The FaithOfJesus2 Daily Devotional

Focus:

---

( FaithOfJesus thread begun by rRandyP )

Today's Verse:

kjv@Luke:5:33-39

kjv@Luke:5:33 @ And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?

kjv@Luke:5:34 @ And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?

kjv@Luke:5:35 @ But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

kjv@Luke:5:36 @ And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.

kjv@Luke:5:37 @ And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.

kjv@Luke:5:38 @ But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.

kjv@Luke:5:39 @ No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

---

Today's notes:

Context:

• Before - Luke:5:27-32 The Calling of Levi
  
• After - Luke:6:1-11 Lord of the Sabbath
  

Study Resources:

dict:torrey Fasting

dict:naves Bridegroom

dict:tcr wine

Notes:

If thought of as contextual, the critique being alleged is following the feast thrown by Levi (Matthew). It follows the critique of eating and drinking with sinners and publicans. This may have been a traditional day of fasting that the party was held on according to the Pharisees.

The key to the three parables herein is the preference of men toward the old. Man is nearly drunken with the old yet it was the new that was commanded to be given in the temple offerings. Because of the familiarity with the old there is a trust, a comfort, a desirability that in his eye taints/superceeds the want for the completely new. Given the choice between the completely old and completely new the man will chose the old or else attempt to merely patch the old with the new. Jesus is desirous for the new, especially if the old has come to this that the Pharisees have made it. This understanding is being drawn out by Jesus in His response to their insistence upon traditional not scriptural mandated compulsory fasting and religious observances (enforced legalism).

The idea of bridegroom take us to the idea of everlasting vow or covenant. It is in essence this covenant and the anticipation of the union bride to groom that the old man is rejecting in his critique. He is insistent upon the way things are or else attempting to reform them back to what they were at a point where their covenant was new and fresh. The problem is that the old form only takes us this far, to the point of knowing this new form is what was meant all along, it just took us all of that old form to come to know our need for this new. This critique one to the other is as old as the critique of elder Cain pronounced upon younger Abel kjv@Genesis:4:1-10. Christ's offering is even greater than that of Abel's, so what shall we expect Cain now to do?

All this is not to abolish fasting, it is to put fasting in it's proper perspective. We now fast when our newly reborn heart or circumstance tells us to; not according to some weekly schedule a Pharisee tells us of making a show of his religion. Jesus in fact encourages us to fast, even pointing out that the lack of it was a problem when the disciples went out to cast a particular demon out. While He was here there was no reason honestly to fast seeking God, He was right there. Now that He is ascended back, there is every honest opportunity to fast. Notice that Paul did not even forbid fasting according to traditional ritual as a matter of good conscience toward others.

Key Messages:

Declaring Certainty

---

Further Resources:

Comment Board:Luke:5:33-39
index:FAITHOFJESUSDEVOTION - Devotional Index
strkjv@Luke:5:33-39 rwp@Luke:5:33-39 mhcc@Luke:5:33-39
FaithOfJesus2 - Devotion Index

---