Bible Reading: Genesis 31; Esther 7; Mark 2; Romans 2
Mark 2:21-22 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. 22 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.
It is so hard for the religious leaders of Jesus' day to understand what he was saying. They were so upset with him because he would not honor the traditions of the elders. In fact, it seemed that sometimes he DELIBERATELY did things to violate certain of the oral torah's teachings. Jesus never transgressed God's Word, but he did not always honor the interpretation of the rabbis of his day.
The Pharisees were especially concerned with the company and customs of Jesus and his disciples. Jesus ate with publicans and sinners! And his disciples did not fast. Why? The Pharisees wanted to know. Jesus gave them two answers that blew their minds. To the question about eating with sinners, Jesus answered:
Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
How could the sick ever get well unless they were with the Great Physician! He also answered in regard to the second question about fasting:
Mark 2:19-20 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
The bridegroom was with them then. There would come a time when he was not with them and they would fast. His point in both of these is that it is all about Jesus! They were focusing on religion and religious customs. Jesus was showing them that they were in the presence of the Messiah and everything had changed! He did not come to patch up Judaism. He came with new wine of the kingdom of God. The old bottles of Judaism would not hold it. It required new bottles to contain the new wine of the Messiah's kingdom.
Since the time of Jesus, everything has changed. He came to call sinners to repentance. He came to set the captives free. He did not come to revamp old religion but to show us how to walk in a relationship with him. Are you walking with him?
In Christ,
Rody
