Jesus’ Teaching on the Old and New
Jesus’ Teaching on the Old and New
”And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will spill, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine should be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”
We are told this is a parable! So we know Jesus is not talking about old and new garments and wineskins. So what is he talking about? Let’s look at the beginning of His conversation with friends of Matthew, Levi.
”Then they said to Him, “John’s disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but Yours eat and drink.”
Jesus said to them, “You can’t make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you? But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them — then they will fast in those days.”
Jesus is talking about a time when He, the groom, will be taken away and then His disciples will fast. The Pharisees and John are operating in the old covenant while Jesus is bringing about a new covenant in which the old does not fit and in which does not fit in the old.
We as Christians do not have to obey the animal sacrifices that the Jews still have to atone for their sins. Jesus did it all on Calvary. So now how much of the Old Testament laws do we have to obey? Do we still have to observe the three festivals that God commanded? I want to say no. But I think that is not a good enough answer. We celebrate Passover or the Festival of Unleavened Bread as Easter or Resurrection Sunday and Pentecost. We are looking forward the the festival of weeks when Jesus is done harvesting people (Matthew 13:30 HCSB). We are looking forward to the festival of Booths when God is done pouring out his wrath on the earth (Revelation 14:19-20 HCSB). If you want to follow the customs of the Jews in these three festivals go ahead just know that all three of these festivals point to Jesus and the worship of God. But I would caution you to make sure these don’t become legalistic for you.
As for the laws if it does not have anything to do with blood sacrifice yes they should be obeyed. As I see it, there are two types of laws, maybe three. We have spiritual laws of blood sacrifice, which Jesus took care of. We have moral laws that tell us how to act with good morals. The foundation is the Ten Commandments. Which can be summed down to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And to love your neighbor as you would love yourself. And the last set of laws is cultural. These are the laws that make one nation or group of people different from another. These laws may not be binding for us today (Deuteronomy 22:3, 9-12 HCSB). For me, these laws are few and far between. I would say that 70-80% are to obeyed. 10-15% are blood sacrifice. And the rest are cultural. When in doubt ask God if they are to be obeyed in our new covenant! And He will properly direct you. For even the timing of Passover was delayed for those who were unclean at the proper time of Passover.
” Tell the Israelites: When any one of you or your descendants is unclean because of a corpse or is on a distant journey, he may still observe the Passover to the Lord. Such people are to observe it in the second month, on the fourteenth day at twilight. They are to eat the animal with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; they may not leave any of it until morning or break any of its bones. They must observe the Passover according to all its statutes.“
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