The Jews Rejected Their Own Messiah
Notes
Transcript
INTRO: Wine skins.
Wine making
The three texts paint a picture where Jesus demonstrates that (A) Christianity is not compatible with the Jewish religion of the day, and (B) that the Jewish religion of the day is not the Jewish religion of the Old Testament writings.
Fermentation process and expulsion of gasses, airlock, sheep stomach
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”
INTRO: Wine skins and cloth from first section.
INTRO: Wine skins and cloth from first section.
Mark 2:22 (CSB)
22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”
Old skins =/= Old Covenant
Old skins == 2nd Temple Judaism (the Jews put a lot of stuff into it over many years).
Difference between what the law says and what the Jews believed in the 2nd temple period.
Hyper lib vs. hyper con. (as if Torah wasn’t impossible already)
New skins =/= Christianity as opposed to Torah
New skins == Christianity as fulfillment of Torah, the furthering of the covenant God established with Israel.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the law (cf. SOTM)
“Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished.
“Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
(CSB)
CHRIST FULFILLS THE LAW
17 “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished.
We’re going to be in and 3 today. There are three stories in this section. The first deals with fasting and the other two with the Sabbath. In all three cases, the Jews had taken the OT laws and added greater restrictions than the law intended. Here, Jesus deconstructs the burdens added by the Jews and reveals the heart (the underlying intentions) of the OT laws.
What we are going to see are three problems with with Judaism practiced in Jesus’s day that led the Jews to reject their own Messiah and which are all dangers for us today as we practice our faith.
Difference between what the law says and what the Jews believed in the 2nd temple period.
Hyper lib vs. hyper con. (as if Torah wasn’t impossible already)
Three problems with with Second Temple Judaism that led the Jews to reject their own Messiah.
The first problem that the Jews in Jesus’s day had was…
Addition
Addition
They took God’s laws and added to it to the point that the Judaism of Torah was no longer recognizable.
Story [explain]
Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”
You don’t need to fast in the presence of God.
Jews don’t have the presence of God and are still waiting, so they have to fast.
Christianity is not compatible with pharisaical Judaism because Christians don’t need to fast in the presence of God. Jews don’t have the presence of God and are still waiting.
There is only one commanded fast which was for the Day of Atonement.
There are a number of passages about voluntary fasting.
Self-sacrifice symbolizes devotion to God.
The Jews Jesus is talking to fasted two days a week.
Marriage feast analogy.
Rabbinical law forbid fasting at a wedding, because fasting mourns absence. It is done at funerals or at times of waiting. It is not for times of celebration.
Jesus’s presence meant no fasting
There is only one fast commanded which was the Day of Atonement. This fast was added to the law as a religious rite and was never commanded by God.
This fast was added to the law as a religious rite and was never commanded by God.
Wineskins/Garments
What does the law say about fasting?
Wineskin
Already discussed
New (vibrant fermentation, growth, progression) = The arrival of Christ, the Messiah
Jesus isn’t compatible with the Judaism of His day because it wasn’t what God intended for His people.
Garments
Old (shrunken) = Laws of the Jews.
New (sturdy, unshrunken cloth)
(explain analogy—the pants tear not the patch, but it all becomes worthless)
If Jesus did not correct the Jews of His day and allowed those traditions to pervade Christianity, the law would have destroyed the Jewish and Christian faith together. (cf. Galatian Controversy)
Why fast as Christians?
We don’t need to.
Fasting was important between the death and resurrection of Jesus and Pentecost.
The Spirit of God is with us and so fasting is not necesary from that perspective. The bridegroom has come and sealed His marriage covenant with His church.
But, we still can fast if we like.
Sacrifice is a symbol of devotion.
Already not yet.
Although God is present with us spiritually, we await perfect union with Christ spiritually and physically.
APP: Danger for us today.
Holding others to our standards, not God’s standards
Who are we to correct God’s laws? (Something about freedom from the OT law that makes us think we can do this.)
Examples
Moderate/responsible use of Alcohol/Tobacco/MJ (We would have counsel for someone as a church as to the wisdom of the practice, but cannot draw a line in the sand and call it sin if the scriptures do not.)
Political preferences (Not necessarily positions) — Don’t confuse being a Dem, Rep, or Ind as being a Christian.
Examples of a biblical nature
Church on Saturday vs. Sunday vs. any day. (Some reject the validity of your faith if you worship another day.)
Taking of the Lord’s Supper (Some reject the validity of the service if the LS is not taken.)
A second and related problem that kept the Jews of Jesus day from recognizing him as their Messiah was…
Legalism
Legalism
Legalism occurs when you demand an overly literalistic interpretation of the laws.
Story [explain]
Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”
On the Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to make their way, picking some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David and those who were with him did when he was in need and hungry—how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the Presence—which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests—and also gave some to his companions?” Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Judaism in Jesus’s day was legalistic.
Pharisaical Judaism is legalistic. IOW, the law constrains the followers of it. Historic Judaism is not to constrain, but to lead and guide the Jewish people (built in laws for mercy, grace, justice, protection from oppression and abuse). The irony of the Jews of Jesus’s day is that they were looking for a Messiah who would free them from Roman rule, but increase the rule of Torah.
IOW, the law constrains the followers of it.
Historic Judaism (i.e. the OT) is not to constrain, but to lead and guide the Jewish people (built in laws for mercy, grace, justice, protection from oppression and abuse).
The irony of the Jews of Jesus’s day is that they were looking for a Messiah who would free them from Roman rule, but increase the rule of Torah in a legalistic manner.
The intent of the law was never to starve people or to be legalistic.
Analogy: When David and his men were hungry, God allowed them to break the law to be filled, because the Spirit of God was upon David.
The intent of the law was never to starve people or to be legalistic. When David and his men were hungry, God allowed them to break the law to be filled, because the Spirit of God was upon David. The law is to help humankind not oppress. In the same way, Jesus’s disciples pick grain on the Sabbath because they are hungry. The Sabbath is for man, not to oppress man. (cf. Jesus fulfills the law)
The law is to help humankind not oppress.
In the same way, Jesus’s disciples pick grain on the Sabbath because they were hungry.
The Sabbath is for man, not to oppress man. (cf. Jesus fulfills the law, Matthew 5)
What does the OT law say about Sabbath? ()
What does the OT law say about Sabbath?
Holy (other)
Rest
Patterned after God’s rest on the 7th day.
Legalism focusses on the 7th day. — abstract obedience
The focus is on the rest. — focusses on the provision of God
APP: Danger for us today.
To be legalistic.
Legalism lacks grace
Legalism insists that your practice of Christianity is the right one and others are wrong.
To insist on conformity to an idealized picture of Christianity
I don’t want to conform to an idealized picture of a Christian (white evangelical republican culture, for instance) because then when I tell someone about Jesus who is different than me, they get the sense that they will have to conform not just to Christ, but also change their culture.
I try to conform to Christ and let the rest of me be developed by my culture so that when I teach people about Jesus they are able to retain their cultural identity as they learn to follow Jesus.
Opposite: To not care about God’s standards
A third problem with the Judaism of Jesus’s day that led to them rejecting their Messiah is their…
Hypocricy
Hypocricy
A common definition of hypocricy is that you say people should live one way and then you live another.
Not true: Hypocricy is when you are one way, but you claim to be another.
ILL: Hypocrite as an acting term
Story [explain]
Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a shriveled hand. In order to accuse him, they were watching him closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath. He told the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand before us.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. After looking around at them with anger, he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts and told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. Immediately the Pharisees went out and started plotting with the Herodians against him, how they might kill him.
Historic Judaism is consumed by hypocricy.
Historic Judaism is consumed by hypocricy. Jesus was trying to trap them here. He knows (cf.) that if the son of one of these men fell in a well, they would break Sabbath to save him. But, they want to constrain Jesus by the law and so they refuse to acknowledge him, choosing to harden their hearts rather than learn from Jesus. Christianity on the other hand is not truly hypocritic as we acknowledge our sin, stemming from our fallen nature, and cling to Jesus for the reparation from sins corruption.
Jesus was trying to trap them here.
He knows (Luke 14) that if the son of one of these men fell in a well, they would break Sabbath to save him.
But, they want to constrain Jesus by the law and so they refuse to acknowledge him, choosing to harden their hearts rather than learn from Jesus.
Christianity on the other hand is not truly hypocritic as we acknowledge our sin, stemming from our fallen nature, and cling to Jesus for the reparation from sins corruption.
The Jews, specifically the Pharisees, claimed to be something other than they were, but we claim to be sinners and yet also redeemed through Christ.
Do we keep the Sabbath as Christians?
Judaism chooses hypocricy in the face of the law, rather than acknowledging grace.
Do we keep the Sabbath as Christians?
Is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?
APP: Danger for us today.
We need to be careful not to claim we are something we are not.
Some traditions of Christianity teach that we attain perfection in this life—a teaching which leads to hypocricy, because we can’t.
LUTHER described the Christian faith as ‘Simul Justus et Peccator’
Simultaneously sinner and yet justified.
The foundational principle upon which the Christian faith is built is that all people are sinners under God’s wrath and in need of rescue.
Just because God has attributed to us righteousness through Christ does not mean we have attained (yet) a righteousness greater than someone else.
Again, already but not yet. We are declared righteous through Christ, but not yet in every way righteous.
In my experience, the men and women who exhibit the greatest righteousness, never claim to be righteous, but regularly highlight their wretchedness before God and the grace given them through Christ.
EXH: Know who you are
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