Religious ritual or redemption, reconciliation and restoration.

Luke 5:29-39 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link available on links page)

²⁹ And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. ³⁰ The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

³³ 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.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? ³⁵ But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ 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. ³⁷ 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. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”

The Pharisees and their scribes, were often critical of Jesus behavior, in particular His practice of associating with sinners. Jesus teachings and actions went against their tradition and their established religious hierarchy. The temple was  supposed to be a place to worship God. The law and the established sacrifices and offerings were intended to make a way for people to make right their relationship with God. The religious people had come to a point where they viewed themselves as better more righteous than normal people. Jesus says,  “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”    Jesus didn't disqualify the religious elite from His ministry. It's not that He did not come to be their redeemer. He simply said that He came to call sinners to repentance.  

The religious outcasts, the sinners and tax collecters were open to Jesus message. He didn't just hang around with them, entering into their lifestyle and behaviors. He associated with them, allowing them to see the difference in His life. He spoke the truth from the word. His message and His call to them was not judgment but rather repentance, redemption and restoration. Jesus came as the fulfillment of the law. From that time on it would be through Jesus not sacrifice and offering that people would be restored.

The parable Jesus tells at this time says: “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.    Jesus was comparing the old covenant law to the new covenant He would establish. The law and sacrifices were like continually trying to patch something that is worn out. The sacrifices needed to be repeated on a regular basis to cover for the repeated sins of man. Sacrifices did nothing to change the actual condition of the person. Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. Repentance is changing both behavior and  the mind. He was calling them to a new lifestyle and a new way of thinking. Jesus though, didn't just talk about a better way, He is the way.  Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.(John 14:6)     While the old covenant sacrifices and offerings needed to be constantly repeated,  Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;(1 Peter 3:18)   For those who follow Christ and answer His call to repentance there is no longer a need for the sacrifices required under the old covenant.    2 Corinthians 5:17-18 says:  if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. ¹⁸ Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,      That's the difference between religious ritual and redemption and restoration in Christ. Religious ritual continues to put a new patch on an old garment. Jesus makes all things new.

The parable continues,   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. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”    When we receive Christ we are made new, recreated. As this new creation we become suitable vessels to hold new wine. Jesus tells us of the new wine in John 14:16-17       I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; ¹⁷ that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

As sinful unredeemed people we can not be filled with the Spirit of God, but as a new creation we can be the dwelling place, the abode of the Holy Spirit.  It is hard for people to give up the comfort that they have with tradition and the status quo. Change is uncomfortable. Jesus says,  And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”    Each person has a choice to make, whether they will settle for the old, thinking that it is good enough or they will become new and become a suitable vessel for the new wine of an abundant life in Christ.

Jesus came to call sinners to repentance, to change their minds. Look at what 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 says again.  if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. ¹⁸ Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,   

and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That's the call and commission we have on our lives as followers of Christ. We are called to a ministry of reconciliation. We like Jesus need to recognize that our call is to join Him,  calling sinners to repentance and reconciliation to God. We don't do that by judging them as sinners and making them outcasts. We do it, like Christ, by shining His light among the darkness and speaking the truth of the living word to them. Our churches should not be a place where sinners are judged, they should be places where the ministry of reconciliation to God is a priority.

In John 16, Jesus says: 

“These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. ² They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. ³ These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. ⁴ But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; ¹¹ and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

It is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. If we are truly vessels of the Holy Spirit, then through our minstry of reconciliation the Holy Spirit will bring the revelation of Christ calling sinners to repentance.

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit that I am a new creation. That through the finished work of the cross I am reconciled to You Father. Enable me and empower me to join You in the ministry of reconciliation by filling me with the new wine of Your Holy Spirit.   Amen