Pouring Gallons Into Pints (Matthew 9:10-17)

As I am studying the book of Matthew, I thought I would write my thoughts on the episode recorded in 9:10-17 (Mark 2:15-22; Luke 5:29-39).

Jesus has invited “social outcasts” (those normally excluded from the covenant community) to his own home for a celebration feast hosted by Matthew (Levi). In doing so he is breaking two cultural practices (fellowship rules and fasting). The religious leaders of the day have obvious questions as to why Jesus is breaking these cultural norms.

The accounts recorded in the three synoptic Gospels differ slightly from one another. The most significant difference is that Matthew characteristically adds an Old Testament reference: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6). It is possible that Matthew’s intention is to point to the entire prophecy of Hosea. If this is the case, then at the very least, we are looking at another warning about the coming destruction of Israel (Hosea 6:4-11). At most, we could also be seeing another reference to the resurrection (Hosea 6:2; cf. Matthew 12:40). However, I am not certain that this is really Matthew’s intention here because it really doesn’t have to be. It’s best to err on the side of caution and treat this as a proof-text to what Jesus is immediately proposing.

The sacrifice that is referenced here is the ritual sacrificial system that was prescribed in the Law for dealing with the sins and transgressions of God’s people. When one committed a sin God provided a means of dealing with that sin and of seeking forgiveness. However, as is noted in Hosea 6:6 and other places in the Bible, sometimes the people would only go through the motions of enacting the rituals without having a real change of heart. God would respond that he cared more about their hearts than the ritual and that going through the motions made him hate the ritual. Jesus cites this verse as he is breaking some of the cultural rituals of his time. In doing so, he is suggesting that his purpose is directed more towards the heart than in the cultural structures that once regulated how one practiced their faith. But why is this so?

When asked why his disciples are not participating in the ritual fast, Jesus says, ““The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (9:15). This is a reference to the custom that individuals could abstain from the ritual fast at a wedding. Jesus elsewhere uses the analogy of a wedding to describe the coming of God to his people (Matthew 22:2-14; 25:1-13; cf. Hosea 2:19). What he is suggesting here is that something like a wedding is taken place with his presence so that the regular customs are now invalid. God has broken into history in the person and work of Jesus and has made these old customs pointless. But why have these cultural practices been made redundant? Jesus follows with examples of garments and wineskins:

“But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved” (8:16-17).

These are parables about new things in old things, about the incompatibility of the old with the new. The coming of the Kingdom of God is a decisively new stage in God’s purpose and the old cultural structures cannot contain the new movement that is being unleashed upon the world through Jesus. Paul will flesh this idea out a good deal in his letters, particularly Galatians. He will argue that there was nothing wrong with the Law itself, but that aspects of it had run its course now that God had worked decisively through Jesus. The Law is like a ship that one uses to cross the ocean to reach your destination. Once you reach land you disembark; not because the ship was ever faulty, but only because it has fulfilled its purpose. What Jesus is saying in these verses is that the old cultural customs have fulfilled their purpose and must be abandoned because God is now doing something new. 

If you put all of Jesus’ three points together, you get the following:

1)      God and Jesus are more interest in the heart than in the cultural structures of religious practice.

2)      The coming of God in the person and work of Jesus has invalidated these old cultural structures.

3)      The reason these structures are invalid is because they cannot hold, manage, and administer the new thing that God is now doing through Jesus.

The difficulty for many people in Jesus’ time is that while they fully expected God to do something decisive in history, what he is doing doesn’t fit into the expected patterns, so they don’t recognize it.

This passage is a popular one among non-traditionalists and those who are attempting to modernize the customs of the contemporary church and enact new methods of doing church and furthering the Kingdom of God. I think this is a fairly good application. One of the principles we should take away is that we should never become too attached to the traditions, customs, and ritualistic structures that we use to practice the content of our faith. These are all just modes and methods designed for a purpose. In all probability, for those whose pre-modern cultural practices went back hundreds of years, this abrupt change must have been far worse than what many experience today whose traditions only go back a few generations at most. Yet, there are still many immature believers in our churches who insist on their traditions at the detriment of furthering the Kingdom of God. There are numerous examples of this.

Worship. One of the purposes of music in worship is to help facilitate the worshipping process for believers. Mature believers should not need music in order to worship God in a service. They should cede their tastes to the younger, immature believers in order that they can learn how to effectively worship.

Clothing. Styles change over time and there is nothing in the Bible that says we must wear fancy clothing or business casual to church. Christianity is a relational faith, and it’s important that we dress like the people with whom and for whom we minister.

Methodology. Church growth methods change over time. What once worked in the 1980s and 1990s doesn’t always work in the 2000s and 2010s. Furthermore, the methods used to grow a small church will not work to grow a large church, and the methods used to grow a large church will not work to grow a megachurch. By doing so, whatever growth you get will soon evaporate. As a friend of mine said, “You can’t pour a gallon into a pint.”

I’ve stated my belief before that America is currently undergoing a spiritual revival and has been for a couple of decades. One of the reasons I think people are missing out on this current renewal it has manifested itself in ways that reject traditional methods of doing and being the church and thus they refuse to see it. Too many people want to pour new wine into old wineskins.