Jesus the Bridegroom
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If you have a bible open it up Matthew 9. I have titled the message this morning. Jesus the Bridegroom.
So I missed being here last week in the Pulpit and in this room but I had a great time with my greatest ministry which was my family, and Trent delivered a great word challenging word from the Lord and I am thankful for him. I am thankful for the kind words he shared about me as well, so continue to pray for him as he serves his church and that the Lord keep using him last he did last week. Now as we continue our study today we see yet again the master teacher at work as John’s disciples ask him a genuine question In verse 14. Now in verse 14 it says. Matthew 9:14
14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
Now if you go back to the last 2 weeks we have seen that there has been these various groups in the text. Questioning Jesus or making bold claims about him.. For example in verse 3 of chapter 9. Matthew 9:3
3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”
Why did they say that because Jesus has the authority to forgive sin. That greatly bothered them.
and last week the group of Pharisees asked Jesus why are you eating with these people, because he came to save sinners. That bothered them. And I love what Trent hammered home last week about the idea of going out and seeking the lost even those whom you think are to far gone. I questioned myself when I was listening to it because I was like who do I think I am to have the place to see whom God extends his mercy on.
Now this question that is asked today I believe comes from the same place as last weeks text. I have mentioned this before but during that time it was very common for people to fast on Mondays, and Thursday’s twice a week, and this was something quote on quote religious people did, and John’s disciples were religious people, and so they find themselves in a place with Jesus Christ and they are truly wondering why are you not fasting? John’s disciples may have got what Jesus told them in verses 9-13 but at the same time they wondered why is Jesus not doing this religious thing that we are doing. Why is he eating..
and through that he is going to teach the disciples something profound that they will not understand in the moment, but will surly get once his work on earth was complete.
So if I could hammer home to you something today that you cannot miss it would be this.
Jesus is the bridegroom, and the Messianic Age has come through him.
Jesus is the bridegroom, and the Messianic Age has come through him.
Lets start at verse 14 and work through verse 17
14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, 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.”
Few points for us today the first is this..
There is a time and a place for religious practices.
There is a time and a place for religious practices.
why do I make that point? well because of the question asked and what Jesus says to them directly after that. So we understand that religious people fasted it was a very normal thing for these people. In fact John’s ministry was very simple he has a strict diet and yet
Later on in Matthew 11:18-19 we see this said about him.
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
I like what one man said about all this. You’re darned if you do, you’re darned if you dont
if that isn’t ministry idk what is can never do quite the right thing is everyones eyes .. He would go on to say if you fast too much they’ll think that. Here Jesus finds himself stuck between two religious extremes.
But Jesus being God himself as a brought up in my main idea that he is the bridegroom focused in for just a moment thinking them there is a time and a place for religious practices. It extends really to the understanding of there is a time and a place for everything. So how does Jesus answer verse 14 by asking them another question.
just as a side thing this morning I want you to learn to ask questions like Jesus because its a great tool in witnessing because people love to answer their own questions than yours a great tool have.
Now going back to the text Jesus says. Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The answer is no. You don’t go to a wedding to fast its not a funeral you go to enjoy to take all that you can it in fact Jesus first miracle was at the Wedding in Cana where he did what? turned water into wine. Weddings would often be days of just celebrating and enjoying the presences of the bride and groom, now Jesus is trying to show them that while I am here they are going to get all from me they can without fasting like you all, if you fast you know it effects you a little bit.
now according to the law during that time there was days where fasts were observed but not like this, but these fast’s during the Old Testament times they were practiced went beyond Scriptures. During that time people would fast for many things, but they would also do it awaiting the king that was promised to David to come, and Jesus is saying to them I am here. My disciples do not need to fast right now they need to learn all they can from me without doing all these religious things.
Friends we can be so busy with all the religious stuff in our lives that we miss serving Jesus in the here and now. Church is important dont miss that, doing godly things are important, but if you miss the opportunities God has in front of you b/c you are concerned with quote on quote religious things you can miss out on so much.
For the disciples of John they were missing that the messiah the bridegroom was right in front of them. John the baptist whom these disciples followed says this in John 3:29
29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.
Now we cannot take lightly the fact that John the baptist, and Jesus himself say that Jesus is the bridegroom, because this language according to scholars and myself is thus far the highest claim about Jesus we have seen so far..
he has been called the son of God, and the Son of man, but him saying this is making the claim he is God. He is the fulfillment of all these prophecies. He is the bridegroom, and he has come to take his bride which is all who believe in him. And while the bridegroom was there people needed to take it all in.
Let me share with you some of these prophecies about Christ and the bridegroom to really elevate the importance of this…
Such as Ezekiel 16:7-8
7 I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.
8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine.
the bridegroom causes us to enter into a covenant with God…
5 For your Maker is your husband,
the Lord of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.
6 For the Lord has called you
like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
says your God.
7 For a brief moment I deserted you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
8 In overflowing anger for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
says the Lord, your Redeemer.
Again he uses this language of being a husband.
want more? Yes…
4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
God is united us together…
last one Hosea 2:14-20
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.
Now knowing that context when Jesus says… Matthew 9:15
Matthew 9:15 (ESV)
15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?
the answer is an emphatic no, because the bridegroom was with them.
I like what one man said.. I think this claim went right over the heads of everyone there that day when he said it. But I don't think it went over Matthew's head as he was retelling it in this Gospel, and I don't think it went over the early church's head either. Paul hammers home in Ephesians 5:23
23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
He says in 2 Corinthians 11:2
2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
and John said something tying into the text as well in Revelation 19:7
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
and Revelation 22: 17
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
See the authors of the new testament had no trouble getting the point that Christ is the bridegroom and that the church is united to him through faith.
So the scholar sayst this.. So the first part of Jesus' answer to their question (why no fasting?) is something like this: we ought not to be upset or uptight. The kingdom of God is at hand! So, yes, we should repent. But we should also rejoice and be glad, for this kingdom is like a wedding, and Jesus is the bridegroom. So, pull up a seat. Sit down for the meal. Join in the celebration. So often we get caught up in the little things that we fail to rest in Jesus to see what he has for us right in front of us.
But Jesus goes on to say there will be a time in a place for fasting because I am not going to be here forever. Notice he never rebukes them for fasting he never says its wrong he just says now is not the time but my time is coming Jesus is referring to his death, burial and resurrection here. And like those who fasted awaiting his coming, there is going to be a time where we wait for him to come again. And fast eagerly awaiting him. How is he to come again you might ask…
The scripture says in Acts 1:9-11 this
9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
the bridegroom is coming again and when he returns he will consummate his kingdom. So we fast today looking forward to his coming again, but he wants to teach us more.
2nd point is this…
Jesus did not come to patch up tradition, but to bring about his kingdom.
Jesus did not come to patch up tradition, but to bring about his kingdom.
This study is about the sovereign King and he is bringing in his kingdom..
We are living in that kingdom right now and at first glance when you read verse 16 and 17 you might wonder what in the world does this mean. Why is Jesus using this illustration after the question in verse 14.
You got to know the context you need to do some study I did that study for you and I found out some information that you should know. a piece of unshrunk cloth tightly sewed to old and well-shrunk cloth in order to repair a tear will cause a bigger tear that is what we see in verse 16. Skin bottles for carrying various fluids were made by killing the chosen animal, cutting off its head and feet, skinning the carcass, and sewing up the skin, fur side out, to seal off all orifices but one (usually the neck). The skin was tanned with special care to minimize disagreeable taste. In time the skin became hard and brittle. If new wine, still fermenting, were put into such an old skin, the buildup of fermenting gases would split the brittle container and ruin both bottle and wine. New wine was placed only in new wineskins still pli-a-ble and elastic enough to accommodate the pressure.
Now D.A. Carson who I believe knows his stuff said.. These illustrations show that the new situation introduced by Jesus could not simply be patched onto old Judaism or poured into the old wineskins of Judaism. New forms would have to accompany the kingdom Jesus was now inaugurating; to try to domesticate him and incorporate him into the matrix of established Jewish religion would only succeed in ruining both Judaism and Jesus’ teaching.
Jesus did not come to patch up tradition, but to bring about his kingdom.
I want you to know something about this point though this does not mean that Jesus is any anyway neglects the Old Testament we already know based on what he said in Matthew 5:17 that he is coming to fulfill the law in prophets, but what happened over time and it even happens today in the church is tradition and rules make its way into what others think is the right way to live a righteous life.
Jesus did not come to fulfill man made traditions but to establish his kingdom.
So how do we respond to a text like this?
We must know the bridegroom..
And you can only know the bridegroom by faith alone. There is no other way. To be united with Christ means laying everything else down, repenting of your sin, and trusting in Christ alone.
Now this passage is not all about fasting, but it does talk about, and I have mentioned this already, but unlike the disciples of John, and the Pharisees who fasted waiting for the king to come, we fast waiting for the king to come back.
And While he is not back yet, that time could be any moment. But until he comes if you are a born again Christian know he has a calling on your life, and that calling is a calling to serve him and be used by him wherever he may place you, and that means you need to see what is right in front of you the opportunities you have that Christ has given you to minister to people to minister to one another and don’t miss it because you are busy doing something else, so many things God puts before us and we miss them because we are doing something else.
There is a time and place for everything but make sure you have time to live for God today and don’t check off the religious things of this life and think you got it all figured out. We need to be just like an anxious bride preparing for their groom, we as the church need to ready ourselves so when he comes back to get us we will be busy doing what he called us to do and not just wait around for him to come.
two quick closing things…
If you are not a believer the scripture say this…
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
Know this each and every one us in this room because of sin will die, and all of us will face the judgement of God and when you do not know Christ by faith alone that verdict is clear and that is guilty one,
but and this is a big but because we see in verse 15 that Christ is takin away and he went to the cross without a sin in the world commited by him and took the wrath of God, and was buried for three days then rose again on the third day we can have life and life free from judgement in this life and the life to come.
Don’t leave here today answering have you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ to be saved.
But if you are believer living in the kingdom of God today we will wait. In fact Revelation 22:20
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Let us be a people who await the final consumption of the Lord coming where we will for all of eternity be united to him.
