New wine into fresh wineskins

Matthew 9:1-17 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.

² And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” ³ And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” ⁴ And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? ⁶ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he got up and went home. ⁸ But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

⁹ As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁰ Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” 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.”

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.”

Today’s text ends with Jesus saying:  “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.  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.”   As the world and our culture changes, we as believers individually, and the church corporately, need to know what the new wine of our faith is in this season. As the world changes, it will require that we change too. Not that we conform to the world, but rather that we are fully aligned with and in step with what God is doing. The old ways of worshipping and serving God may no longer hold the new wine of what He is doing.  In John 4:24 Jesus says:  “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”  More than ever, with all of the false and deceiving voices that are speaking today, we as believers need to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us. In John 14:26-27 Jesus says:  “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”  If we are to have peace and not be troubled in these times when the world is filled with chaos, we need the Holy Spirit to teach us and bring to our remembrance all that God has said. We need to know what He is saying.  

The text says:  They brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” And he got up and went home. But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.  Jesus saw that they had faith for healing, but He also knew that the greatest need of the paralytic was to be forgiven. The healing; that the man got up and walked home was the outward evidence of the inward work of redemption. We need to know that in this season, as the world is in chaos, the greatest need is for redemption. We cannot forgive sins, but we can let people know that their sins are forgiven. Neither healing nor forgiveness was easy. Both were only but fully accomplished in the cross. Jesus said:  “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)  “It is finished!” (John 19:30)

The text says: Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Like Jesus, we are not to be separated from the world. We are to associate with sinners. Again though it is not that we conform to the world. It is not that we embrace the sins of the world, but rather with compassion, we call them to repentance. The challenge that we face in the midst of this dark and sinful culture, is that those who need redemption are not aware that they are sick. We need to be flexible, carrying the Holy Spirit in us, so that we are able to give what is necessary for the needs of those we encounter.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You… My tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. (Psalm 51:10-15)  Amen.