Newness

 14 One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?”  15 Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  16 “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.  17 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”

This passage has always been unclear to me.  I had a vague understanding of it, but it didn't shine brightly with clarity in my mind or my heart.  Today, while listening to J Vernon McGee explain it, the light bulb finally went on.  

He explained it this way.  He called this passage a "change in dispensations," meaning we were changing from the law of the Old Testament to the grace of the New Testament.  We were no longer under the law but under the grace of God.  Romans 6:14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

This I understood.  But what really opened these verses up to me was when Pastor McGee said that Jesus came not to patch an old garment, but to bring us a new garment.  Jesus comes and gives us a new garment, meaning the robe of righteousness.  When I think about this, I see the patches under the law as the sacrifices of lambs and goats.  They patched up people when they sinned.  But Jesus, He uses no patches, the shedding of His blood gives us a whole new garment that cannot become stained or ruined.  It's His.  His own perfect, eternal, complete righteousness.  

The new wine (grace) could not go into the old wineskins.  The old wine, the law, had done all it could, it was our guardian.  Galatians 3:23-24 23 Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.  24 Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 25 And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.

But the Gospel of Jesus, the grace of our Lord, is expansive, it cannot be contained in the Old Testament law.  Think about when Jesus spoke about the law in the sermon on the mount.  He went so much deeper than just "Do not... or Do this...."  He went to the heart.  What the law was supposed to be in our hearts, a Spirit led change of thinking and doing and feeling could not be contained in a system of laws.  Grace does that.  The law does not.  

This whole discourse given by Pastor McGee really made this so much more sense to me than any other teaching ever had.  It let me see it in a way that was clear.  I think it was the new garment, the robe of righteousness that gave me a clear picture in my mind, and I needed that.  I pray that you will enjoy seeing it this way as well.  

Lord, Your Word is alive!  There is always something new, always a beautiful gem to be had.  It always goes deeper and deeper, changing our sight and our hearts.  Thank You!  You are amazing and Your Word is our bread!  Let each of us never tire of reading and studying it. Let it be our life!  In the Name of the One who saves us and gives us His own righteousness, Jesus.  Amen.