Thoughts of a Pastor-Historian

I can think of no more appropriate topic for the Sunday after Thanksgiving message than fasting.  In God’s providence, this is where we are this morning.  God always knows exactly what we need, doesn’t He?

In this morning’s text, the disciples of John ask Jesus the question: “Why don’t your disciples fast?”  Jesus’ answer to this question provides important insights into the nature of His New Covenant ministry.

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”  15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  16 “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  17 “Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”  Matthew 9:14-17

The Question, v. 14.
The question is asked by the disciples of John in the same context of the previous question from the Pharisees.  In verse 11, the Pharisees had asked Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  Now the disciples of John ask Jesus, “Why do your disciples eat at all?”  These two questions represent two views of holiness.  One view said that one could not eat with sinners, the other that one should not eat at all.

It is important to note that the fasting referred to by John’s disciples was not one which was commanded by the law.  Only one fast was commanded in the Mosaic law, that on the Day of Atonement.  Instead these fasting was a tradition practiced by the Pharisees, and apparently adopted by the disciples of John, of fasting two days a week: Monday and Thursday.  This was a source of pride among the Pharisees as is seen in Luke 18:12 where the Pharisee boasts of fasting twice a week in his prayer in the Temple.  It is interesting that when the early church fasted, church history informs us that they also fasted twice a week, but on Wednesdays and Fridays, in order that their fasting not be confused with the fasting of the Pharisees.

Jesus’ Answer, vv. 15-17.
Jesus’ answer was threefold.  Jesus uses three different images to explain why His disciples do not fast like the disciples of John and the Pharisees.  In so doing He reveals something of the radically new nature of His Kingdom.

The first image which Jesus uses is one which the disciples of John would have been familiar with because it was John Himself who applied the term “Bridegroom” to Jesus in John 3:29.  If Jesus is the Bridegroom, then His disciples are the “friends of the bridegroom.”  It is not fitting, says Jesus, for the friends of the bridegroom to mourn while the bridegroom is present with them.”  In employing this image, Jesus is making a startling claim to deity that we might miss if we’re not careful.  In the Old Testament, Jehovah God had used this exact same language to describe His relationship with the nation of Israel.  For example in Hosea 2:19-23, God declares to Israel:

“I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; 20  I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD.” 21 “It shall come to pass in that day That I will answer,” says the LORD; “I will answer the heavens, And they shall answer the earth. 22  The earth shall answer With grain, With new wine, And with oil; They shall answer Jezreel. 23  Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’”

Now Jesus is using this language to declare that He is the Bridegroom who will call to Himself a bride, the true Israel, made up of both believing Jews and Gentiles.

The point is then, “How can my disciples fast when this long expected promise is now being fulfilled!?!?”  The reason that the Pharisees and disciples of John fasted was because they were longing for this day when God would again show His favor to Israel.  They were mourning waiting for the day when God would restore Israel from its rebellious present state.  Jesus is declaring that with His coming that day had now arrived!

But Jesus also says that there are days coming when His disciples will fast.  Those days are when their bridegroom is taken from them.  Some scholars understand this to refer to the three day period when Christ is taken from His disciples in death between the cross and resurrection.  But the early church apparently understood this to refer to the time after Christ ascended and before He comes again (Cf. Acts 13:3; 14:23; and 27:9).  This is the period in which we are now living.  This is a time for fasting, but not like the Pharisees and disciples of John.  Instead we are to fast as those who know that the Bridegroom has come and long for His coming again.  The Pharisees and disciples of John fasted in mourning because they didn’t believe that God’s promise had yet been fulfilled.  As New Covenant Believers, we fast because we do believe that God’s promise has been fulfilled and we are longing expectantly for those promises to be fully consummated at our Lord’s return!

Jesus now gives two more illustrations of the difference between the fasting of the Pharisees and His disciples by showing the radical difference between the Old and New Covenants.

In these two illustrations, Jesus goes to the heart of the question posed by the Pharisees and the disciples of John.  Their question about fasting assumed that Jesus’ teaching and ministry was only a slight alteration, or a patch upon the existing system of Judaism.  Jesus, however, informs them that fasting is different for His disciples precisely because with His coming into the world something completely new has come.  You cannot just pour the content of the New Covenant into the form of the Old Covenant.  Yes, there will be fasting, but it is a different kind of fasting.

• Elaborate on the illustration of the new patch on old clothing in v. 16.
• Elaborate on the illustration of the new wine in old wineskins in v. 17.

We could add a number of contemporary illustrations of this. The painting of an old building, remodeling, etc. The age of technology yields several good examples.  I.E., computer upgrades.

This is what the writer of Hebrews 8:13 means when he writes regarding the use of the adjective “new” to modify the word “covenant”:

In that He says, “A NEW COVENANT,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Jesus did not come to put a new coat of paint on an old building, but to build a new building.  You can’t force me and my disciples into the same old categories of the old system.

This has numerous implications for our New Covenant worship.  There are similarities but key differences in the worship of the New Covenant.  New Covenant Baptism is different from the baptism of Gentile Proselytes.  The New Covenant day of worship is different than the Old Covenant day of worship.

What are the applications for us today?  We fast . . . because we live between the two comings of Christ.  But we don’t fast like the Pharisees and disciples of John did in Jesus’ day.  Nor do we fast like modern day Jews, Muslims, Mormons, or any other false religion.  We fast because we believe that the King who is our Bridegroom has come to inaugurate His kingdom and we eagerly anticipate His coming again to consummate that same kingdom.  In other words we fast with the words of the apostle John from Revelation 22:20 in response to Jesus’ promise to return quickly on our lips: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

Filed under: Expositions, Matthew | 4 Comments »

This is the time of the year when ladies begin to exchange recipes for dishes for their Thanksgiving meal. Ladies’ magazines devote entire issues to the subject. In this morning’s text, there is an unfailing recipe for thanksgiving.

This week many will gather around dining room tables with their families to celebrate Thanksgiving. In this morning’s text Jesus is gathered around a table, not of His own family, but a table full of tax collectors and sinners. But Jesus’ presence at this table of tax collectors transforms it into a table of thanksgiving.

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. (10) Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. (11) And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (12) When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. (13) But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE MERCY AND NOT SACRIFICE.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Matthew 9:9-13

The context of this story is the calling of the tax collector, Matthew, in verse 9. This is the Gospel of Matthew author’s own account of his calling by Jesus. Matthew was a tax collector. This was one of the worst professions imaginable in the eyes of the Jews. A tax collector was one who, though a Jew himself, collected taxes from his fellow Jews on behalf of the Romans. In addition, to charging the Roman’s tax, he would also charge an extra fee for himself, all under the authority of the Roman government. As you can imagine, he was not a popular man. For these reasons tax collectors were social outcasts who would not be considered “good company” for decent folk. They were ostracized by society.

But in verse 10 we see Jesus sitting at a table in a house with tax collectors and sinners. According to the parallel account in Luke 5:29, this meal event occurred in Matthew’s own house and the scene was a party which he has thrown apparently to introduce his friends to Jesus. Matthew’s first action after beginning to follow Jesus was to throw a party and invite all his friends to meet his Lord. This is a good example for us. When’s the last time you invited friends, family, neighbors, or co-workers over for a meal at your house in order to introduce them to Jesus? Have you ever taken anyone out for a meal, bought their lunch, in order to tell them about Jesus? We need to develop a Matthew ministry!

But not only do we see the crowd around the table, we also see the critics outside the house in verse 11. Nothing was done in secret in the ancient world. Ideas of privacy which we are accustomed to were not present in that day. Open windows and doors were the order of the day. Apparently word had gotten around that Jesus was in a tax collector’s house. A crowd of critics gathered outside and were shocked to see Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. One of them gets the attention of one of Jesus’ disciples and asks the question, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” These Pharisees would never expect such an action from one of their own esteemed Rabbis. It would have made them ceremonially unclean to associate with such sinners. But just as in His previous encounters with diseases, Jesus does not fear contamination. He cannot be contaminated by contact with sinners. Sinners can only be cleansed by contact with Him!

Here we see a clear contrast in the views of Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees see sinners as contaminated and worthy of condemnation. Jesus sees sinners as needy and as candidates for forgiveness. Which of these views best represents your view of sinners? I confess that many times I have the view of the Pharisees when I see the poor, the homeless, the alcoholic, the drug addict, the homosexual, the AIDS victim. We need to see these people like Jesus does, not like the Pharisees.

Jesus heard what the Pharisees had said to His disciples and replied in verse 12, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Jesus is identifying Himself as the Great Physician of the ultimate sickness: sin. In other words, Jesus is saying that if you consider these people to be broken, it is fitting that I be among those who are broken people, not among the perfect people. Jesus is not implying that the Pharisees are well. They are sinners just like the rest of humanity. The problem with the Pharisees is that they are sick and don’t know it. They are like those of whom Christ speaks of in Revelation 3:17 who say, “‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’- and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” This is the condition of much of the world today. They are sick and don’t know it. It’s bad to be sick, but it is worse to be sick and not know it! Because then the sickness will never be treated. People who don’t realize that they are sinners will never call out to a Savior. This is why we must be faithful to declare that the Bible teaches that all humans are sinners before a holy God. Only when they know this will they call out to God for deliverance.

Jesus goes on in verse 13 to confront the Pharisees with a Rabbinic formula: “Go and learn”. This verse shows that Jesus does not consider the Pharisees to be well, but in need themselves of understanding and salvation. Jesus tells the Pharisees to “go and learn” Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” As one commentator put it, “Jesus’ ministry to the ceremonially unacceptable is an act of mercy, and this pleases God more than the Pharisees’ fastidious attention to sacrificial offerings.” (Mounce, 84). These Pharisees were guilty of what Jesus pronounces a woe upon them for in Matthew 23:23-24.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. (24) Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

God values merciful acts over legalistic rigor. So many times we turn our nose up at people we know to be in sin. We say, “That’s not right!” And we are correct in our assessment. But we need to reach out a hand of help instead of pointing a finger of condemnation. I’m not talking about enabling people to continue in their sin, but rather reaching out to them with the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m talking about rescuing the perishing and caring for the dying because Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save! We want to see people saved as long as they look and smell just like us. But we need to be willing to reach the undesirables, the people which no other church is willing to reach.

Jesus’ last words in this context are a powerful description of His purpose in coming into the world. He first states His reason for coming in negative terms, then in positive. He did not come to call the righteous. This is directed at the Pharisees who consider themselves to be righteous and to have no need of a Savior. The problem is that if you consider yourself to be righteous, then you have shut yourself off from the benefits of the Messiah who came to call sinners to repentance. This purpose statement echoes the words of the angel to Joseph announcing the birth of Jesus in Matthew 1:21, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” Jesus said in Matthew 20:28, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” This is Jesus’ own self-understanding of why He came into the world. As the apostle Paul stated his own understanding and experience of the coming of Christ into the world in 1 Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” When people come to understand themselves as sinners and Christ as the Savior of sinners then they are ready, then they have a recipe for true thanksgiving. John Newton said that he knew two things, “I am a great sinner and Jesus is a great Savior.” Knowledge of these two things will produce the appropriate response of thanksgiving.

Likewise, I believe that those tax collectors and sinners who had come to understand why Jesus had come were transformed from sinners to saints. This table of tax collectors and sinners was transformed into a table of thanksgiving.
This table scene reminds me of another table to which all believers are invited to come. Last week we celebrated the Lord’s Supper. This is also a table of sinners saved by God’s amazing grace. This table looks forward to another table, where Christ will drink again of the fruit of the vine in His coming kingdom. There once again will be a table with Jesus and tax collectors and sinners of all kinds. Sinners like you and me. That will be a table of thanksgiving!

What do we learn from this text?
1. God Values Merciful Acts over Legalistic Rigor.
2. Christ Receiveth Sinful Men.

Sinners Jesus will receive;
Sound this word of grace to all
Who the heavenly pathway leave,
All who linger, all who fall.

Sing it o’er and over again;
Christ receiveth sinful men;
Make the message clear and plain:
Christ receiveth sinful men.

Come, and He will give you rest;
Trust Him, for His Word is plain;
He will take the sinfulest;
Christ receiveth sinful men.

Now my heart condemns me not,
Pure before the law I stand;
He who cleansed me from all spot,
Satisfied its last demand.

Christ receiveth sinful men,
Even me with all my sin;
Purged from every spot and stain,
Heaven with Him I enter in.

This is a cause of thanksgiving! Are you looking for a good recipe for thanksgiving? Then, consider yourself as an undeserving sinner and consider the greatness of the mercy of the Savior. This is an unfailing recipe for thanksgiving!

Filed under: Expositions, Matthew | Leave a Comment »

In yesterday’s Morning Worship we observed A Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church sponsored by the Voice of the Martyrs ministry. This sermon refers to a video which we watched at the beginning of the service showing the testimony of a young woman persecuted for her faith. For more information and to watch the video click here.

What does it mean to follow Jesus? We usually seem to interpret following Jesus in terms of moving to a particular location or taking a certain job. But Jesus is very clear about what it means to follow him. In this morning’s text we see the call issued to the author of this gospel, Matthew.

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Matthew 9:9

The Call of Matthew
Here we have the first mention of the author of the Gospel of Matthew. He recounts his call by Jesus in the third person. This was a common practice of the day. For example, John doesn’t refer to himself at all by name in his gospel.

In this account we see Matthew’s humility in identifying himself as a “tax collector”. This was the worse thing you could be in the eyes of the Jews. A tax collector was one who, though a Jew himself, collected taxes from his fellow Jews on behalf of the Romans. As you can imagine, he was not a popular man. We get an idea of the stigma of being a tax collector in that day in the next two verses (10-11). They were ostracized, identified with sinners, and Jesus’ eating with them was a cause of stumbling to the elite Jews. But Matthew tells us his background in order that we might understand the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who reaches out to the outcasts of society. No one who society looks down upon is too low for Jesus to reach out to them!

Matthew’s custom station was probably located on the edge of the Sea of Galilee where commercial ships would arrive and Matthew would collect the custom duties from them.

The calling of Matthew is also recorded in Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27-28, but they both call the disciple “Levi”. It was common for first century Jews to have two or three names.  Here Matthew uses the name with which he becomes known for later, otherwise we would have the Gospel of Levi.

Notice that Matthew’s obedience to Jesus’ call was immediate. Luke adds the detail that Matthew “left all” to follow Jesus. Again we see Matthew’s humility in not stating his own personal cost in following Jesus.
In this text we are only given the curt command by Jesus, “Follow Me.” All of what this means is not fleshed out in this context. But the other uses of this phrase in the gospels makes it clear what all is implied by these words.

Following Jesus is Not Optional for the Christian
First, let me say that following Jesus is not optional for the Christian. Some teach and others apparently believe that it is possible to be a Christian and not be a follower of Jesus. In other words, they can profess Jesus as their Savior but not obey Him as their Lord. This idea is foreign to the New Testament. Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Who follows Jesus? Those sheep which are known by the Jesus and who hear His voice. The next verse says, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” The only ones who can claim the promise of eternal security are those who are following Jesus. This is not a promise for mere professors of Jesus, but for His followers. Following Jesus is not optional for Christ’s sheep.

Following Jesus is Costly
The call to follow Jesus is costly. One must be willing to forsake all to follow Jesus! We saw in Matthew 8:22 Jesus’ response to the man who pledged to follow Jesus, but with an exception. “But Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.’”

When Jesus called the two pairs of brothers: Peter and Andrew and James and John, they understood that they were to forsake all.

Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. (21) Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, (22) and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. Matthew 4:19-22

This was also the experience of Matthew according to Luke 5:27-28 who records that when called by Jesus, Matthew “left all.”

Likewise Jesus told the Rich Young Ruler who came to Him asking what good thing he could do to inherit eternal life:

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Matthew 19:21

But not only is it costly materially to follow Jesus, it can also cost you your life. This is what our brothers and sisters in the persecuted church around the world already know. It is costing them something to follow Jesus. They are shedding their blood for the privilege of following Jesus. According to the teaching of Jesus, this is to be expected.

Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 16:24,

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

What does it mean to take up one’s cross? It doesn’t mean to wear a golden cross on a necklace or as a lapel pin. It means to take up an instrument of death and carry it with you to the place of execution. As the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer commented, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” Bonhoeffer was killed for his attempts to resist the Nazism of his day. Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart!

Are you a follower of Jesus? Are you willing to follow Jesus now that you know what it means? There are many professing Christians who have been sold a false bill of goods. Come to Jesus, the preachers say, and everything will be hunky-doory. You’ll get everything that you get when you play country music backwards: your wife back, your truck back, and your dog back. That’s not what Jesus is offering. Instead Jesus is offering hardship and death. Jesus is calling for absolute submission to His kingly authority, and nothing less.

We have trouble understanding this in America. But our brothers and sisters around the world who are being persecuted have no problem at all understanding the words of Jesus.

We need to be prepared for this type of persecution when it comes. I said when, not if, it comes. Persecution is coming. Maybe not in my lifetime, but soon. And if we keep preaching the same old cotton candy gospel, our children and grandchildren are not going to be prepared to stand in the day of trouble. I want our children and grandchildren to stand firm in the hour of persecution like we saw our sister today.

We need to pray for those who are being persecuted. Hebrews 13:3,

Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.

Filed under: Expositions, Matthew | 3 Comments »