PT-3 "The Illustration" (Matt. 9:14-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/25/2021 8:55 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                            Focus: PT-3 “The Illustration”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Matthew 9:14-17

 

            Message of the verses:  “14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" 15 And 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.’”

 

            John the Baptist knew that his ministry was about over as far as introducing the Messiah to Israel as he stated in the 3^rd chapter of John’s gospel.  It was his desire that his disciples become disciples of Jesus, but some of them did not do that, and this meant that they had no basis for genuine faith.  MacArthur goes on to write “But it was clear to them, as it was to the Pharisees, that Jesus’ teaching and activities were radically different from those of traditional Judaism.  Consequently, behind their question about fasting may have been a deeper concern about forgiveness.  ‘Why,’ they may really have been wondering ‘do You emphasize internal things such as forgiveness, while our recognized religious leaders only emphasize external things such as fasting?’”

 

            Now I believe that what we will be looking at next in Jesus’ next two illustrations are what could be the main point in this section of Matthew 9:14-17.  Jesus was making it perfectly clear that He was not teaching a reformed Pharisaism or a reformed rabbinicalism but an entirely different way of believing, thinking, and living. Now Jesus came to fulfill the Law as He stated in Mt 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”  However what the Pharisees were teaching was not what the Law was teaching, the One that Jesus would fulfill.  The Pharisees had added many things to the Law that were not in the Law and so that is not what Jesus came to fulfill.  In the book of Hebrews we can see that the word “better” is used many times and this speaks of how much better the New Covenant, and the New High Priest and other things are better than the things in the Old Covenant.  They were a shadow and the New Covenant is substance.  Now getting back to our text in Matthew nine we can see that Jesus did not come to improve the old system that the Pharisees were teaching but He came to renounce it and to undermine it. 

 

            MacArthur writes “To illustrate the truth that His new way cannot be connected to the old way, Jesus went on to say, ‘No one puts a patch on unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worst tear results.  Cloth’ of that day was primarily wool or linen, and both would shrink when washed.  If a patch of new, unshrunk, cloth is sewn on an old garment, Jesus reminds them, then the first time the garment is washed, the new patch shrinks and pulls away from the garment, making a worse tear than before.  In the same way, Jesus’ new and internal gospel of forgiveness and cleansing cannot be attached to the old and external traditions of self-righteousness and ritual.”

 

            Jesus then goes on to make another illustration that His new way also cannot be contained in the old way as He then says “Nor do men put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wind pours out, and the wineskins are ruined.”

 

            I want to try and finish this section in our next SD and so in that SD we will look more intently at this second illustration.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to say that a book that I read many years ago about this section does not have many happy memories about it, but the teaching of John MacArthur has helped me to understand this very important section much better.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am trusting the Lord to bring as many people to our revival prayer meeting tomorrow as He desires to be there, and I pray there will be more people there.

 

5/25/2021 9:24 AM