Welcme t the weekend f Thanksgiving I bet yur turkey wasn t the nly thing that gt stuffed ver this hliday Thanksgiving is the ne day f the year when it s scially acceptable t eat far mre than yu shuld I knw many f us are still chwing dwn n leftvers And I m sure at least a few f us are feeling a pants fitting a little tighter already It s OK that s what New Year s reslutins are fr But if yu re lamenting yur grwing waistline tnight, the Lrd has heard yur cries, and has respnded by scheduling the perfect tpic fr my Thanksgiving weekend preaching That s right the tpic waiting fr us tnight in chapter 9 f Matthew is fasting Tday we will study the secnd half f a mment that tk place between Jesus and His disciples in chapter 9 This scene separates the secnd and third grups f miracles Matthew presents in chapters 8 and 9 In this scene Matthew is shwing us Jesus authrity ver thse in cvenant with the Lrd In particular, the fcus is n Jesus authrity ver thse in the Old Cvenant, that is the unbelieving Pharisees They were a part f the Old Cvenant, just like all Israel But the Pharisees had hijacked that Cvenant and its Law t make it int smething it wasn t They added many, many new rules t the religius life f Israel They called these new rules the ral law, in cntrast t the written law that Gd gave Mses Eventually they declared their ral law f manmade rules was equal t Scripture 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
2! f! 14 They defended that cnclusin by claiming that Gd gave Mses the ral law t, but it wasn t written dwn until centuries later S in this brief scene between Jesus and the Pharisees, Jesus denies and invalidates the Pharisaic additins t the law f Gd Last week Jesus denied the Pharisee s expectatins fr the Messiah s ministry He reminded the Pharisees that the chief purpse f the Messiah wasn t t reward thse wh had made sacrifices under the Law Rather, Messiah wuld bring mercy t thse wh failed at the Law S Jesus ate with sinners like tax cllectrs and prstitutes just as a dctr ges t the sick Jesus behavir cnfused the Pharisees, because they believed Gd s Law and the ral law were the means t pleasing Gd Thse wh kept the Law were ging t be rewarded, thse wh didn t wuldn t S they std in judgment ver thse wh culdn t measure up, and they disapprved f Jesus shwing mercy t such peple That s self-righteusness, and self-righteusness naturally prduces an attitude f judgment tward thers Therefre, Jesus tld thse men t g learn what it means when the Lrd said I desire cmpassin nt sacrifice The Lrd desires we knw Him s we may receive His cmpassin rather than making urselves acceptable by sacrifice Nw mving t the secnd half f this exchange tnight, the scene cntinues with a questin put t Jesus by the disciples f Jhn the Baptist Matt. 9:14 Then the disciples f Jhn came t him, saying, Why d we and the Pharisees fast, but yur disciples d nt fast? Jhn s disciples thrw a questin abut fasting at Jesus And it seems t cme ut f n where 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
3! f! 14 But that s an indicatin t us that we need t d sme hmewrk We need t wrk t understand hw this questin relates t the prir mment T d that, we need t pay careful attentin t the cntext, bth the cntext f Matthew and the cntext f Luke 5 In bth Gspels we re tld this questin cmes t Jesus during His meal at Levi s (Matthew s) huse with the sinners and tax cllectrs In Matthew, the disciples f Jhn ask the questin, but in Luke s Gspel, we re tld that the questin cmes frm the Pharisees Luke 5:33 And they said t Him, The disciples f Jhn ften fast and ffer prayers, the disciples f the Pharisees als d the same, but Yurs eat and drink. Ntice that each mentins the ther grup in their questin Which tells us that these tw grups were asking Jesus the same questin mre r less in unisn Whatever reasn they had fr asking abut fasting, it must be cmmnly understd, because it s caught the attentin f bth grups S why are the Pharisees and Jhn s disciples s preccupied with fasting at this very mment? Well if we lk at the larger cntext f Luke s Gspel we find a pssible answer In Luke s Gspel is generally presented in chrnlgical rder That s nt the case in Matthew s accunt, because Matthew cmmnly mved events arund t emphasize certain elements S lking at Luke s accunt, we learn that this dinner at Matthew s hme happened a day r s befre a weekly Sabbath Which means this meal likely tk place n a Thursday night Which in turn explains why these men were s preccupied with Jesus s disciples eating instead f fasting By that day rabbis taught their disciples that they must fast every week n Mndays and Thursdays 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
4! f! 14 They bserved this pattern in Spring between Passver and Pentecst and again in Fall between Tabernacles and Dedicatin Why Mndays and Thursday? Because they said Mses went up t Mt. Sinai n a Thursday and came dwn n a Mnday Of curse, there was n biblical requirement t fast weekly, much less n these specific days This is anther example f the ral law impsing additinal, unnecessary burdens n the peple The average Jew didn t bserve this requirement, but the Pharisees and their disciples saw it as a cmmand frm Gd Fr men dedicated t finding Gd thrugh self-righteusness, rules like this gave them what they needed: a sacrifice S when Jesus and His disciples went int Matthew s hme t eat with a bunch f utcasts, naturally the Pharisees and Jhn s disciples were cnfused First, the judgmental Pharisees culdn t understand Jesus willingness t shw cmpassin t such peple And nw we learn that they were equally upset at Jesus disciples abandning the rules f the ral law They were cncerned that Jesus and His disciples were eating n a Thursday night instead f fasting as was the traditin It s easy enugh t understand why the Pharisees bjected, but we shuld ask why are Jhn s disciples cncerned? And fr that matter, why are Jhn s here and nt fllwing Jhn? Fr that matter, why are they still called Jhn s disciples? Why haven t they left Jhn t fllw Jesus? First, remember that Jhn was a frerunner t Jesus He was a prphet the Lrd said befre the Messiah t prepare the hearts f Israel fr His arrival But nce the Messiah appeared, Jhn the Baptist tld his disciples t fllw Jesus instead f fllwing him He said he must decrease s Jesus culd increase 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
5! f! 14 Many f Jhn s disciples left Jhn t fllw Jesus, just as Jhn instructed them But sme f Jhn s disciples, like these men, refused t leave Jhn t fllw Jesus They cntinued calling themselves disciples f Jhn Why? The nly pssible answer is that nt all f Jhn s disciples were willing t recgnize Jesus as the Messiah Yu prbably assumed that every fllwer f Jhn readily embraced Jesus at His appearing But the reality was sme peple came int Jhn s ministry fr reasns ther than a true repentant heart that sught the Messiah Sme f thse wh fllwed Jhn the Baptist were stamped in the mld f the Pharisees What attracted them was Jhn s ascetic lifestyle and rigrus self-denial in a wrd it was the sacrifice that appealed t them S we can see why such men wuld align themselves s easily with the Pharisees in this mment they were just like them Fr these men, fasting twice a week was the perfect recipe fr selfrighteusness But if they liked Jhn s ministry s much, why are they here with Jesus? Well, by this time Jhn the Baptist had been beheaded, s these men were disciples withut a rabbi They must have remembered that Jhn held Jesus in high regard, s they likely came t see if Jesus culd be their rabbi But as they cme t find Jesus eating with the wrst f Jewish sciety, and ding it n a Thursday n less this wasn t what they expected S alng with the Pharisees these men wnder why Jesus didn t make His disciples fast accrding t the traditin f rabbis We have tw different but related grups asking the same questin 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
6! f! 14 Which explains why Jesus gives tw different but related answers The first answer is directed t Jhn s disciples Matt. 9:15 And Jesus said t them, Can the wedding guests murn as lng as the bridegrm is with them? The days will cme when the bridegrm is taken away frm them, and then they will fast. Jesus uses a wedding metaphr t describe His cming t Israel And this metaphr wuld have been very familiar t Jews In several places in the Old Testament including Psalms and Isaiah yu will find a wedding used t describe Messiah s arrival As well, Jewish traditin used the metaphr f a wedding feast t picture the banquet that pens the Messianic Kingdm And Jhn the Baptist used the same metaphr when speaking t his wn disciples abut the Messiah s arrival Jhn 3:27 Jhn answered and said, A man can receive nthing unless it has been given him frm heaven. Jhn 3:28 Yu yurselves are my witnesses that I said, I am nt the Christ, but, I have been sent ahead f Him. Jhn 3:29 He wh has the bride is the bridegrm; but the friend f the bridegrm, wh stands and hears him, rejices greatly because f the bridegrm s vice. S this jy f mine has been made full. Jhn 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease. The fact that Jesus chse this same metaphr t answer Jhn s disciples tells us He was speaking specifically t them Jesus was cnnecting the dts fr these men, explaining t them He is the Messiah, the bridegrm Jhn tld them t watch fr But then Jesus extends the metaphr t address their cncerns abut fasting He says that when the bridegrm des arrive, it s n time fr murning it s a time f celebratin Weddings were particularly unique and festive ccasins They were mments f celebratin unequalled in Jewish life 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
7! f! 14 And the Bible chses that mment t picture hw Gd s peple will feel when their Messiah cmes fr them It shuld be an unequalled mment f incredible jy and celebratin It was fr Jesus disciples in that day and it will be fr us in ur day t cme On the ther hand, the deprivatin f fasting stands in stark cntrast t the jy f a wedding celebratin Fasting denies the bdy jy fr a time, and that s part f its spiritual benefit But fr that reasn, it s impssible t experience the spiritual benefits f fasting while als engaged in a wedding celebratin Thse tw bservances are mutually exclusive In fact, in Israel religius fasting was suspended during a wedding celebratin s the wedding party culd celebrate S Jesus is saying t Jhn s disciples, I m the Messiah cme fr Israel, the One yur rabbi tld yu t expect Therefre, Jesus presence shuld be cause fr great celebratin, n a par with a wedding feast And such a celebratin means fasting wuld be suspended fr a time, s as lng as Jesus is with them (a reference t Jesus death and departure) S asking Jesus disciples t fast nw was like expecting wedding guests t skip the meal because the wedding fell n a Mnday But these disciples f Jhn s culdn t see Jesus as Messiah, because they culdn t recncile a Messiah wh wasn t willing t respect Pharisaic traditins Remember, weekly fasting was a self-impsed requirement it was part f the ral traditin f the Pharisees The Lrd never required fasting in this way S Jesus s disciples had n bligatin t fast weekly regardless f the situatin 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
8! f! 14 But that was lst n these men because they saw their traditins as Gd s instructins And the great irny was they were beying thse traditins in preparatin fr the Messiah s arrival Yet when He arrived, they verlked Jesus because He didn t care abut their manmade rules They carried themselves with a self-righteus mindset that caused them t reject the Messiah they said they awaited And the best prf we have is that these men still call themselves disciples f Jhn They were trusting in their self-righteusness and persnal sacrifice, clinging t Jhn s austere lifestyle as an end in itself They were s cmmitted t that life that they stuck t Jhn even after Jesus appeared and lng after Jhn the Baptist died In fact, there are still grups perating in the wrld tday that call themselves disciples f Jhn the Baptist! S Jhn s disciples preferred the sacrifices f the Pharisee s manmade rules ver a persnal relatinship with Gd Himself Which leads us t Jesus secnd answer spken t the Pharisees Matt. 9:16 N ne puts a piece f unshrunk clth n an ld garment, fr the patch tears away frm the garment, and a wrse tear is made. Matt. 9:17 Neither is new wine put int ld wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destryed. But new wine is put int fresh wineskins, and s bth are preserved. Jesus gave Jhn s disciples a metaphr, and He answers the Pharisees with a parable The wedding metaphr was easy t understand, but this parable prbably left the Pharisees scratching their heads a bit Parables are simple stries using well-understd principles t teach deeper spiritual truths And there are tw parables here that wrk tgether t teach cmplimentary ideas 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
9! f! 14 First, Jesus describes mending trn clthing That if yu take a piece f new, unshrunk clth and use it t patch an ld garment, yu ll make a mess f things Because the first time yu wash that patched item, the new patch will shrink, pulling at the ld clth in all directins That causes the patch t tear away, and in the prcess ruins the garment Luke s versin adds an additinal detail Luke 5:36 And He was als telling them a parable: N ne tears a piece f clth frm a new garment and puts it n an ld garment; therwise he will bth tear the new, and the piece frm the new will nt match the ld. Luke adds that the new patch will als be ruined and the tw pieces wn t match S putting the tw tgether, the parable says mixing ld and new things that dn t match ruins bth Lking at the secnd parable, Jesus says we likewise can t put new wine in ld wineskins This parable requires sme knwledge f the culture f Jesus day A wineskin was a leather puch used t hld and ferment wine As the fermenting prcess prgressed, it prduced gasses that pushed against the wine skin stretching it As the fermentatin cmpleted, the wine skin wuld still be intact and culd hld the wine fr a time (By the way, this is further prf that the wine mentined in Jesus day was true, fermented, alchlic wine) But after a wineskin was used t ferment wine, it culdn t be used again If new wine were placed in that ld skin, the fermentatin pressure wuld again press against the skin But because the skin had n mre ability t stretch, it wuld simply tear, bursting pen and wasting the wine 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
10! f! 14 The principle f the secnd parable is clsely cnnected t the first The first parable taught that yu can cmbine ld and new things that aren t cmpatible While the secnd parable teaches that nce smething has fulfilled its purpse, it can t be pushed int new service again Taking it beynd it s useful purpse nly brings ruin S nw the questin is what spiritual truths was Jesus talking abut? And as always, ur answer cmes frm the cntext f the passage Jesus and the Pharisees are disputing ver Jesus bligatins t keep the ral law The Pharisees believe Jesus shuld nt eat with these sinners and He and His disciples shuld be fasting Why? Because the ral law f the Pharisees required these things, and they expected all rabbis t abide by these rules Mre imprtantly, they believed these rules came frm Gd, s any man claiming t be Messiah wuld certainly keep them In respnse, Jesus uses these parables t expse the Pharisees flawed lgic First, they were trying t patch ld clthing with smething new The Pharisees had invented many rules in their Mishnah t patch hles they believed existed in Gd s law Pharisees believed Gd gave His law t Israel t bring Israel t righteusness But the Law culd be vague at times r leave rm fr accidental disbedience S the scribes added new rules t the Law t patch any hles they discvered and thereby prevent accidental sin By Jesus day, these rules had cme t be seen as equal t Gd s law, in the way a patch becmes ne with an ld garment Except as Jesus pints ut, the tw d nt match 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
11! f 14! Their manmade rules culdn t equal the authrity and validity f Gd s law In fact, adding anything t the wrd f Gd nly diminishes it, in the way that a patch ruins bth itself and the riginal garment But in this case, it was even wrse Because ver time the Pharisees added s many patches t Gd s law that eventually the nly thing Israel culd see were the patches The Pharisees ral law cmpletely vershadwed and bscured the true Law f Gd And as a result, the ral law prevented Israel frm recgnizing Jesus as their Messiah when He came t them The Law itself gave Israel picture after picture f Jesus But Israel missed Him because they were lking fr a Messiah that resembled the patches, wh lked like a Pharisee S bth the Law and the patches were ruined fr that generatin f Israel Neither did the Law lead Israel t Jesus nr did their patches make them righteus befre Gd Cmbining them just made a mess f everything Secndly, Jesus says these men were trying t pur new wine in ld wineskins That is, they were trying t repurpse the Old Cvenant f Law by making it serve as a means t righteusness The Old Cvenant was intended t preserve Israel as a natin until the day Messiah arrived as Gd prmised Once the Messiah arrived, then the purpse f the Law regarding righteusness was fulfilled As Paul says Gal. 3:19 Why the Law then? It was added because f transgressins, having been rdained thrugh angels by the agency f a mediatr, until the seed wuld cme t whm the prmise had been made. 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
12! f! 14 Gal. 3:23 But befre faith came, we were kept in custdy under the law, being shut up t the faith which was later t be revealed. Gal. 3:24 Therefre the Law has becme ur tutr t lead us t Christ, s that we may be justified by faith. Gal. 3:25 But nw that faith has cme, we are n lnger under a tutr. When Jesus died n that crss, He brught the purpse f the Law t cnclusin fr all wh place their faith in Him Jesus was literally the wine in that ld wineskin f the Old Cvenant, being pured ut fr ur sake And nw that Jesus has emptied the wineskin f the Old Cvenant, He says we can t pur new things back int it We can t repurpse the sacrifices and rules Old Cvenant int a means fr salvatin, smething it was never intended t be But the Pharisees preferred the ld system ver any new rder that might d away with their system f rules and self-righteusness And frm what they culd see, Jesus was prpsing a new rder An rder that cared nthing fr their sacrifices r their rules In Luke s accunt we hear Jesus saying this t these men Luke 5:39 And n ne, after drinking ld wine wishes fr new; fr he says, The ld is gd enugh. Jesus says that nce a man has a taste fr the ld wine, he will nt be interested in the new wine Wine generally tastes better after it has aged fr a while S nce yu ve tried the ld wine, the new wine will nt please yu And Jesus was saying that nce a persn has becme accustmed t seeking self-righteusness, it s hard t desire any ther way I tld yu last week that self-righteusness is a seductive suitr There s smething abut the trying t make yurself righteus that makes us feel gd abut urselves 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
13! f! 14 There s smething abut making sacrifices that satisfies us And yu knw what that smething is? It s called pride The Pharisees lved that prideful feeling f accmplishment they gt every time they cmpleted a fast Ever time they jumped thrugh ne f thse cuntless hps in their ral law, their pride checked anther bx in their heart They fund anther reasn t feel gd abut themselves, and they assumed Gd felt the same way t I think this explains why we have pius peple wh invest years in the sacrifices f a Christian life yet never cme t saving faith in Jesus It s because alng the way they became cntent with the ld wine f self-righteusness They learned t lve sacrificing Ging t church, giving mney, serving in varius ways, ding penance, whatever was required t make themselves acceptable t Gd S that even when smene explained the New Cvenant t them That faith alne in Christ s sacrifice was the nly way t receive frgiveness frm Gd Still they prefer t hld nt the ld ways T that persn, Jesus says that s nt hw we becme righteus r please Gd r receive His frgiveness He says at the end v.17 we have t put new wine int fresh wineskins t preserve bth New wine is the New Cvenant, the cvenant Gd established in His Sn, the ne that ffers salvatin t all by faith in Jesus And that new wineskin is a new heart f faith It s a heart that des nt trust in its wn righteusness, fr it knws that we have n righteusness befre Gd Even the best amng us is still far frm the standard f perfectin required t enter Heaven 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
14! f! 14 And knwing that, a new heart is ready t accept Gd s righteusness credited t us by ur faith in Jesus Christ Thse wh have a new heart filled by the lve f Christ in the new cvenant are being preserved, Jesus says That is, yu have eternal life Yu will receive a new bdy, yu will live fr eternity with Jesus in the Kingdm, yu are frgiveness and saved But as we walk with Christ engaging in activities like witnessing r praying r fasting, we need t check ur heart each time Ask yurself, why are yu ding these things? What are yu hping t gain by them? Be careful that yu d nt slip back int seeking t justify yurself befre Gd Dn t think yu re patching up yur salvatin by adding yur wn gd wrks n tp f Christ s wrk as if it s insurance And dn t try t put the ld wine f legalism int the New Cvenant wineskin t make yurself lk better t Gd We need t always be n the watch fr the pride that leads t selfrighteusness Self-righteus Christians aren t mre saved than the rest f us But they sure can be a lt less cmpassinate tward thse in need f frgiveness 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.