Well, again, we are in Matthew's gospel, and again we come to another searching question concerning the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ and his disciples.

Last time, the searching question came from the Pharisees. They asked Jesus' disciples about the company our Lord chose so often to keep: sinners, tax collectors, outcasts in their estimation; the kind of people a rabbi such as Jesus should never associate with, never be seen with, in the eyes of a Pharisee if at all he desired to advance a religious career in Israel at this time.

So each time a confrontation takes place in the gospels, the more we learn about Jesus' lack of conformity to Judaism's religious norms and the tragic atmosphere into which Jesus' ministry was introduced.

So every time they watched Jesus, heard Jesus, or interacted with Jesus, the underlying questioning and criticism of him was: why are you not more like us?

And this is essentially what we find again this morning in this next section in Matthew. A question to Jesus directly this time: Jesus, why are those who follow you not like us?

So the question concerning lack of observance to the Jewish fasting traditions becomes the occasion for a short string of parables by our Lord Jesus. These parables, underhandedly, show that this question of traditions, or rather their concern, is misinformed and worse shows them utterly ignorant of who Jesus.

For if they had known that their Messiah was here; that God had come to Israel; that there would surely not be a time of soberness and fasting, but rather a time of national celebration, of feasting and of rejoicing.

So how the apostle John's words are haunting here in this light. John 1:11 says, "He came to his own and those who were his own did not receive him."

They did not understand the Lord Jesus.

And this morning, Jesus casts light on the fact that the religion of the Jews; the way in which they were led by the Pharisees, called by Christ false shepherds; was about to be completely overturned.

A sword was about to divide the nation of Israel: the sword of the gospel. And as Simeon said at the circumcision of Jesus as an infant in Luke 2:35 onwards, "that thoughts from many hearts might be revealed," Israel and Judaism is about to be overturned by the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So were the Jews willing? Were they able to recognise the new wine of the kingdom of heaven that was being poured out by God before them with the presence of Jesus Christ?

Or would they concern themselves with fasts while Christ, the bridegroom of the church, was in their midst?

A Question On Fasting

And so, first of all, looking at verse fourteen, consider with me this first heading: a question on fasting.

The curious detail to first note here is from whom the question comes. It comes not from Pharisees, not from Sadducees, not from Essenes or any sect of the Jews, but it comes from the disciples of John the Baptist.

Of course, you'll know that John the Baptist was a prophet of the old covenant order. He was a forerunner of the Messiah. His role was to prepare the spiritual soil for the Messiah through a prophetic call to national repentance.

His role was to defer entirely to Jesus. John said of Jesus in John 1:34, "I myself have seen and have testified that this is the son of God."

But John is likely at this stage in prison, and his disciples are still in society at large. And John will not leave prison. He will be beheaded and die there. A good reminder that losing one's life for God's kingdom is never out of the question for all who come by this narrow way.

So a contingent of those who had followed John's ministry are now in the presence of Christ. And we do not know whether they yet understand who Christ really is; that this is the one that John himself deferred to and whom they need to follow. But here they are, and they have a searching question: a question on fasting.

Why fasting? It always seems a strange thing to bring up. Fasting was widely and frequently practised by the Jews. They associated it with seeking divine favour as an act of devotion to God. Their thinking was that through fasting, one could prevent sin and purify the soul, subdue normal bodily desires such as hunger, and thus liberate the spiritual man on the inside. One commentator said here, "The belief that access to God requires strengthening the soul by weakening the body."

So they ask: why do your disciples not fast? We're fasting. Why not they? We fast. The Pharisees fast. Any religious Jew right now is fasting, Jesus, and you're here with your disciples in party mode, eating, drinking, being joyful while the rest of us are seeking God with sober hearts. That's their question.

It is almost as Jesus will later say in Matthew 11, "The son of man came eating and drinking and they say, behold a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners."

Now remember too that the Pharisees used to boast in their fasting. Remember that parable Jesus gave in Luke 18. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: "God, I thank you that I'm not like other people, swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all I get."

This practice of fasting took place twice a week, every Monday and every Thursday, sometimes even more on other occasions. But one critical point we need to know is this: the law of God did not prescribe such fasts.

These were additions to what was given in the law of God. These were the traditions of men. And this quite sums up the pharisaical Judaism of the day, practised as part of Jewish religious devotion, but not prescribed by God at all. The only fast prescribed to the Jews by law was once a year on the day of atonement.

So they come to Jesus: why are you and your disciples not like us? This is what we all do as Jews and here you are as a rabbi not bothering about these fasts. Why? The point is that if Jesus was a rabbi and teacher from God, he would be doing all of these religious things that the people were doing. That was the assumption.

Now perhaps their question is genuine and not a criticism, but the point is they were about to learn that devotion to the cause of fasting is no marker of a person's spiritual condition. Recognising and knowing Jesus is a true marker of spiritual maturity and condition.

Friends, we need to be careful how we perceive religious appearances in our own lives. Be wary of religious exteriors and structures.

Remember that there were no more religious or zealous persons who ever did live than a Jewish Pharisee. But of them, Jesus said in Matthew 23, "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness."

The application is very simple. It is our Christian duty to credit the practice of true religion not by what can be seen or what we can perceive as a great religious sincerity in people, but rather by gospel fidelity.

I'll say it in a different way: only ever state the presence of true religion where there is a corresponding presence of the true gospel in the psyche of that person.

And in our own cultural moment, this could not be any more important. For instance, religion, it seems, is on the rise. Not only in Protestant churches, but in Roman Catholicism, in Eastern Orthodoxy, in New Zealand and globally, religion, it seems, is on the rise. People who have never set foot in religious ceremonies are now joining and attending services, Roman Catholic Mass, and so on. But I say again: be careful of appearances.

Roman Catholicism wins every award when it comes to appearances. Beautiful on the outside. It is a great old machine of religious tradition. But I do not hesitate to say that below the surface facade of Christian religion is the absence of gospel fidelity.

Many look on the great cathedrals of Rome's churches. They see the clergy and their priestly garments and robes flowing to the floor, the pastoral staff in hand, the burning of incense, the role of liturgy and solemn order of worship, an organised church calendar, holy days and feasts. And they see all of this and they say, this is what the religion of God must be! This is what true religion must look like! All of these beautiful exteriors.

If there is a God and if Jesus is the Messiah, then this will be the place where he is to be known in the halls of marble and stone with ornate ceilings and catechesis classes with priestly intercession; with a papacy; with a magisterium; with a long succession of popes. This must be true religion. This must be God's church, surely.

Be careful of appearances, friends. The Lord has taught us otherwise. Judge not by what you see but judge with right judgment. It is the truth of the gospel which counts.

Is there gospel fidelity with those whom you wish to validate as practicing true religion? For you can observe every fast, attend every mass, pour out your heart at every confession, pray the Lord's prayer each night, tick every religious box and not know Jesus.

And so they come to Jesus: why do we and the Pharisees fast, but you and your disciples do not fast?

A Call To Rejoice

Secondly, consider with me in verse fifteen a call to rejoice.

Jesus now issues his response and it is a tender and gracious response. Read with me. It says, "And Jesus said to them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast."

Jesus here, in a way, actually ignores the matter of fasting itself. He does not state the fact that these religious fasts were what we might call religious bloat in Judaism.

Instead, he tactfully makes them and us consider whether fasting was the appropriate thing at a time like this.

So he gives one of the first three short parables in this section. He shows that fasting is entirely inappropriate when what is comparable to a wedding celebration is at hand. He essentially says how absurd it is to think that in a time such as a wedding, someone would come in and proceed to fast and mourn and act solemn when they should be enjoying what is in their presence.

The time is at hand, Jesus says. If you discern who I am, this demands not a time for fasting but rejoicing and celebration.

Jesus identifies himself here as the bridegroom. This is language used in the Old Testament of God himself. Jesus identifies himself here as Israel's God, here to wed himself to his bride. He is the bridegroom.

Isaiah 62:5 says, "For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you."

What purpose is fasting when Jesus is here? And the promises of God are coming to pass and God has come for his people. What purpose is fasting?

He is saying if you continue at a time like this to fast and mourn and weep, then you do not yet know what time this really is and the joy that you ought to have right now. Jesus has brought the kingdom of God near to mankind, but are we ready to receive him? Are we prepared for that wedding, that celebration?

Understanding a Jewish wedding here is of help to us as well. A Jewish wedding was very different to how we understand weddings in our culture. The house of the family where the wedding was would be open for a week long celebration with lots of food, dancing, and fun. And for those from a poor background, a wedding was one of the only times in their life they might be able to forget about the daily burden of just trying to survive and truly relax and enjoy the wedding, and all at the expense of the bridegroom's family.

What a description of what Jesus has come to do for us, and how we get to enjoy all of the benefits of this wedding, this salvation, this being married to Christ at his own expense. Jesus identifies himself as our bridegroom and he is the one who has come to marry himself to his people; to purchase and redeem; to take the church into the presence of the Father.

The preceding section in Matthew told us the kind of bride that Christ has come to win: tax collectors, sinners, outcasts, unclean. People like you, people like me. A great banquet has been prepared. The invitations have been sent and Christ will see that the wedding feast will take place.

And so since this is so, there is no need for fasting. But now with Christ, there can be only joy.

But Jesus does say here, of course, that there will be plenty of time for his disciples to fast. He says, "But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast."

Jesus here gives a veiled forewarning of a time coming when he will not be with his people. Why? Because he will be crucified; he will rise; and then he will ascend and go to the Father. He will leave us for a time before he comes back.

The point for us is that the presence of Christ is to mean everything to the church. If he is not with us, we do desire to mourn and to fast. That's how near we have been brought to him. It is Jesus we look to. It is Jesus we follow. It is Jesus who is our North Star that we must orient our course towards. He is our lighthouse upon a dark sea. He is our sure footing at the cliff's edge. It is the presence of Christ that matters most to his people.

Matthew Henry said of Jesus' presence with his disciples, "When he is with them all is well. The presence of the sun makes the day and its absence produces the night."

How else might these things apply for us?

Well, Jesus first of all makes us question whether we have actually grasped the historical moment that is Jesus' coming. He asks us this morning if our religion is tradition or if our religion is a true religion born through faith in the son of God.

Recognising our duty to believe when confronted with Jesus Christ has never been more important than it is in this day.

If we have grasped who Jesus is and what his coming means for the world, then you and I of all people ought to be filled with joy in our everyday lives because we have been loved by this bridegroom. He has come for us; given himself for us when he died for our sins; and he will come again.

One writer said this: "Christians who are gloomy all the time have forgotten what Christ has already done." Are you a gloomy Christian this morning? Certain personalities do gravitate towards what we call negative emotion, a gloomy disposition. Are you allowing your Christian hope and faith to override that gloomy predisposition you might have? Don't be a gloomy Christian. Do you hope in Christ or do you not?

But the author provides balance too and he says, "And those who are happy all the time have forgotten what he is yet to do." In other words, the best is yet to come!

The best is yet to come. The even greater joy of Jesus lies beyond this day right now when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and Christ shall descend and we shall be forever with the Lord. That's the day we hope for. That is our day of greatest joy, the wedding supper of the Lamb.

A Warning To Judaism

Thirdly here, finally, as Jesus expands upon his response in verse fifteen, a third heading emerges and it is this: a warning to Judaism.

Read again with me: "But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment and a worse tear results. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wineskins burst and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins and both are preserved."

Jesus' two short illustrations here are rather cryptic. Doesn't hurt to say. What is clear, however, is that by both of them, he means to say that what is taking place in his coming is not to be thought of as a patch up job of Judaism at the time; nor is he establishing a new sect; nor is he trying to reform Judaism; to revise Judaism.

But this is the beginning of something new. Or in other terms, the fulfilment, completion, and necessary end of something old.

In other words, Jesus is saying that all the structures of Jewish worship are all going to change because of his presence and the kingdom that he brings. Charles Spurgeon helpfully says this: "Judaism and its degenerate condition was an old skin bottle which had seen its day and our Lord would not pour the new wine of the kingdom of heaven into it. John's disciples were trying to emulate the Pharisees and make common cause with them to save the old church. Jesus would have nothing to do with this project."

So the underlying reality here is that Jesus gives us the bigger picture of what he came to do.

I used to have an old pair of jeans that I wore in my contracting days. And every week, it seemed there was another rip in these pair of jeans. They had patches on patches on patches. And every time there was another rip, Mum or Grandma would have to sew it up. But then another rip would come and the same again. And in the end, the new seams that were put in were stronger than the old worn out jean cloth material. And then it would just pull away from the seams. They were no good. They had to be thrown out.

Jesus' illustration here is similar. A patch of unshrunk fabric is just going to pull away from the material that it's added to. So too with wineskins, an old wineskin has no more give, no more stretch in it. To store new wine would mean that the fermenting process would blow the old wineskins apart. This is what Jesus is saying.

And his point is that he did not come to continue what existed in pharisaical Judaism, which had become a false faith. The kingdom of heaven and the fulfilment of God's promise to Abraham that he would be a father of a people like the stars in heaven required new structures.

Don Carson says, "New forms would have to accompany the kingdom Jesus was now inaugurating. To try and domesticate him and incorporate him into the matrix of established Jewish religion would only succeed in ruining both Judaism and Jesus' teaching."

So what we are dealing with then here is the passing away of the Mosaic covenant era and its now bloated structures. The old covenant is now with Christ's arrival at an end. And this is what these men needed to see. All of their fasting, their tradition was attached to that old covenant that had become religiously bloated.

But in its place, the fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant concerning the promised Saviour, the new covenant is at hand.

Hebrews 8:7-8 says, "For if that first covenant [that is the Mosaic covenant], had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. But finding fault with them, he says, behold days are coming, says the Lord, when I will affect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."

So God fulfils his promises to Israel through the coming of Christ, forming a new covenant, grafting Gentiles into these rich promises; to bring to pass what was foretold to Abraham in Genesis 22:18: "in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed because you have obeyed my voice."

And so Jesus took away the temple, an old structure. Why? Because he is the meeting place between man and God.

Jesus took away the sacrificial system, an old structure. Why? Because he is the sacrifice who was slain for sinners.

Jesus took away the feast days. Why? Because in him they are fulfilled.

Jesus took away the priesthood because he is our great high and eternal priest who intercedes for us.

Jesus took away the old covenant because he is the mediator of a new and a better covenant.

Jesus took away that veil that was upon the sanctuary. Why? Because through him, the church has now access to God.

New wine has been poured out; worldwide blessing upon the nations as never before in redemptive history.

This pinprick of redemptive history that was located upon Israel has now exploded with this new wine into all the world and it needed new structures.

And God has done it.

Conclude

So as we conclude, do not miss out on this new wine, dear friends. Follow Jesus. The disciples of John the Baptist found themselves following the trappings of a passing and false religiosity. The fasting was not the real issue. Jesus' disciples would fast from time to time as we see in the Book of Acts. Fasting was not the issue. What was attached to it, was.

What they needed was to embrace Christ and fast no more while he was with them, for the bridegroom has come.

Many you will find in our churches today, even in New Zealand, are still following the trappings of dead religion and they need to embrace Jesus.

Dead trappings of religion are things like going to church because it's how your parents raised you; because it's the right thing to do.

Praying before a meal because that's what your parents did. Giving money to the church because that's what your parents taught you to do. These are dead trappings of religion.

Even good things like fasting, going to church, or tithing can become these trappings that need to be avoided when we do not embrace the whole Christ. Because he has come, he has given us every reason to be full of joy and hope. And we needn't hold on to these trappings of old religion that cannot save us.

Embrace Christ. Follow him. That is the call of the word of God this morning.