Matthew 9:14–17
14Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” 15And 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.”
Focused Thinking:
Why do we (the disciples of John) and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?
“The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they?”
We don’t fast in the presence of the Bridegroom.
When you fast you replace the time you spend eating with praying.
When you are in the presence of the Bridegroom, you don’t pray, you have a conversation with the Bridegroom.
What about fasting deals with mourning?
“The attendants of the bridegroom cannot MOURN as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they?”
We can’t MOURN in the presence of the Bridegroom.
What is the biblical significance of associating mourning with fasting?
The tense of the verb for “fast” indicates that the feast at Matthew’s house happened at the very time that these people were fasting, apparently on one of the weekly fasting days. John’s disciples fasted as a sign of mourning for sin and to prepare themselves for the Messiah’s coming.
John the Baptist was in prison, and these disciples found themselves siding with the Pharisees on this issue; they were fasting when they should have been feasting with Jesus. Naturally this caused a question: “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
The Old Testament Law set aside only one day a year as a required day of fasting for all Jews—the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:29). The Pharisees, however, fasted on Mondays and Thursdays (Lk 18:12) as an act of piety, and most likely they promoted this among the people.
In the Bible, people would fast in times of disaster and as a sign of their humility and repentance. Fasting represented mourning. During that time, the people approached God with humility and sorrow for sin. Fasting focused their attention on God and demonstrated their change of heart and their true devotion (Judges 20:26; 1 Kings 21:27; Ezra 8:21; Joel 1:14; Jonah 3:5).
While Jesus walked the earth, his presence was a cause for celebration—the Messiah had come! The people did not need to mourn; they needed to rejoice. Jesus’ presence was as joyous as the presence of the bridegroom at a wedding feast.
The picture of Jesus as a “bridegroom” comes from the Old Testament description of the wedding feast that God will prepare for himself and his people (Isaiah 54:5–6; Hosea 2:16–20). Wedding guests do not mourn or fast; a wedding is a time of celebration and feasting. Likewise, Jesus’ coming was a sign of celebration, not mourning and fasting.
Jesus did not condemn fasting—he himself fasted (Lk 4:2). He emphasized that fasting must be done at the right time for the right reasons.
“But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
They will not fast now, but they will fast later.
They will fast when the Bridegroom returns to heaven.
They will not fast now, but they will weep and mourn while the world rejoices (Jn 16:20). Their grief didn’t last long; their sorrow was turned to joy when they saw their risen Lord.
What are the following examples teaching?
Example #1—Matt 9:16
“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.”
Jesus’ arrival on earth ushered in a new time, a new covenant between God and people. The new covenant called for a new way of expressing personal faith. The newness of the gospel could not be combined with the legalism of the Pharisees any more than a piece of unshrunk cloth should be used as a patch on an old cloak. When the garment is washed, the patch will shrink, pull away from the old garment, and leave a worse tear than before.
John wrote, “The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn 1:17). Both law and grace express God’s nature. Moses’ law emphasized God’s law and justice; Jesus Christ came to express God’s mercy, love, and forgiveness. Moses could only give the law; Christ came to fulfill the law perfectly (5:17). The law reveals the nature and will of God; Jesus Christ reveals the nature and will of God. But while the law could only point out sin and condemn us, Jesus Christ gave his life to bring us forgiveness of sin and salvation. The parables of the cloth and the wineskins (9:17) apply to more than just fasting or to the Pharisees. They speak of Jesus’ entire mission and the new era he inaugurated by his entrance into human history.
Example #2—Matt 9:17
“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.”
In Bible times, people stored wine in goatskins sewn around the edges to form watertight bags (called wineskins). New wine expanded as it fermented, stretching its wineskin. After this wine had aged, old and brittle wineskins would burst if fresh wine was poured into them. New wine, therefore, would always be put into fresh wineskins.
The new wine was the newness of the gospel as exemplified in the person of Jesus Christ ( Jn 2:1–11). Like old wineskins, the Pharisees and the religious system of Judaism had become too rigid to accept Jesus. They could not contain him or his message in their traditions or rules.
Jesus did not come to abolish or annul the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them (5:17). But this fulfillment required new approaches and new structures. Jesus’ words “and both are preserved,” reveal that the new wine needed to be preserved in new forms. The new way of obedience to the law would be found in the authoritative teaching of Jesus. Jesus did not come to patch up the old religious system of Judaism with its rules and traditions. If he had, his message would have damaged it. His purpose was to bring in something new, though God’s prophets had told about it centuries before. This new message was the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah for the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with the Father.
Jesus repeatedly challenged the thought of the day that moved from timeless truth to legalistic practice. He pointed out that a rigid application often contradicts the original truth from which it came. He openly charged people with rejecting God’s Word by substituting tradition for truth.
In the present context, Jesus was using the cloth and wineskin illustrations to show that He didn’t reject fasting; he rejected fasting without purpose and fasting for the wrong reasons.
Personal Application:
We can draw similar applications from this timeless truth today.
We don’t have a new truth today, but it is possible for us to have old wineskins.
We have a timeless truth that deserves timely wineskins.
We have a timeless truth that deserves timely methods.
We have a timeless truth that deserves relevant methods.
- Should we have used the invention of the printing press to make the Bible available? Absolutely!
- Should we have used the invention of airplanes to travel to the mission field? Absolutely!
- Should we have used the invention of satellites to broadcast the gospel into closed countries? Absolutely!
We must distinguish between theology and methodology.
- We must be careful about classifying methods as godly or ungodly.
- It is wasted energy for people to argue over methods.
- It is wasted energy for people to argue over traditions.
- The Good News hasn’t changed, but the way we communicate it must change.
- We must use the culture to communicate what is timeless.
- We must use their speak their language to be understood.
- That statement would be obvious if we talking about the mission field and a foreign language, but we are neglecting to the language of relevance.
- We must find timely ways to meet timeless needs.
What is the life span of relevance?
- It is shorter everyday.
- It is shorter with every invention.
- It is constantly changing.
Interactive Prayer:
Father, give us the ability to make the gospel memorable, understandable, and doable. Father, give us Your creativity to make the gospel attractive. Father, give us the ability to communicate the gospel in such a way that people see Jesus high and lifted up, but also see Him as a Friend of Sinners. Give us the ability to find new ways to broadcast Your message. Give us new ways to use technology to spread the gospel. Give us Your ideas for penetrating the darkness with your message. Father, give us the ability to accelerate the advancement of Your kingdom. Most of all, Father, give us life change and the ability to show the world how You change lives.
Father, I pray that You anoint our church for glory of God and for the good of man. Father, anoint my life for Your glory. Father, develop my faith. Make me strong in my faith, strong in my confidence in You. Give me the confidence to lead this church to do great and mighty things. Father, forgive me for the ways that I doubt You and for the ways I doubt me. Forgive me for the ways I believe the devil’s lies. Father, I don’t want to be afraid of the decline I see in our country; I want to rise up and reverse the decline that I see. Father, give me Your vision for the revival and spiritual awakening You want to bring to our city, to our country, and to our world.
Father, do a new work in me that radically changes me. Do a work in me that empowers to overcome my weaknesses and to maximize my weaknesses. Father, give me a faith that breeds confidence in my walk with You and in my ability to lead others to walk with You. Give me the confidence and anointing to be the leader You’ve called me to be. Give the ability to be used by You to truly see the people of God quit living for themselves and to live for You. Give us the ability to put visions and goals in front of our people that inspire us to live our lives focused on You and Your mission instead of on us and our preferences. Father, give us the courage to kill our idols. Forgive us for all the ways we love ourselves and our preferences more than we love You. Father, rise up true men and women of God to lead Your people. Mobilize us to be soldiers who refuse to take no for an answer.
Give me Your vision for this Fall. Give me Your vision for the next two years. Give me the ability to cast vision that causes our church to be known by love. Father, give me the ability to make it simple: Love God, Love People, and Make Disciples. Father, I pray that our church will be known by love. Father, I pray that we will be awesome at loving You, loving our families, loving our friends, and loving the less unfortunate. Father, make us a “Friend of Sinners.” Make us a church that attracts the worst of the worst. I pray that the sinners and tax collectors will draw near to us because they see You in us. Father, the healthy don’t need a doctor; give us the heart, the leaders, and the resources to be doctor to the sick. Father, do a work in us and through us that is exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think.
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