Luke 5:27-39

Be Still:  Thank you Lord for meeting with me. Let me rest in your presence. Amen

Read: Luke 5:27-39

'I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance '….. (v32) 

And they said to him, 'The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.' .....(v33) 

'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.' (v37)

Encounter: Jesus is criticised by the scribes and Pharisees for the people he mixed with and the food and drink he enjoyed. It seems that the John's disciples noted Jesus' behaviour was quite different from their master's fasting and austerity. 

Christians down the ages have differed greatly in their opinions as to which behaviours are acceptable or holy and which are not, and have been convinced that theirs were right. Jesus suggests that it is right for behaviour to reflect circumstances: for example, his disciples were right to enjoy his company and celebrate, while he, the bridegroom, was with them. 

In most traditions today, Christians don't feel required to forgo legitimate experiences and pleasures, but may choose sometimes to 'deny themselves' (e.g., Lent). However, we need to decide individually before God what behaviours are OK and what aren't, and then accept that fellow believers may differ and not allow division to come about.

I used to be confused by Jesus’ words about wineskins. I've learnt that partly fermented wine was put into fresh goat skins, because as the wine continued to ferment (and expand) it stretched the skins. New skins stretched but old ones, which had become hardened, cracked. Jesus was telling the Pharisees, and John’s disciples, that the older rigid Judaic systems would not sustain the new kingdom life and would need to be replaced. 

Apply:  We need to be wary that we don’t become rigid and resistant to change. As vibrant new, Holy Spirit life flows, there will be change and sometimes that is unsettling or disturbing for us - but we can trust that God the Holy Spirit will do only what is good. 

A thought, particularly for newer Christians - in your enthusiasm for your new faith, don’t cut yourself off from your non-Christian friends and contacts. You are in a unique place to witness to them, not so much by words, but by the way your life is changing.

Devote:  Lord, help me to be open to all that you are doing, and to be a good witness to my non-Christian friends and family members.