Matthew 9:14-17 – The Old Won’t Due – Bible study

Matthew 9:14-17 The Old Wont Do The text that we are looking at is actually three small parables. The purpose of all three was to answer the question the disciples of John had asked, "Why arent Your disciples fasting?" That question was actually a small part of a bigger question that needed to be asked and answered. The bigger question is, "Why arent your disciples keeping the old traditions?" Jesus answered that question with the three parables: 1. The departed Bridegroom 2. The patched garment 3. The bustled bottles But all three of those parables point back to the same answer, "The Old Won’t Do." The question was asked by the disciples of John, but notice how they phrased it. Matt 9:14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? The disciples of John are aligning themselves with the Pharisees, the Old Testament keeper of the Law. That is actually a correct alignment for Jesus made the same comparison. Luke 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. This alignment is what made this question bigger than just the issue of fasting. While that was the item they were asking about, Jesus was actually explaining why most of the Old Testament law was to be set aside. Let’s look at the three parables in an order that is easier for me to explain the text. I. \#16\ The patched garment tells us that the old won’t do. It must be replaced. Matt 9:16 No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. A. It is a sad reality but a true one. Some things just cannot be fixed. 1. That is what the parable of the old rotted garment is about. You can’t sew a patch on rotted material because when you pull the thread, the material just rips. 2. But Jesus is not teaching tailoring. This is a parable, an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. 3. What Jesus was really teaching is that your life before Jesus can’t be fixed. B. If a thing cannot be fixed, what do you do? 1. You replace it. 2. You and I don’t need a patched old life. We need a completely new life. C. A common Bible message is, "You need new life." 2Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Colossians 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: D. Unfortunately, many people believe the way to get a better life is by patching up the old one. 1 Thats the picture of the old garment being sewed with a new patch. That is will somehow please God. 2. Listen carefully. a. No amount of new habits patched over your old habits will make you pleasing to God. b. No amount of new vocabulary patched over your old vocabulary will make you pleasing to God. c. No amount of new friends… d. No amount of new works…. e. No amount of new religion…. 3. None of those things will work because you are attaching rotten things to a rotten base. a. Most of us just dont understand how rotten we are. Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (1) The rags mentioned in this passage are the old torn rags used for medical purposes. (a) When someone was injured, they would take old, clean rags and do their best to stop the bleeding and keep the wound clean. (b) I suspect that required a lot of rags. (c) Suppose you had a small wound. Would you you go get one of those dirty, blood filled, puss filled, germ filled rags and wrap it around your wound? (d) No! You would not take something dirty, nasty, and rotten and but it on your small wound. (2) But friend, our sin wound is not small. We are covered with old, rotten, running sores of sin. (a) Would you take a rotten bandage and wrap a rotten wound? (b) No! Rotten bandages won’t cure a rotting wound! b. As long as the garment is rotten, nothing will fix it. c. It must be replaced! E. What we all need is a new garment! 1. Good news. Jesus came to live a sinless life. 2. As it were, Jesus had robes of pure righteousness. 3. If you will let Him, Jesus will cloth you in His robes of righteousness. 4. What must you do? a. Repent to remove the old. b. Believe to put on the new. II. \#17\ The busted bottles tell us that the old won’t do. The old cant contain the new. Matt 9:17 Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. A. While the parable used the word bottles, in our terminology, these containers would be better understood to be skin bags. 1. In those days, liquids were stored in skin bags. 2. While these bags served their purpose, most were not reusable because as they aged, the skins hardened and weakened. 3. I have been told that new wine, as it ages, gives off an invisible gas that expands against the container in which it is being held. 4. If that container will not expand with the gas, the gas will cause the container to explode. 5. Fresh juice poured into an old skin would rupture the skins causing both the bag and the juice to be lost. B. If you are without Jesus Christ, you may not comprehend what I am about to tell you, but it is true. 1. The new life that Christ will give you cannot be contained in the old you. 2. When we get saved, God pours into us grace, salvation, forgiveness, power, new opportunities, new joys, new loves, the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, adoption, justification, and on the list goes. 3. These gifts of love that Jesus gives us are too great to be held in the old life. 4. The old won’t do. It had to be replaced. C. I know that is hard for some to believe considering the sour pusses that some Christians wear. 1. I suppose that happens because no matter how sweet a thing is, we become dulled to it after a while. 2. I hope and pray that never happens to you. 3. But it might also be due to the fact that a lot of people who profess Jesus as their Savior really never possessed Jesus at all. D. However, if you will let Him, Christ will add more to your life than you ever thought possible. 1. Christ gives you a new dimension, a spiritual dimension. 2. Christ gives you a new morality, a pure morality. 3. Christ gives you new activities. You will be able to worship, pray, and understand the Bible. 4. Christ gives you a new mind. You will know right from wrong. 5. Christ gives you a new heart. You will have love for the new ways. 6. Christ gives you new friendships. You will be part of Christs body. 7. Christ gives you a new outlook. You will have faith. 8. Christ gives you new goals. You will have purpose. 9. Christ gives you a new awareness. You will have understanding. 10. Christ gives you a new education. You have the Holy Spirit for a Teacher. 11 Christ gives you new qualities. You will have grace, mercy, patience, and love. E. If you tried to hide the new life or live like you used to live, youd bust! 1. What we all need to remember is that we are little more than a shell of what God intended us to be. 2. Before the fall, Adam and Eve had abilities that were so far beyond us that if we met someone in that state, we would think they were aliens. 3. What Christ offers us is to be made better than Adam was in the Garden. 4. We are not finished yet, but what God has offered is to make us into the image of His Son, Jesus! a. Most of us have not progress very far, but pick the most spiritual person you can think of and imagine yourself about 1,000 times more like Jesus than that person. b. Well, that is just the beginning of what God wants to do with you! III. \#15\ The departed bridegroom tells us of some difficult days. A. I have saved this parable to last because it is different from the other two. 1. This parable directly answers the question that was asked, "Why aren’t Your disciples fasting?" 2. The short answer is because things were too good for them to fast right then. Matt 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. B. Grooms, brides, and bride chamber all speak of a wedding, the joining of a man and a woman together. Few events in life are so filled with joy and promise. 1. The disciples of John were wondering why Jesus disciples were not fasting. 2. Jesus indirectly answered them by saying, "Groomsmen dont fast. They are too busy rejoicing and celebrating." 3. At that point in time, the disciples had everything. a. They had Jesus. (1) The Son of God was among them. (2) They talked with Him, walked with Him, learned from Him. (3) I’m jealous. I always have been. Granted, all of these disciples will pay a great price, but they all had the greatest privilege. b. Because they had Jesus, they got to see miracles, get answers to questions, and see the mighty hand of God. c. Friend, they had it all! d. What did they need to fast for? e. Like the bridegroom, everything was full of joy and promise. C. But at the same time, Jesus said when the bridegroom was gone, referring to Himself, then My disciples will fast. 1. Jesus soon left. He was crucified. 2. While those disciples had a holy privilege, they also paid a high price. They all paid to be Christians with their lives. That was the time they would fast. 3. Hes still gone. 4. This is the time period when we fast. 5. Since Jesus left, we have had difficult days, and they will continue. a. No one, no one should believe the Christian life is without problems, needs, heartaches, and tears. b. One does not fast when things are good, and he has plenty. c. One fasts when things are dire, and he has need. d. Jesus was telling the disciples that He still had to go away and that while He was gone, His disciples would pray and fast. e. All of that has come to pass. D. However, Jesus’ departure reminds of His imminent return! 1. Jesus Himself talked about a return. Matthew 25:19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. Luke 19:12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 2. Other wrote of it. 3. It could be at any minute! These are some difficult days and we are some sinful people. The old will not do. 1. It cannot be repaired. It must be replaced. 2. It cannot old all that Christ has for us–even now. It must be replaced. 3. And with the blessings of the new life, we must endure some heartache and suffering. But there is coming a brighter day! Are you ready?