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14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” ~ Matthew 9:14-17
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 9 where the Lord Jesus has shown the difference between His teaching and that of the religious leaders of Israel. In context, the Lord Jesus has been shown by Matthew as Lord over all, sin, sickness, disease and even the stubborn hearts of unbelievers. In our last study, you will remember that the Lord Jesus joined a number of people over at Matthew's house to enjoy a meal. When the religious leaders noticed it, they complained that the Lord Jesus was hanging out with obvious sinners. It was at that point that the Lord confronted them for not recognizing Him as their Savior. The problem with religion is that it places attention squarely on sinful man rather than on the holy God.
In v.14 of today's passage we read, "Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, 'Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?'"
At this point in the narrative, Matthew notes the arrival of the disciples of John the Baptist who were not yet followers of the Lord Jesus. These disciples of John only knew the teachings of John who was sent to point others to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of fallen man. As good religious folks, these disciples of John and the religious leaders of Israel were in the habit of fasting. It was in the Old Testament that the Lord had required the Jews to fast once a year. The only reference we have of a requirement to fast is found in Leviticus 16 and 23 on the Day of Atonement.
God's command to fast was a command to the Jews to humble themselves before the Lord. Over time the Jews began to believe that to afflict one's souls or to humble oneself was to not eat. So, it became mandatory to fast once a year on Yom Kippur, the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month. However, by the time of the Lord Jesus came to earth, the righteous people had begun to fast twice a week. They had become religious and their thoughts had been elevated over that which God had said on the topic.
In v.15 of today's passage we read, "And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast."
While fasting, some would put white makeup on so they would look really sick and they would be seen by others. This caused others to think of them as spiritual and godly. Despite the fact that the disciples of John the Baptist were sincere in their fasts, they lacked understanding on the subject. The purpose for which God gave the command to fast was to get the people to focus on humbling themselves before the Lord. Fasting was not given in order to manipulate God. The further reason God gave this command was to aid the people at focusing on the sacrifice. This was important because all of the Old Testament sacrifices were meant to point the people to the ultimate sacrifice made at the cross of Calvary. The Jews focused on the wrong thing, they had their eyes on themselves instead of the Lord.
It was at this point that the Lord Jesus used three illustrations. The first illustration had been used by John the Baptist himself when he identified himself as the best man of the bridegroom. In that day, a Jewish wedding did not have a honeymoon rather in lieu of a honeymoon, the bride and the groom stayed at home in the groom's house for one week and entertained all of their friends. Since people in that culture worked so hard, this would be the happiest week of their lives. They got to eat and hang out with their friends everyday for a week. After the wedding week which was a time of great joy, they would go back to their work. The point of this illustration was to remind the people that while the groom was there, they were to celebrate, but after His death on the cross they would mourn.
In v.16-17 of today's passage we read, "16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
These next two illustrations remind us it doesn't make sense to take a new piece of cloth and put it on a garment that's older and has already been washed. The fibers will not match up because the older ones have shrunk. Wine, in that day, was stored in animal skins. The skin of an animal was sewn up. It was often poured in at where the neck is, the legs were truncated and sewn up and they were sealed. And the reason wine was put in the animal skin was because a new animal skin is very elastic. It stretches. It moves. And wine, as it sets, it ferments and as the fermentation process takes place pressure is built up in the wineskin and the wineskin has to stretch.
The Lord Jesus was referring to Judaism here which had gotten to the point of making righteousness about externals things instead of about the heart. The Lord Jesus did not come to patch up the old religious system of Judaism. Religion, which always puts fallen man's performance at the center, cannot contain the new wine. The new wine was the New Covenant, the forgiveness of sin and the arrival of God's grace. Religion always meant that the wine would be spilled and the system would be ruined. The Lord Jesus came with something new which is a personal relationship with God where God's performance on our behalf is at the center, always. In this New Covenant everything comes back to the heart that has been the recipient of God's great grace. And, once we have been apprehended by His grace, we will strive to be all that He desires of us for His glory and not our own.
