Lesson 869

(Lesson 869)(01-14-14) Mark 2:13-22:

"And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles."

In today's lesson, Jesus sits down to eat with "publicans and sinners". A publican, during that age, was a tax collector and most were hated and by the Jewish people.

By eating with them, Jesus was violating the custom of the Jews whereby they were not allowed to associated with anyone who was considered to be "unclean".

The lesson herein lies in what Jesus said when responding to that accusation, "Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast."

Jesus was telling those people that while He was teaching the groundwork for His Church and Christianity all together, He could not spend all His time with those whose belief ran totally contrary to what He was teaching.

He further stresses this point when He talked about old wine in new bottles and new cloth on an old garments.

The religious belief system those Jews had lived with all their lives was about to be up ended and replaced with a totally new system wherein Jesus does all the work and makes the ultimate sacrifice for all who would simply place their faith in Him. The two systems were like water and oil, they could not be mixed together.

Jesus was saying that they must either hold on to the letter of the Law of Moses in its entirety, or they must repent, join in with the "publicans and sinners" by placing their faith in Jesus and His new doctrine.

In this lesson, Jesus was dining with only those who were willing to abandon the old law, and accept His new law of faith. Jesus was making it clear that His new doctrine applied to ALL who would believe.

Today, the majority of the "Christian" faith, on some level, still tries to intermingle the rules of the law of Moses with the doctrine of absolute faith which was taught by Jesus Christ. They are, in essence, putting "old wine" into "new bottles" and adding "new cloth" to "old garments".

I can't imagine why today it is just as hard as it was then to understand that in order to receive complete remission of sins, one must do nothing more than place one's faith in the life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Eternal salvation for those who seek it, is there simply for the taking just as Paul and Silas said:
"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."(Acts 16:31)~