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And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. (NASB) Matt. 6:16 Jesus' Response. Do
you ever wish that you could go back in time and
experience an event in history? This is one of those
occasions for me. In my mind I can imagine Jesus
and His disciples feasting while the Pharisees are
fasting with long gloomy faces, uncombed hair, and
shabby clothes. The Pharisees must have been peaking
inside Matthew’s
house or watching the party from outside. They were
unhappy guys. So they asked, “Why are you feasting?
Jesus’ reply to them was great.
And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” (NASB) Luke 5:34-35 Jesus implied that Matthew’s party was like
a Jewish wedding. Weddings were supposed to be happy
times. Jewish weddings were not a time of fasting
and gloom. In fact, the rabbis had decreed that the
bride, the bridegroom, and the wedding guests did
not have to obey any religious observances because
it was supposed to be a happy time. Wow, what does
that say about their view of their religion? They
as much as admitted that their religious duties were
painful. The “attendants of the bridegroom,” who
were the bridegroom’s groomsmen were supposed
to be happy during the wedding, and the wedding did
not end until the bride and bridegroom left.
So Jesus implied that He was like the
bridegroom and His disciples were like the groomsmen
at a wedding. Therefore, how could they be unhappy
while He was there? The party was not over because
He was still there.
Illustrations. Jesus had
replied to their criticism with a great answer. We
can be confident that the Pharisees did not like
His response. With this last reply, Jesus and the
Pharisees had disagreed on several major issues.
Jesus was breaking all of their rules. The emotions
were increasing at the time that Jesus said the following,
And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.” (NASB) Luke 5:36 His first parable is about a patched garment. The
Greek word that Jesus uses for “new garment” refers
to an unmilled piece of cloth which had not been
shrunk. So if the patch had been sewed onto a garment
and then repeatedly washed, the garment would eventually
tear. The patch would only cause more trouble for
the old garment.
Jesus’ second parable was about a wineskin.
“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.” (NASB) Luke 5:37-38 In Jesus’ day, wine was fermented in animal
skins - wineskins. The fermentation process caused
the skins to stretch and expand. If the old, dry
wineskins were used again with new wine, they would
expand again and eventually burst or split open.
That is, the skin could not be used again. |
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| Life & Heart of Jesus | ||||||
