Old vs. new! -- Matthew 9:14-17
Old vs. new! -- Matthew 9:14-17
By Pastor Lee Hemen
September 8, 2019
Some long for the “good old days” but not me. I like indoor plumbing, electricity, microwaves, computers, smart phones, and hot and cold running water at the turn of a tap. I remember when few families had TV or even a phone in their homes. The small town I grew up in had three TV stations and they all went off the air after the late news and that was when the news was truly news instead of personal commentary. It’s the age old competition of the old verses the new.
When Jesus came and began his ministry he came face-to-face with the Jewish traditions that had been enforced for centuries with his teaching that the kingdom of God was at hand. Everything was about to change and it had to in order for people to come to God through Jesus. The kingdom was now open for everyone and not just a chosen few and because of this the confrontation was going to occur even in what we might consider the small arena of life. The spiritual war was on; it was the old verses new, let’s discover what it meant…
READ: Matthew 9:14-17
There were certain things that the old establishment had always done and it had not changed for centuries and now they were becoming a means of confrontation. We discover that in the war of the old verses the new…
I. Tradition would be replaced with the nontraditional! (Vv. 14-15)
Then John’s disciples came and asked him, ‘“How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’” 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.”
1. Not only did the Pharisees question Jesus’ participation in this feast with tax collectors and “sinners,” but “Then John’s disciples came and asked him, ‘How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’” You see John was all about stripping away the things in life that got in the way of them confessing their own sins. And so the major part of John’s ministry was to have people fast and then repent of their sins after spending time repenting anything that kept them from God. Least you might think so it was never intended to point individuals to a personal relationship with God. It was a means of spiritual cleansing that would have to be done again and again each time the participant confessed, repented, and then sinned again. However, being traditional Hebrews fasting was tough enough but seeing others, like the disciples of Jesus, not doing the same thing kind of disturbed them. Kind of like sibling rivals who see another get something they didn’t or doing something that they could never get away with! “How come they get to do that and I don’t?” They simply could not get over their rituals and customs. They were missing the big picture and had forgotten what John had declared about Jesus in the first place that Jesus was greater than him and that Jesus was the “Lamb of God” who would take away the sins of the entire world! So Jesus blandly answers them with kind of a parable in the form of a question, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?” No person would mourn with a bridegroom on his wedding day and in fact would be rejoicing with his good fortune! Yet these followers of John were sad-faced about what they couldn’t do and wanting Jesus to give them a good reason as to why! Jesus tells them that “The time will come when the bridegroom (meaning himself) will be taken from them; then they will fast.” Jesus’ disciples were to rejoice and be glad and to be happy to be in his presence now because soon they would be mourning! And besides it was no concern of John’s disciples to be the killjoys of the party! Jesus was tacitly telling them that the tradition would be replaced with the nontraditional!
EXAMPLE: We’ve heard people say, “It’s my way or the highway” or “We’ve never done it that way before!” While one portrays a person’s attempt to control every circumstance around them, the other shows that circumstance could be controlling us instead! Traditions can be just like that; controlling us instead of being a source of history or joy. For the Jewish people their traditions had begun to control them. They were enslaved by what was supposed to bring them freedom. However, when Jesus came everything changed and we discover that tradition would be replaced with the nontraditional!
What affected the Jews and John’s disciples of Jesus’ day wasn’t anything new and they understood it. In fact after Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection their traditional way of life would challenge them from then on and there would be no going back. We learn that in the war of the old verses the new…
II. A new life cannot be compromised with the old! (Vv. 16-17)
“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. 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.”
1. I’ve tried to use old bent nails that I’ve straightened only to have them bend again; I’ve tried using new wood only to have it warp when it dries out; and both are like someone trying to patch together their spiritual life by using things that can never work. Trying to be good enough, doing good things, or by being nice just simply does not hack it. This is where John the Baptist’s followers were in their thinking. John had left them with the notion that if they repented often enough and then lived good lives, they would be okay with God. It’s like folks do in our day that continually go to church, spend time in the confessional, or try to be nice thinking they are okay with God. Jesus told them “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.” When a person tries to “do something” instead of accepting what God has already done through Jesus they are doing the same thing, trying to patch together their spirituality in their own way rather than God’s. It is simply spiritually stupid and Jesus remarked that “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.” Putting new unshrunk cloth on old cloth that had been washed would ruin the garment and putting unfermented wine in old wine skins is just as silly. As the new wine fermented it would burst the old skins! Trying to do nice things or trying to be good enough never satisfies the individual or God. You keep doing more and more trying to sooth your own guilty conscious and it never works. In fact it often makes things far worse because the person knows they are not good enough or nice enough nor will they ever be! Your old life will creep back in and take over again. One has to be “born again” by the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus! This is why Jesus continued by remarking, “No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” One has pour Jesus into their life by faith and follow him! John’s disciples had to learn that a new life cannot be compromised with the old!
EXAMPLE: A few years back the TSA discovered that some jets were having malfunctions because they were using old parts to fix problems. The airlines did not know they were using used parts that were being sold to them as new from China. It was learned that safety was being compromised and it could have caused severe problems and even the death of hundreds of innocent passengers. Jesus was telling John’s followers that trying to patch together a new life for God would never work, they had to give their lives to him and then God could make them new! We’ve learned that a new life cannot be compromised with the old!
Conclusion:
Tradition would be replaced with the nontraditional! A new life cannot be compromised with the old!
---
This article is copyrighted © 2019 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
By Pastor Lee Hemen
September 8, 2019
Some long for the “good old days” but not me. I like indoor plumbing, electricity, microwaves, computers, smart phones, and hot and cold running water at the turn of a tap. I remember when few families had TV or even a phone in their homes. The small town I grew up in had three TV stations and they all went off the air after the late news and that was when the news was truly news instead of personal commentary. It’s the age old competition of the old verses the new.
When Jesus came and began his ministry he came face-to-face with the Jewish traditions that had been enforced for centuries with his teaching that the kingdom of God was at hand. Everything was about to change and it had to in order for people to come to God through Jesus. The kingdom was now open for everyone and not just a chosen few and because of this the confrontation was going to occur even in what we might consider the small arena of life. The spiritual war was on; it was the old verses new, let’s discover what it meant…
READ: Matthew 9:14-17
There were certain things that the old establishment had always done and it had not changed for centuries and now they were becoming a means of confrontation. We discover that in the war of the old verses the new…
I. Tradition would be replaced with the nontraditional! (Vv. 14-15)
Then John’s disciples came and asked him, ‘“How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’” 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.”
1. Not only did the Pharisees question Jesus’ participation in this feast with tax collectors and “sinners,” but “Then John’s disciples came and asked him, ‘How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’” You see John was all about stripping away the things in life that got in the way of them confessing their own sins. And so the major part of John’s ministry was to have people fast and then repent of their sins after spending time repenting anything that kept them from God. Least you might think so it was never intended to point individuals to a personal relationship with God. It was a means of spiritual cleansing that would have to be done again and again each time the participant confessed, repented, and then sinned again. However, being traditional Hebrews fasting was tough enough but seeing others, like the disciples of Jesus, not doing the same thing kind of disturbed them. Kind of like sibling rivals who see another get something they didn’t or doing something that they could never get away with! “How come they get to do that and I don’t?” They simply could not get over their rituals and customs. They were missing the big picture and had forgotten what John had declared about Jesus in the first place that Jesus was greater than him and that Jesus was the “Lamb of God” who would take away the sins of the entire world! So Jesus blandly answers them with kind of a parable in the form of a question, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?” No person would mourn with a bridegroom on his wedding day and in fact would be rejoicing with his good fortune! Yet these followers of John were sad-faced about what they couldn’t do and wanting Jesus to give them a good reason as to why! Jesus tells them that “The time will come when the bridegroom (meaning himself) will be taken from them; then they will fast.” Jesus’ disciples were to rejoice and be glad and to be happy to be in his presence now because soon they would be mourning! And besides it was no concern of John’s disciples to be the killjoys of the party! Jesus was tacitly telling them that the tradition would be replaced with the nontraditional!
EXAMPLE: We’ve heard people say, “It’s my way or the highway” or “We’ve never done it that way before!” While one portrays a person’s attempt to control every circumstance around them, the other shows that circumstance could be controlling us instead! Traditions can be just like that; controlling us instead of being a source of history or joy. For the Jewish people their traditions had begun to control them. They were enslaved by what was supposed to bring them freedom. However, when Jesus came everything changed and we discover that tradition would be replaced with the nontraditional!
What affected the Jews and John’s disciples of Jesus’ day wasn’t anything new and they understood it. In fact after Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection their traditional way of life would challenge them from then on and there would be no going back. We learn that in the war of the old verses the new…
II. A new life cannot be compromised with the old! (Vv. 16-17)
“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. 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.”
1. I’ve tried to use old bent nails that I’ve straightened only to have them bend again; I’ve tried using new wood only to have it warp when it dries out; and both are like someone trying to patch together their spiritual life by using things that can never work. Trying to be good enough, doing good things, or by being nice just simply does not hack it. This is where John the Baptist’s followers were in their thinking. John had left them with the notion that if they repented often enough and then lived good lives, they would be okay with God. It’s like folks do in our day that continually go to church, spend time in the confessional, or try to be nice thinking they are okay with God. Jesus told them “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.” When a person tries to “do something” instead of accepting what God has already done through Jesus they are doing the same thing, trying to patch together their spirituality in their own way rather than God’s. It is simply spiritually stupid and Jesus remarked that “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.” Putting new unshrunk cloth on old cloth that had been washed would ruin the garment and putting unfermented wine in old wine skins is just as silly. As the new wine fermented it would burst the old skins! Trying to do nice things or trying to be good enough never satisfies the individual or God. You keep doing more and more trying to sooth your own guilty conscious and it never works. In fact it often makes things far worse because the person knows they are not good enough or nice enough nor will they ever be! Your old life will creep back in and take over again. One has to be “born again” by the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus! This is why Jesus continued by remarking, “No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” One has pour Jesus into their life by faith and follow him! John’s disciples had to learn that a new life cannot be compromised with the old!
EXAMPLE: A few years back the TSA discovered that some jets were having malfunctions because they were using old parts to fix problems. The airlines did not know they were using used parts that were being sold to them as new from China. It was learned that safety was being compromised and it could have caused severe problems and even the death of hundreds of innocent passengers. Jesus was telling John’s followers that trying to patch together a new life for God would never work, they had to give their lives to him and then God could make them new! We’ve learned that a new life cannot be compromised with the old!
Conclusion:
Tradition would be replaced with the nontraditional! A new life cannot be compromised with the old!
---
This article is copyrighted © 2019 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
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