24.123 | NEW GARMENT & NEW WINESKINS | Mark 2:18-22 | God’s Word for Today

God’s Word For Today

God’s Word for Today 20 May 2024 18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” -Mark 2:18-22 ESV NEW GARMENT & NEW WINESKINS At this time, John the Baptist is in prison. Like him, his followers apparently maintain some of his ascetic lifestyle. They might be fasting in mourning and repentance for Israel's sin, the current political situation or to ask God to release John. The Pharisees, however, were legalistic religious leaders and they fasted openly to impress everyone knew how spiritual they were. Jesus does not condemn their fastings, but does criticize the public spectacle they make (Mat 6:16–18). Observers asked why Jesus' disciples did not fast. And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” By this, Jesus indirectly explains that He is whom the Jewish people seek and that they are not going to mourn. As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. According to Jesus, it is inappropriate to mourn in the presence of the Messiah. It is a time of celebration, similar to the week-long feasts held during a Jewish wedding. Jesus was saying He is bringing a new thing, a relationship not a religion. compares the rigid, dry religion of the Pharisees to an old garment. He did not come to patch Judaism with a new piece of unshrunk cloth. Why? It would result in the destruction of the entire piece. He came to complete Judaism and renew it into what God intended. To wash the garment as white as snow (Psa 51:7). If He "patches" Judaism, the patch will tear away from the old, leaving the Jews worse off than ever. Jesus comes to redeem, not patch holes. Another metaphor Jesus has used is that of new wine and old skins. Old wineskins, like the Pharisees' rules, are brittle and inflexible. When old wineskins are filled with "new wine," the skins are likely to break apart. Similarly, the freedom of a grace-filled life cannot fit in the legalistic and rigid religion of the Pharisees imposed on their followers. As Paul said, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." [Gal 5:1] Listen and FOLLOW us on our podcast Spotify: http://bit.ly/glccfil_spotify Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/glccfil-applepcast Google Podcast: http://bit.ly/glccfil-googlepcast Audible Podcast: http://bit.ly/glccfil-audible Follow us on various media platforms: https://gospellightfilipino.contactin.bio #gospellightfilipino #godswordfortoday #bookofMark