A dynamic tension has always existed between change and tradition. Traditionalists like to chant, "if it ain't broke don't fix it", while so-called progressives would sweep away the old for the "new and improved".
Much of Jesus' earthly ministry was characterized by clashes with the rigid traditionalist religious leaders of the day. Sabbath healings, association with "sinners", and fasting were but a few of the issues of controversy. Ultimately, Jesus framed the clashes with two simple illustrations:
"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins." (Mark 2:1-2)
The illustrations seem simple enough but the application seems less than clear. New patches are for new garments, and new wine for new wineskins. Mixing the new with the old will always result in loss and disaster? Tradition and progress inevitably butt heads?
Perhaps the point that Jesus is most trying to make is that He does not neatly fit into rigid systems called religion. He is the proverbial square peg that will not fit in the round hole. He is far more radical than the existing system and expectations.
If Jesus is the centerpiece of all God's plans and purposes (Colossians 1:16,17), then the exact opposite of the religious leaders' expectations is true - all must conform to Him rather than the other way around.
Jesus isn't the radical progressive who came to throw away all tradition; He is abundantly clear on the subject - "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17). The real issue with Jesus is His preeminence - "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." (Matthew 16:24).
Jesus doesn't fit neatly into our lives and our expectations; He came to reshape them and conform everything to Him. And that's the adventure of following the King of the Kingdom - we must allow our lives, priorities, families, jobs - everything - to conform to Him rather than the other way around. He did not come to patch up the old garment but instead to give us a brand new one. He is also trading in our old rigid wineskin for for a flexible new one, and filling it with new wine.
I'm lifting my glass as I write today and inviting you join me in a toast to the King who is filling it with the finest new wine the world has ever seen. May its intoxicating richness fill you life today.
Steve
Much of Jesus' earthly ministry was characterized by clashes with the rigid traditionalist religious leaders of the day. Sabbath healings, association with "sinners", and fasting were but a few of the issues of controversy. Ultimately, Jesus framed the clashes with two simple illustrations:
"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins." (Mark 2:1-2)
The illustrations seem simple enough but the application seems less than clear. New patches are for new garments, and new wine for new wineskins. Mixing the new with the old will always result in loss and disaster? Tradition and progress inevitably butt heads?
Perhaps the point that Jesus is most trying to make is that He does not neatly fit into rigid systems called religion. He is the proverbial square peg that will not fit in the round hole. He is far more radical than the existing system and expectations.
If Jesus is the centerpiece of all God's plans and purposes (Colossians 1:16,17), then the exact opposite of the religious leaders' expectations is true - all must conform to Him rather than the other way around.
Jesus isn't the radical progressive who came to throw away all tradition; He is abundantly clear on the subject - "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17). The real issue with Jesus is His preeminence - "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." (Matthew 16:24).
Jesus doesn't fit neatly into our lives and our expectations; He came to reshape them and conform everything to Him. And that's the adventure of following the King of the Kingdom - we must allow our lives, priorities, families, jobs - everything - to conform to Him rather than the other way around. He did not come to patch up the old garment but instead to give us a brand new one. He is also trading in our old rigid wineskin for for a flexible new one, and filling it with new wine.
I'm lifting my glass as I write today and inviting you join me in a toast to the King who is filling it with the finest new wine the world has ever seen. May its intoxicating richness fill you life today.
Steve
posted by steve @ 7:30 AM
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