Jesus: Our New Way of Life

Luke 5:33-39 – Jesus: Our New Way of Life

Today, we will be looking at Luke 5:33-38 where Jesus responds to a comment about his disciples with a picture and two parables.

To provide background for today’s text, Jesus is the Savior of the world who just proved through two different situations that not only does he have the authority to forgive sin, but he came to earth to forgive sinners and calls them to be with him on his mission.

Imagine showing up to a formal party in old, tattered clothes instead of nice, new clothes. Most people are content to live in the consequences of wearing their old, tattered clothes and doing things on their own. If this resonates with you at all, you will want to listen closely.

Luke 5:33-39

And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests 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.” 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. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’ ”

Some people thrive the most when they are doing and trying new things (at least in some areas). Others thrive the best when things are consistent and done the tried and true “old good” way. Keeping with the “old good” way is fine when it is not tattered and broken. But when that way is broken and tattered, it isn’t good, in fact, it needs replaced.

What I want us to see today is that Jesus invites us to experience an entirely new life. Jesus doesn’t just invite us into an improved, somewhat better life, but a totally NEW life.

Our story starts off with a statement from “they” in verse 33, which is probably the crowd. They are wondering why Jesus’ disciples aren’t doing what John’s and the Pharisee’s disciples do. Why aren’t they doing things the old way: fasting often and offering prayers? Many Jews fasted twice a week to express their devotion to God and would pray three times a day. They thought this would speed up God rescuing them from Roman occupation. But Jesus’ disciples were doing something new, something radically different…eating and drinking with sinners, not the old way of avoiding them at all costs.

In verses 34-35, Jesus responds by likening new life in him to how one should behave at a wedding party. You see, according to the Pharisees, no one was allowed to fast during the seven days of feasting that surrounded a wedding. Everybody was to try and bring joy to the bride and groom.

Jesus’ disciples weren’t fasting and praying to be rescued from Rome; they were acting like they were at a wedding. This wasn’t what the Pharisees expected.

Imagine being a best man or the maid of honor at a wedding, sitting right in the center of the banquet, and refusing to eat any of the food because you were sad. How could you be sad at the presence of the bridegroom or bride on this occasion?

John the Baptist spoke of Jesus as the bridegroom. So, Jesus picks up on this, claiming to be the fulfillment of all of God’s promises, the reason and fulfillment of fasting because he is their redemption.

In Isaiah 54:4–8; 62:5 and Ezekiel 16:7ff, God is set forth as the bridegroom. Jesus is claiming to be the bridegroom, God. His presence is the reason to rejoice. God, Immanuel, has come to be with His people. The disciples don’t need to fast and pray because God is there; they are eating with him and talking to him face to face.

When Jesus says they will fast later, he gives a hint about his mission to seek and save sinners through his completed work.

In verse 36, Jesus stresses the radical difference between the new life he brings and the results of life without him.

Imagine with me that you have a favorite shirt or pair of pants that you have had forever. It is your go-to pair of pants for comfort. But one day, you see a hole in the knee. So, you take a brand new, unwashed pair, cut some fabric out, sew it on, and wear it. The next time you wash it, the new material will shrink and cause a rip worse than the first.

You see, the new and old just don’t mix. Jesus explains that they are trying to combine their old way of thinking about the kingdom of God with the new way that he is ushering in.

Jesus’ kingdom has come to offer salvation to all and bring about kingdom hearts that will impact the world, not kingdom swords that will wipe out sinners. The Pharisees were expecting Jesus to do this. They were mixing old and new fabric. Jesus, the new cloth, would rip their old clothes if they tried to make his “new to them” message fit their old interpretation. In the process, the new life he offered would be ruined.

Jesus did not come to defeat the super-powers of this world, but the power of evil in our hearts and lives, and the ultimate super-power, death, and hell. Jesus came to make us completely new and change everything.

In verses 37-39, Jesus concludes by illustrating that the new life he gives won’t fit into their old ways of thinking and acting.

When wine was fermenting in Jesus's time, the containers used would expand, weakening them. If you reused these weakened containers, they would burst or tear, ruining the container and losing the wine.

What Jesus is bringing about can’t fit into the old, earthly-focused way of thinking. You can’t have old traditions and the new freedom found in Jesus. Jesus’ kingdom ministry could not fit in the ways of thinking of the present-day Jews. They must think different…bigger, the nations. They must act different… seek lost sinners.

Jesus has brought a new and better wine to the party (John 2:1-11) that can’t be mixed with the old wine. Like verse 39 says, we can’t imagine that Jesus’ new wine is better, we say the “old is good.” His life and death for us is the better wine that was perfected by the hand of the Creator. It can’t be mixed with our own ideas of how to please God.

Like the people of Jesus’ day, many of us don’t want to leave our old ways to follow Jesus’ new way. We think, “We just need a little patch-up,” adding a little Jesus, or we say, “Our old way is better.” We don’t see that Jesus’ new way is better and isn’t compatible with our old way.

We tend to think of Jesus' offer of newness as a patch.

When we are struggling with an addiction or coping mechanism, like one I have used, playing video games, we see the problem and try to patch ourselves up. Oh, well, I’ll just play a little in the evenings and stop in the morning. We try to solve it on the surface and not at the heart. My problem isn’t that I need to cut my playing down, but that I am playing because I am overwhelmed, scarred, or don’t know what to do in a current life situation.

My problem is that I am depending on myself. I’m expecting that I can solve the problem on my own. I can work up the courage on my own. I can figure out the situation on my own. There is a sense that wanting to do things on our own is natural, like growing up. But, as people, we don’t like help; we don’t want to admit we are inadequate. We don’t want to be dependent.

This problem of depending on our old ways, the ways of self, and not exclusively on Jesus and his new way can be seen in all people. Whether Christian people, generally religious people, spiritual people, people ambivalent toward God, or people that are opposed to God, every person has a natural tendency to depend upon themselves and their old ways. All those outside of Christianity ultimately rely upon themselves, their knowledge, their lack of experience, or their own religious works. Those in Christianity can also rely upon themselves.

Every person, however, has to deal with the question of God’s party at the end of time. How will they be dressed?

Some don’t even dress up at all. Others don’t believe there is a party. Others try to take their own old and dirty clothes to the party. Others know their clothes aren’t good enough for the party so they wait outside. Others try to patch their own old clothes for the party by adding a little Jesus patch to their works. Others brag about the clothes they got from Jesus to others. And others wear Jesus’ clothes but add little patches as they experience pain and difficulty.

We all have a tendency to rely upon self and our old ways. In offering a new life, Jesus provides more than a patch.

The eternal Son of God, God himself, did not come to earth because we needed a pick me up or a patch. Jesus did not take on flesh to be an add-on to our mostly good works. Jesus lived and died to not only pay for our sins, but to clothe us with his righteousness. As we read in Zechariah 3:3-5a, “Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Remove the filthy garments from him.’ And to him he said, ‘Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.’ And I said, ‘Let them put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments.”

Our sin, transgression, and iniquity must be put on Christ. Christ cannot be combined with anything of our own. We read in Colossians 1 that Christ must be preeminent, first place, in all things. All things include our initial salvation, our growth in righteousness, and really everything. Christ + anything else = nothing. Christ is everything.

Jesus is our true bridegroom. Jesus is our feast. Jesus is our spotless, new clothing for the feast. Jesus is the container for the wine. Jesus is the best wine. Jesus will not allow himself to be combined with anything else.

When he rose from the dead, he received the gift of the Holy Spirit, which he pours out upon us so that we might live a new and complete life in him.

If we try to combine Christ with our old ways of self-reliance, we miss not only Christ himself but the entire picture of his humanity, which was dependence and reliance upon God.

Jesus calls us to rely upon him and not mix anything at all with him. He demands and requires our full reliance and dependence upon him. We are not to mix our works, our righteousness, or any of our old ways. He is our exclusive Lord and Master.

Jesus’ entire life of dependence upon God, his unwillingness to live in his own power and strength, and his submission to the will of God (which included his own will), shows us that we must not try to add anything to our own life. We should not live in the old ways of depending and relying upon ourselves. Our wills should be lived in submission to God, like Jesus’ prayer, saying, “Your kingdom come, your will be done.” and “Not my will but yours.”

The reality of his life and death, so we might be saved, should drive us to repent of our sin of self-reliance, of adding anything to Christ, turning from this self-reliance to relying only on Jesus for all things regarding life and godliness.

Jesus calls all those who are weary and burdened with the heavy loads of self-dependence and self-reliance to turn to him in faith and repentance to find rest in him. When we do he will pour his Spirit upon us and allow us to live in the reality of our union with him as children of God.

How freeing is it to know that the God of the universe came to earth, took on sinful flesh, without himself sinning, so that we might live a life clothed in Jesus’ perfect righteousness and depending upon his guaranteed perfection for our standing with God.

So what is the appropriate response for such a great gift as a new life clothed in Christ’s perfection?

When we receive our new wardrobe from Jesus, we are empowered by the Spirit to actually live the new life. This life is a life of dependence in prayer and fellowship with him.

The disciples had Jesus, God himself, present with them. Though Jesus did teach them to pray and ask them to pray for him, there is a very real sense that in talking with him, and his very person next to them, they were doing the thing which prayer is, communing with God.

One of the things that Jesus has done for everyone who trusts in him is give us the gift of his Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit, both Jesus and the Father are present with us.

One of the things that the Holy Spirit does is give us a spirit of prayer. He causes our hearts to cry out “Abba” or “Dearest” “Father”. Being redeemed by Christ means that he is our all and he is in us all. We are to live out that reality by living a life of prayer and fellowship with him.

Prayer is admitting that we can’t do life on our own. How does this look? Give a few examples of stopping and praying. It means turning to God and always practicing his presence and your dependence upon him.

If you don’t know Jesus and are tired of trying to depend upon yourself and all the old ways of doing things that never work, turn to Jesus now and admit your inadequacy, your sin, your failures, and your need of him. Give him your life and submit yourself to his rule and his new way of life. Embrace Jesus’ free offer of the Gospel as he said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” This is true, you can give up your self-righteousness, and self-empowered life and find rest in Jesus who did it all for you to know God’s forgiveness and love.

In the Philippines the driver of a wagon was on his way to market when he overtook an old man carrying a heavy load. Taking compassion on him, the driver invited the old man to ride in the wagon. Gratefully, the old man accepted.

After a few minutes, the driver turned to see how the man was doing. To his surprise, he found him still straining under the heavy weight, for he had not taken the burden off his shoulders.

If you haven’t trusted in Christ, receive the rest of Christ by getting on the wagon and taking off your old load of self-reliance.

If you do trust in Christ, receive the rest of Christ by staying on the wagon and taking off your load of self-reliance.

Christ offers rest to all who will trust him and his new life completely instead of hanging onto the old way of self-reliance.