Jesus’ “Mission Statement”

Luke 5:33-39

The statement Jesus made to the religious big shots did not set well, especially verse 32, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”  In our culture we like a “mission statement” we have them in most businesses, in most churches and even in families.  A “Mission Statement’ explains our purpose, our goals and this could be called Jesus’ “Mission Statement” but it was also His “Vision Statement” of what the church will be called to do.

The Pharisees and teachers of the Law were not into sinners but into outward performance, looking good, being seen, doing well by their standards.   Do you recall the story Jesus told about the Good Samaritan, how the priest and Levite passed by this man who had been robbed and beaten and left half dead?  It makes you wonder if a crowd of people had been with the priest or Levite would they have stopped, at that time for many religion was built on looking good to man.

So it’s just a guess on my part that these Pharisees were looking for any reason to belittle this new teacher, the one named Jesus.  So the Pharisees and teachers of the Law said; “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.”  It’s an I got you question, they are not interested in searching for truth, they are trying to expose this new teacher, John’s disciples and ours are spiritual, but your guys are just looking for a good time.  We should never forget what we hear from Blaise Pascal, “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.”  These were men of high standing, teachers, but they were not in search of truth, but disciples of their laws and tradition, listen to how Jesus answers.

And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 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. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”

One thing to remember about religious people is they build on doing things for God; the Pharisees and their disciples had a schedule of fasting.  They fasted twice weekly on the Day of Atonement and four times a year to remember the destruction of Jerusalem, plus any other time it seemed appropriate.  A follower of Jesus Christ actions come from what Jesus has done for them?  Christianity is not now, nor has it ever been a religion, it is a relationship with the living Christ.  That does not mean that Christians have not done evil and selfish things, but this I can say with 100% conviction, a person who is in the word, listening to the Holy Spirit, and obedient to the teachings of Christ will not do evil but good.  My Study Bible HCSB on page 1743 in the foot notes 5:36-37, “On the heels of the controversy about fasting, Jesus illustrated the point that His message was radical (the new) and could not serve as a patch for the existing form of Judaism (the old garment).

One more point needs to be made, it’s much easier to stay in the old and familiar than to by faith do as Abram later to be called Abraham, or Simon later to become Peter the apostle of our LORD.  Galatians 5:16, tells us how to be a follower of Christ; “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  Now it is important to state, walking by the Spirit will not always feel right, but it is not about how it feels, but checking the Scriptures to make sure you are walking in truth.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice