Re: [TruthTalk] Something Old, Something New

[Terry Clifton]

Slade Henson wrote: Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?  And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.  (Matthew 9.14-18 KJV)   And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.  (Mark 2.19-22 KJV)   And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was [taken] out of the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old [wine] straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better. (Luke 5.34-39 KJV)     What do you think is going on in these three passages? Personally, I would also love to hear the wisdom from those who normally do not post on TruthTalk. ======================================================== I sorta doubt that we believe alike enough to totally agree on these verses, but here is what I see. First, fasting was something done to show repentance, or to show God that you were praying in the strongest possible way for something of utmost importance,  You were denying self in order to seek Him.  This would be the reason for John and his students to fast.  The Pharisees also fasted, much more often than required by the law, to show others how godly they were.  Their fasting was all about self. When Jesus was asked why His followers did not follow these traditions, He painted a picture of a wedding feast, a time of rejoicing, not of repenting or sorrow or want.  You don't fast at a  wedding feast.  You rejoice with the groom. The next subject is the new patch on the old cloth or the new wine in the old wineskin.   Jesus is not teaching a course in home economics.  The lesson is not about patching or old wineskins.  This is something the listeners already know and can relate to.  If you put a piece of new cloth on an old pair of pants or a dress, when you wash it, the new cloth will shrink and the old cloth will tear out around the patch, making the original hole even larger.  If you take an old hardened cracked wineskin and fill it with new wine, as the grape juice ferments, it will give off gas, causing the old, no longer elastic wineskin to burst.  You put new wine in new wineskins, so that as pressure is exerted from inside, the bag can expand. This was Jesus way of explaining that you cannot patch up the old covenant.  You cannot make it better by adding something new to it.  When you make a new covenant, you make it all new, not a patch job. Luke is the only writer to add the part about the old wine being better.  I think that he is pointing out why most of those who heard Jesus rejected His message.  They were content with what they had and were not interested in something new, especially if they thought that it replaced the old.  That is not a Jewish peculiarity.  Most of us are comfortable with something we already know.  I, for example, am not about to switch to the metric system, or buy a celsius thermometer, or use CE instead of AD on a date.  I thank the Lord that I was not raised Jewish or Mormon, or Muslim, because I am naturally resistant to change.  I had a hard enough time submitting to Christ when I was a simple ignorant unbeliever.  But I have started wandering.................... Tell us how differently you see this. Terry