The New

2. September 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Hello: 

Welcome back from the weekend.  I had a wonderful holiday weekend.   Today, we will continue our study from the book of Matthew.  Our text that we will be studying today is as follows: 

Matthew 9:14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 Jesus answered, “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. 16 ”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. 17 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.”  

In the ancient world, the ritual of fasting was very important in the life of the people.  When we studied Matthew chapter 6, we were introduced to the teachings of Jesus on the proper way of fasting and he condemn fasting to receive glory from men.  Jesus instructed us that when we fast, we are to anoint our heads and fast in secret and God will reward us openly for our efforts. 

The issue in our text today is that the people never saw any of Jesus’ disciples fasting.   It was common for a leader in the ancient world to include some type of fasting as a part of their spiritual journey.  John’s disciples fast but the disciples of Jesus never fasted and this concerned the people.  If Jesus was a spiritual leader he would have been expected to lead his disciples in fasting.    

Jesus answers his critics by using the analogy of a bridegroom.  Jesus said that it makes no sense that the guests of the bridegroom would be mourning while he is with them but when the bridegroom is taken from them then will it be time to fast.  

The people were still not convinced that Jesus was the son of God and the long awaited Messiah so they probably made no sense of his bridegroom analogy.   One of The main reasons for fasting was to “hear from God” and there was no need for fasting while Jesus walked among them but when he would be taken, then fasting would be needed. 

Jesus then uses two examples to emphasize that the old system of thinking will not embrace the new.  The first example deals with an old garment that has a tear in it.  Jesus teaches that you can’t use a new piece of garment to patch the old.  The new piece will pull away from the old  causing the tear to be worse.  The next example is how wine is preserved.  Jesus teaches that you can’t pour new wine into old wineskins.  The new wine will burst and run over and both the wine and wineskins will be ruined but new wine is poured into new wineskins and both are preserved. 

The point that Jesus makes is that his teachings will not fit into the traditional and old way that currently exists.  Doing so will be destructive for the both. 

In order to embrace change we have to be open that our old ways of doing things may need transforming.   You know the saying that in order to get different results you have to do something different.  You can’t keep doing things the same way and expect different results. 

If you need new and different results in your life then you have to do different things.  It’s really quite simple when you think about it but the problem is that too many of us are comfortable and familiar with the old but the new holds a brighter future. 

God Bless!!!!!!! 

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily. 

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