Parables of Jesus WK 2

New Wine

Matthew 9:14–17 NRSV

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, 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.”

—> We all have our favorites right...

—> favorite shirt, favorite hat, favorite shoes

—> favorite cup

—> favorite hymn/song

—> favorite seat in worship

—> but our favorites don’t always stay our favorites right…sometimes they change...

—> the disciples of John the Baptist approach Jesus and begin to ask him questions about how his disciples are acting. The direct question is about fasting and why they aren’t...

—> We don’t understand the real depth of the question though because we don’t understand fasting. This wasn’t some new, cool health kick they were on, we aren’t talking about intermittent fasting. This would have been an act of worship. The Jewish people fasted weekly, and the Disciples of John the Baptist are questioning not just why aren’t Jesus disciples not eating, but why aren’t they worshipping? That changes the question now doesn’t it...

—> Jesus responds in 3 ways

—> Jesus begins his explanation not by giving them a straight answer but through a parable.

Matthew 9:15 NRSV

And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

—> Fasting was a sign of mourning and sadness. Jesus was saying that his disciples had no reason to be sad at the current time because he was with them, however there would come a day that he would no longer be with them and then there would be reason for sadness and fasting.

—> Jesus quotes Isaiah saying

Isaiah 54:4–8 NRSV

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.

—> Jesus uses this reference and the tradition and custom of a wedding to make his point clear about the need for celebration and not sadness. Fasting, for any reason, was not needed at this time.

Matthew 9:16 NRSV

No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made.

—> Once again (probably looking around) he sees someone with a patch in their cloak. If you get a hole in your cloak there is a proper way to patch it. It is not however with a piece of unshrunk cloth. This cloth hasn’t been prepared for the job, and instead of mending the garment it can make it worse. The garments won’t grow together but instead will pull apart as they continue to be worn.

—> Now you have ruined 2 garments

The original and the new

In the same way he then talks about wine

Matthew 9:17 NRSV

Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, 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.”

—> Before the advent of glass bottles people would put wine into animal skins. A new batch of wine got a new wine skin because if not as the wine fermented it released gases. As those gases expand so too does the wineskin. If you have a used wineskin that has already been stretched and is dried out no longer pliable then if you were to put new wine into that old skin, it may keep for a day or a week but eventually that skin would give out and you would lose both the skin and the new wine.

You may be asking what wine and clothes have to do with a bridegroom, wedding, and fasting.

—> In all of the examples Jesus is talking about worship and our worship practices. He is talking about doing new things. Some people will just leave it there. Jesus is doing a new thing, yes! BUT… he is also encouraging the preservation of the old ways.

—> Do we get rid of fasting all together NO, it just isn’t the right time.

—> Do we get rid of the old cloak NO, but we don’t crave up a new piece of cloth for something that won’t fix the problem.

—> Do we throw out the old wine? NO! We keep the old wineskins and put the new wine into FRESH wineskins. Did you catch that? Jesus didn’t say NEW wineskins he says FRESH ones. What’s the difference?

—> The greek word used here is kainos

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament 1. Linguistic.

καινός is what is new in nature, different from the usual, impressive, better than the old, superior in value or attraction

Many times when we start using the term new in the church people can get bothered. We are losing tradition, we are changing just to change, this isn’t how I remember it and the list goes on. What about we get rid of the new language like Jesus does here. What if we make sure we are fresh vesels for the work of God.

—> Are we pliable and supple ready to expand with what God wants to do?

—> Are we ready to take in all that God has to offer?

—> or are we stiff and rigid, incapable of being ready to receive a new thing.