5-2-21 New Joy & New Wine - Luke 5:33-39

 We won't be back in Mark today. But we'll kind of be in Mark. We'll look at the next story in Mark, except I want to look at it in Luke. It's the same story in both places, so don't worry, I'm not abandoning our series. Jesus talks about fasting, about new and old garments, and about new and old wine and wineskins. And I encourage you to read this story a few times this week - you'll find it in Matthew 9, Mark 2, and Luke 5. We'll look at it in Luke today, but it's a passage that has to do with both joy in relationship with Jesus and growth unto maturity in Him. Repeat after me please, say, "my joy," and "my growth." Healthy things grow, and if we have a healthy relationship with Jesus, we'll be growing to look more like Him. Healthy, growing disciples of Jesus have joy in Him, we find our happiness in the Lord. David said that when he was with God, in His presence, it was the happiest he could ever be. Psalm 16:11 NKJV "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." We have joy when we're with Jesus and He's with us. The word 'joy' means that we have pleasure, happiness, gladness, or mirth when we're with Jesus in relationship, and the happiness of spirit we have when we're with Him leads to our growth. And the good news is that if you've invited Jesus to live in You, to call your heart His home, then you can have the fullness of joy and the pleasures of His right hand (that means the good things that God gives with no bad consequences) whenever you want. You can call on Jesus' name, focus on Him and His salvation, kindness, and love, and His presence and joy is available right in that moment. Last week in the message we talked about how Jesus went to dinner at Levi's (Matthew's) house and hung out with Levi's work friends. This would have been a dinner celebration - a party! This wasn't a somber, joyless event but a party to celebrate what Jesus had done in Levi's life. Of course, the Pharisees came, and they were party poopers just looking down on Jesus the whole time for not following the religious rules. When they asked Jesus why He didn't follow their rules and hung out with sinners, Jesus said that He didn't come to call the righteous at all. He actually came to call sinners to repentance, to follow Him. And He quoted a proverb; Mark 2:17 NLT When Jesus heard this, he told them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor-sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners." Last week we dug deeper into that statement and what it means. But my point here is that "the Pharisees' attitude came from, among other things, the false assumption and idea that true, real religion was a solemn, joyless affair, absolutely always serious and never any fun at all; and this is an attitude and assumption that some people still hold even today."1 Have you ever met someone who thought christianity should be totally stuffy, solemn, religious, dry, completely made up of boring rule-following? Don't look at the person next to you. One author said those kinds of people have their "neckties twisted around their souls."2 I want you to know that following Jesus is fun! Now, of course it might not be fun all the time, every minute of every day - Jesus was persecuted for righteousness sake and He said we will be, too. Jesus had encounters with demons and mean religious people and hurting people and political people and more. It wasn't fun all the time for Jesus and the disciples, but there was always a great, uncontainable joy in what they had because they had a relationship with the God of the universe. They also had, because of that relationship, continual movement until growth. They were growing in obedience to God, growing in evangelism and ministry to others, growing in joy, in winsomeness, in faith, hope and love. And as they grew, they realized how great knowing God really and truly was. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 NLT Dear brothers and sisters, we can't help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing." As their faith in God flourished, the more they spent time in God's presence, the more they trusted in Jesus, the more they grew in love for one another. As we talked about last week, Levi (Matthew) was so happy over his salvation He threw a dinner party and invited anyone who would come; even the pharisees. And the scene in this next story in Mark (or in Luke, too) most likely happens while everyone is still at Levi's place having the big dinner celebration. This makes sense, too, because the Pharisees ask about fasting. The Pharisees fasted two days every week, on Mondays and Thursdays, even though, according to the law, they only had to fast one day a year. The required fast in the Law, in the Old Testament, would have been on the Day of Atonement, which was a national day of repentance and forgiveness. You can read about it in Leviticus 16 if you want. So in this context, the Pharisees are probably asking Jesus about food because they're hungry! I don't know what day the feast was on, but there's about a 30% chance it was on one of the Pharisees' fast days. They're hungry, so they decide to ask Jesus about food. So it's in this context, with everyone still at the dinner table when Jesus talks about fasting, garments, and wine. Let's take a look at it in Luke and then pray. Luke 5:33-39 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?" 34 And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days." 36 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. 37 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. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.' " Let's pray. Father God thank You for Your word and for this time. May Your word be made manifest in us and through us today as we open our hearts before You. Jesus, bring us Your presence so we might have fullness of joy. Bring us Your growth; put on us Your new garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, and give us new wineskins to hold Your new wine. We love You Jesus, and we commit ourselves to You this morning. In Jesus' Name, amen. The pharisees are at a dinner party and they're hungry. Can you imagine being a pharisee at this party with all of the best food you've ever seen? The host has spared no expense (he was a rich tax collector), he's clearly spending money on this event, and then the teacher you've come to hear is smiling, loving people, talking to everyone (not just the people of high status), eating and drinking and having a great time. And while He's having a good time He's teaching people about God in the middle of it all. But it's a fast day, so it must be wrong! Right? The pharisees are watching all of this fun, smelling all of this food, listening to Levi and others express their joy at getting to be with Jesus and they can't eat a thing. But they have an idea! They think, 'Let's trap Jesus by asking Him about...food! Let's ask Him about fasting, because clearly He forgot that we fast every monday and thursday to get closer to God.' So they ask Jesus about food and going without it for a while. Luke 5:33-34 NKJV "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?" 34 And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?" Jesus answers their question with a question. We see Him use this tactic a lot, and it's a good one. It's very tactful but still makes the scribes think. When they ask Jesus why He isn't fasting, He answers with a question about a wedding. He asks if wedding guests and attendants should go without food during the wedding celebration, or during the wedding meal. It was an obvious answer - no. Why? Because it would lessen the ability to celebrate with the bride and bridegroom if you couldn't eat with them during their wedding! They spent a lot of time, effort, energy preparing for the wedding week and the wedding meals. Yes, meals, plural, more than one. The Bible says Solomon's wedding day was the 'day of his heart's joy.' That's how the new couple thought about it - it was a day of pure happiness. Song of Solomon 3:11 TLV "gaze upon King Solomon, with a wreath his mother placed on him on the day of his marriage- on the day of his heart's joy. To give you a little more background, "after an ancient Jewish wedding, the couple did not honeymoon. They actually stayed at home for a week and had a sort of "open house wedding party" with continual feasting and celebration. For the couple, people who would have been hardworking laborers (no vacation time), this was traditionally considered to be the happiest week of their lives. The bride and groom were treated like a king and queen that week (sometimes they even wore crowns). They were attended by chosen friends known as "guests of the bridegroom," which means literally, "children of the bride's chamber." All of the guests were exempt from any fasting through a Jewish rabbinical rule that said, "All attending the bridegroom are relieved of all religious observances which would lessen their joy.""3 In other words, the wedding celebration received the highest priority and importance. The wedding celebration was more important than fasting. For us believers now on the other side of the cross and the resurrection, the application here is hugely encouraging. We are not just "guests of the bridegroom"(though we are that and get to participate in the marriage supper of the Lamb on the last day-but we are the Bride of Christ! This is more than metaphorical language-it is reality. It speaks of the deepest intimacy and exchange. We actually have the Holy Spirit of God in us after we come to Jesus! That means we can be even more joyful and happy about what God has done in our lives than anyone attending a wedding that's over after just a week. Your joy can be continually and unending in Jesus Christ! Following Jesus brings perpetual joy for those who will take it, cultivate it, and grow in it. The writer of 1 John puts it this way as he talks about the gospel, the good news of Jesus. 1 John 1:4 MSG We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy! You see, communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gives great joy. It also gives strength for us to grow. Nehemiah 8:10b AMP "Do not be worried, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and your stronghold." Practically, that means that wherever you fail or fall, when the worries of life hit you, when you don't know what to do or how to act, when you don't have any strength left, you can go back to, in your mind, Jesus and the joy of being with Him because He's right there with You in your circumstance. You can always have the joy of your salvation, the "festivity of heart" in Christ (that's the literal hebrew). You can always walk in the happiness, grace, mercy, love, and care you experienced the day you first met Jesus, on a day you heard Him speak clearly, or on a day you saw Him move on your behalf or come through for a friend or loved one. You can always go back to those times in your mind and relive that joy, and it will give you strength for you to grow and strength for you to overcome whatever face. David had a problem - he felt stuck, ashamed, embarrassed, and far away from the Lord. He had committed adultery and then murder. He was surrounded by his own sin and failure. And in his cry for repentance, He asked the Lord to cleanse him and give him joy back. He really felt the loss of His joy. And he also asks God for help in growing, moving forward in holiness, in learning how he could do a better job next time walking according to how God wanted him too. Psalm 51:10-13 NKJV "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You." David wants to be back in close relationship with the Lord; he wants to be with Him, he wants to be in His presence. And he wants to be back in God's presence because that's where fullness of joy is; that's where the happiness of our salvation shines in us and through us and affects us and everyone around us. One writer said having the joy of the Lord was like "being bathed in sunshine." As we take time to get into the presence of God, then the Holy Spirit will hold us up, He'll help us not fall again. God will move us forward in Him as we come with an honest heart of repentance and recommitment to God and His ways. Then sinners, or those people not following Christ, will see our joy and be drawn straight to Jesus that they see in You and me, the Jesus who takes sinful, depressed, hurting, messed up people and turns them into rays of sunshine that bring help and healing to a lost and dying world. You see, joy is a primary christian characteristic. It doesn't really exist outside of Christ because it can't. Unless you have a happy confidence that Jesus took away all of your sins, that He loves you with a full, unrelenting, unconditional love, and that by the cross you have access to God both now and forevermore, there isn't much to sustain the joyful 'festivity of spirit' inside us when we go through difficult times. We have nothing to look forward to at the end of life to be joyful or happy about unless we have Jesus. My point is that "far too many people think of Christianity as something which compels them to do all the things they do not want to do and stops them from doing all the things they do want to do. Laughter has become a sin, instead of - as one philosopher called it - 'a sudden glory'."4 God cares about your joy, it's a part of your inheritance in Him. but the fullness of joy is only found in His presence. Jesus says to the Pharisees, 'thanks for asking about fasting. I know you're hungry. I know you're mad because we're all having a good time and you're not - but my disciples don't need to fast right now because I'm here with them, and in my presence there is fullness of joy.' Jesus goes on to say that His followers will fast later when they need to, when it's a more appropriate time. Luke 5:34-35 NKJV And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days." You may remember Matthew 23:2 from last week, but in that verse Jesus affirms some of what the pharisees are doing - He says they tithe, but they've neglected justice, mercy, and faith. It's a similar thing here - Jesus doesn't discount fasting, He just says that it's not the proper time. It's not time to fast, it's time to celebrate! This is a party about Levi coming to God and receiving salvation, purpose, and new life. All of heaven is partying now, so don't be a drag, celebrate with us! Luke 15:7 GW I can guarantee that there will be more happiness in heaven over one person who turns to God and changes the way he thinks and acts than over 99 people who already have turned to God and have his approval." In other words, the pharisees are terrible with timing. And they're terrible with timing because they don't have their priorities straight - they care more about rules and forms than they do about people. My point is, though, that Jesus doesn't discount fasting. Fasting is a fully desirable, non-religious spiritual dynamic for a more intense seeking of God in prayer. We don't fast to earn God's favor or improve our status with Him, as the Pharisees thought. Jesus actually taught that fasting is an effective means of spiritual warfare and assault on the powers of darkness.5 This isn't a message on fasting today, but Jesus says that His disciples will fast when the time is right, after He ascends to heaven and He's not walking on earth with them anymore. Ultimately, the joy of the Lord is more important than religious rules and forms, even if they can be good, helpful, or right to do at the proper time and with the proper heart motive. The pharisees have the timing all wrong because they don't have a heart for people and they don't have any joy in Jesus! Jesus doesn't stop talking after answering the question about fasting. He goes on to talk about growth. Remember our themes today, joy and growth. Say 'my joy.' and 'my growth.' We just talked about joy, now let's talk about growth in our walk with God. Luke 5:36-39 NKJV "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. 37 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. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.' "" It's been said that there is in religious people a kind of passion for the old, the traditional, the way it's always been done. The trouble with the Pharisees was that the whole religious outlook of Jesus was so startlingly new they simply could not adjust to it.6 They refused to grow, they refused to follow God Himself for the sake of their traditions, their status, and their comfort. Jesus uses two examples to show us that we always need to be renewing our commitment to spiritual growth, to follow the Holy Spirit and learn what new direction God would move us. And we need to commit to grow in different ways; we need to be open to Jesus and what He says even if it doesn't fit our preconceived notions of what it's supposed to look like. In the first example, Jesus talks about how you don't tear up a new garment, a new robe, a new piece of clothing you just bought and make patches out of it for your old clothes. That's just dumb. Just wear the new clothes you just bought, not the old, ratty ones! As we grow with Christ, we have to let the newness of what He's doing every day in us become a part of our thought process, a part of our heart connect with God and a part of how we make decisions and live our lives. And as we allow the new garment of His salvation, His presence, His mercy, and His grace wash over us, the oldness of our sin nature is removed. Colossians 3:9-11 NLT Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. The old sinful nature and new nature we have in Jesus are incompatible; plus it just looks really weird when you try to cut up a new garment to patch up an old. God wants us all to put on our new nature in Christ. And part of the new nature in Christ is that Jesus is always doing something new! He's doing a new thing in us and through us. He's changing how we think about ourselves and others, and He's changing how we operate so we can do the same things Jesus did, loving people and helping them get closer to God. We always need to be renewing our commitment to spiritual growth, because God is always doing something new. Isaiah 43:19 TLV "Here I am, doing a new thing; Now it is springing up- do you not know about it?" Jesus wants His newness of life to fill us, to cover us, and to give us refreshment and energy for each new day. Jesus keeps going with this theme of growth towards hearing God's voice and doing what His will; He uses a second example of new wine and new wineskins to illustrate how we need to continually be refreshed and renewed by the Holy Spirit so we don't burst, or so we don't break down or blow up. The greek word for new wineskins literally means 'to be renewed." With animal skins, when new wine is poured into them, they start to swell up. If the skins were old, they wouldn't be able to expand. There's always a problem when people are unwilling to be stretched or renewed by the Lord. So this is the mindset we need to commit to - one where we are open to what God wants to do in and through our lives. It may not always be easy, and it may not always feel good; but allow the Lord to stretch you in areas where you're comfortable. The wineskins of our lives need to be drenched by the Holy Spirit until we're renewed and ready to receive His new wine, the new outpouring of what He wants to do here, now. Jesus says, Luke 5:39 NKJV "And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.' Many people who have not tasted the new are deter- mined never to even try it, because they imagine that what they have is "good." Don't make that same mistake. They will not even taste the new for sake of comparison, to try it out. What arrogance, what stubbornness, what folly!7 Jesus tacks on a warning here (you don't see it in Mark's account). He's saying, "hey, you might not like it at first when the Holy Spirit does a new thing in your life. It might feel a little humbling, painful, or invasive, but it's ok. Surrender to the Holy Spirit because He loves you and He glorifies Me and My Father." Surgery often is painful, but it's always onto something greater; it's unto health, wholeness, and more effective ministry (or helping people more). It can take time to warm up to whatever new thing the Holy Spirit is doing, especially if we have preconceived notions or ideas about certain church traditions that we enjoy, whether it's music, the order of service, the way the building looks, or whatever. But the new wine of the Holy Spirit always contains the fresh blessings of God, and they're blessings we need right now, today. We don't want to coast on yesterday's breakthrough, yesterday's blessings, or yesterday's triumphs. We need to move forward and receive new wine for a new time. Isaiah 65:8 TLV Thus says Adonai: "As new wine is found in a cluster, and one says, 'Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it,' so I will do for My servants' sakes." There's a blessing in the new wine, in the things that God wants to do in our hearts right now, right here, today. As easy as it is to get comfortable with a church, a way of operating, with a routine, (and I'm not putting those things down), we always need to be seeking after the new wine of the Lord Jesus so we can be refreshed daily by the Holy Spirit. And so our joy and our growth come full circle. We receive the joy of the Lord; it comes to us, we're refreshed and renewed by it. Then, as we choose to follow the Lord in obedience each day, as we commit to growth in holiness and obedience, God pours out His new wine all over again so we can take even more joy and refreshment in His presence, again and again and again. Jesus gives us the new wine of the marriage supper of the lamb, the new wine of the King, the Savior in our midst, the new wine of Jesus taking control over all forms of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and the new wine of Jesus giving us an exemption from religious rules to have perpetual joy in His presence as 'children of the Bridegroom's chamber.' Jesus has invited you into His wedding party today. He has asked you to be his best man or maid or matron of honor. Jesus asks you to be in His presence, to celebrate His victory over sin, death, hell, and the grave, and to receive the joy that comes from his table. So today, as we move into communion, let's partake of the new wine of His presence and the new wine of His joy, and recommit ourselves to both the joy of the Lord and growth in His Name. 1 Hughes, R. Kent. Mark: Jesus, Servant and Savior, P106. Crossway Books, 2015. 2 Hughes, R. Kent. Mark: Jesus, Servant and Savior, P108. Crossway Books, 2015. 3 Hughes, R. Kent. Mark: Jesus, Servant and Savior, P108. Crossway Books, 2015. 4 Barclay, William. The Gospel of Luke, P 121. Saint Andrew Press, 2014. 5 Hayford, Jack W., editor. The Hayford Bible Handbook, entry: "fasting" P615. Thomas Nelson, 1995. 6 Barclay, William. The Gospel of Luke, P 124. Saint Andrew Press, 2014. 7 Hughes, R. Kent. Luke: That You May Know the Truth, P278. Crossway Books, 2014. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ New Wine |