We are right in the middle of 5 controversies that the Pharisees had with Jesus because he was violating their traditions, and which culminated with them plotting to kill Him (cf. Mark 3:6). This controversy had to do with why He was not teaching his disciples to fast like the disciples of John and the Pharisees. He replied by giving them three illustrations to serve as metaphors. All three illustrations were taken from ordinary life that everyone at the time would have been familiar with. The point was to show that the legalistic way of the Pharisees with their man-made rules cannot be harmonized with the gospel that Jesus came to bring. Jesus’ first reason for His disciples not fasting was that fasting and mourning at a wedding feast are out of place. Jesus, the bridegroom, is here, and therefore it is time for joy and celebration. Life with Christ is a perpetual spiritual banquet. The second illustration was about sewing a new unshrunken cloth on an old garment. Once the patch shrinks, it makes the tear worse. Jesus did not come to patch up the old covenant system, but He came to give us a new covenant that is based on better promises. Similarly, the last illustration had to do with putting new wine in old, brittle wineskins. When the new wine fermented and expanded, the old wineskin would burst. This shows that new wine of the gospel can only work in new hearts that are soft and yielding to the influence of the Holy Spirit.
As you read this section, consider the following questions:
- How do you view fasting? Do you view it as legalism or part of the spiritual disciplines of the Christian life? What scriptures would you use to back up your answer?
- Do you sense that you have a perpetual spiritual banquet because Christ has come into your life?
- In what ways do you feel that Jesus is an add-on to your life instead of taking over and transforming it?
- What sinful habits and ways are making you like that old wineskin, that does not yield to the expanding influence of the new wine–the working of the Holy Spirit in your life?
May the Lord bless His word to accomplish His purposes in our lives this Lord’s day.