Old and New
Notes
Transcript
Old vs New
03-27-2022
Matthew 9:16-17
Welcome
Intro
This morning we dive into another of Jesus’s parables
And church thus far it has been good and challenging
To allow our lights to shine in such a way that people see Christ
To live as a wise man and not a fool
I would challenge you to continue to live and apply those words to your life still
Lets Dive In
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.”
At first glance Jesus is being question by some of John the Baptists followers
In particular they are asking about fasting
As you have read through scripture and especially when Jesus talks
When he answers a question its usually more than just a simple answer
They are asking Jesus why the Pharisees and even them fast but He nor his followers fast
They are asking about Jewish tradition
According to the Law Jewish people were to be fasting and especially someone who taught the Law like a teacher
Where this tradition comes from is the day of atonement
They were to celebrate this and as part of their celebration they were to fast
Because it was the law
Before I told you that when Jesus answered your question it would be more answer than you bargained for maybe
There is more than fasting at stake and Jesus will show that
Before we get to the answer from Jesus it is important for us to know where this tradition came from
26 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 “You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. 29 “If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. 30 “As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 “You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 “It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath.”
Moses is giving them the rules for celebrating the day of atonement
The day of atonement is and should be special in that it means our sins were paid for
Under the Jewish Law it was when the people would come to the temple and offer their yearly sacrifice
Remember they would bring either a pigeon, goat, lamb or some other animal or they would bring wine and cakes to offer
But whatever they brought it was for their sin
Their sin had to be paid for
And part of that celebration was to deny yourself food and water for a whole day
So on the surface this is what they are asking Jesus about
They are looking at Jesus as a teacher of the law and asking them why don’t you fast
As a teacher of the law why aren’t you or your followers fasting
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.
Jesus answers their surface level question
As long as the bridegroom is present there is no need for fast because at some point the bridegroom will be gone and then you can fast
So Jesus is not throwing out the idea of fasting
But He is saying because I am here there is no need for fasting yet
Soon though I will be gone and then you will need to fast
We fast to draw us closer to God and since Jesus was there
There was no need to fast
Remember I told you Jesus’s answers are usually more than you bargain for
Jesus answers their surface level question about fasting
And now Jesus is going to take it deeper about the tradition or ritual of fasting
Jesus is essentially going to answer the question about traditions within the church
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.”
At first glance this may not make much sense
Jesus is trying to get them to understand something about the tradition, something about the ritual
The new Patch and the New wine are the same thing
The old cloth and the old wineskins are the same thing
Jesus is saying that when you add something new the old it is often ripped or damaged
Jesus is talking about the law
See they were asking about a Jewish Tradition or Ritual and Law
Almost challenging Him in a way
Jesus explains to them using this parable
That He is the fulfillment of the law
Please hear me this morning
IN the parable Jesus does not disregard the Old things
They are still valuable
17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
Jesus came to fulfill the law
Remember the law could only clean the physical you, could only deal with he physical sin in your life
The law could not deal with the heart and soul of you
Church that is where Jesus comes in
We see when Jesus teaches on the physical law that he takes it deeper than the physical and right down to the heart
So Jesus in fact made the law complete because it was lacking since it could not deal with the heart of you and I
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Only Jesus could deal with the heart of the sinner
Not the law
That is what Jesus is getting at in dealing with the question about fasting
The old covenant meant something but now there is a new covenant
But please hear me this morning that does not mean that we disregard the old covenant
There are still go things to draw out of that and apply to our life under the New Covenant
1 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body You have prepared for Me; 6 In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. 7 “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) To do Your will, O God.’ ” 8 After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
This is what Jesus is talking about
That the law as good as it was could not take away the sins of man
Had the law worked it they wouldn’t have to needed to go back each and every year to pay for their sin
The sacrificial system was temporary
So God sent Jesus to take away the sins of man and He did just that
Because of the Sacrifice we no longer are under the law
That is what Jesus is talking about in His answer to John’s disciples
That because of Jesus we are no longer under the law
Not that we are completely throwing out the law because there are some good things but we fall under the new covenant which is Jesus Christ
Praise the Lord for the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross
Because of what Jesus did on the cross we no longer follow the Jewish Law, we are no longer under the law
We are now under grace because of what Jesus did
14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
This is what Jesus wanted those disciples of John to understand
That since He was there and He would be bring about the New Covenant
It did not mean they were throwing out the Old Covenant but He was fulfilling the Old Covenant
Within the church today it doesn’t mean that we throw out the tradition but it also doesn’t mean that we continue to do the same old thing because we have always done it that we
What it does mean is that we seek the Lord with our whole heart and walk with Jesus
It means that we because of Christ now live under grace
Praise the Lord for this sacrifice
CLOSING
As we move into the time of invitation
Maybe you are here this morning and have tried to be a good person and be a righteous person all on your own based off a list of dos and don’t
And you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus
I would invite you to the front this morning to speak with someone about that and they can pray with you to receive Christ this morning
Or maybe you already have a personal relationship with Christ but you have gone back to living under the law
You need to understand that you are no longer under the law but under Grace
Or maybe you need to spend sometime in prayer at the altar this morning