THE WORDS OF JESUS
Creative, Causative, Prophetic, Instructional – Part 40
“New Wine is put into fresh Wineskins”
“Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And, Jesus said to them,
“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
“No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” – The Words of Jesus, Matthew 9:14-17
First, let’s please remember that this is not just a study ‘about the Bible’ or ‘about Jesus’. This is not just a story. This is The Word of God being demonstrated in real life situations. These Words are for your learning, your rebuke, your correction and training in righteousness, so that you may be thoroughly equipped for every good work? (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
This Word of God, is creative, causative, prophetic and instructional, for you to live successfully; for you and ultimately, for others to see, ‘through you’.
So, let’s ask, “what do these Words say, and what do they mean to you and to me? And, how do we apply them to our life?
There seems to be two separate thoughts or teachings in response to John’s disciples’ question, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus begins with, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
There were various reasons for fasting for a Jew. It could be as a custom or as a religious practice. It was traditional to fast during the mourning period following the death of a public figure, an acquaintance, a friend or a loved one.
Most importantly, here, Jesus is making a prophetic reference to Himself as the bridegroom and to His Body, the Church as the Bride, and about His coming death as the Sacrificial Lamb of God.
Jesus has recently condemned religious humanism and false ritual piety which was being practiced in so many churches and synagogues, when He said, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice”, quoting from Hosea 6:6. This was a teaching against the hypocritical Pharisees. Here He is reminding His listeners to “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). In other words, without a loving relationship with God, all the rituals in the world couldn’t help the Pharisees and anyone like them.
Additionally, Jesus is saying that fasting is much more than just a religious ritual or a tradition. Furthermore, He is saying as long as He, the bridegroom, is still with them, it is not yet time for fasting. That day is coming. Now is the time for celebration of Jesus.
Jesus then seems to suddenly change the subject from fasting to metaphors, comparing “old and new ways” with “old and new fabrics and new wine and old wineskins”.
Actually, these subjects are related. If I put this in layman’s terms, Jesus is saying a change has occurred. “Old things have passing away; behold, new things have come” 2 Corinthians 5:17-19. The Old Covenant is fulfilled by Christ’s coming and the New Covenant is begun.
NOTE: The reference to the wedding feast of the Lamb (Jesus Christ) and His bride (the Church) found in Revelation 19:7–10,
The first phase would be completed on when each individual believer places his or her faith in Christ as Savior. The dowry paid by the bridegroom’s parent (God the Father) would be the blood of Christ shed on the Bride’s behalf. The Church on earth, then, is “betrothed” to Christ, and, like the wise virgins in the parable, all believers should be watching and waiting for the appearance of the Bridegroom (the rapture).
The second phase symbolizes the rapture of the Church, when Christ comes to claim His bride and take her to the Father’s house. “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
The third and final step is the marriage supper. It is then that the marriage supper of the Lamb takes place in heaven between immediately after the rapture, when a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, (see Revelation 6 & 7).
SET FREE FOR FREEDOM’S SAKE
Finally, and most importantly, “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” Jesus is saying He is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (Romans 10:4)
There is no longer a need for a continuing sacrifice and spilling of animal blood for forgiveness of your sins. You no longer need to endlessly repeat religious rituals for cleansing of your soul.
These two parables illustrate the fact that you can’t mix old religious rituals with new faith in Jesus. Jesus’ disciples were not fasting along with the Pharisees and John’s disciples because they were now under the new covenant of grace and faith in Christ. As mentioned earlier, Jesus fulfilled the law; therefore, there is no longer any need to continue with the old rituals. Jesus cannot be added to a works-based religion. In the case of the Pharisees, they were consumed with their own self-righteousness, and faith in Jesus cannot be combined with self-righteous rituals.
The New Covenant in Christ’s Blood need not and cannot be applied along with (in conjunction with) the Law no more than you can put new cloth on an old garment without making the tear worse, nor can you put New Wine (The New Covenant through the sacrificial Blood of Christ) into an old wineskin (The Law) for if you do, the Old Wineskin will burst and be destroyed and all the Wine will be lost.
“The Law and the writings of the Prophets were proclaimed until John; but now, the gospel of the kingdom of God has been and continues to be preached, and everyone tries forcefully to go into it. (Luke 16:16)
Jesus reminds us, however, “Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the Law of Moses or the writings of the Prophets; I did not come to destroy them, but to fulfill and complete their requirements of you. For I assure you and most solemnly say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of the pen written in the Law will pass from the Law until all things which it foreshadows are accomplished. So, whoever breaks one of the least important of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least important in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”. Matthew 5:17-20.
The Bible states emphatically in Galatians 5:1 that believers are free in Christ: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free”. Before Jesus died on a cross, God’s people lived under a detailed system of laws that served as a moral compass to guide their lives. The Law, while powerless to grant salvation or produce true freedom, nevertheless pointed the way to Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:19–24). Through His sacrificial death, Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law, setting believers free from the law of sin and death. God’s laws are now written in our hearts through the Spirit of God, and we are free to follow and serve Christ in ways that please and glorify Him (Romans 8:2–8). In a nutshell, this is the definition of Christian freedom. (GotQuestions.Org).
No longer condemned to grovel. You are released from the guilt and shame. You are no longer chained to the rock of your past sins.You are set free!
Jesus, has forgiven your past, secured your present life, and given you a future.
He has satisfied all the requirements of the Law of Moses, and has set you free from the law of sin and death.
The old way, that is the Law of Moses, is now fulfilled.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
(If you have any questions or remarks, please contact me).
PREVIOUS: THE WORDS OF JESUS – What Are You To Do With Them?, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”, Part 39.
NEXT: THE WORDS OF JESUS – What Are You To Do With Them? , “Do you believe I am able?”, Part 41
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