Parables of New and Old: Patches and Wineskins

“Then the followers of John came to Jesus and said, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees often give up eating for a certain time, but your followers don’t?’ Jesus answered, ‘The friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will give up eating. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth over a hole in an old coat. If he does, the patch will shrink and pull away from the coat, making the hole worse. Also, people never pour new wine into old leather bags. Otherwise, the bags will break, the wine will spill, and the wine bags will be ruined. But people always pour new wine into new wine bags. Then both will continue to be good.’ “ (Matthew 9:14-17, NIV).

It is well that we remember Jesus’ stated intention of why he used parables to teach: “But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear” (Matthew 13:16). Stories about things the disciples could relate to added emphasis to what Jesus wanted his disciples then and now to learn. The occasion of the parables in the Bible reference given above was the disciples of John coming to Jesus to ask why they and the Pharisees practiced fasting and Jesus’ disciples did not follow the age-old customs of the law that recommended fasting, or abstaining from certain foods for religious purposes. Jesus answered by saying people did not fast when the bridegroom was present, but they celebrated with the wedding feast. This was a way of referring to Himself as the Bridegroom, and of His disciples celebrating while He was with them in the flesh. It was also a means of introducing a new and better understanding of the old ways of God with his people by introducing the way of grace through Jesus Christ. They were not able to comprehend all the new concepts of grace, although the Bridegroom was giving them ample opportunities to understand and to celebrate.

Then He followed by two stories from everyday life to which they could relate. Anyone who patches an old garment to make it wearable despite worn or torn places knows that a new piece of cloth that has not been preshrunk is not sewed onto the tear. It would make the tear worse. Likewise, in processing wine from grapes, they knew to always put the new wine into new leather wineskins so that when fermentation (which expands the volume of the wine) occurs, the wineskins would not burst but expand. Would the disciples (those who followed Jesus and those who followed John the Baptist) be able to understand that the Bridegroom is Jesus? Could they know that He has a new way of patching up old garments and also of filling new wineskins (those outside the fold of Judaism)? Could they understand that He wanted to reach those even in religious bondage hampered by the law (do this, do that) and His Way is available to admitted sinners as well (those who have not tasted the old law and its ways)? Here was a new concept of inclusiveness. God had tried to teach Abraham that that his descendants would be as the sands of the seashore. But alas, along the way, that vision was thwarted.

There is great joy in Christ’s companionship. He expects us to be reasonable and adapt our actions to circumstances. When my mother patched my father’s overalls so he could still wear the old garment to the fields to work, she always used for the patches faded denim, that which had been through the wash many times before. We were not winemakers and didn’t make wine nor store it in skins made from our sheep. But the Jews would have known of this practice. Here Jesus is teaching them (and us) that He is presenting a new and better way to God. Rather than through ritual and sacrifice, we can come directly to the point of salvation and know restoration and wholeness through faith in Him. These parables represent the bright and joyous character of the way of faith Jesus is offering. Recall that the Judaizers spoken of in Acts wanted to combine the Law of Moses with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That was like trying to put new wine into old bottles.

Are these two parables not deep, deep: of patching the old garment and the new wineskins for new wine? Indeed. The more we think about what Jesus is illustrating by these parables, the more we know that faith must step in where the substance of good works once reigned. God inspired the prophet Jeremiah to write: “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the Lord. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (-Jeremiah 31:33b-34). Thank God for the New Wine of His Word, even Jesus Christ, the very Word of God.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Jairus’ Daughter Raised from the Dead

“While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live.’ So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did his disciples…But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went out into all that land.” –Matthew 9:18, 25-26 NKJV. [Read Mt. 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-24; 35-43; Luke 8:40-42; 49-56]

Yesterday we looked at the account of Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin who came to Jesus by night seeking the way to salvation. Today we have another “ruler of the synagogue, Jairus by name, who sought Jesus because his only child, a beloved twelve-year old daughter, had just died (or, according to Luke and Mark, she was “at the point of death, dying, but died before Jesus arrived at the home). Jairus believed that Jesus could lay hands on her and restore her to life. How did he know this? Had he seen the miracles of healing Jesus had performed when people who had been blind or lame since birth were restored? Had he seen or heard how Jesus stopped a funeral procession in a village called Nain when a widow woman’s only son was raised from the dead? In calendar time, Lazarus’ raising from the dead came later in Jesus’ ministry. It is commendable that this synagogue ruler would have both the bravery and faith to go to Jesus with this challenge. Love for his daughter transcended his customs and prohibitions.

Jairus would have gone to Jesus without the blessings of his compatriots, the Jewish rulers. They sought to discredit Jesus. Jairus, whose name means “Jah [or God] will enlighten” was willing to go to the only person who might restore his only child to life and health. After an interruption along the way and another miraculous healing, Jesus arrived at Jairus’ house. The mourners were already in place, crying and lamenting the child’s death. Jesus took Jairus and his wife, and Peter, James and John with him to the place where the dead child was laid. Taking her hand, Jesus said, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” The action was immediate. She arose, she walked, she was well, she was restored to her parents. Jesus asked that the miracle be kept secret. Why was this, and how impossible was this request? After all, from death she had been given life. From darkness she had been brought back to the light of day. It was a reason for great rejoicing in Jairus’ house and throughout the community. Furthermore, it was a prelude to Jesus’ own resurrection following His crucifixion—and our own following our death.

Hallelujah!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Saturday, March 13, 2010

Matthew: From Tax Collector to Disciple

“Then as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ And he arose and followed Him.” –Matthew 9:9

In the gospel that Matthew the former tax collector, Matthew the disciple wrote, he tells of his call to be a follower of Jesus.

He was on the job in his usual work, that of collecting taxes. Where was Matthew’s “tax office”—or the “place of receipt of customs” or “tax booth” (as some translations render this verse)? In biblical geography, the tax booth would have been on the main road leading from Damascus, down into the Jordan Valley to Capernaum, where the coastal road from Acre to Egypt and southward to Jerusalem converged. It was a place of heavy traffic. He collected “toll” or transport taxes from local farmers hauling their produce to market, from local merchants, and from caravans that came through on this popular trade route. He would have known the value of goods and the local and foreign monetary systems. He no doubt spoke the local Aramaic language as well as Greek and maybe understood some other languages as well. His communication skills were good.

Matthew, a Jew, would have been despised by his fellow Jews because he was a tax collector. They already had a taint upon their name and character. An employee of Herod Antipas, the Roman ruler, he would have made a “bid” for the taxes and agreed to pay the Romans a certain amount of what he collected. All above that would have been Matthew’s personal wages. Whether he was one to get rich on this procedure, we know not, but everyone knew the potential was there, and for that reason, the Jews hated the tax collectors.

What did Jesus see as Matthew’s potential for a disciple? Jesus can see more than the ordinary in people. Matthew immediately left his tax collection booth and followed Jesus. In Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27, he is called Levi, and we find he is the son of Alphaeus. James, another disciple, was either a full or half-brother to Matthew (Levi). With his attention to detail and skills in communication, Matthew would indeed become a valuable disciple, one whose pen under the direction of the Holy Spirit gave us the Gospel of Matthew. One of the major themes of this gospel is to show that Jesus had the power to command His disciples to spread the good news of His coming to the ends of the earth. (Matt. 28:18-20).

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Monday, March 8, 2010