2/4/2011 Devotional Thoughts from Matthew... Parable of the Bridegroom, New Cloth, and Wineskins (Matthew 9:14-17)

Text: Matthew 9:14-17 (NKJV)

14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” 

Devotional Thoughts and Commentary:

Although there are three parables in this passage, they are all used to teach and illustrate the same idea. He used these illustrations strategically to respond to followers of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was focused on Jesus, as he put it, "He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)" Once Christ began his public ministry, John's followers began to be steered to follow Jesus. Their question here was logical- If you (Jesus) are supposed to be the great religious leader, then why are we more religious than your followers?

Jesus essentially replied to the followers of John the Baptist by portraying Himself as a bridegroom. He was the guest of honor, and it was a time to enjoy their time with Him while He was still with them. He also used this passage to imply that He would be taken from them. This must have been a little startling to the followers of John and also those of Christ. In fact, we see that even among the Apostles, they didn't really "get it" that He was going to die until the day He was executed. The Jewish Messiah was supposed to save His people, and how could a dead man do that? God's plan to have Jesus die to provide spiritual salvation for Israel (and eventually during the Tribulation as a nation) was not what Jews of this day wanted to see. They wanted a political savior who would deliver them from Roman oppression.

What Christ described in verse 16 makes sense still today, but it made even more sense in His day. Clothing technology had not made fabrics so resistant to things like stains or shrinking as it has today. Instead, your brand new, wool cloth would shrink tremendously after the first time it got wet and was then dried. Essentially, the patch would do more damage when it shrunk and tore a larger hole. Verse 17 drives home the point even deeper. If you put new wine in an old wineskin, the wine would continue to ferment and explode the wineskin.

The two latter parables are understood in light of the context of the first parable and the passage as a whole. Christ is the "unshrunk cloth" and the "new wine." Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament, and He brought newness. His influence would destroy the old system and bring a lively system to Earth. He brought the joy of life rather than the sorrow of fasting. Basically, He was teaching that Christianity was replacing Judaism as the proper religion for people (thus the church was replacing Israel in God's eyes). This culminated at the moment of His physical death when the veil of the Hebrew Temple was torn in half from top to bottom (indicating a divine action that could not have been caused by man).

Applications: 

Christ taught that He was the religion of new life, to replace Judaism (or any other attempt at worshiping God). In fact, He taught that He was exclusively the way to eternal life in Heaven (John 14:6). Neither the teachings of the church, the Pope, keeping kosher, nor going on the hajj can give eternal life. The people of His day were to enjoy Him while He was with them. Since we do not have that privilege today, we should obey His teachings and eagerly wait to see Him in eternity where we will feast with Him.

Look Back at our Studies in the Parables of Jesus:

Introduction to Studying Parables
2/2/2011 Devotional Thoughts from Matthew... Parable of the Two Houses (Matthew 7:24-27)