LUKE 5:33-39

Luke 5:33-39
Now, why in the world would anyone choose not to eat sugar, cheese and bread – as far as I’m concerned, three staples of life?  After all, Jesus said, I am the bread of life – He did not say, I am the brussel sprout of life.  Sorry Veggie Tales.  People diet, they tell us, because it’s healthy.  So, healthy people encourage us to eat, or in this case, not to eat certain foods.  Why, they ask, are you eating, when we’re not?  And the implication is, we’re healthy, and you’re not.  We take vitamins, and no bacon.
Is that clear as mud to everyone?  This is the third of five stories in a row in which we see rising opposition to Jesus.  The first two stories had to do with forgiving sinners – the paralytic and Matthew the tax collector.  The last two will have to do with the Sabbath – an observance most important to the Pharisees.  In the middle, this one has to do with fasting and praying – actually more, because Jesus is saying, you can’t put the good news of the gospel into the old wineskins of the Old Covenant.  This rising opposition culminates with the two Sabbath stories in chapter 6 which will elicit the rage of the scribes and Pharisees, discussing what to do with Jesus.  Mark tells us specifically, they discussed how they might kill Jesus.  It didn’t take long for them to oppose Jesus. 
A few weeks ago – and there’s actually an intentional flow we need to catch – we saw Jesus call Matthew, a tax collector, to be a follower – not only a follower, one of the Twelve.  Then, Jesus attended Matthew’s party – a room full of tax collectors and sinners.  You see, the old system, especially the way it had evolved in the tradition of the elders, would never have done that.  Sinners were not welcome.  So, the scribes and the Pharisees were indignant, asking why Jesus would eat with such riff-raff.  To which Jesus responded, I came to call sinners – so I spend time with sinners. 
We need to understand something here – Jesus is deliberately doing two things.  First, He’s calling sinners – the irreligious, the unrighteous, into His kingdom.  Look at His list of followers so far – fishermen, lepers, paralytics, tax collectors and sinners.  Quite a group, in that day.  And second, He is intentionally challenging the traditions of the elders – the teaching that supposedly made you spiritually healthy.  Even acceptable to God.  Do this if you want to be healthy like us.  You need to fast like we do.  But in the end, Jesus is going to prove, following rules for rules’ sake is of no value.  Following rules to make yourself acceptable to God will not work.  You might be able to follow made up rules – don’t eat on Mondays and Thursdays – but you would never be able to follow God’s rules – God’s law.  We couldn’t either.  Thank God for the gospel. 
Well, in verse 33, they – that is, the scribes and Pharisees – said to Jesus, “The disciples of John fast and pray, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same, why don’t Your disciples – You just eat and drink.”  Why do we not eat, and You do?  We’re spiritual and you’re not.  This was yet another indictment against Jesus – you see, disciples do what their leader does – so Jesus wasn’t fasting – in fact, He was feasting with sinners.  Was Jesus doing away with the discipline of fasting?  No.  There’s a time for it, but this wasn’t it. 
Jesus responded to their question with some seemingly nonsensical words.  We need to do some digging, but I think you’ll see how it all fits together.  But here’s what I want you to see at the beginning – fasting for fasting’s sake is of no value.  Doing anything – any spiritual discipline without God as the spiritual end – is of no value.  Doing any spiritual discipline to appear spiritual, to give you the privilege to look down on and condemn others is of no value.  Doing spiritual stuff to make yourself acceptable to God, won’t work.  So, we have to ask ourselves, why do we do what we do – why do we read the Bible?  Why do we pray?  Why do we go to church?  If the end is because you’re supposed to, so you can check a box, so you can look spiritual – no value.  The end of all our activity should be to serve Christ and to know and love Him better. 
First, Jesus is going to answer their question in verses 34-35. Then second, recognizing the underlying problem that prompted this question, He’s going to expose the real problem.  He’s going to give two parables to illustrate a very important truth in verses 36-39.
Let’s begin with Jesus’ question and its answer in verses 34-35.  The disciples of John – that is John the Baptist – and the disciples of the Pharisees – that is, those seeking to follow the tradition of the elders, fast, but You don’t.  Why?  Isn’t that what spiritual people do?  Now, John was in prison by this time, but his disciples were still around.  But, why would they question Jesus?  Jesus and John were cousins.  Jesus had been by baptized by John.  So what’s the problem?  Remember, John himself was a bit of an ascetic.  He lived in the wilderness with designer clothes – camel hair and a leather belt.  He was a Nazarite from his mother’s womb, meaning no haircuts.  And his diet was locusts and wild honey.  Many of his disciples, therefore, no doubt, sought a life of self-deprivation like him.  So, the people said to Jesus, Look, John’s disciples’ fast.  The disciples of the Pharisees fast.  Why don’t you guys?  Again, isn’t that the spiritual thing to do? 
Before we look at Jesus’ answer, let me ask you a question – why did the Pharisees, and unfortunately, maybe even these disciples of John, fast?  That would be a hard question for them to answer.  Do you fast – they liked that question.  Why yes, we do.  Why do you fast?  They didn’t know.  Well, because it was the spiritual thing to do.  It was just for spiritual show.  I could say it like this, was it to know God or so they would be known? 
You see, while the Old Testament only required a fast once a year on the Day of Atonement, there were many other fast throughout the OT observed by the people.  Quite appropriate.  But the tradition of the elders said, if you really want to be spiritual, fast twice a week – on Mondays and Thursdays.  Why?  To be spiritual.  To follow rules.  Now, it’s possible the party at Matthew’s house was on a Monday or a Thursday – which meant, while the spiritual people were fasting, Jesus and His disciples were feasting.  Spiritual people don’t feast on those days – they fast.  What for?  Who cares – just do it. 
Why you fasted didn’t matter.  What mattered was that you did – that’s what spiritual people do. Why am I saying this?  Because of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.  You see, by this time, not only did they fast fastidiously, they made sure everyone knew they fasted.  They neglected their appearance, they didn’t wash their faces, they walked around looking all gloomy so everyone would say, they must be fasting – look how spiritual they are.  To which Jesus said, “Paid in full – you got your reward.” 
Along with fasting, they did other things to prove their piety.  They prayed, and, oh, did they pray.  They prayed long, ostentatious prayers – publicly, on the street corners and in the synagogues, to be seen by men.  They weren’t praying to God, they were praying to be seen – paid in full – you have your reward. 
They also tithed – and they were careful to tithe everything.  They tithed on their mint and dill and cumin – they even counted spice leaves to the very last one to make sure to follow the Law, at least as they interpreted it.  And when they tithed, they sounded a trumpet to make sure everyone knew they were giving.  Paid in full – you have your reward. 
The point is, everything they did, they did for show, to be seen by men; not as a testimony to their commitment to God, not to serve and know God, but as spiritual merit badges to glorify themselves.  Remember that – the things they did were just external shows.  It was a system of self-righteous piety – it had nothing to do with God.  Jesus will make it abundantly clear in Luke 18 – a Pharisee and a tax collector went to the temple to pray.  And the Pharisee prayed, “God, I thank You that I am not like other people – like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week, I pay tithes of all I get.”  Interpreted – aren’t you impressed?  The tax collector beat his chest saying, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner.”  Do you see the problem, the difference?  So why do we do what we do?
They fasted alright, but they were totally oblivious to God when they did it.  Which helps understand Jesus’ answer.  He said, “You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?  But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”
In those days, the wedding feast usually lasted about seven days.  The bridegroom would choose his best friends as attendants to be responsible for the festivities – to keep things moving along.  You think it’s tough being the wedding planner today – try keeping a party moving for seven days.  The wedding party was, of course, a time for feasting and celebration.  It wasn’t a time for fasting and mourning – unless you missed the wedding bouquet, again.
Jesus was the bridegroom.  His disciples were the attendants.  Just a side note – there is not an Old Testament concept of the Messiah being the bridegroom.  This is a new concept – one which the church fully capitalized on.  Jesus is the bridegroom, the church is His bride.  However, it is true the OT spoke of God as the bridegroom and Israel as His bride – so this is yet another veiled way in which Jesus claims deity. 
It didn’t make sense for the attendants to fast while the bridegroom was still there.  By the way, there was even a rabbinical writing that permitted skipping fast days during times of celebration – like a wedding.  This was a time for feasting.  The fact is – you don’t fast just to fast.  You fast in response to what’s going on around you.  Fasting is in response to brokenness, to mourning, to hungering and thirsting for something besides food.  If you fast every Monday, because, well, it’s Monday – and there is no compelling, God-centered reason to fast, you’re wasting your time.  But to be clear – if you choose to fast on Mondays to pursue your relationship with God – or pursue something with God – that’s great.  What you don’t do is fast for fasting’s sake. 
Then would be the time to mourn.  Then would be the time to fast.  Is fasting still acceptable and warranted today?  You bet it is.  We see the early church continued to fast.  Why, then, do we fast?  To know and serve God better – more closely, more intimately.  In times of brokenness.  In times of mourning.  In times of hungering and thirsting for something that food will never satisfy.  I’ve told you this before – in his book, A Hunger for God, John Piper suggests we fast – that is, we put away God’s gift of food to concentrate on the Giver more than His gifts.  We are saying, God, as much as I love food, You are more important to me than food.
Don’t miss it – one very important reason to fast is implied in this text – we fast because we long for the bridegroom – so we put food aside to express our desire to see Jesus – to see the bridegroom come back.  There are lots of other reasons to fast, but in the context of this passage – longing for Jesus is a good reason.  That is a truly spiritual response.  We don’t fast on Thursdays to be spiritual or because we want people to know we’re spiritual – we fast on Thursdays because we long for the Savior – we fast because we are spiritual, and we want Jesus.
Which brings us to our second point.  Seeing the broader issue, Jesus gave them two parables to help them, and us, understand an important truth.  Some suggest there are three parables – all dealing with something new – new garments, new wineskins, and new wine.  You can’t put the new – the gospel Jesus came to bring – you can’t put it on the old.  Old clothes, old wineskins, old wine.  They don’t mix.  You see, you can’t mix the gospel – the Christian faith – with anything else.  Even Judaism.  Yes, the Old Covenant, Judaism, prepared the way for the New Covenant – everything in the old pointed to the need for the new – but you can’t just dress up the old with the new. 
So Jesus used some very earthy illustrations – a parable, Luke calls them – which everyone would have understood, to teach a spiritual principle.  No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment – to patch a hole, for example – otherwise it will tear the new garment, and the patch won’t match the old.  It will ruin both pieces.  Further, Matthew and Mark tell us, if you sew a piece of unshrunk or new cloth, usually linen or wool, onto an old article of clothing, when you wash it and the new piece of cloths shrinks, it will pull away for the old material, causing a bigger hole.  It won’t work – everybody knows that.
So also, if you pour new wine into old wineskins, it won’t work.  They knew that, too.  Wineskins were made of tanned, specially treated hides.  But old wineskins would eventually dry out and become brittle.  If you poured new wine into it, the fermenting process would cause the skin to expand, causing the old wineskin to crack and burst, spilling the new wine, and ruining the wineskin.  The only suitable container for new wine was a new, pliable wineskin. 
What is Jesus saying?  He’s dealing with that deeper issue.  He says, you want the gospel to fit an old cloth.  You want it to fit into old wineskins.  It doesn’t work that way.  The old system of the Law, which was never intended to justify anyone, must go.  It served, and stills its purpose of exposing our sin, crushing us, and driving us to Christ.  But you don’t the gospel of grace to the Law.  Legalism, the old system of traditions and rituals have to go.  The old is being replaced, actually fulfilled, by the new.  Further, Jesus is saying, I am not willing to be added to your rituals, to your systems, to breathe life into them, to make them better.  They don’t mix.  The gospel of forgiveness and grace and cleansing cannot be attached to the old and external traditions of self-righteousness and ritual – they don’t go together.  The external, legalistic, self-righteous system of traditional and ritualistic Judaism doesn’t fit with the ministry and message of Jesus.  Don’t try to mix them up – they don’t go together.  And by the way, the gospel won’t be mixed with any other religion – false world religion or cult – either. 
Which is why self-righteous people never fit into the kingdom.  They’re always trying to mix their works with grace.  That doesn’t work.  Later, Paul will say, you can’t add the Mosaic Law, culminating in circumcision, and as we’ll see in the next couple of weeks, the Sabbath, to the gospel.  It will make the gospel of no effect.  And by the way, that’s why only sinners fit.  They know they have nothing to offer – they bring nothing to the equation – it’s grace plus nothing.  That’s why Jesus ate with sinners.  That’s why He healed paralytics and lepers.  That’s why He called tax collectors and sinners.  They don’t try to bring the old cloth and old wineskins. With them, everything is new – as it should be. 
Which brings us to our conclusion, and you’re saying, okay, fine Scott – most of us aren’t Jews, we never have followed the traditions of the elders – I don’t even like dieting, let alone fasting – what does all of this have to do with us?  Good question – let me make some applications. 
We may not struggle with the legalism of the Pharisees – requiring people to fast twice a week, or tithe spice leaves – but if we’re not careful, we can start identifying certain behaviors as being the things that spiritual people do.  Understand, the people who asked Jesus the question that day were not just asking about Pharisees; they were asking about the disciples of John.  Which means, they were perhaps genuine God-seekers.  But they were God seekers who had become tangled up with spiritual activity for the sake of the activity.  You see, even genuine God seekers, evangelicals, Bible believing people, ABF people, can get steeped in ritual and tradition if we’re not careful.  We can create our own systems of spirituality.  And if you don’t do those things, you’re not spiritual.  And we can start viewing people because of what they do, or don’t do – and therefore not being quite as good as us.  We stop seeing them as who they are – followers of Christ, therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now listen, I’m not talking about sin issues.  Lots of professing Christians, in the name of love, want to accept what the Bible condemns.  We can’t do that. What I’m talking about is an extra-biblical system of spirituality – do this, and you’ll be spiritual like us. 
So, if spirituality is seen in how we pray, in how we worship, in the kinds of songs or hymns or choruses we sing or don’t sing, in what days we attend church or don’t attend church, in what instruments we use or don’t use, in doing things the way we’ve always done them, because, well, we’ve always done it that way, then we’ve created an old wineskin.  And we can do certain things all our lives because we’ve always done it that way, and it can lose its meaning.  Some of you pray before meals because you feel guilty if you don’t.  Some of you are here this morning, not because you’re drawn to God, but you feel guilty if you don’t come.  And some of those activities have become mechanical, ritual, and altogether useless.
Finally, let me say this – if you are doing certain things to make yourself acceptable to God – you never will.  You’ll never make it.  It is the work of Christ that we believe that makes us acceptable to God.  If you’re relying on being good, doing certain things, to be made right – you never will.  You need the new wine of the gospel of Jesus Christ.