Have you ever wondered to yourself why we do things the way we do them here in St Matthew’s? Perhaps this is your first visit here, and you’ve had some questions pop into your head this morning. Questions like, why is the minister wearing what looks like a black dress and a white sheet? Or, why do we stand up and sit down so many times? Or, why will we sprinkle some water over Henry’s head in a few minutes’ time?
But even if this is your millionth visit to St Matthew’s, you still might have some questions about why we do things the way we do them. Especially if you’ve been to a different sort of church. So, for example, my brother-in-law is a Presbyterian minister. Right now, he is probably standing in his pulpit, preaching. But if you could change the channel, or if he appeared by videolink on the screen, you would notice some differences in how we do things. He’s wearing a shirt and tie, and no fancy robes. They’ll have sung some Scottish metrical Psalms. They sit down and don’t sing when the offering is being received. And he’ll probably preach for a lot longer than this sermon!
And, when you notice the differences between us, you’d want to know why. Why does he do this, and I do something different? This sort of question is what is happening in our Bible reading this morning. Some people have noticed that Jesus’ disciples, his followers, are doing something different to other religious groups. And so they want to know why that is.
We see how the question comes about there in verse 18 (p1004). ‘Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.’ The John there is John the Baptist, the man who had prepared the way for Jesus, and had got people ready for Jesus’ coming. And the Pharisees, they were a Jewish religious group. They hoped that they would bring about God’s kingdom by their keeping of the Old Testament laws. So they didn’t just keep the rules, they made up more rules about the rules, and kept them as well. They were strict in their religious practices.
And both groups, John’s disciples and the Pharisees, were both fasting. That is, they weren’t eating any food, maybe for a day, maybe for longer, for a religious reason. Everyone knew that they were fasting. They made it clear and obvious so that everyone else would know just how seriously they were taking their religion.
So it was also noticeable that Jesus and his disciples weren’t fasting. They were eating as normal. They weren’t keeping the same strict regime as those other religious groups. And that’s why the question is asked of Jesus: ‘How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?’ (18). They’re standing out, not doing something all the other religious people are doing. Why not?
As Jesus answers, he says that, basically, this disciples shouldn’t be fasting when it’s feasting time. Let’s look at what he says: ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, as long as they have him with them.’ (19)
Today is a special and significant day for Henry and for his family and friends. It’s a day of joy and delight. Imagine if you all gather after the service, only to be told, we aren’t going to have any food or drink to celebrate. We’re just going to keep a fast together. That wouldn’t be much of a party!
And that’s exactly what Jesus is saying. He says that he is the bridegroom, and so there’s a party. Jesus is the one who brings joy - so how could his followers fast and mourn? Some writers suggest that the fasting of the Pharisees may have been in anticipation of the arrival of the long-promised Messiah or Christ, the King who would come to rule over God’s people. But why keep fasting and waiting, whenever Jesus is now here?
That’s why the disciples of Jesus aren’t fasting - the king has come! The reason to celebrate is here! The party has begun. This is why Christians love to sing, why we’re joyful, because we know the difference that Jesus has made in our lives, and is making in our lives. If you’d like to know that joy for yourself, if you’d like to experience it for the first time, or all over again, then I’d be delighted to help you afterwards.
But notice what Jesus goes on to say in verse 20. He’s said that the disciples rejoice because Jesus is with them. ‘But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.’ Jesus was with the disciples for three years, teaching them, leading them, but then came the time when he was taken from them - Jesus is referring there to his death on the cross. Already, in just chapter 2, Jesus knows that he is on his way to the cross, taken away from his disciples, indeed abandoned by them, to die to take away their sins. Jesus knew what lay ahead for him. He knew that the disciples would fast and mourn in those days. But they were just a few days, while Jesus lay in the tomb. You see, Jesus’ death wasn’t the end of the story. He rose to new life, resurrection life, he lives today, and continues to give us his joy.
So why don’t Jesus’ disciples fast? Because Jesus, the bridegroom is with them, they have a reason to feast and celebrate and rejoice! But Jesus then goes further, to show that he isn’t in the business of mending and making do and fixing up - rather he is in the business of making all things new.
And to show us how Jesus makes all things new, he uses two everyday examples. Look at verse 21: ‘No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.’
So imagine that you’ve got a favourite T-shirt. And you’ve worn it a lot because you like it. And eventually, it has a hole in it. What do you do? Well here’s what you wouldn’t do. You wouldn’t get some new fabric, which hasn’t been shrunk before, and make a patch. Why? Because whenever you wash it for the first time, and every time afterwards, the new patch will shrink, and make a bigger tear! Just patching it up with some new cloth isn’t going to work. The new will destroy the old.
Or think about the second example in verse 22: ‘And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.’
These days, you normally get wine in glass bottles. At least, that’s how the Communion wine comes. But in the time of the New Testament, wine came in wineskins - leather containers which held the wine. So if you had new wine, Jesus says you don’t put it in an old wineskin - the old wineskin had already been used, it had been stretched to the limit as the wine fermented in it, and it may have become brittle. To put new wine into an old wineskin would risk bursting the wineskin and losing the wine. The solution to the problem? New wine goes in new wineskins.
Do you see what the two stories are pointing us towards? The new patch will tear the old garment. The new wine will burst the old wineskin. In both case, the new material and the new wine are for new things. And the old is to be left behind, discarded.
So what is Jesus saying? He’s saying that the old religious system - the Jewish ceremonies and things like fasting - they’re like the old garment and the old wineskins. but they can’t contain or handle or cope with the newness that Jesus brings, the newness of God’s kingdom.
The Pharisees and even John’s disciples were fasting, as they waited for the Christ to come. But Jesus the Christ has come - and he doesn’t really fit into the old categories in the same way. Jesus isn’t in the business of patching up the old ways; he brings in something new - the new wine of the kingdom of God.
And that’s what Jesus wants to do in our lives as well. Jesus isn’t interested in helping you patch up your life as it is - just a wee bit of help every so often; just a patch that you put on for Sunday mornings; just a bit of minor fixing up a few wee bits of your life. It won’t work. He’s not interested in that!
Jesus wants to make you new. Not by tackling a new years resolution (if you’re still going with it by now). But by making you new. Clothed in a new garment. Made a new wineskin, for him to fill with his new wine - the joy of his kingdom. Imagine that - a fresh start, a new way of living, a new identity as a follower of Jesus, a child of God.
Jesus came into the world, he died on the cross, so that you can have this fresh start, and can experience the joy of knowing him. It’s why the disciples weren’t fasting, waiting for God’s kingdom to come - they were already living in it. And you can share in this joy today, as you trust in Jesus and are made new.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 27th January 2019.
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