A Layman's Commentary on the Gospel of Luke - Lesson VI, Part II

By: T.O.D. Johnston
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:40:39
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Verse 36. To further illustrate the difference between the old ways and Jesus’ way He tells 2 parables. He teaches that it is foolish to tear a piece of a new garment to repair an old one. The new way He was teaching would be ruined if joined to the old, traditional forms of religion. Also when the old garment is washed, the new piece has yet to shrink - and will pull the old cloth to pieces. Thus would it be to try to adapt he principles of Jesus to the old ways.

Verses 37, 38. New wine which has yet to ferment, cannot be put in old wineskins which have already been stretched. While fermenting, the old skins would burst, destroying them and wasting the wine. When put in new skins, both will be preserved. In the same way, the new way of life and worship brought by Jesus cannot be contained in the old strict forms of religion. The new life requires new forms.

As the old Covenant was preparations for the New - now that Jesus has come, the New fulfills and thereby supercedes the Old. The old ceremonies and sacrifices all pointed to Christ, now they are no longer needed. All this points to the difference between the disciples of Jesus and those of John and the Pharisees.

Verse 39. Here Jesus explains that those who are in the habit of drinking old wine, have no taste for the new. Just so those who have habitually fulfilled the forms of the old way of worship are not only satisfied with them, but think that theirs is the only correct way of pleasing God. This was the main reason for the eventual crucifixion of Jesus.

Note on fasting.

In the Old Testament, fasting is only on the Great Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29 - afflicting your souls includes fasting). Otherwise it was practiced voluntarily as a sign of mourning, disaster, or national calamities, a sign of repentance of sin.

During the exile in Babylon, fasting became an outward and formal rite, thought to gain favor from God. After the exile the prophets proclaimed that true fasting consisted of renouncing sin, not in abstaining from food and drink. It persisted and during the time of Jesus many Jews fasted twice a week with much outward display. This was a work of righteousness, to earn points with God and show everyone else how religious they were, and therefore better than those who didn’t do this. Jesus rejected it as compulsory or doing it to earn merits for its formal observance.

He Himself fasted and accepts it as a voluntary form of spiritual devotion. (Matthew 4:2; 6:16-18.) The first Christians also observed it - Acts 9:9; 13:2,3; and 14:3.

The author T.O.D. Johnston taught from the Gospel of Luke at Paran Baptist Church on Highway 341 / Johnsonville Hwy in Lake City, South Carolina. This commentary is based on the notes he took in preparation for the lessons. A retired art teacher for the Florence School District number 3 in South Carolina, he now enjoys spending his time with his wife and kids, as well as at his art studio on 118 Sauls St., Lake City, South Carolina. The above lesson was excerpted from his online Holy Bible Commentaries.

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