Matthew 9:14-17

Matthew 9:14-17

Then the disciples of John drew near to Him while saying, “For what reason do we and the Pharisees fast but your disciples do not fast?”  And Jesus said to them, “The friends of the bridegroom are not powerful enough to mourn upon the time that the bridegroom is with them.  And the days will come when the bridegroom should be lead away from them.  And then they will fast.  And nobody puts a new patch of unshrunken cloth upon an old garment – for that which fills it tears away from the garment and the schism becomes worse.  Neither do they throw new wine into old wineskins.  But if it should be done, the wineskins are being burst and the wine is being poured out and the wineskins are being utterly destroyed.  But new wine is cast into newly made wineskins and both are preserved together.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

We can learn three lessons from Jesus’ analogy to the bridegroom:

1. First, we can learn that being in the presence of Jesus brings joy that cannot be conquered.  Jesus’ disciples have no reason to fast because God is currently answering their prayers in a very active and meaningful way that is readily perceived by His disciples.  That is always reason to celebrate!
2. Second, we can also sadly learn that nothing lasts forever.  John’s disciples were dealing with John’s arrest and departure from ministry.  They had a reason to be sad.  Jesus reminds John’s disciples that a time is coming when even His own disciples would be sad.  Jesus is hinting towards the coming arrest, trial, and crucifixion.
3. Third, we can learn that to follow Jesus implies challenge.  Jesus is telling His disciples that they are in the joyful part of ministry.  They are in the joyful part of discipleship where it is easy because Jesus is doing all of the hard work.  But when Jesus is taken from them and the time for them to step up and do their own thing comes, how will they react?  In this we hear a great challenge for ourselves, too.  Being discipled is always fun and easy when the mentor is doing all of the work.  But when the time comes for us to step forward and do our own ministry, can we rise to the challenge?

How are you joyful in ways that cannot be quenched?  How have you also experienced sadness in following Christ?  How do you respond when times are tough and you are asked by God to continue on the work of those who came before you?

Second Thought:

Jesus also talks about cloth.  There is a neat thing to see here.  When the new comes, we don’t just patch up the old and expect it to work out well.  Let me put it bluntly.  Jesus is not a patch for our broken life.  If all we do is try to apply Jesus as some patch to our broken life we’ll constantly be feeling as though we are being torn away – or He is being torn away from us.  But if we instead embrace the new and become the new and give up the old garment that needs patched, then we won’t have to worry about Jesus being pulled away from us.

Do you use Jesus as a patch?  Why doesn’t that work in your life?  How do you give up the old and embrace the new?

Third Thought:

When Jesus talks about the wineskins, Jesus is telling us that in Him is a new teaching that brings fullness.  The old ways had become rigid, fragile, and inflexible.  They were unable to contain God’s abundance.  So Jesus comes and gives us new wineskins.  He gives us fullness.  He calls us out of the old ways that just aren’t working and encourages us to take His fullness and embrace something new that He is doing in our life.  Jesus calls us to be flexible and capable to embrace the newness and fullness of God.

Where has your life become rigid, inflexible, and fragile?  Where could you stand to let go of the old ways and instead embrace something new in Christ?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 9:18-19