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. 

Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?

 

 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 

 

Yesterday we read that it happened when Christ 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 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.  Levi (also known as Matthew) answers Christ's call, "Follow Me," and -- like the fishermen in yesterday's reading (see above), leaves his occupation to become a disciples.  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 a little further along in today's reading.  Similarly again to Peter, James, and John, who were previously followers of the ministry of John the Baptist, Levi might also have been one of the tax collectors that Luke tells us were prepared for Christ by John the Baptist (see Luke 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 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 notes that Jesus' earthly life is a time of joyous blessings.  But, He indicates, there will come a time when His followers will practice the fast.  In calling Himself the Bridegroom, however, Jesus indicates His role as Messiah, and so the time that He is together with His disciples is one of joy and feasting.  After His Passion, the Jewish tradition of fasting would be transfigured in Christianity, a time of remembrance and participation in His Passion, a tool for self-control in discipleship, and a preparation for the Wedding Feast.

 

"And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"  My study Bible remarks that this saying is included only in Luke's account.  It is illustrative of several things; notably the difficulty with which the Jews would accept the new covenant, the inner resistance a person faces in turning from a sinful way of life, and the general stubbornness of the human heart.  

Over the course of the past few readings, Luke's Gospel has been concerned with the issue of sin and discipleship in Christ's new ministry.  There was first of all the episode in which Jesus told Peter, James, and John to lower their nets for an extraordinary catch of fish, and Peter responded in his astonishment and recognition of Christ's holiness, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"  (in Monday's reading).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus both forgave a paralyzed man his sins, and then healed him of paralysis -- because of the faith of the man's friends who brought him before Christ (see the text of Tuesday's reading, above).  In today's reading, Jesus calls as disciple, and then keeps company, with people understood in the society as notorious sinners.  It is in this context that the Pharisees begin to question Him.  Tax collectors worked for Rome, often using their power of their office to collect more than was their due from their fellow Jews.   As Christ and His disciples share a feast with Matthew and those who come to his house, the question of fasting arises as well.  We should understand that the Jews typically fasted twice a week, on Monday and Thursday.  Moreover there were regular public fasts which were observed, such as the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19), and also occasionally proclamations of fasts would be made.  In today's reading, Jesus makes clear that He is the Bridegroom who is with His people, hence the feast -- but that the days will come when they will fast.  Since we have already observed Jesus' forgiveness of sins (in yesterday's reading), we may begin to get a sense of what it means to be the Christ, the Bridegroom.  In the context of Christ's ministry, forgiveness is possible through the encounter with Christ, through repentance and the renewal possible via faith.  This is the new wine of the New Covenant being introduced.  We may be struck by Peter's sudden awareness of his sinfulness in Monday's reading, a recognition before Christ of the truth of his life and a need for discipleship.  In yesterday's reading, the faith of the paralyzed man's friends and the forgiveness of his sins by Christ are both linked to his healing from his ailment -- and both are made possible through that faith.  Here in today's reading, Jesus sits at what might be called a preview of the Wedding Feast to come at the end of the age, when Christ returns for His Bride, the Church.  We can see the response of the Pharisees as they are both perplexed and concerned at this expression of His ministry, and also their questioning of why He and His disciples do not fast.  The life and ministry of Christ, as noted above, would transfigure the entire notion of the fast, and produce a different kind of fasting in Christianity.  In the Orthodox tradition, fasting is often called a "bright sadness," because in it one looks forward to the wedding feast.  In the Christian tradition of fasting, we fast for the reasons noted by my study Bible.  We fast in preparation for the times of feasting.  We fast in discipleship in order to learn our own capacity for choice and for self-control and to develop our own power of detachment.  We also fast in participation and remembrance of Christ's Passion (on Wednesdays, and more commonly on Fridays) and His own refusal of temptation in the wilderness (during Lent).  Fasting practices differ from place to place.  But they are meant to be times of controlled abstinence from certain things, such as particular foods, or a limited time of eating altogether (possibly even for part of a day), and also of abstinence from sinful behavior, such as backbiting and gossiping, things we know might harm our discipleship and our communities.  In short, fasting is a time to "remember God," to make space for an awareness, like St. Peter, of our reverence for Him and what He asks of us.  It is not a question of how well we follow rules, but a question of simply renewing and dedicating ourselves to our faith.  We do the best we can, and it helps us to learn that we are not simply compelled by our appetites and passions in life, as we make choices for that discipline.  The fasting practices of the Church become tools for helping us to break addictive behaviors, and to rely on more deeply on Christ and our faith.  They help us to remember humility, and to remember those who of necessity must make do with less -- as times of fasting are also times that call upon us for charitable activities as well.  In the modern "developing" world of greater abundance than in the past, fasting is often misunderstood, forgotten and discarded.  But it might be wise in our modern context to learn its practice, and its benefits to us -- to remember that it's not about the rules, but about our own struggle for ourselves and our souls.  We have a forgiving, loving Savior -- but He calls upon us to take up our own crosses, to practice discipleship, to remember who we are and grow in that remembrance and discipleship.  We are called to know ourselves, and to come to repentance for things we need to change.  Fasting becomes a practice for learning that we can discard old habits and practices that aren't really good for us.  Our Bridegroom will be with us again.  But let us remember His words about how attached we may grow to the old wine, while He offers us the new wine of His Kingdom and His covenant.

 

 

 

No one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, "The old is better"

 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

Yesterday we read that it happened when Jesus was in a certain city, that a man who was full of leprosy saw Him; 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.  Levi is also known as Matthew.  He is a tax collector, member of a group of people widely hated by their society.  Tax collectors are seen as collaborators with the occupying Romans, who are willing to use intimidation and force to extort their fellow Jews.  Matthew leaves his occupation and accepts Christ's call to "Follow Me."  My study bible notes that from the beginning of His ministry, Christ has been a friend of tax collectors and sinners -- one of the Pharisees' complaints against Him.  Levi is possibly one of the tax collectors who were prepared for Christ by John the Baptist (3:12).

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."  Matthew gives a feast to express his joy and gratitude.  It's important to understand what it means to find salvation with Christ; here, Levi/Matthew is restored to community.  The scribes and Pharisees, however, complain about the company which Jesus keeps.  My study bible calls this guest register of those at the feast "a stirring demonstration of the fruit of Jesus' love and forgiveness."  It will be an ongoing theme of Luke's Gospel to understand the Church as hospital, and Christ as Physician, who came to heal those who are sick.  To understand sin as sickness is essential to understanding the healing balm of mercy.

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."   Jesus' earthly life -- the time when the Bridegroom is with His friends -- is one of joyous blessings.  But there will come a time when His followers will practice the fast.  This is an intimation by Christ of the events that will culminate His earthly life. 

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.'"  As the religious authorities begin to confront Christ, so His teachings reflect what is to come -- the new start that is necessary, a new covenant.  My study bible says that this saying, "And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better,'" is only found in Luke's Gospel.  Accordingly, my study bible says, it illustrates the difficulty with which the Jews would accept the new covenant, the inner resistance that a person faces in turning away from a sinful way of life, and also the general stubbornness of the human heart. 

In today's reading, we're given an illustration of hospitality.  While there are those who scorn the sinners and tax collectors at Matthew's table, Christ sees them differently, as patients who need healing.  In a certain sense, Jesus' statement that those who have drunk old wine do not desire the new also represents the healing action of medicine.  What's good for us -- a change -- is not automatically desired.  Jesus presents this as human nature, when He says that "no one" who has drunk old wine immediately desires the new.  What we're used to, what we have already accepted, we say is "better."  So, who do we invite to our table?  Christ speaks of change, and the desire to change.  He dines with those in need of change, who want change.  This itself is His new doctrine, one of repentance, transformation, change.  Is sin permanent?  Must it afflict us forever?  Can we break free of old behaviors, old debts?   The key here is the desire to change.  Some would mistake Christ's company with tax collectors and sinners to say that this is the example for all of us, in the sense that we must keep company with those whose behaviors and habits may be less than desirable.  But that's too facile; that is simply taking this story purely at face value without looking into the meaning of Christ's words.   What is remarkable and new here is the effect of transforming sin, the desire for repentance and change.  The expanding wineskins are an illustration of that change.  They must be able to accommodate the new.  What is important about these sinners at this feast is not that they are sinners, but that Christ is at their table, the special guest of honor, the Bridegroom.  What marks these people as different, the great change in the midst of this society, is simply that they seek the company and teachings of Christ for themselves.  We are all invited to this table, but the key is that we seek the guidance of the Physician for ourselves.  Hospitality is an image of the Eucharist, the cup to which all are invited -- but it is also the cup of change, transformation, repentance.  It is the cup that asks us to participate in the life of Christ for ourselves, to become a member of His Body.  How can we accommodate the changes He will ask of us if we really want to be a member of the wedding party at the table?  What new wineskins do we need to become to contain all the internal enzymatic action of God's energies within us?  The message of this table, of this Physician, and of His cup, is precisely one of change and transformation, of ever-active renewal.  It is for those who are willing to give up the old and familiar, and to be called to the new -- even to become the new.  Perhaps it is those who are truly aware of their own illness who are prepared to leave everything behind, and trust in faith that where they are being led has to be better.  Shall we go on this journey with them?  What do you have to lose?  Or gain?

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

Yesterday, we read that it happened when He 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 not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his be 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.  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."    Levi, also known as Matthew, answers Jesus' call, "Follow Me."  He leaves what he's doing as tax collector and becomes a disciple.  My study bible says 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 (and their scribes, as the text says).  It's possible that Levi was one of the tax collectors who came to John the Baptist and were prepared for Christ (see this reading).   Matthew's feast for all of his friends expresses his joy and gratitude.  My study bible says, "The guest register is a stirring demonstration of the fruit of Jesus' love and forgiveness."  Jesus' reply to the Pharisees gives us an entire picture of His ministry and its aims, to call all to healing and repentance, restoration.

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."  While Jesus is with His disciples and those who hear Him, it's a prefiguration of the great wedding feast of heaven, a time of great blessings and joy.  There will come a time when His followers will practice the fast.

  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.'"  Jesus explains His startling ministry with a parable; everything begins anew with His ministry for healing and restoration, the calling of sinners to repentance.  The final sentence here, about the preference for the old, is found only in Luke.   It gives us a flavor of human nature, or of resistance to the new.  My study bible says it illustrates the difficulty with which the Jews would accept the new covenant, and also the inner resistance a person faces in turning from a sinful way of life -- as well as the general stubbornness of the human heart.  Perhaps it is an important reflection overall on Christ's ministry of paradox, the "strange things" people are seeing contrary to their expectations and given understanding (see yesterday's reading, above).   It fits also with Jesus' rejection at Nazareth, His statement that "no prophet is accepted in his own country."

What is it about the familiar and the accepted that has such a deep hold on us?  Does this have to do with neuroscience and the understanding of how our brains work?  We certainly form ingrained patterns of thinking; some modern anti-depressants may work to "break up" those patterns.  But psychologically we can see in the Gospels the understanding of the human heart and mind.  Jesus says here in Luke the Physician's Gospel:  "No one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"   There is no better psychological profile of human beings than the Gospels.  But what we're given here is the response of human beings to revelation of the divine.  As in yesterday's reading, when the people responded to Jesus' work of healing and forgiveness, they said, "We have seen strange things today!"  As noted in yesterday's commentary, this word for strange used in the text is one that is literally "paradox."   For the early Fathers of the East, there is no deeper truth than the paradox of the divine breaking into the worldly.  It is in this paradox that we find the truth of God who can't be contained, the action of God the Word in the world.  Jesus' ministry of healing and reconciliation, that which does not condemn but rather calls sinners to repentance, teaches us about God's love.  It doesn't fit with what people know already.  Why is He hanging out with tax collectors, of all people?  You can just imagine how despised such people were:  working for the Romans, oppressing their own people with the scandalous taxation, regularly taking more for themselves than was required by the foreigners in order to make a profit, backed up by occupying power.  And yet Matthew/Levi is called by Christ:  "Follow Me."  Clearly Jesus sees something in Levi when He calls him to discipleship.  Christ is the knower-of-hearts; He must read the repentance in Levi.  What is interesting is just how Christ puts His faith into human beings, and the picture of the Gospels isn't just the other way around (how we put our faith into Him).  Calling Levi is a bold move, and Jesus must be aware of how the religious leadership will respond.  He sees what they can't.  And that's perhaps where the great paradox is found, in that deeper seeing into the heart and depths of what it is to be human, and the relationship found there with Creator.  Matthew/Levi's longing is to be restored to such relationship, and thereby to right-relatedness with others.  Jesus' call to discipleship is not a call that embraces the sinfulness or sinful behavior that harms community.  But it is a call to healing, to a better way, to going back where we belong.  And that's the great paradox that is hard for people to accept.  They know Levi one way, but Christ knows him another way.  To get to that place of depth and healing is really to reach into ourselves in a place of true identity, a place that acknowledges who our Creator is and where we long to return in good grace and right relationship.  He pulls us back, in some sense, from the places where life has taken us and into our true selves, where we are truly at home, and where we can truly serve.  The wedding banquet is just that:  the time of feast and joy at the union of Creator and creature, a depth of self that is "home."  What we appear to be to others may be all kinds of things.  We may wander to many places searching for whatever it is we hope to find.  But Christ calls us to who we truly are, the place where we are set to rights, so to speak.  The question is if we can take Him at His word to "follow Him" and start on the road to discipleship, no matter what it looks like to other 'worldly' views.  So much depends on how we are called and Who's doing the  calling.  Do we have ears to hear?   The depth of reach in the call also holds the power to take us back.