Criticism of Jesus Luke 5:33-39

This post discusses new criticism of Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees.

Criticism of Jesus at this point concerned His disciples not fasting.

Earlier grumbling about Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners now brought on this new criticism. So, here they criticize His training of His disciples, Matthew 5:33: “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.”

Their comment infers that Jesus failed to teach his disciples correctly, unlike John the Baptist and the Pharisees who followed the Old Law. Thus, they say that Jesus sins by this omission. Jesus answered, Luke 5:34: “And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?”

As they mulled this question in their minds, they should have realized that fasting as wedding guests does not occur. It is inappropriate as long as the groom is present.

Jesus then told them that in the future, fasting of the disciples would happen because at that point, Jesus would not be present. This, the first indication of the cross and Jesus’ later ascension into heaven, appears early in His ministry.

To further teach the inappropriateness of what they were suggesting, Jesus then told them a two-fold parable.

One cannot use new cloth to repair an old garment. When washed, the shrinkage of the new cloth will pull a hole in the old garment. They knew this was true, no doubt, from earlier experiences.

Likewise, they surely remembered the inappropriateness of putting new wine into old wineskins. On storage the new wine expands and bursts the old wineskins. Again, they knew this as a truism.

Jesus told these two examples of inappropriate behavior to illustrate that the old law does not mix with the new (Christianity.)

Jesus then characterizes the scribes and Pharisees as liking the ‘old’ more than the new. Their contentment with the Old Law made them not want to even hear Jesus tell of something new from God.

For the first time, Luke records opposition to Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees—an opposition that would increase.

What we learned:

1.Jesus always answers criticism correctly.

2.The Old Law does not mix with Christianity.

3.At a future time, a separation from His disciples will occur.

For more on the Bible click https://berksblog.net or https://justchristian.com or https://podcastjustchristian.com

#johnTheBaptist’Pharisee’sDisciples #NewWineBurstOldWineskins #JesusTakenAway