Title: New wine in new wineskins
18 John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some came to Jesus and said, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 19 Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests Can you fast while the groom is with you? You cannot fast while the bridegroom is with you. 20 But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken from you, and on that day you will fast. 21 No one puts a piece of raw linen on old clothes. The new pulls the old and adds to the weariness. 22 No one pours new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the new wine will burst the wineskins and waste the wine and the wineskins, but new wine is put into new wineskins.
1. Words that begin
An idea or opinion you have about something is called an idea, and an idea that is hardened and does not change is called a stereotype or a fixed idea. The damage caused by stereotypes of individuals and societies cannot be fully described. In particular, the religious stereotype of Jewish legalism became a decisive obstacle to accepting Jesus, the Lord of eternal life, who had come, and thus became a fatal cause of failure to obtain eternal life. Therefore, in order to enjoy the benefits of living in the ever-changing world and the happiness of eternal life in the afterlife, we must break the stereotypes and constantly strive for the maturity of our ideas.
There are many people who serve a bowl of rice to the beggar at the door, and bring a precious guest into their home for a supper, but fail to do so when it comes to the most important issue of gaining eternal life. We must have a valid and appropriate notion of the various current circumstances, and an idea that is appropriate for the changing circumstances according to God's will and the new world that will develop and develop.
2. Healing about disciples not fasting
Someone familiar with the fasting of the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees asked Jesus, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
Originally, Jews were obligated to fast only once a year, on the national Day of Atonement, on that very day they confessed their sins to God and received forgiveness. After the Babylonian captivity, four different fasts were practiced per year, a tradition that continued into the first century. But the Pharisees fasted every Monday and Thursday as a way to promote their own righteousness. Not only that, but the Pharisees were proud to criticize and condemn those who did not fast like themselves. The proud fasting of the Pharisees to show the people their righteousness was not a fast acceptable to God.
Fasting was an expression of reverence, devotion, or lamentation, and was therefore viewed as a means of gaining God's mercy and favor, and as a preparation to receive divine revelation and power. Even in modern times, fasting and prayer are very effective in receiving God's love, miraculous power, and revelation.
In Matthew 17:14 and below, we find the story of Jesus healing a boy who was possessed by a demon and had epilepsy. When the disciples asked, “Why did we not drive them out?” Jesus answered that it was because of little faith. Below is the answer of Jesus who said, “This kind of oil does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Among the prayers that receive God's miraculous and amazing answers, there are church members like the Pharisees who have turned fasting prayer, which is prayer, into a simple way to show off their righteousness and faith without God paying attention.
3. Jesus Explains Why His Disciples Don't Fast
Hearing the indictment, “The disciples of John the Baptist and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? You cannot fast while you are there.”
In the Jewish world, marriage was a festivity so important that a rabbi, a doctor of the law, attended even though it interfered with Bible education, and usually lasted for a week. During that time, the bride and groom were exempted from legal obligations, and the groom was exempted from conscription and service.
Therefore, Jesus' parable of the wedding feast has a very important meaning. Jesus taught that he came into the world in the state of messianic grace and blessing, and that he was the bridegroom, the Messiah. Therefore, the disciples, who are compared to the wedding guests, do not need to fast. As long as you are with Jesus, the Messiah, who came into this world to save mankind, you do not need to be bound by the ordinances of the law. This is because it is a time to sing a song of joy and victory when the power of darkness is receding, and it is not a time of fasting and lamentation. Also, because Jesus is above the law, he is the fulfiller of the law.
Jesus said that the time when we must really fast is the day when the Messiah, the bridegroom, will be taken away. This parable prophesied of his own suffering and his atoning death on the cross. The greatest tragedy of mankind is the loss of the Savior Jesus, who came to save mankind. While we are grieving over the loss of our Savior Jesus, we must at the same time receive with moving tears the saving love that is fulfilled through his death. Herein lies the true meaning of fasting. It is in Jesus the Savior that we see the emergence of a new religion that is radically different from the legalistic religion and everything else in the world.
4. The parable of the mending of clothes and the parable of new wine and old skins
Jesus told the parable of the fact that no one sews pieces of raw linen on old clothes for fear that they will wear out. He also told the parable where no one puts new wine into old wineskins for fear that the old wineskins would burst. These two parables contrast the old religion with the new religion. Pieces of raw linen and new wine signify the new religion brought about by Jesus, and old clothes and old skins signify all religions and worldliness, including Judaism.
The old religion, which has the characteristics of legal regulations, rituals, and formalities, cannot be combined with the new religion of the gospel, which has Jesus at the core as the embodiment of love. In a word, the life force of the love of the Savior Jesus cannot be accommodated by the old religions and the old things.
God always gives us new grace, but we often miss out on God's grace in time because we still cling to old ideas or stereotypes that are old views. Sometimes it even turns into a fire.
Because of the child's stereotype that melons are yellow, I was fortunate enough to eat green melons, which I almost couldn't eat.
When the gospel of Christ enters old ideas and opinions, it becomes even more ugly. If you listen to a sermon about the devil while still holding on to your hatred for humans, you will hate humans just as you hate the devil.
New wine must be put in new wineskins. Are we really new people suitable for the preaching of the gospel? Only when we are born again of water and the Holy Spirit can the gospel of Christ be properly accepted, so that our spiritual life is nurtured, our spiritual power is strengthened, we are filled with spiritual wisdom, and we can practice holy words and actions. In 2 Corinthians 4:16, the Apostle Paul confessed, “Therefore, we do not lose heart, for though our outward man is perishing, but our inward man is being renewed day by day.”
5. Conclusion
God gives spiritual new grace through the preaching of the disciples of the Savior Jesus. You can listen to the words of a comic book writer with a light heart with the intention of laughing and having fun, and take the words of the experts seriously with the intention of following them as much as possible. But the preaching of the gospel of the disciples of the Savior Jesus must be received with all our spirits with the thought that it is a lamp to our feet, a light to our path, food for the soul, a weapon of spiritual warfare, and the truth of eternal life.
We earnestly pray that all of us will not be bound by stereotypes or preconceived notions, but have a flexible conception to become a new skin bottle that can contain new wine at any time.
(Pungseong Methodist Church. Books: Complete Commentary on New Testament Volume 27/ Commentary on difficult scriptures/ Prayer of Prosperity/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/ Understanding Paul’s Humanity/ Sermonbook 18. T. 426-3051)