A new way to worship
Notes
Transcript
Handout
The Parables of Jesus
The Parables of Jesus
To distinguish between those with a heart for God and those with a heart for self.
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
12 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
2. To fulfill prophesy
1 Listen, O my people, to my instruction;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
3. To think and remember what He was teaching.
Shane spinning a sign.
Danny in a Barny costume.
Drew dealing out donuts like cards.
Me up here wearing bright pink chaps.
You just recalled 12 pieces of information in specific order.
4. To delay his enemies.
53 When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects,
54 plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say.
The patch and the new wine.
The patch and the new wine.
It is also found in Mark 2.
14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”
15 And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16 “But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.
17 “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
It was the third critical question of Jesus in Chapter 9.
The Scribes for forgiving a paralytic his sins.
The Pharisees for choosing Matthew a tax collector.
12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.
13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
3. Now the disciples of John.
Jesus revealed his Power to the Scribes
Jesus revealed his Purpose to the Pharisees
and now will reveal his Prescription to the disciples of John.
Fasting:
Jewish law required fasting on the Day of Atonement and other prescribed fasts.
It allowed for fasting individually and corporately during special times of morning or deep desire of communion with God.
This is not how the Pharisees fasted. The fasted on Mondays and Thursdays and wanted everyone to know it. It was a sacrifice and public display of how holy they were.
This is not to associate John’s disciples with them. John was in prisoned and they would have good reason for fasting in their mind.
The Bridegroom
The Bridegroom
15 And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Some of them would have thought, why is he talking about a marriage ceremony?
Some would have understood the covenant relationship with God and the Jewish people in terms of marriage.
5 “For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.
Some would have understood that the attendants to the bridegroom represented those that closely followed Him.
The disciple of John would immediate recognize that their “bridegroom” had been taken from them.
The Bridegroom will be taken away.
The Bridegroom will be taken away.
Not the idea that the bride and the bridegroom go off on their honeymoon, but an unnatural interruption of the marriage ceremony.
When Jesus was seized.
Not now since his resurrection and ascension.
The patch
The patch
16 “But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.
We don’t patch clothes.
Fabric that had been washed and dried repeatedly would shrink.
If you then put a new patch on his and sew it, as it shrunk it would tear it away from the old garment.
What would be meant to repair the garment, would cause more damage to it than there was there before.
The wineskins
The wineskins
17 “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
In the first example of the patch and old garment, the fate of the patch is not discussed. We know the tear on the garment is worse, be what becomes of the patch?
We are told that the new wine pours out. And the old wineskins are ruined.
Leather bag. Goat or sheep. When new it would be pliable, but as it aged, it would be come more brittle and less flexible. They would be useful for holding water, or already fermented wind, but not for holding wine that was in the fermenting process.
As the pressure built up in the old inflexible wineskin, the seams would most likely be the failure point. The threads would tear through the skin and now the wine would be lost and the wineskin would be ruined.
Jesus tells us how this problem is solved.
but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.
What does this have to do with fasting?
Jesus’ entire ministry was to take all that was know about the outward practice of religion and turn it inward to the heart.
He summed up the entire Law. Everything from observing the Sabbath to obeying your honoring your mother and father. From the sacrificing on the alter to the celebration of the many feasts. From Genesis to Malachi He summed up with:
Love God
Love you neighbor.
Not only that he took all sin and said that it was not a behavior problem but a heart problem.
Adultery/Lust
Murder/ hate.
18 “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.
This isn’t even new ground.
13 Then the Lord said,
“Because this people draw near with their words
And honor Me with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,
Legalism has no place in Christianity.
Legalism has no place in Christianity.
I wonder how many of us come to Church twice a week just like the Pharisees fasted twice a week.
This is what we are supposed to do. You are supposed to go to church, tithe, witness to unbelievers, etc.
We’re Christian’s so we have to do this and this and that, but we can to this or that.
It we turn Christianity into just a bunch of rules, then our worship will be wasted and the church will be ruined.
27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
It is the heart.
23 “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Accept Christ.
26 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.