[0:00] If you've got your Bibles with me, please, we'll turn to the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 5. Continue to follow how Luke presents Jesus to us.
[0:19] We have four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. However, Luke's perspective is to give us a Gospel in an orderly way and for the purpose that we might be certain, that we might have certainty about the things which we have been taught, particularly about Jesus.
[0:44] So Luke's goal is to present us some things that help persuade us, help assure us that he is who he claims to be.
[0:56] So, I want to read that we're looking at the end of Chapter 5 in the Gospel of Luke, and beginning in verse 27 through verse 39, which is the end of the chapter.
[1:11] If you're able to please stand as I read Luke, Chapter 5, beginning at verse 27. After this, he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth.
[1:32] And he said to him, follow me. And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
[1:44] And Levi made him a great feast in his house. And there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.
[1:59] And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?
[2:15] Jesus answered them, Those who are well have no need of a doctor, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
[2:35] And they said to him, The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so did the disciples of the Pharisees. But yours, eat and drink.
[2:47] Jesus said to them, Can you make wedding gifts fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.
[3:06] He also told them a parable. No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
[3:26] And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spoiled, or spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.
[3:41] But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine, desires new.
[3:56] For he says, the old's good. Let's pray. Father, guide us, teach us, show us, what Jesus is giving at.
[4:12] He's saying things to make us think. He is doing things that shock the people of his day. Help us understand what and why he's doing it.
[4:28] We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. So, in this passage, we have a contrast between sinners and the righteous.
[4:51] In the sinner corner, we have Levi, the tax collector. In the righteous corner, we have the Pharisees and the scribes. So, who are these Pharisees, by the way?
[5:12] Who are these guys? They, their name, Pharisee, is a transliteration from the Hebrew, which means to be separate, or to be separated ones.
[5:28] They come off in the New Testament as the villains. They're the holiness police. They're the self-righteous snobs.
[5:44] But, they weren't always that way. The movement of these Pharisees, now, you won't, you won't find them described in the Old Testament. Okay?
[5:56] The movement started after, or about the same time, that Israel returned from Babylon. Remember our Old Testament history? Remember? Israel was exiled to Babylon.
[6:08] Why were they exiled to Babylon? They were being punished because they were unfaithful, careless, idolaters, rebellious to God.
[6:20] Right? So, God said, you don't care? I'm sending you out to Babylon. Send me here. So, during that time, some of the Jews got it.
[6:32] They're like, you know what? We gotta stop this. We gotta stop this. We have got to be better. We need to stop being careless, stop, start paying attention to the law, guard the law, the Torah, and be what God wants us to be.
[6:51] So, the movement started with those good intentions. They were wanting to be what God called them to be. Pure, holy, do the law.
[7:05] So, what happens with a good movement like that? Time goes by, generation goes to generation, and what happens? Well, they forget the original intent, and they just focus on the form.
[7:20] It becomes all about the rules. It becomes all about this external self-righteousness. The original Pharisees, the original Hasidim, the original ones who wanted to follow the law, follow it carefully, those were good things.
[7:41] But what had happened is, well, to keep the Sabbath, we need to make sure we really keep the Sabbath, so let's add all these rules on top of it to make sure we don't get to that one. And suddenly it just becomes this huge compilation of you shall and you shall not.
[8:01] So, not yet. We don't know the Pharisees are the bad guys yet. This is the first time we're reading Luke, we don't know that yet. We just know they're asking questions. And they're asking legitimate questions.
[8:13] Why are you eating with sinners? Why don't you fast? There's nothing wrong with those questions, except that Luke gives us a hint that they're grumbling, so they're disapproving, but it's still a legitimate question.
[8:28] Okay? Later, it's going to become more opposition. And later, Jesus is going to point out you're a bunch of hypocrites. you look all good on the outside, you're all nice and pretty, you all go to synagogue and you're all doing the right thing.
[8:43] And what we see in the story, and what Jesus makes clear by his answers, is he's changing things up, and the first major change is that he wants and is seeking for sinners, not for righteous people.
[9:26] That's just shocking to the first century people. That's just, I mean, the Pharisees can't even, I mean, those are the people we stay away from, what are you talking about? Those are the people that don't care.
[9:39] They don't have our values. They don't care about righteousness. And Jesus goes and calls one of these guys, hey, follow me. And he leaves everything in place.
[9:51] So it's just, it's just, it's about changing our mindset about what God really values. Okay? So I want you to notice the people Jesus seeks.
[10:05] So we saw at the beginning of chapter five, remember the story of the fishermen, right? They fished all night, caught nothing. Jesus says to Peter, let's get in your boat, let's go out for a catch.
[10:16] Peter's like, man, we fished all night, we didn't get anything. You know, I'm the professional fisherman, I know what I'm doing. You're just a carpenter, what are you talking about? But okay, since it's you, Jesus will do it. And then of course they catch more than they can carry.
[10:28] And remember what was Peter's response? You'd think his response was to hey, we've got some money making. His response was to fall at Jesus' feet and say, get away from me, Lord, I'm sinful.
[10:46] I shouldn't be anywhere near you. That was his response. it humbled and it broke it. And what was the end, verse 11?
[10:58] All those fishermen, after they saw that and experienced that, they left everything and followed it. That's what caused them to make that radical commitment.
[11:10] Because they saw who Jesus was. And so what we see again in verse 27, we see Levi doing the same kind of thing. But we're not told why he did it.
[11:21] We're just told Jesus said, follow me, and all of a sudden he followed me. There's something in between the lines there. So notice these are the people Jesus calls.
[11:34] Peter, a sinful man. Levi, a tax collector. So, okay, what does that mean? What is a tax? So he's Levi. That's a Jewish name.
[11:44] That means he's a Jew who's a tax collector for who? Rome. Who's Rome to the Jews? The devil. Yeah, they're the oppressor, right?
[11:58] They have not broken free since the time of Solomon. They have not been free of an outside oppressor. Okay?
[12:09] They're not free. And here is a Jewish man working for the enemy. Can you imagine? how would the other Jews feel about that?
[12:21] How do you feel about tax collectors just in general? Hey, taking my money, man. But for a Jew to be working for an enemy, to collaborate with the enemy, he's a traitor.
[12:37] And on top of that, the tax collectors had a notorious reputation for dishonesty. they were given a job by Rome to collect taxes for them.
[12:52] That's legitimate. They were told, you collect so much for whatever it is, and then you can take a percentage, that's your livelihood.
[13:06] Remember in chapter three of Luke, we had, when John the Baptist was preaching repentance, right? Repent. Remember the different people that came forward to John and said, hey, what should we do?
[13:17] What does that look like for us? And so a group of tax collectors came forward to John the Baptist and said, what does that look like for us? What does repentance look like for us? And you remember what he said? It was very simple.
[13:27] He said, don't take more than your authorized to pay. In other words, Rome says you can take this much and you can get this percentage. Don't take a penny more. Which means that's what they were doing all the time.
[13:43] They weren't taking pennies more. They were getting rich on this. We'll meet a guy named Zacchaeus later who's very rich. And we can see in this story that Levi wasn't doing too bad because he has a big enough house to have a huge crowd and throw big fees.
[13:58] This is not some like tiny little hubble. So here's the question. Here's the root of who Levi is.
[14:12] How could a Jew come to the point where he would work for the enemy? What would it take to do that?
[14:27] To be that kind of a person? What would it take? A certain grieve.
[14:41] But he had to get to a point where he didn't care. He really didn't. Because he's going to take a lot of ridicule for this. Right? He's going to be detested, spit upon.
[14:54] he had become a hardened man. Levi, a tax collector, and the Pharisees are an opposite of ends.
[15:08] Pharisees care about all of these important laws of the Old Testament. The tax collector, he isn't going to care.
[15:19] Because he's going to break them all. he's going to break the old covenant. He's going to steal. He's going to covet. He's going to bear false with?
[15:35] I don't know how many commands he's going to bear. So, here's a man who's become hardened, greedy, callous, a selfish person. And this is the person Jesus calls to follow him.
[15:49] Shocking. I get Peter. You know? He's just a guy. He's just a fisherman. He's just following Jesus.
[16:00] Okay. I mean, not the top of the class, but we find that we love him because he says some good stuff and then he's an idiot. But we learn from that, right?
[16:14] He finds another story. I mean, he's scraping the bottom of the barrel. Why pick this guy? Well, as we find in the story, Jesus is doing it intentionally.
[16:29] In fact, it's his purpose to call people like that and not people like those perfect Pharisees.
[16:41] Yeah, I love that. So, let's look at this thing. So, that's the people he seeks. let's look a little more carefully. Why does Jesus single out this tax collector?
[16:54] Well, it displays the purpose that Jesus came. Why did Jesus come? He tells us. He came not for the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance.
[17:05] repentance. And what that means is, that's his purpose. That's going to change how he does things, his program.
[17:16] It's going to bring new things. He's bringing new clothes and new wine. He's bringing a whole different way of doing things, and people aren't going to be comfortable with it.
[17:28] And in fact, it seems odd, frankly. So here's how we're going to look at it. In verses 27 and 32, we see the call of Levi, and that shows us that Jesus came to call sinners to the cure of repentance.
[17:45] Get that? Not just to repentance, but to the cure of repentance, because he comes as a doctor for the sick. And the cure for the sick is repentance.
[17:57] Isn't that odd? I did not come for the righteous, but to call sinners to repent. That will save them. That will cure them. Interesting. And then the second part of the story, verses 33 to 39, where the Pharisees are asking questions about fasting and that kind of thing, we'll see that this whole, because he's come to come for sinners, this creates a radical, it's creating radically new priorities for Jesus.
[18:31] Things are going to change. Just say that. So first, we're looking at the purpose of Christ, second, we'll look at his program. I can't find a better word, and I need to know the few words to go with the first few words.
[18:42] So I'm going with program. You can say priorities if you want, you can say agenda if you want, if you don't have to have the alliteration. Okay. So first of all, verse 27 to 32, we see Jesus calling Levi.
[18:56] And Jesus explains that he came to call sinners to the cure of repentance. Now that sounds strange, but I'll explain it in a second.
[19:07] So we see that first of all in verse 27, he calls the despised person, the irreverent person, the ungodly person, the person that really doesn't care about the things of God.
[19:21] God, how can Jesus call that person? Right? I mean, we think that's got to be the most lost person there is.
[19:33] He's not just a sinner. He don't care. In fact, he probably likes breaking the rules.
[19:44] He probably likes spitting back at the Pharisees. probably tries to get close to him so he gets nervous. So why does he call a crook?
[19:55] He calls an outlaw. Well, notice verse 27. Don't you see a word that we typically read over and miss? It says, after this, Jesus went out and what?
[20:08] Saw the tax collector. Before he called him, he saw him. And this word, saw, I look it up. There's lots of words in Greek that talk about saw, I just look upon to see something.
[20:22] This one means to give attention, to observe, to watch.
[20:34] In other words, Jesus didn't just see him, kind of another glance, you know, say, oh, on a whim, follow me. Wasn't that? He'd been watching him.
[20:45] He'd been observing him. there's something about Levi he saw. He saw something. And we know when Jesus sees something, he sees a little deeper than we typically, you know, he sees, he saw something.
[21:03] What did he see? What did he see? Did he see a man who had become dissatisfied? Did he see a man who had become discontent? he's got the riches, he's got all that, but maybe he's like the Ecclesiastes guy that says, you know, it's all vanity, it's empty.
[21:22] Maybe he saw that. I don't know. Did he see a man that had become broken and seeing a need for something else? I have a hunch that he saw some of that in Levi.
[21:35] And we see in verse 28, whatever happens here, and I understand, when Jesus says something, there's power in it, and when Jesus says something, that can change everything, and I think that's part of, he said, follow me, and in a sense, Levi had no other choice, because Jesus is speaking like he spoke in Genesis 1, let there be light, and there's light, right?
[22:00] You follow me, oh, yes, ma'am, I'm sorry, yes, sorry, I'm used to saying yes, ma'am, I'm sorry. But we can see by the party that Levi shows later, it's not against his will, it's, he's a changed myth, right?
[22:23] He embraces all. We can make some inferences, okay, in the book of Luke, because, as I mentioned in a couple of chapters ago, when Luke was telling us about John the Baptist, preaching, right?
[22:38] And, of course, he was not a popular, he was popular, but not because he made people feel good, right? He started off with, you brood of snakes, right? You're a bunch of vipers, you're about, you know, who warned you?
[22:52] It worked for him. And one of the groups was these tax collectors. You kind of wonder, what if Levi was one of those guys? I wonder if John was part of the process of starting to break him down, right?
[23:09] Could have been. We also know from the other gospels that when, by the time Luke is here in chapter 5, we get the impression this is the beginning of Jesus' ministry, but we know from the other gospels, it's been about a year already.
[23:21] He's been preaching all over the place. it seems to be a good implication that Levi's probably heard some of those teachings. He's probably been there.
[23:33] Maybe he's on the outskirts, right? He's probably heard some of those and probably seen some of the changes that he brought. Whatever, Luke doesn't tell us, he does change radically.
[23:49] So, we see he calls the despised, but then he takes it to another level, then he eats with them. He eats with sinners. Now, we think, you know, so, you gotta stand in the first century for a Jewish rabbi.
[24:06] Uh-uh. Nobody does that. Nobody does that. One, he gets invited by Levi, so that's interesting.
[24:22] He was approachable to this despicable man. Levi makes a feast. He tells us in verse 30, 20, 29, he made him a great feast.
[24:37] He made a great feast for Jesus. It's in honor of Jesus in his house and we're told that a great crowd comes. There was a large company there was a mega group, a mega crowd of tax collectors.
[24:56] Why tax collectors? That's probably the only friends that Levi had. Other tax collectors. And then Luke says, and others. I wonder who those are. Well, the Pharisees filled that in.
[25:07] Tax collectors and sinners. So there are other sinners. In other words, if you trace tax collectors through the gospels, they're associated and grouped with other people like drunks and prostitutes and, you know, tax collectors.
[25:27] They're those people. They're the people out there on the fringe that don't care about, they're not even trying to be. Okay, I don't care. That's that kind of people. Any of those here?
[25:40] Or used to be? No? You're all thirsty? I'm probably a sinner in tax collecting. I don't know. Because that's what Jesus wants.
[25:55] So, this raises a problem. Verse 30. The Pharisees who wouldn't be in the, they wouldn't be at Levi's house.
[26:07] They're probably standing outside somewhere and they see, you know, Levi go in and all the other tax collectors and they see Jesus go in there. And I don't know if the disciples go in there or not.
[26:20] They mention this to the disciples. This might be after the party. I don't know how this question came about. Verse 30. Pharisees and their scribe grumbled. Where do we hear grumbling in the Bible before?
[26:34] Anybody well known for grumbling in the Bible? Yeah. Yeah, people Israel, right? In the desert, right? Grumble, grumble, grumble. Yeah, complain, complain. So, they're complaining.
[26:45] They're corrupt. Why are you eating with tax collectors and sinners? Why are you associating with them? Why are you spending time with them?
[26:59] Why are you treating them like regular people? Why are you honoring them with your presence? Why would you do that? And they say this to the disciples, but it's Jesus who answers.
[27:15] Verse 31. 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 repent. In other words, Jesus did this on purpose.
[27:30] Why are you doing this? Because that's why I came. And he makes this connection between the sick and the sinner.
[27:44] He makes the connection between his call and a doctor. It's not those who are well, not those who are healthy that need a doctor, but the sick who need a doctor.
[27:56] Right, yeah. Well, same thing goes in spiritual things. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. What does he mean by righteous there? Righteous in what way?
[28:09] Righteous in faithfully observed and practiced the law. My righteousness. Self-righteousness. Self-righteousness. What I do, I keep these laws.
[28:24] Good for me. I got a list of rules. I check them off. That makes me feel good. I can pat myself on the back. See, I'm a good person. And we see this later in Luke when Jesus tells a parable about the two men praying.
[28:39] Remember the Pharisee and the sinner? The Pharisee's like, I'm so glad I'm not like that person. I'm so glad I'm not like that person. I do this and I do this. It's all about him.
[28:50] That's the righteousness he's talking about. I did not come for the righteous. The people that think they're okay. That think they can do it. That don't think they need any help.
[29:03] I came for the people that know desperately they need a physician. Okay? So, first of all, he talks about need.
[29:14] Right? Why did he come? Well, it's about need. It's about those that need me. And then secondly, verse 32, it's about his purpose. I only came for the sinner. For those who have a sickness that is killing them, and I brought to them a cure.
[29:32] The cure is a call to repentance. The gospel, the good news is only for sinners.
[29:43] There's no gospel, no good news for people that think they're okay. No good news. You think you're okay? No good news for you.
[29:54] No soup for you, right? No good news for you. No gospel for you. Just bad news. You're on your own. You think you're okay? No, no, no, no.
[30:06] You're okay. So, let's talk about this then. How is repenting from sin a cure? I'm calling it a cure.
[30:19] How is repenting a cure? Because repenting sounds like, I got to turn my life around. Okay, that doesn't sound any fun. I got to stop doing the fun stuff and do all this goody-goody stuff.
[30:31] That doesn't sound very fun. I mean, that was my perspective growing up. I knew I needed to repent, but it doesn't sound like a cure at all. It sounds like torture.
[30:44] So, how is it a cure? Well, listen to the way God puts it in Isaiah 55. Here's how it comes across in Isaiah 55. It says, Come, everyone who thirsts.
[30:57] Come to the waters. He who has no money, come, buy, and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Okay, that sounds good.
[31:08] Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Why are you doing that? Listen diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food.
[31:27] Stop with the junk food. Raise your expectations. Why are you settling for earthly pleasures? Go for the real pleasure.
[31:39] That's what God is saying. Why are you eating what's okay or really junk food bad for you? Why don't you eat the rich design, the banquet that God is giving you?
[31:50] That's what he's saying. In other words, it will heal you. In kind your ear, come to me, hear. Why? That your soul may live. And I will make you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
[32:04] Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you.
[32:15] In other words, here's going to come all these outsiders. Because of the Lord your God and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. seek the Lord while he may be found.
[32:28] Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord.
[32:40] Why? That he may have compassion on him. And return to our God. Why? For he will abundantly pardon. Why would he do that?
[32:55] For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my way. I do things like you do, declares the Lord. So the cure, the cure for sinners is to stop thinking, stop seeking the things that never satisfy.
[33:17] Why are we addicted to things of lesser pleasure that are so temporary? Why do we do that? That's what's natural.
[33:32] That's what's easy. And yet, every time, after we blow up, after we lust, after we fill our hearts with covetousness and never find satisfaction, after we whatever, whatever, what do we find?
[33:50] Ampiness? Sorrow? Discouragement? Why do we do it? Turn to the Lord, who has compassion and forgiveness.
[34:03] Why do we settle for a little lesser things, things that don't last, that don't satisfy, that leave us empty? What keeps us from turning to Jesus? That's the question. why wouldn't we want the best?
[34:17] So, second, so it raises another question, verse 33, raises another question. So that's why Jesus came, came to call sinners to the cure of repentance.
[34:35] But then secondly, it makes an impact on how he's going to do it. why he came affects how he will call us to live.
[34:47] Why he came will affect all of his message and teaching to us. He's going to teach stuff and teach parable and talk about the kingdom of heaven is like this, kingdom of heaven is like this.
[34:58] It's not like you think, it's totally different. He's going to preach a whole different agenda that is from the Old Testament but the Jews of the day didn't see it.
[35:12] They just didn't see it. So, let me say it this way. His program, Jesus' coming for sinners creates radically new priorities.
[35:24] Because he comes with a purpose to call sinners, that creates radically new priorities for life. So how does that come out?
[35:36] Well, let's talk about priorities. Verse 33. They say to him, right? They've already seen him eating with sinners, so we're talking about eating and drinking, so let's talk about eating and drinking.
[35:47] By the way, not only do you eat with sinners, but you're all fast. What's wrong with you guys? They say to him, the disciples of John, John the Baptist, his disciples fast.
[35:58] See? See? See? See? They didn't like John, but even John did that, so he's good. and the disciples of the Pharisees fast often, but yours?
[36:11] Eat and drink. They're just partying. They're just partying. They're just eating and drinking. What's with you? Don't you value fasting? Don't you do what righteous people do? Are you not spiritual? Don't you have enough to vote?
[36:23] How much time do you spend in your devotions? You have to spend a lot of time in devotions to be a holy person, right? Don't you? Don't you have to pray this long to be good, you know?
[36:34] Do you have a checklist for yourself, by the way? Or did somebody give you a checklist so that you know that you're okay?
[36:46] If you do this, if you do this, if you pray, if you fast, if you read the Bible this much, if you I'm not saying none of those things. I'm just saying those are the things you measure because you can check them off and go, I'm okay.
[37:01] Because I did these things. Instead of losing the value, why do I pray well? Because I don't know about me, you know, not to check off a box. Are you with me?
[37:11] Understand? This is where they're coming from. Here's the thing about fasting. If you read the Old Testament, where did the Pharisees get this idea that they regularly fasted twice a week?
[37:24] Okay? That was their rule. That's not in the Old Testament. That's some rule they had. The only command to fast in the Old Testament is once a year on the day of coming.
[37:40] Now, there was lots of fasting that went on, but that was personal choice. That was because they're mourning. That's because they're seeking God's guidance. That's the same thing in the New Testament. Fasting wasn't a rule. Jesus even said, if you do it, when you do it, then just don't show it off.
[37:57] Do it in private. Right? So, why don't you fast? Well, Jesus says, here's the difference. The difference is the presence of a groom.
[38:12] You know, can the, he asks them a question. Ask Jesus a question. What does he do? He asks you a question in the back room. Can you make wedding, get his fast while the bridegroom is with him? I mean, that's absurd.
[38:23] You go to a wedding, of course you're not going to fast, you're going to eat and drink. It's a celebration because the groom and the bride are there. What difference does it make?
[38:33] Well, then verse, so at the end of verse 34, do you do it while the bridegroom is with them? The presence of the groom makes the difference. Verse 35, the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast in those days.
[38:49] The difference is whether the groom is with them or not. Who's the groom here, by the way? Jesus is the groom. He's the groom. He's the one that, what?
[39:02] Marries the church, right? The church is the bridegroom. He came to the bridegroom. So while the groom is present, we're celebrating. We got him.
[39:14] He's with us. When he's not with us, then we feel our need to pursue prayer more intensely. Then he gets into some parables.
[39:26] So verse 38 and 37, the parable about the garments and the parable about the wine. That's self-explanatory, isn't it?
[39:37] Is it good? You good? Parables? Yes. Yeah, very easy, right? So new and old. What's new and old? Verse 36. No one, watch this, no one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment.
[39:54] Why would you never do that? Because it'll shrink. It'll shrink. But why would you take so you have a new garment, okay?
[40:05] And you have an old garment that needs some fixing. I know what I'll do. I'll rip up the new one to fix the old one. Brilliant! Right?
[40:16] That's why he says nobody would do that. That's stupid! And, to combine with that, if you did that, right, as you mentioned, it shrinks.
[40:27] It's going to tear. And what is it that's really spoiled? It's the new garment that's torn. Nobody cares about the old one.
[40:38] It's the new one that you've ruined. New is the issue. New is the priority. Okay? So that's one parable. Second parable, new wine. Okay, this one's a little different now.
[40:49] Seems a little stranger. No one puts new wine into old wineskins. Okay, again, it's just saying a fact. This is what happened. Nobody would ever put new wine into old wineskins.
[41:02] Why? Why? What happens with new wine? All of our wine experts here, right? All of our wine drinkers up there.
[41:13] don't give yourself up there. Yeah, it expands. It's got to ferment. It heats up and it expands, right? So if you put it in an old wineskin, what is it about an old wineskin?
[41:27] It's already expanded all the way that it can. So it's done. So you put new one in and it's going to blow it up. And what happens? You just ruin your new wine.
[41:39] And ruin your old wineskin. Right? So nobody would do that. That's silly. If he does, the new wine will burst in the skins and it will be spoiled and the skins will be destroyed.
[41:52] But, here's where he adds to the parallel. Okay? Now he's going to make a point. New wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
[42:05] And other fresh wineskins that haven't yet expanded. That have ruined and grown. love. That's what he's doing with new wine. I wonder what that means, right?
[42:17] What is this? So what is Jesus talking about? They've asked him about fasting. They've asked him about his priorities. Right? He asked him, why aren't you doing these things?
[42:29] He's doing what he does for a reason and intentionally. He is not good and miss here. He knows exactly what he's doing for one. two. He's saying new and old.
[42:45] Something about new and old. In other words, he's bringing something new. What's new that Jesus brings? Now, understand, at this time when he told this, I'm sure Peter and the disciples were like, I don't know what he's talking about.
[43:00] So later they're going, you've got to explain that one. I get it about wine, but what are you talking about? Why did you bring that? But what do we, we've read the rest of the story, a lot of us, so what's new?
[43:14] What does he bring that's new? A new covenant. That's huge. What else does he, it brings a lot of new things. What else? Forgiveness. Huh?
[43:25] Forgiveness. Forgiveness? But what does he call that's new? I give you a new commandment. I give you a new birth.
[43:39] You become a new creation. Paul even talks about put off the old man and put on the new man.
[43:49] New clothes? Put off the old, put on the new. Don't patch the old with the new. Don't add a little new to the old.
[43:59] You put off the old and you put on the new. And if he's talking about old covenant and new covenant, that's radical. And that's exactly what he's doing.
[44:14] That's exactly what he's doing. I bring the new in the very heart of the Passover meal. Jesus takes the cup of the, that was the cup of the old covenant, the cup of redemption and fruit slavery, and he says, now this cup is the new covenant.
[44:39] How can he do that? How can he do that? He has just changed everything. you've got to understand how radical Jesus is.
[44:54] A lot of Christians struggle with it. If he has canceled the old covenant, has he canceled the old covenant? That's probably not the right way. What does he do? He fulfills!
[45:06] He did not come to destroy! He did not dishonor, dismiss! He actually raised the bar.
[45:19] Right? You've heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. Where did we hear that, by the way? Where did we hear that? Ten commandments. What are the ten commandments?
[45:34] They are the covenant. Remember? Remember Exodus 19, read a character. The ten words are the old covenant. That's the agreement. What was written on stone, that's what you keep.
[45:46] If you keep it, you're blessed. If you break it, you're dead. Simple agreement. How'd Israel do with that? Fail, fail, fail.
[45:58] The Old Testament is proof that they failed. Here are the Pharisees going, no, we're really serious. We're really committed. We're promise keepers. Sorry. The promise keepers is a similar thing.
[46:13] Well intended. Well intended. Can't be done. Only one promise keeper. Okay? Only one promise keeper.
[46:25] As well intended as we want to keep that. And nothing wrong with saying I want to do that long. Nothing wrong. We sing, I surrender all. Do we?
[46:36] In that moment, sure. Nothing wrong. But thinking we actually can. So then he makes a statement in verse 39.
[46:56] So Noah rips up a new garment and puts it on the old. And nobody takes a new wine and puts it into the old. You just don't do that. Verse 39.
[47:07] Here's the other thing no one does. No one, after drinking the old wine, desires the new. For he says, the old's good.
[47:19] In fact, the old's better. If you drink fermented wine, you have new wine, which one do you want? You desire the new one that's not there yet?
[47:30] No. That's why she says nobody does it. Nobody wants that. Of course you want the old wine. Here's the problem. He's bringing new. He's bringing new.
[47:41] And you like the old, don't you? You like the old, don't you? You're used to the old, aren't you? You're comfortable with those rules. Aren't we? What's easier?
[47:53] Having a set of rules that we check off and say I'm good? Or walking by the spirit? Checking off.
[48:04] Well, that's easier. Now, personality types excluded. Some are more gravitated to I need a list of obsessive compulsive and I want to check those boxes.
[48:16] Right. I check boxes on my calendar all time and I don't like that. And it does make you feel good. I can't accomplish something.
[48:28] but when it comes to keeping being right with God, what makes me right with God?
[48:40] What makes me okay with God? Does making me okay with God mean, you know, I get up and I pray and I read and I do this and that and I go visit and I go, you know, I do this good deed and I come to church and I give off.
[49:01] What's your list? Because we have them. Or we grew up with them or we inherited them or we have some natural fleshly thing in us that says that will make me feel better if I do that.
[49:20] And it's a completely good thing. Right. And I think when Jesus is saying the new wine, I think he's saying in the new clothes, putting off the old, putting on the new, kind of like putting on the new.
[49:38] Is that about me doing that checklist? It's about me walking my spirit. It's about me renewing my mind. It's not about me just checking those things off.
[49:48] It's about me going through this process that sometimes is so hard. Amen. Feel about he's here to check a box.
[50:11] That have to kill this flesh. Do you have that in you? Is that still there? does it rear its head sometimes?
[50:23] If you think of the Amy Williams. Sorry. That's a good image. Get that thing. Kill it. So let's close with this.
[50:39] How do we apply this? How does this new thing that Jesus brings affect how we live? Talked about it just briefly here in terms of walking by the spirit. in Galatians 5 I think Paul addresses this very clearly.
[50:55] In Galatians Paul's talking to people that have come to Christianity out of Judaism and now they're going back to Judaism. They're going back to the way it was.
[51:06] It's kind of what they do. Christianity is not you know yeah it's kind of good. so here's what Paul says to Galatians for freedom for freedom Christ has set us free.
[51:28] Stand firm therefore and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. Look I Paul say to you that if you accept circumcision which is a legal requirement of the law if you accept that then Christ will be of no advantage to you.
[51:49] If you think you have to have circumcision in order to be okay to check that off your list then Christ is of no advantage.
[52:02] I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is up if you take that one then you're obligated to keep the whole law. If you think you have to keep part of the law then you have to keep all of it.
[52:15] You don't get to pick and choose. You don't. Paul's stepping on some toes here. Is he crossing some lines?
[52:28] Listen carefully. He says you are severed from Christ. You who would be watch this you who would be justified by the law. How are Christians justified?
[52:43] By faith and Christ alone faith alone grace alone grace alone grace alone through faith alone and grace alone that's it.
[53:04] But if you want to be justified by the law in other words if you want to be made okay because it did this deed then you he says you have fallen away from grace now you're in the law watch this now what's different for through the spirit which spirit so you got law for through the spirit by faith we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision or uncircumcision counts for anything the only thing that counts is faith working through love okay the holy spirit enables us by faith to to love others right he says you were running well who hindered you from obeying the truth this persuasion is not from him who calls you a little leaven leavens the whole love you take a little bit of the law it's going to leaven the whole thing
[54:25] I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty whoever he is but if I brothers still preach circumcision why am I being persecuted I'm being persecuted because the offense of the cross says the law has been fulfilled do you believe that or do you think you still have to keep it careful how you say I'm going to be called an antinomian but that's okay for you were called to freedom brothers only okay how much freedom is free free I don't have to worry about the law at all I don't have to worry about doing good things right you were called to freedom brothers only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh don't do that it's not about being but through love serve one another why why does he keep talking about love for the whole law is fulfilled in one word wait wait wait go back for the whole law is fulfilled in one word the whole law what word is that we don't have to guess he gives it to us you shall love your neighbor as yourself that's the whole law you believe that what about the ten commandments if you love your neighbor as yourself you fulfill the ten commandments how is that so well you're not going to covet his wife you're not going to steal you're not going to bear false witness you're not going to murder them you're right you're going to love them right well what about the other ones the ones that are about
[56:23] God what about his name right and all! you love your brother right so if you don't love your brother John says you don't love God so what Jesus is saying what Paul is saying what John says what Peter says what every one of the apostles says is that one law fulfills the rest of the law Jesus said I give you one new commandment that's all I got brothers one new commandment if you do this you're good love one another as I love you that's all I have easy right if you do that you don't have to worry about the law that's all you gotta focus on it's really simple it's not easy simple but what about shouldn't we put the ten commandments up in this place shouldn't we do that why are we gonna do that so that we can make sinners feel really guilty because that's what the law does right what's the purpose of the law the law is fully righteous and good right nothing wrong with the law what's it do for us shows me where
[58:04] I missed it it gives me guidance where the road is basically what it's showing is okay here's the road why are you over there what are you doing over there the law reveals our sin that's all it does the law condemns!
[58:24] us and now Jesus has fulfilled it so I want you to understand what Paul is saying about when Jesus says one new commandment not ten one one priority he is not dismissing and he's not dishonoring the law when he does that okay he is not he's fulfilling it because what he asks us to do still keeps that law it does not dismiss any of those laws except for tattoos and food but I'm talking about the tent so here's what it brings up the question are you are you do you have some Pharisee in you I suspect if we've been raised in church we have a little bit maybe that's been put into us well intended but
[59:30] Christians can become Pharisees is really just takes a little bit of forgetting why we're doing this does keeping the rules make you okay and what the law needs to do to us is kill us it needs to show us that we can't live up to you Christ fulfilled the law he said it came to fulfill the law he kept it he honored it he brought it to completion he earned righteousness on our behalf and he gave us his righteousness justified by faith alone in Christ the law by his righteousness and we live under a new way by the Holy Spirit we got new clothes and new life okay quit
[60:32] Bill stop okay let's do that let's pray Father thank you for our Todd thank you for this word that challenges us the us here help my words be heard within the context in which they're spoken pray in Christ's amen amen to to you to to to you to to to to!
[61:03] to me me to me to me