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After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.
Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?" And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days." Then He spoke a parable to them: "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, "The old is better."
- Luke 5:27-39
Yesterday, we read that when He was in a certain city, behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately the leprosy left him. And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded." However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes 'came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"
After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, 'Follow Me.' So he left all, rose up, and followed Him. My study bible says, "Levi (Matthew) answers Christ's call, Follow Me," and leaves his occupation to become a disciple. From the beginning of His ministry Christ has been a friend of tax collectors and sinners, which is one of the Pharisees' complaints against Him. Levi may also have been one of the tax collectors prepared for Christ by John the Baptist (3:12)."
Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." My study bible tells us that this feast expresses the joy and gratitude of Matthew. It says, "The guest register is a stirring demonstration of the fruit of Jesus' love and forgiveness."
Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?" My study bible tells that the Jews typically fasted twice a week, on Monday and Thursday. There were also public fasts that were either regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed -- this was especially so on the Day of Atonement and in times of mourning.
And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days." For the Jews, the day of the Messiah was an image of a wedding feast -- a time of celebration, joy and gladness. My study bible suggests that Jesus is here proclaiming that day, and declaring Himself, in effect, to be the Messiah/Bridegroom. After He's gone, there will also be periods of Christian fasting. Traditionally,. this time is referred to as a "bright sadness" because all fasting is a kind of preparation of learning self-control ("abstaining" from sin), and so preparation for the day of the Wedding Feast. In Jesus' image, then, while He is in the world and with them, His disciples behave correctly.
Then He spoke a parable to them: "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, "The old is better." Wine, importantly connected to weddings as a symbol of covenant, is referred to by Jesus as "old" and "new." The new wineskins in this parable are therefore the New Covenant Christ brings to His disciples. My study bible says, "The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law." Most clearly, these repentant and welcomed tax collectors are lost in the eyes of the Law, but redeemed in Christ's vision. They need a "new wine" to be included at this table of the wedding feast.
Early in Luke's Gospel, we read about the baptisms done by John the Baptist. They were baptisms not of the Holy Spirit, but of repentance, in preparation for the Messiah -- and therefore, for the "Wedding Feast" Jesus speaks about today. Repentance becomes an important concept to consider in light of all the tax collectors who are with Jesus at this particular banquet table. They haven't left their jobs, which was despised by most of the Jews, as they worked for the Romans collecting taxes. I think we have to consider the levels of corruption of the time, the human inclination to use such power for personal gain. When the tax collectors come before John the Baptist, and ask what they must do to prepare for the Messiah, he doesn't tell them they must quit their jobs. He tells them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you." Here, Jesus sits at table with a disciple that He has personally called, Levi (or Matthew, the author of the Gospel that bears his name). Levi has also invited his friends to this feast of joy, also many tax collectors. We have to be careful when we think about what people "do" that may offend us. There may be a despised sort of a job; we may identify people as "bad" because of who they work for, perhaps it's a force we find oppressive. But neither John nor Jesus do this. Instead, repentance takes on a color that is different from a "side" in a worldly sort of struggle. Repentance takes on an inner light, most importantly, the relationship to the Bridegroom that comes from the center of who we are as individuals, from the heart as Scripture traditionally sees it. We might meet Christ our Bridegroom in that place, and He doesn't condemn from identity in a broad sense. He calls us to "Follow Him." John the Baptist tells the hated tax collectors that they must work only by gathering what is appointed for them, not exploit the people further. He tells the soldiers who come to him, also employed in Roman service, that they must not extort, nor intimidate, nor accuse falsely -- and they must be content with their wages. There are so many stories in the Gospels in which Jesus forgives sins and sets free from punishment, but in which the ones shown grace are also told simply to "sin no more." The great love that is at work here doesn't condemn people for living in a difficult world. It draws people into seeing sin as something which is spiritually harmful to each of us, to try to sin no more, but also to go forward via repentance. It is this action that we take into account which draws a fine line: not condemning, but seeking to save. It doesn't condone or excuse sin. It doesn't tell us it is fine to sin, but shows us mercy and love and a way forward. I think too often the distinction is lost on us. It takes thought to understand it. No matter what sort of political ideas one has, it seems to me that often we inadvertently get into the black and white concepts of justice, rather than seeing the practice of the love of Christ as the true justice. Forgiveness and repentance are both here in this love. Seeing sin as personally harmful to every individual who practices it is a part of that love, also seeing sin as harming community comes into that love. These things are part of the spiritual truth that love knows. So forgiveness isn't forgetting that we are working at something, but neither is justice condemning someone. Justice is helping everyone come to Christ, and His method is, over all else, love. That is our goal to learn -- for ourselves, for our discernment, for our communities. We are all called to learn it and practice it, without hatred and without losing our concept of spiritual truth and justice which so often calls for the practice of repentance. This is the "New Wineskin" of His Covenant with us.
