Old and New

Mark 2: ¹⁸ The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

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“You’re doing that the old way” someone said to me. They quickly showed me the “new” way of doing things and while it was pretty good, there were still some remnants of the old way that still needed to be done. I learned the new way but respected the old way because it had a solid foundation.

• Sometimes I think I can throw away the old for the new.
• Sometimes I think I need to do only new stuff because the old no longer has purpose.
• Sometimes I think I need to change because it is time to change.

JESUS’ disciples faced criticism of not following deep tradition of the Law of Moses that the Pharisees and even John’s disciples were following. Since HE made the laws in the first place, HE knew how they applied and why.  JESUS explains the law to me.

• JESUS says to me “The law is MY first covenant but I AM the second.”
• JESUS says to me “I wiped away all of your sins in a way the Law could not.”
• JESUS says to me “I AM the only way, the truth and the life.”

But what about the law? JESUS addresses the need to continue to love the Law while recognizing the second covenant, namely HIM. HIS disciples did not need to fast while HE was there, but would need to when HE would be murdered. 

JESUS wants me to not throw away the Law in lieu of HIS resurrection rather respect why HE made the Law in the first place. HE wants me to follow the “heart” of the Law and the application won’t become sterile and traditionalized. JESUS wants my heart.

• Are you trying to follow GOD out of habit?
• When is the last time you were led by GOD out of the SPIRIT?
• Can you look at the Law of Moses and apply it with the leading of the HOLY SPIRIT today?