Not Good Enough (Luke 5:33-39)

And they said to Him, "The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the {disciples} of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink." And Jesus said to them, "You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? But {the} days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days."

After the Pharisees were reprimanded in our last episode for having negative thoughts about Jesus and His disciples while eating with the tax collectors, these same Pharisees were not satisfied with Jesus' answers, and they asked yet another question to accuse Him and His disciples of unrighteousness. The Pharisees said, "The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the {disciples} of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink."

The argument was that the disciples of John fasted just as the disciples of the Pharisees, but the disciples of Jesus feasted. It is apparent from this text that the fasting of John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees consisted of eating and drinking nothing for a period of time (usually from sunup to sundown). Since the Pharisees saw this act of fasting as a way to appear more holy (Matt. 5:20; 6:16-18), they judged the Lord’s disciples lack a level of holiness they considered necessary to please God. Remember that at this time, Jesus and His disciples were invited to a feast in the home of Matthew, the tax collector. Not only did the Pharisees judge the Lord and His disciples for eating and drinking with sinners, but now they are going so far as to condemn them for eating and drinking anything at all. You can never satisfy a Pharisee!

Later in the book of Luke, we find in Luke 18:10-14, Jesus teaching a very important lesson in saying, "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." Matthew and the other tax collectors had humbled themselves and were willing to come to see Jesus, while the Pharisees could only stand at a distance and grumble against what Jesus and His disciples were doing.

In which of these two places do you find yourself? Have you ever felt you were more holy than those around you? Do you often raise questions and speak evil of those who are making special efforts to reach the lost (maybe even in places that you would call sinful)? Do you judge these same individuals in areas where you feel they lack holiness to please God?

 We need to be extremely careful in these matters and refrain from judging others where we have no God-given right to do so.  We cannot be like these legalistic Pharisees who established their own version of the words of God, only to uphold them to appear righteous, but also condemn those who could not or would not keep them.

What sometimes startled the scribes and Pharisees about Jesus and His disciples was the simplicity of their lifestyle. Their life was never weighed down in endless burdensome commands (I John 5:3-5), nor were their days overwhelmed by rituals and ceremonial observances. The Jews (particularly the Pharisees) had the idea that if you were not uncomfortable, you were not religious. What a major problem this mindset presents! The Jews had systematized their religion so that they fasted on Monday and Thursday to be seen of men (market days), and they prayed at 12, 3, and 6 p.m. while also maintaining a never-ending list of their own interpretations of the Law.

Jesus never approached or accepted religion based on rules and regulations. While Jesus taught us to keep His commandments out of love for Him, He could use some common sense that was not opposed to the wisdom of God, even when faced with a stated law. Even when it appeared that Jesus was breaking a law of God, He could prove that what He was doing was acceptable to God because it was in harmony with the character of God the Father. Some brethren are so legalistic today that they would violate a simple principle of Christian character to obey their interpretation of the law of Christ. We need to be aware of this possible error and avoid it (See Luke 14:1-6).

In response to their comments, Jesus said, "You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? But {the} days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days." 

In the time of Christ, when a couple was joined in marriage, there was no immediate honeymoon following the ceremony and the reception, like we see today. During these early marriages, a couple would become husband and wife and spend at least a week feasting at home with their guests in a time of joy and excitement. During this time, the couple will be dressed in their finest clothing, and in some cases, wear crowns. This symbolized how they were king and queen for the week. The guests at the wedding were often called the “children of the bridechamber” (KJV). The Living Bible states Jesus' question like this, “Do happy men fast? Do wedding guests go hungry while celebrating with the groom?” In my own words, Jesus is saying to the Pharisees, “You can keep your fasts to yourself. The reason we are feasting while you are fasting is that these guests are excited and joyous, their Groom is with them, and they celebrate His coming while you choose to reject the invitation to the feast. Do not judge these disciples of mine for wanting to come to the feast and eat and drink at the table of their Groom.” Jesus was saying this in view of the church as the bride of Christ and ultimately in view of the coming feast at the Lord’s Table in the everlasting kingdom. If the Pharisees refused to be a part of this celebration, then the Lord would not welcome them into His eternal feast (See Luke 13:23-30; 14:16-24).

Those who do not eat and drink at the table of the Lord will suffer hunger and thirst in their eternal destination (See Luke 16:19-30 [Lazarus & Rich Man]; Rev. 7:13-17). If we do not come to Jesus now, we will not be recognized by Him in the eternal feast. Have you accepted the invitation to come to Jesus, and have you given your R.S.V.P for the wedding feast to come?

One other comment must be made about the fasting mentioned in this section of the text. The text says, “But {the} days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days." Now that Christ Jesus has ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of His Father, we no longer have Him with us in physical form. There will be times when we will need to fast and pray until His second coming. The Bible teaches us in many passages how saints made time for prayer and fasting after Jesus had left for heaven (Acts 13:2-3; 14:23; II Cor. 11:27). While most people neglect praying and fasting in their spiritual life today, Jesus intended for us to be actively pursuing these methods of humbling our hearts before Him and His Father. Spend some time in the weeks to come drawing closer to God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

And He was also telling them a parable: "No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise, he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old {wine} wishes for new; for he says, 'The old is good {enough}'"

Now, in this section, Jesus reveals the problem with the Pharisees. With two illustrations (old garment / new garment and old wine skins / new wine), Jesus is going to reveal the hard hearts and closed minds of the Pharisees. The problem with the Pharisees was that they were unwilling to change and leave their old ways. Jesus was always about new things (new life, new covenant, a new and living way, etc.) The Pharisees wanted to continue the old traditions of their fathers according to the Law and not accept any of the new modes and methods that Jesus was introducing and practicing.

Barclay said, “There is in religious people a kind of passion for the old. Nothing moves more slowly than a church.” While we often cry out for the old paths (meaning the ways of God and not modern man), we ought to be looking for the new highway of our God; that straight and narrow path that Jesus is calling us to walk upon (Matt. 7:13-14). We are to follow in His footsteps (I Peter 2:21f) and in doing so, we must fix our eyes on Him as He leads us home (Heb 12:1-2).

Just as a piece of a new garment would not match if sewn into the old garment, so also the new piece outlasts that old garment. The problem with that old garment is greater when it is not discarded and replaced with a new garment. The tear in the garment will worsen. The new garment will be vibrant and enduring, while the old will continue to waste away.

Jesus is saying here that you cannot keep the old garment if you want to follow me. I am calling you to clothe yourself in a new garment. We are to be clothed with Christ and, in doing so, clothed with humility as new creatures (Gal. 3:27; I Peter 5:5; II Cor. 5:17).

Jesus also says that old wine skins cannot hold new wine. Since new wine eventually ferments, releases pressure, and causes a wineskin to expand, old wine skins have lost the ability to stretch during the change that is necessary in this process. This new wine, then, would cause the old wine skin to burst, and the new wine would be lost. Jesus is telling these Pharisees that they need a renewal of their minds and a softening of their hearts to take in what He is presenting to them. This is so true for people who will accept the call to follow Jesus. Following Jesus requires a major change and an enduring commitment to Him.

Fosdick once asked, “How would medicine fare if doctors were restricted to drugs and methods and techniques three hundred years old?” Barclay, after quoting the above statement, said, “And yet our standards of orthodoxy are far older than that.”

Barclay also added, “Let us have a care that when we resent new thought, we are not simply demonstrating that our minds are grown old and inelastic, and let us never shirk the adventure of thought. We should never be afraid of new methods. That a thing has always been done may very well be the best reason for stopping doing it. That a thing has never been done may very well be the best reason for trying it. No business could exist on outworn methods—and yet the church tries to. Any business which had lost as many customers as the church has, would have tried new ways long ago—but the church resents all that is new. There is a wise and an unwise conservatism. Let us have a care that in thought and in action we are not hidebound reactionaries when we ought, as Christians, to be gallant adventurers.”

A closed mind and a hard heart hinder too many Christians today from accepting the way that Jesus is calling them to live. Either they are still trying to follow a Law nailed to the cross with Jesus, or they are going beyond the teachings of the gospel of Christ and trying to establish their own faulty understanding of the way they should go. This problem has caused the church many handicaps as it tries to do only the will of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

The Pharisees could not adjust to the fresh new approach that Jesus was using. There seems to come a time in every person’s life where they lose the elasticity in their mind to capture the new and vital needs of the church. Those who suffer from this terrible issue end up rejecting ideas that challenge what their mind is willing to hold. Jesus said, at the close of this text, “And no one, after drinking old {wine} wishes for new; for he says, 'The old is good {enough}'"

Are we satisfied with "good enough," or are we going to go with what is better? Wine is wine until you know the difference between old wine and the new, fresh wine. In Bible times, the intoxication from wine was not a desirable feature. The freshly pressed wine was always sweeter and was considered better than the old wine.

In this text, we see that if you only had the old wine, you would have no desire for the new, because after all, you don’t realize how much better the new wine really is. If you already like what you are drinking, you don’t necessarily need anything new.

When Jesus once performed a miracle of changing water into new wine, the headwaiter responded, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when {the people} have drunk freely, {then he serves} the poorer {wine;} {but} you have kept the good wine until now” (John 2:10). The new wine that Jesus had made fresh and served was better than the wine that they were already drinking. This is a truth that the Pharisees needed to understand. Is this a fact that we must comprehend today?

Never be satisfied until you have a new life in Jesus Christ and you are a part of the new covenant that God has made with His people. Do not be content to accept what you have always thought. Search the scriptures daily to see if you are following Jesus as you should. If I can help you in becoming a Christian, I would love to get you in touch with a good church in your area where you can respond in obedience to the gospel by believing in Jesus and being baptized (Mark 16:16). If you are a child of God, in need of prayer, please allow me to pray for you by reaching out for help.