On the topic of the feast at Levi’s house (found in Luke 5) – this is a big celebration in every way – Luke makes a point of noting that the feast was “great” and that a “large company” of tax collectors and others were reclining at the table with Jesus.
Meanwhile the Pharisees (along with their scribes, who are undoubtedly taking notes furiously) are mumbling and grumbling on the periphery, clearly not in the “in-crowd”.
The “out-crowd” puts forth their first question, not directed to Jesus (naturally), but to his disciples:
“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
This could strike us a bit funny, since we just found out in the same chapter that at least two of Jesus’ disciples were a) a tax collector (Levi) and b) a self-admitted sinner (Peter).
Jesus takes up (on behalf of the disciples) the answering of this inquiry and responds that “those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick”. Given the fact that it would seem that at this party the sick people were having all the fun, I think I would have signed up for the “sick crowd” at this juncture.
This is no surprise, given that in Luke 4 Jesus had said that his mission was to proclaim good news to the poor and to proclaim liberty to the captives from Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61 proclaims the God who is going to turn ashes into beauty and bind the brokenhearted and give a robe of righteousness and garments of salvation…the Year of the Lord’s favor – the release of debtors. Therefore, the qualification for getting healed was to be sick. Maintaining a press release of being well when you are really sick guarantees that you will continue to be sick.(Proverbs 28:13 comes to mind…he who conceals his transgression will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes will obtain mercy).
Following this, another question is asked; this time, it is asked directly to Jesus, but is aimed at his disciples.
“The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink!”
Jesus’ response is that the wedding guests cannot fast/mourn while the bridegroom is present. This implies three things
1. The Pharisees were not the salvation of Israel (that is, the bridegroom). This could explain the mourning of their disciples? The mourning of the Pharisee’s disciples was an outward show of righteousness and piety. This is worthless, self-righteousness showmanship.
2. John the Baptist was not the salvation of Israel (that is, the bridegroom) either. This logically explains why his disciples were mourning….John the Baptist being the representation of the Old Testament…his disciples were, just as the Old Testament does, anticipating the coming of the Messiah (Jesus). This is wonderful, beautiful, and correct anticipation expressed by fasting and prayer.
3. Jesus was the long-anticipated salvation of Israel (bridegroom)! Isaiah 61 proclaims that the Messiah will comfort all who mourn. Since Jesus truly is the Messiah, it is only fitting that he would transform the fasting and prayer of John’s disciples in to celebratory eating and drinking. The arrival of Jesus is indeed then cause for great rejoicing, particularly amongst those who are poor, captive, sick, and caught in the throws of unrighteousness; they are the ones who turn to the child of Bethlehem for complete and undeserved salvation – the sunrise from on high – to give light to those who sit in darkness and the forgiveness of their sins (see Luke Chapter 1). Jesus is the glorious bridegroom that redeems his bride and causes Jerusalem’s righteousness to go forth as brightness and her salvation as a burning torch (Isaiah 62).
…and a redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression… (Isaiah 59)
The true colors of the house guests are coming into focus. At Levi’s feast, you have
a) the Pharisees who are grumbling and not at all feeling festive. They believe that their self-righteous deeds of the law and pious behavior puts them in a right relationship with God. (Proverbs 30:12 There are those that are clean in their own eyes, but are not washed from their filth…)
b) the celebratory sinners and tax collectors who are overjoyed that the mercy of God has appeared and they are now in a right relationship with God. In fact, they are sitting with God [Jesus] himself at this party.
Jesus further embellishes this contrast by telling three parables; a story about old/new garments, a story about putting new wine in new wineskins, and then about a man who drinks old wine and has no need for new.
The first story talks about “destroying the new and marring the old”. The second story talks about “destroying the old and marring the new”. The third talks about the rejection of the new.
OLD GARMENTS AND NEW GARMENTS
First, on the topic of destroying the new and marring the old. This would be making Jesus’ disciples fast or causing John’s disciples to celebrate.
Jesus explains that “no one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.”
This allusion is understandable in our present vernacular and daily experience. It would be an ill-conceived move to rip up my new jeans in order to patch up my old favorites.
Because
a) the new jeans would be ruined
b) the old jeans would look discontinuous bearing a patch of new jeans…in fact, it wouldn’t even make the old jeans look new.
Ideally, one should use old jeans to complement old jeans and not spoil new ones. Similarly, one should not expect the disciples of the Messiah to mourn as those who anticipate the Messiah do. John’s disciples are fulfilling their role as the picture of the Old Covenant.
Interesting enough too, is that, at this period of time, the old and the new were co-existing together on the landscape of Israel. Jesus, the fulfillment of salvation was walking the earth, but it was not yet “finished”, the atonement for sins had not been made, the demands of the Mosaic Law had not been satisfied. For this reason, John’s disciples and Jesus’ disciples interactions are meaning-rich.
The new covering of the new covenant is what is being celebrated here at Levi’s feast…and they are finding nothing fast-worthy about the fullness of the mercy of God being fully realized. Otherwise, why would Isaiah 61 say that a faint spirit is exchanged for a “garment of praise?”
The Old Testament was majestic in its revelation of the glorious character of God, but offered little release – and little covering – for sinful humanity….this caused a disposition toward mourning….God said he would exchange mourning for the oil of gladness. This is why Simeon referred to Jesus as the “consolation of Israel”. Therefore it would seem that the covering of the OT would be one of mourning (sack-cloth/ashes)- one who was not mourning, or considering an outward mourning as a sign of righteousness would be finding false life/justification in the law, not honestly seeing their depravity (cf. Isaiah 65:2-5).
So what is Jesus saying? He is saying that the mode of operation for the old and for the new are incompatible; would you play funeral music at a baby shower? Once the garment of praise and the oil of gladness come in, there is no need to realize the law of sin and death, leading to mourning. Jesus’ disciples are a picture of those who are clothed with the garment of praise, whereas John’s disciples are a picture of the faint spirit produced by the ache of an unfulfilled hunger to be whole.
The idea that one day Jesus’ disciples would fast is a foreshadowing that the celebration is only a partial one, to be fulfilled ultimately at the marriage supper of the Lamb (cf. Revelation 19:6-9), when they will rejoice, forever. How blessed are all those that are invited to this feast!
NEW WINE AND OLD WINESKINS
Not stopping for the questioners’ response, Jesus continues with his illustrations – “..and no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But…new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.”
If the old/new garment illustration was applied toward the disciples of John, then the wineskins are applied to the Pharisees. The choice of wine is interesting, since John the Baptist was a Nazarite, and could not drink wine – for this reason, it is unlikely that the conduct of his disciples that is being illustrated here.
Old Wineskin = “heart of stone” man, trusts in works of the law (cf. Ezekiel 36:26)
New Wineskin = “heart of flesh” man, needs Savior (cf. Isaiah 45:22-25)
Again, the Mosaic law was hard – so hard in fact that it couldn’t be achieved by a fallen humanity…have you found it possible to love your neighbor as yourself? Or maybe to love God with all of your heart and mind and soul and strength?
For hundreds of years, the Jews had been laboring unsuccessfully to meet God’s standards…in fact they failed miserably – documented graphically in the pages of the Old Testament. Nonetheless, this life of meeting standards was what the Pharisees gloried in. Their hearts were stony cold and their consciences were insensitive to their own depraved natures. They were professionals at making a show out of their apparent conformance to the law on the outside.
Now at the party, they are disappointed because they were not at all valued at this gathering (thus the use of the word “grumbled”) ….they were in the “out-crowd” when the “in-crowd” was made up of people that didn’t even externally meet the requirements of the law. No one was acknowledging the fact of their moral superiority.
Remember Simeon, in Chapter 1? Simeon was promised that he would not taste death until his eyes saw the “consolation of Israel”. When Simeon walked into the temple to behold the beautiful face of the hope of all the earth, he took the baby in his arms and said “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
Did Simeon, the tax collectors, and the sinners have room for a redeemer in their value system? Yes.
Did the Pharisees have room for a redeemer in their value system? No.
Do you have room for a redeemer, or are you “all right”?
The old system of the law was incomplete and inadequate to save a sinful people. The Pharisees, however, found comfort, purpose, and self-affirmation in that system.
REJECTION OF THE NEW WINE
For this reason, Jesus ends this drama with a negative statement:
“…And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, “The old is good”.
This preference of the old wine reminds me of those in Proverbs chapter 1 that “did not choose the fear of the Lord”? The sentence for this devastating choice is “…they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.”
Because the Pharisee gloried in the law, they effectively drunk the wine, and will now be judged on that basis (they will have their fill) – instead of the law of mercy as would the sinners and the tax collectors, who are empty now, but will soon be full. Why should the self-righteous accept the law of mercy if their identity is that they don’t need any mercy?
They are those that Jesus spoke about in his later sermon in Luke 6…”Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry….”
CONCLUSION
Luke is not done with this narrative. In Luke’s book, “Acts of the Apostles”, which is literarily a continuation of the book of Luke, he records the day of Pentecost.
As Peter, who has recently received the gift of the Holy Spirit, is teaching in Jerusalem, the crowd is amazed that they can hear the gospel in their own language. Not all were amazed though; Luke records that while some were amazed, others mocked. In the midst of their mocking they proclaimed their assessment of the situation, saying “they are filled with new wine”.
What shall we say? It is only a heart, that is, a heart of flesh, that longs after the mercy of God that can receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and it is in being empty of our own “qualifications” that we can be filled upon our acceptance of God’s unfailing love.
It’s only because Jesus was broken and spilled out at the hands of prideful mankind, that we, sinners, can sit at God’s feast table and be invited to the marriage supper of that Lamb, and our cup will surely then overflow in a most complete way.
*scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version