Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick

 

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

 

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  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.  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.  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."

 

- Matthew 9:9-17 

 

Yesterday we read that, after His exorcism of the Gergesene demoniacs, Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 

  As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  My study Bible reminds us that Matthew (the author of this Gospel) is also named Levi (Mark 2:14).  It explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  Because of their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption in extorting money from their own people, they were hated by fellow Jews and considered unclean (Matthew 11:19).  By dining with them and accepting a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me"), Jesus offends the Pharisees.  But His defense is both simple and teaches us about what He is here as Incarnate Jesus for:  He goes where the need of the physician is the greatest.  Jesus quotes from Hosea 6:6, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  This is not a rejection of sacrifice per se, my study Bible explains, but it shows that mercy is a higher priority (see Psalm 51).  

 

 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  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.  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.  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."  My study Bible tells us that the Jews typically fasted twice per week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Moreover, there were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed public fasts (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15).  This was particularly important on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19). But the day of the Messiah was viewed as a wedding feast; that is, a time of joy and gladness.   Here Jesus is proclaiming that day, and declaring Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  For Christians, my study Bible explains, fasting is not gloomy but desirable, it is a "bright sadness," for in fasting we gain self-control and we prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.  The old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, which are viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.  

 

Jesus says, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  In so doing, He frames His entire ministry in terms of healing, for He is clearly equating salvation from sin, and repentance, as part of the work of healing, and what a physician offers to those who are "sick."  In yesterday's reading and commentary, we discussed the metaphorical parallel between paralysis and sin, a sort of paralysis of the soul.  When we consider being stuck in sin or harmful habits and behaviors as a kind of paralysis of the soul, we begin to understand repentance as remedy and medicine.  Repentance is the way to transform and transcend behaviors and ways of thinking that keep us stuck in a pattern that is harmful or disordered, for repentance literally means "change of mind" (the Greek word is μετανοια/metanoia).  Repentance is quite simply a turning away from what is harmful and turning toward Christ instead.  It is a way to become unstuck, and moving toward the proper and healthful goal for all of us, which is ultimately union with Christ our Creator, who gives us true identity.  In the Orthodox tradition, the Church is often considered to be a hospital, reflective of what we find in the Gospels.  In today's reading, Jesus refers to Himself a physician, of whom those who are sick have need.  In the final verses of today's reading, He gives a vivid illustration of the pattern of change involved in spiritual growth, the transition from the old to the new, the opening up of the gospel to those who may come in through repentance.  Fasting will indeed be part of the New Covenant Church, but it -- like everything else -- will be transfigured in the light of Christ the Bridegroom, as we await His return.  Let us turn toward Him and fill the new wineskins for the new wine.

 

 

 

Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?

 

 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as he was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  

 

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

 

- Mark 2:13–22 

 

Yesterday we read that again Jesus entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house of St. Peter and his family, Jesus' ministry headquarters.  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.  And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."   Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

 

  Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as he was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   My study Bible reminds us that Levi is also known as Matthew (Matthew 9:9).  Roman overlords would assign specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who were then free to collect extra revenue for their own profit, my study Bible explains.  So, therefore, their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and corruption turned other Jews against them and to consider them unclean (Matthew 11:9).  As Jesus dines with them and accepts a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me") this is offensive to the Pharisees.  But Christ's defense is simple:  He goes where the need of the physician is greatest.  

 

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."  My study Bible frames this discussion with the information that the Jews typically fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Mondays and Thursdays.  Additionally, there were regularly observed public fasts as well as those which were occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  But they saw the day of the Messiah as a wedding feast; that is, this was to be a time of joy and gladness.  Jesus is declaring that day here, referring to Himself as the Messiah/Bridegroom.  My study Bible says that for Christians, fasting (such as during the Lenten fast at this time) is not gloomy but desirable, a bright sadness, for by fasting we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.  When we fast, we are looking forward.  The old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, which are viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New covenant and those in Christ.  My study Bible adds that the new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.  

 

 In so many ways, the Church is all about the effects of Christ on the world.  Our symbol of salvation is the Cross precisely because the brutal and terrible instrument of crucifixion, when touched by Christ, became transformed into this life-giving instrument by which Christ conquered death for us and made it possible for us to follow Him in Resurrection (John 17:24).  Indeed, this touches upon the meaning of sacrament, whereby ordinary things of the world become transformed into something that carries both this world and the Kingdom with it for us, such as in the Eucharist, or in Holy Baptism.  In this sense, the things which are touched by Christ become the fullness of what the word symbol in its original sense is meant to convey:  through a particular form a connection is made with something else that it points to.  Moreover, whatever Christ has touched is transformed for us by holiness, by grace, and so, we also become transfigured into the identities and image Christ has for us.  In today's reading, we are given to wonder at the transformational power of Christ regarding fasting.  We do not fast merely to mourn or to repent of our sins before God.  In Christian tradition, fasting, as my study Bible describes it, is a "bright sadness."  Some call it a "joyful sorrow."  This is part of the new wine of Christ that needs a new wineskin.  We fast to develop ourselves in spiritual discipline so that we may grow closer to our Creator, and approach that divine wedding feast which we look forward to.  Fasting, in the transfiguring light of Christ, points to that day of joy and union with our Lord, so that we, in discipleship and just like the disciples who lived with the incarnate Jesus, grow to know Him and carry Him into the world.  In this sense, we fast to become, in His images and words given to us, salt and light (see Matthew 5:13-16).  We fast looking forward to something, preparing for it, joyfully growing closer to our Lord even as we cut out things that distract from this focus on the Lord, and "remember God."  Let us look to the light as we journey through Lent to Easter.  

 

 

 

 

 

For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

 

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in that house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." 

 

 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  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.  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.  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."

 

- Matthew 9:9–17 

 

Yesterday we read that, following the encounter and exorcism of the Gergesene demoniacs, Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came back to His own city of Capernaum.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 

  As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in that house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.   My study Bible tells us that Matthew is also called Levi (Mark 2:14).  It explains that Roman overlords would assign specific areas to Jewish tax collectors.  These Jewish tax collectors were then free to collect extra revenues for their own profit, using the power of the Roman state.  Because of their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption, other Jews hated them and considered them to be unclean (Matthew 11:19).  Here Jesus is dining with them and has accepted a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me"), and so the Pharisees are offended.  But Jesus' defense is quite simple:  He goes where the need of the physician is greatest.  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" is a quotation from Hosea 6:6.  This is not a rejection of sacrifice per se, my study Bible explains, but it teaches that mercy is a higher priority (see Psalm 51).

 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  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.  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.  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."  The Jews would typically fast twice a week, my study Bible explains (Luke 18:12), on Monday and on Thursday.  In addition, public fasts were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), especially on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  But the Jews saw the day of the Messiah as a wedding feast -- a time of joy and gladness.  Here, Jesus is proclaiming that day, and He declares Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  For Christians, my study Bible notes, fasting is not gloomy but desirable; it's a "bright sadness."  This is because, by fasting, we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.  The old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, which are viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit who dwells in renewed people; who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

 

 Jesus makes a seemingly radical choice in today's reading: He calls a tax collector to become His disciple.  We're told that He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  This might seem almost like a random event in terms of the way that you or I might read these words, but with Jesus, nothing is random.  He knows the hearts of people and He knows the ones He calls.  Matthew's response is an indication of how ready He was to follow and to become a disciple.  But Jesus' calling of the disciple Matthew (the author of our Gospel) is indeed a radical act, because Matthew is a kind of outlier.  He is, moreover, scorned and shunned by the community because he's a tax collector.  The next thing we read is that Jesus is sitting at table with a whole houseful of tax collectors and sinners, no doubt St. Matthew's friends.  This is yet another radical step, for He's openly among a community known widely as sinners, and unclean in the eyes of others.  In a sense, it's Jesus openly declaring His gospel by this physical act of attending a dinner.  He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.  Note that, yet again, everything is not quite what it might seem to us as we read this Scripture.  For Jesus is not sitting at dinner to simply approve of and enjoy this company.  Matthew has become a disciple, has decided to follow Jesus, and Jesus is calling this table to repentance as well.  The fact that He is eating with them is yet another radical act, for He has no concern that in so doing, He is sharing whatever sinful or imperfect behavior tax collectors and sinners might practice.  Just as He touched a leper when it was forbidden to touch the "unclean" (in this reading) in order to heal him, so Christ's sitting among these people is also an act of healing.  Christ has nothing to fear from closeness to those who are either physically or spiritually unwell in any sense.  This is because He is the divine Physician; He has come to heal, to set us on the right path and give us the right medicine we need for our ailments.  This invites us to understand ourselves as those who might also sit at that table, and the particular perspective that engenders in us.  Jesus doesn't come to Matthew's table to celebrate and laud Matthew or the other tax collectors and sinners, He comes as honored teacher, while Matthew is pleased to tell the world that he has become a disciple, and to share this with his friends.  So even if one is not a notorious sinner, nor hated as unclean or despised in community for some reason, we think of ourselves at this table as one of those who are imperfect, and who need Christ's guidance and healing prescriptions for our lives.  It invites us to think of ourselves as part of a community, in which there may be all kinds of sins and their effects present, and so therefore whoever we are, we are a part of a community that needs Christ and what Christ has to offer.  He, Jesus, has come into the world to be part of this community, to do His healing and preach His gospel within this community, and to call us out of that community to be His followers and practice His gospel as He teaches.  St. Matthew will go on to become an apostle, and author of this first Gospel that appears in our New Testament, and so he continues to call people to Christ from the midst of our communities all over the world.  Let us understand ourselves also as those who need Christ in our lives and our communities, and be grateful as Matthew who invites all to sit at His table with joy and thanks for His Teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?

 

 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  

 

 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse  and no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

 

- Mark 2:13-22 

 

Yesterday we read that again Jesus entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.  And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

 

  Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   Levi the son of Alphaeus is also known to us as Matthew (Matthew 9:91-13).  My study Bible explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  It notes that their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption caused other Jews to hate them and to consider them unclean (Matthew 11:19).  Jesus dining with them and accepting a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me") is an offense to the scribes and Pharisees.  But Christ's defense of His ministry is simple:  He goes where the need of a physician is the greatest.  He clarifies His mission:  "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  

 

  The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse  and no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."  Typically, fasting practices for the Jews included fasting on Mondays and Thursday (Luke 18:12).  Moreover, my study Bible tells us, fasts were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), and most particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and also in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  But for the Jews, the day of the Messiah was foreseen as a wedding feast; that is, a time of joy and gladness.  Here Jesus is proclaiming that day, and subtly declaring Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  For Christians, my study Bible comments, fasting is not gloomy but desirable.  It is a "bright sadness" because in fasting, we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.  Moreover, the old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, according to my study Bible.  They are viewed as imperfect and temporary, while the new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

 

 Of course, we know from an important story in the Gospels, that wine was essential to the celebration of a wedding feast (see John 2:1-12; Christ's first divine sign of seven in St. John's Gospel).  So Christ's comparison of old and new wine here is significant, because wine is symbolic and essential to covenant.  So it is also in our Eucharist; in addition to the understanding of the mystical presence Christ's Blood in the wine of the Eucharist, wine retains its covenantal meaning as well, for in taking our Eucharist we affirm that He is our Bridegroom and we wish to be united to Him as His Church, the Bride.  So when Jesus speaks of old and new wine in today's reading, we need to pay attention to the depth of what He's saying.  This isn't simply about a kind of preference in terms of a simple metaphor about what we drink, but its deeper sense is about how we live covenant, what we live by, what we know, and how we participate in the divine life of God.  One hallmark of that new wine is no doubt the element of forgiveness that is so crucial to Christ's ministry, and that becomes a counterpoint to the criticism of the Pharisees and the scribes.  Just as Jesus touched a leper (and therefore "unclean" person) in Monday's reading, something forbidden in the Law, Jesus' proximity to these sinners as He eats and drinks with them is offensive to the Pharisees and scribes, who follow the Law and the traditions built up around it as scrupulously as possible.  They, in fact, live their scrupulosity in seeking to serve God.  We can simply imagine, then, how they view Christ's behavior with these tax collectors and sinners.  But Jesus has a mission that they can't understand, and it is a mission of repentance for the purpose of forgiveness of sins.  So, as He says, He's come to call sinners to repentance, because repentance is essential to forgiveness -- and it is the freedom from sin that is the true state of wholeness or healing.  Thus, He likens Himself to a physician seeking to treat the cause of illness in those who are sick.  The Law for its purposes sought to ameliorate the effects of sin in community, to limit it, to protect the community from it.  But it did not have the power to forgive sin, for only God has that power.  As Jesus here insinuates, He has that power, for He is God.  Jesus does not openly declare Himself to be the Messiah (or to be divine) in an open or obvious sense.  But He does fulfill this role, and He is doing things that only a Messiah who was both human and divine could do.  The religious leaders will understand this, and therefore be offended by it.  His followers are those who drink the new wine and need it, for it heals what ails them, and they follow Him in the ways that He leads them.  But this wine needs new wineskins, which will expand with time and age and the powerful enzymatic properties of the wine.  As time passes, and the Church continues in the world, we continue to discover that these wineskins must expand.  We find new ways in which healing and repentance go hand in hand.  We discover that our own healing depends upon freedom from sin, not just limiting sins effects.  Real healing asks for a radical turnaround, and it needs what Christ gives.  Moreover, the Holy Spirit, the real new wine, must lead from there, always expanding, always producing new saints, always giving us its creative responses to what unfolds with time.  Let us remember we must be the product of that new wine, and continue expanding as it asks of us, for that is what repentance is for.  Today's reading is also a valuable and important lesson about the deceptiveness of appearances.  For the Pharisees and scribes are judging by what they see, and indeed Jesus is sitting with those who are considered to be notorious sinners.  But with the new wine we're taught that life is not always what it appears to be, and we must find God's way for us regardless of social appearances and pressures otherwise. With social media and new technologies, the powerful manipulation of image (and the demand that we pursue the same) is more potent and persuasive than ever.   Let us make that commitment with our covenant in the new wine of Christ, who teaches us to be wise as serpents and simple as doves, and gives us the Spirit for discernment midst all of the things we think we see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

 

 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me.  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

 

- Mark 2:13-22 

 

Yesterday we read that again Christ entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.  And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

 

  Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me.  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Levi is also called Matthew, and he is the Evangelist who wrote the Gospel we know by that name.  In the system of the Empire, Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who were then free to collect extra revenues for their own profit, as my study Bible explains it.  It notes that therefore, their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption caused other Jews to hate them and to consider them to be unclean (Matthew 11:19).  Here Christ dining with them and also accepting a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me") is an offense to the Pharisees.  But Christ's defense is quite simple:   He goes where the need of the physician is greatest.  He has come not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.

 

 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."  My study Bible explains that the Jews typically fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Moreover, there were public fasts which were regularly observed, or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and also in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19).  However, the Jews saw the day of the Messiah, by contrast, as a wedding feast:  this is a time of joy and gladness.  Here, Christ is proclaiming that day, and He declares Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom, my study Bible explains.  For Christians, it notes, fasting is not gloomy but desirable; it is a bright sadness.  For by fasting, we gain self-control and we prepare ourselves for this Wedding Feast.  In this light, we understand that Jesus uses the illustration of the old garment and old wineskins to stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.  

If we look closely at today's reading, we might see a kind of revolutionary concept at work between the Old and the New.  That is, once a person is identified as a sinner, or as someone detrimental to community, Christ's work is healing, rehabilitation.  His aim is to save, to redeem.  He says, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  As Physician, then, Christ is here to heal, and that healing -- most significantly -- is repentance.  One wonders, at times, if today we have lost sight of this teaching about repentance.  Forgiveness is God's glorious purview, but it is not realized without some significant action on the part of the one who is forgiven their sins.  First of all, we must couch all concepts about faith within the understanding that we are called into relationship to God.  This is the nature of the reality we inhabit, that we are creatures of God.  Of course, we have the freedom to repudiate this should we so choose.  But that road is not a road of repentance; it is moving in the opposite direction.  To forgo forgiveness is also possible for God's creatures -- even, it seems, for angels -- but the consequences of such choices remain.  Repentance is not a kind of "Get Out of Jail Free" card, which we can just pull up when we think we need it, but like all things concerning our faith and the deep things of God, it really depends upon the state of the heart.  Jesus most solemnly condemns hypocrisy, even in those who are meant to represent God on earth and shepherd God's people (Matthew 23).  So, therefore, in considering Christ's eating and drinking with tax collectors and other sinners, people who were considered to be harmful to the community and spiritually impure, we need to think about what this repentance is that Christ puts so much stress on.  Certainly the good news of Christ's gospel of the Kingdom is first that repentance is not only possible, but desired by God.  In yesterday's reading (see above), the scribes ask, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" and thereby make it clear to us that Christ possesses this authority to forgive and to judge.  But what is repentance?  How does it work?  Why is this the great good news of our Physician, the healing and liberation which He brings to us?  Perhaps as a result of 2,000 years of Christian history, often we find people who may be so assured that they cannot sin or endanger their spiritual welfare through their choices, because we now have been so conditioned to understand God's love and forgiveness.  But repentance, nonetheless, remains an important work for us to do.  Perhaps it is the most important work of all we should consider, for repentance isn't the same thing as simple remorse or regret.  Repentance is the action of change, of turning toward God to be more reconciled to God and the ways God would ask us to walk in life.  And this is indeed the great light we need in our lives.  To neglect this saving and healing work in us is to ignore the gift we're given of the light of Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit at work.  To refuse to take this notion seriously is to refuse the gift, or to practice the hypocrisy Christ so condemns in the actions of the Pharisees and scribes in Matthew 23.  The New Covenant is all about recognizing our capacity for change and healing and renewal under the actions and guidance of the Physician who is Christ.  When we forget what a great wonder and marvel this is, we have only to turn to those systems in which forgiveness never seems to take place, where to cross a social rule or a particular value system or even a political opinion renders a person hopelessly assigned to oblivion -- and rehabilitation only comes at the expense of personal integrity and particularly of what one believes to be the truth.  Let us consider the great gift of the Physician, and remember the power of healing always present in Christ.  For if we are afraid to change, or admit our mistakes, or refuse this reconciliation in God's sight, we lose ourselves, we lose our spiritual health and understanding in God's light.  That is simply too much to lose, and bears all kinds of sacrifices to achieve it.  It's God's wisdom we need in order to determine who we are in our best sense of self, for to refuse is to lose one's life to delusion and fantasy, to a self-created idol rather than God's gift to us of true identity and spiritual health.  Let us rejoice within the new wineskins for the new wine of the wedding feast of Christ the Bridegroom, for He brings His love in order to invite us in where life is truly good. 

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

 

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 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 

 

Yesterdays we read that it happened when Jesus was in a certain city, that 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 mot 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.  Here Levi (Matthew) answer's Christ's call to him, "Follow Me."  He leaves his occupation to become a disciple, as did Peter together with James and John Zebedee, in Monday's reading.  My study Bible comments that 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 in today's reading.  Levi may also have been one of the tax collectors prepared for Christ by John the Baptist (Luke 3:12) in the same way that Peter, James, and John were first followers of John the Baptist (John 1:35-51).  

  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 comments that this feast expresses Matthew's joy and gratitude.  It says that 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?"  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 must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved."   My study Bible comments on these verses that Christ's earthly life is a time of joyous blessings.  But there will come a time when His followers will practice the fast.  In Jewish practice, fasting typically occurred twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Moreover, additional public fasts were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; 1 Ezekiel 8:49-50; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), especially on the  Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  But, my study Bible says, the Jews saw the day of the Messiah as a wedding feast -- a time of joy and gladness.  Christ here is proclaiming that day, and declaring Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  For Christians, my study Bible adds, fasting is not gloomy but desirable, a bright sadness, for by fasting we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.

"And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"   My study Bible explains that this saying only occurs in Luke's account.  It notes that it illustrates several things.  First, there is the difficulty with which the Jews would accept the new covenant.  Then there is the inner resistance a person faces in turning away from a sinful way of life.  Finally, it teaches the general stubbornness of the human heart.  

Perhaps nowhere else do we read Christ stating so clearly that His mission is to heal than in today's reading, and His statement in which He compares Himself to a physician:  "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."  If we may close attention to what He's saying, He's telling us something that isn't all that popular today in our common culture.  Christ is, in fact, describing repentance as the ultimate medicine for what ails people.  We don't often think of repentance as something healing, that takes us out of some form of illness -- whether that be a mental or emotional ailment, a spiritual or soul ailment, or even a physical ailment.  This is because our common conceptions of repentance are overlaid with a terrible burden of guilt or extreme shame, with the shadow of a punitive and accusative finger pointing at us.  But the word translated as repentance is μετάνοια/metanoia.  It means "change of mind" but in a deeper sense that if we were to simply think of it in intellectual terms.  This word for "mind" indicates a change in the inner person such that our way of thinking is transformed, including how we perceive things.  So repentance is a kind of transformation that changes who we are, our orientation to things, a recognition that we need to do something differently because it changes how we look at our reality.  If we perceive that we are hurting ourselves or others, a repentance can take place through a healthy sense of shame (not one that defines us), one that applies correction justly and reasonably.  Repentance in this sense is reorienting ourselves to Christ, to God, so that we are in better communion than we were before.  It is for this reason that it is the ultimate act of healing.  That's why it applies to all problems.  Even a physical ailment or hardship one cannot change is "healed" for the self through personal change and reorientation to how we will approach our lives and our relationship to God.   Twelve Step programs, if looked at closely, are a methodical approach to a plan for repentance, transformation.  All of our lives in the Church are directed toward this because we seek a deeper and growing dependency and communion with God through worship, through the Eucharist, through confession and repentance, through all the acts with which we dedicate ourselves to our Lord, including prayer and fasting.  A deepening faith isn't possible without this sense of repentance as transformation.  There will always be ways in which we need to change our minds to come to a deeper communion with God and the whole great cloud of saints.   As God is infinite, so then is our capacity to come to know God better, and this happens through this process of change, a willingness to be led like a child in the Lord's embrace, to reconsider and change one's mind.  It's also important to understand that we're not absolute like God is; we are creatures subject to change.  Therefore if we're not on the path toward God, we're headed the other way.  We don't stand still, we're not fixed points.  So these sinners become saved in ways that the Pharisees and their scribes cannot, will not -- because they don't necessarily think they have anything to learn from Christ, or see the ways in which repentance is for them, too.  They can't open their minds to that; as a result, throughout the story of Christ's ministry, they dig in deeper against Jesus.  Of course, there are great exceptions, like Nicodemus (see John 3), who comes to learn from Christ and eventually becomes a part of the Church.  Possibly our most known example is St. Paul, who describes himself as "a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee" (Acts 23:6), and was the most feared persecutor of Christians.   Philippians 3 is perhaps a very great statement on repentance, for in it St. Paul describes himself as one who has the greatest reason to have confidence in the flesh, in his spiritual inheritance and pedigree as a Jew.  "But," he writes, "what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:7-11).  This great giving up of what was his by flesh, so to speak, for the inheritance and gain in Christ is indeed a tremendous statement of transformation, repentance, and if we read closely, he describes it also as an ongoing process toward perfection, and one meant for each one of us to undertake, "for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14).  The most vivid and succinct illustration Christ gives us of the principle illustrated in today's reading is the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14).  This parable is found in Luke's Gospel, and is addressed "to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others."  Perhaps St. Luke, called the "beloved physician" by St. Paul (Colossians 4:14) had a powerful insight into the effectiveness and necessary means of this medicine.  He is the one who uniquely reports the difficulty of taking it, and what it repairs:  "And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"  But nonetheless it's the new that we need, and that need is ongoing.

 

 

But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved

 

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  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.  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.  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."

 

- Matthew 9:9-17 

 

Yesterday we read that, after healing two demon-possessed men who dwelt across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus got into a boat, crossed back over the sea, and returned to His own city of Capernaum.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  for which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 

  As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   Matthew is also named Levi (see Mark 2:14).  My study Bible explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who in turn were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  Let us keep in mind that this implied using the power of the Roman state, including its soldiers, to do so and extort their own people.  My study Bible says that because of their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption, among fellow Jews they became objects of hatred and were considered  unclean (Matthew 11:19).  Since Jesus dines with them here, and accepts a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me"), this is offensive to the Pharisees.  But, returning to themes we have already observed in St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus goes back to God's root purpose in terms of divine activity in the world:  healing.  He goes where the need of the physician is greatest.   "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6)  is not a rejection of sacrifice per se.  It is instead a statement that mercy is the higher priority (see Psalm 51).

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  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."  Here my study Bible points out for us that the Jews would typically fast twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Additionally, there were fasts that were regularly observed or proclaimed on occasion (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and also in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19).  But in contrast to those times of fasting, the day of the Messiah was seen as a wedding feast; a time of joy and gladness.  What Jesus is doing here is proclaiming that day, as He declares Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  

 

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.  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."  For Christians, my study Bible says, fasting is not gloomy, but is instead desirable, a "bright sadness."  This is because, in fasting, we see ourselves as gaining self-control and thereby preparing ourselves for the Wedding Feast toward which we look.  The old garment and old wineskins, it notes, refer to the Old Covenant and the Law, seen as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who can't be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

My study Bible describes Christ's reference to the new wine as the Holy Spirit, which lives within renewed people.  How beautiful is this understanding, which gives us a sense that we are here for a purpose, that Christ came for a purpose, to give us this indwelling new wine, the Holy Spirit, so that we also may look forward to the time of the Bridegroom, Christ's return.  We should notice how in the passage on fasting, my study Bible's notes ask us to focus on how Christ's Incarnation and ministry asks us to turn toward that time of the Bridegroom, always keeping this in mind, so that everything is seen in this light.  If we fast, it is because we look forward to that time, and we prepare for it.  Don't we know already that we're not quite prepared to dwell in that heavenly Kingdom as one capable of dwelling in perfect harmony with God?  So we practice prayer, and we practice fasting, we learn to be a disciple, and hopefully grow in discipleship -- not because we need to sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice, but because we look toward Christ and His plans for us.  We hope for that indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that we might be transfigured like the wine that through mysterious enzymatic action grows into the good wine.  We worship so that we participate in that communion of saints that is meant to take us somewhere, to transfigure who we are and even who we think we are.  St. Matthew the repentant tax collector, so grateful to be taken on as disciple by Christ, is not presented as immediately perfect, completed, even if our Physician has forgiven him and called him to join Him.  On the contrary, St. Matthew the tax collector is brought into a new place where He has something toward which He now goes forward, a bright light to guide His life and whatever things will be changed in Him.  He has a cherished hope, and an indwelling of light, just as we all do who are on this path toward the place to which He calls us forward, to His light, to the wedding feast.  If Christ is our Bridegroom, we clearly also need always remember that He is our Physician.  He is here to heal us, and that indwelling of the Holy Spirit is meant to take us on the road to healing, where perfect health in this sense is our own capacity to live in the Kingdom, to dwell with God in that heavenly Kingdom Christ has promised.  The Kingdom is here among us and within us (Luke 17:21), but it is working in us to make us more fit for its dwelling and the return of the Bridegroom.  When we struggle with our journey in His light, let us consider the help we have to find the way, to make the changes we need to (as will Matthew), so that we may receive the light in its fullness that shines on us, even when we can't fully see it.  For this new wine must be preserved in the eternal day of the Kingdom which is always at hand, in which we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). 

 

 

 

But new wine must be put into new wineskins

 

 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins." 

 

- Mark 2:13–22 

 

And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.  And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about those things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

 

  Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   Let us take note here that as first priority, this passage begins with Jesus once again teaching, and this time to all the multitude, by the sea.  Levi the son of Alphaeus is also known to us as St. Matthew.   According to my study Bible, he's the only one of the Twelve who has a powerful position in society, as he is assigned by a Roman overlord to collect taxes from fellow Jews in a specific area.  These men, backed by the Roman state, were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  My study Bible says that their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption caused other Jews to hate them and to consider them unclean.  For Jesus to dine with tax collectors, and to accept one as a disciple ("Follow Me") is offensive to the Pharisees, even scandalous.  But Christ's defense gives us the orientation of His ministry:  "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick."

 

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."   My study Bible explains that in Jewish practice, it was typical to fast twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Moreover there were regularly observed and also occasionally proclaimed public fasts (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  By contrast, however, the day of the Messiah was seen as a wedding feast, a time of great joy and gladness.  Here, Jesus is proclaiming that day, my study Bible says, and He declares Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  For Christians, it adds, fasting (such as in traditional Lenten practice) is not gloomy but rather desirable, a "bright sadness."  By fasting, we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.  My study Bible also explains that the old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, which are viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ. The new wine, it says, is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law. 

I was recently listening to a podcast (see here) in which it was explained that we can read the Bible, and the various time periods given in the Old and New Testaments, as times of preparation.  In this light, the New Covenant given by Christ isn't a simply replacement of the Old Covenant, but rather it is viewed as a renewal of the Covenant between God and God's people.  Indeed, this perspective makes sense in light of the concept that Christ initiated a new time (referred to in its entirety as "end times" while we await His return), and that this new time began at Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Indeed, there was also an Old Testament Pentecost, associated with the giving of the Law through Moses.  This was called the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot.  As St. Paul explains, in this perspective the time of the Law given through Moses is "renewed" in Christ by the coming of the Holy Spirit; as such this renewed time means that instead of the Law written on tablets, this new time is one of the Law written on the heart.  See Hebrews 8:7-13, in which St. Paul refers to the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34) as being fulfilled at this time.  In this perspective stated by St. Paul, then, Jesus speaks of the new wine as that new thing which needs room in order to grow and to expand, the powerful force of transformation at work likened to something akin to the enzymatic action of fermentation.  Hence, new wineskins are necessary.  Jesus' metaphor of new wine teaches us about a new vintage which cannot be placed in the old container which held the old wine, for something new and dynamic is happening.  Jesus the Physician has come to heal, and that means calling not the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.  Something new and tremendous is happening, and something transformational and powerful, that works like the enzymes of the yeasts at work in wine, in a way that is hidden and unseen to us, but nevertheless producing dynamic results we can see in the necessary expansion of the new wineskins.   So often we forget that our New Covenant is one meant to bring about transformational effects in us.  These are the effects of the laws the Lord has put in our minds and written on our hearts so that we turn and are healed (Isaiah 6:10; Matthew 13:15).  If we think of the New Covenant as not one that is simply "new" but is in effect renewed, then it seems that we come closer to understanding the power of our faith and its working in Christ and through the Holy Spirit.  For this dynamic action is not simply a one-time declaration or label we join with a single choice, but rather it institutes an ongoing process -- always renewing and at work within us.   The Lord's work is always making all things new (the literal meaning of the Greek in Revelation 21:5), and hence we are continually asked to renew ourselves and grow in these new wineskins of His covenant with us.  Our growth is meant to be a continual expansion.  Lent is a particular time to focus on this dynamic growth, making time and room to renew our life of prayer and our focus on covenant in the love of Christ.