose was to bring in something new, though it had been prophesied for centuries. This new message, the gospel, said that Jesus Christ, God's Son, came to earth to offer all people forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God.
The gospel did not fit into the old rigid legalistic system of religion. It needed a fresh start. The message will always remain "new" because it must be accepted and applied in every generation [through new vessels to hold the new work of the Spirit]. When we follow Christ, we must be prepared for new ways to live, new ways to look at people, and new ways to serve." [Life Application Bible. NIV. 1988. Zondervan Publishing House. Grand Rapids, MI. p. 1167.] The new wine of Christian faith could not be poured into the old wineskins of Judaism. Jesus had come to lead a group out of Judaism into the kingdom based on Him and His righteousness. True righteousness is not built on the Law or on Pharisaic traditions. The Book of Acts demonstrates this fact, and the Letter to the Galatians interprets it.
In CLOSING
By the use of these mini-parables Jesus was preparing His disciples for the fact that He was moving away from Israel as the chosen recipient of His message. The message and power of the New Covenant is too fresh & vital to be attached to an old garment. The new wine of the New Covenant is too vibrant & potent to be placed in a rigid & inflexible system. What He was going to do demanded a new vessel to contain & transmit it. He will deposit His gospel and spirit into a new wineskin-the church.
Christ came not to reform a legalistic religious system but by grace to transform the religious system. He did not come to reform Judaism but to transform Israel into the Church. This does not mean He has forgotten His promise to Israel but He has voided His covenant with them.
You cannot follow the old form of religion and be filled with the Holy Spirit [Wine is a symbol of the Spirit]. No religion of the flesh can contain Him. You must be born again, then you will be able to grow, stretch as the HS transforms you into Christ-likeness.
You must be born again. You must be born from above to receive the gift of the HS. You must be transformed into a new vessel to have the HS poured into your being so that you can transmit Jesus' message to the world.
