Monday, September 16, 2024
“No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved” (Matthew 9:16,17 KJV).
What is our Lord Jesus Christ teaching here?
Today’s Scripture is in the context of the Lord and His disciples eating at Matthew’s (Levi’s) house, where many “publicans [tax collectors] and sinners [societal outcasts]” (presumably friends of Matthew/Levi) have assembled for a great feast (Matthew 9:10, Mark 2:15; Luke 5:29). The “scribes” (Hebrew Bible copyists and Mosaic-Law teachers) and “Pharisees” (conceited, self-righteous works-religionists and traditionalists in Judaism) “murmur” (complain) how Jesus and His disciples “eat with publicans and sinners,” a charge Christ eagerly answers (Matthew 9:11-13; Mark 2:16,17; Luke 5:30-32): “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance!”
During this large banquet, John the Baptist’s disciples also whined to Jesus. “Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?” (Matthew 9:14). Mark 2:18 adds, “And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast.” Luke 5:33 reports, “Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?” The Lord’s disciples should be fasting not eating (or so these detractors argue)!
Matthew 9:15 reads: “And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.” See also Mark 2:19,20 and Luke 5:34,35. The Lord Jesus Christ is not dead yet, so His disciples have no reason to fast or be sad; they should be eating. At this point, He contends how it is improper to pair new (unshrunk) patches with old garments and new wine with old bottles (today’s Scripture; Mark 2:21,22; Luke 5:36-38). Luke 5:36 declares this is a “parable” (illustration or analogy). Christ’s critics need to move from Old Covenant ritualism to New Covenant righteousness….
333 Words of Grace 