Conflicts With Tradition

Jesus constantly ran afoul of the religious traditions of his day.   Matthew 9:10-11 describes one of those situations.  “And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?”   

The Pharisees were Israel’s religious elite, convinced that they were more spiritual and better than those who were less religious.  Publicans or public employees were those who worked for the government, which in this case was the Roman Empire, and were in constant contact with people who were not Jewish.  They were often considered traitors to their Jewish heritage and suspected of having forsaken the Jewish traditions and laws.  They were considered no better than the sinners who deliberately violated the Jewish traditions.  It was assumed that association with them indicated one rejected the Jewish standards.   The Pharisees questioned why Jesus would associate with such people if he was truly the Messiah. 

Jesus responded in Matthew 9:12-13.  “But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.  But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  The Pharisees considered themselves as good people whose sins were not that important.  They felt that all they needed to do was offer a sacrifice to pay off their sin much like paying off a speeding or parking ticket.  Jesus said he didn’t come just to collect fines for unintentional mistakes, but to help those who realized they needed serious help.  It is impossible to help people who are satisfied with what they are doing and don’t see any need for change. 

John the Baptist provided a transition from the Jewish religion to Christianity.  Many of his followers did not realize the difference, as we see in Matthew 9:14.  “Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?”   they viewed Jesus’ teachings as just another level on the old Jewish tradition.  They wondered why his disciples didn’t fast like they and the Jews did. 

Jesus emphasized that there was a major difference in his response in Matthew 9:15-17.  “And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.  Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.” 

Fasting is not supposed to be about trying to get God to do something, but about spending time getting to know him.  As long as the Lord was present, the best way to get to know him was to spend the time physically with him.  The hours spent in fasting and prayer would not be needed until he was no longer present.  To spend time fasting when he was present would be like texting your friend who is sitting at the same table rather than simply talking to him.  The texting will only be needed if they are too far away to talk to them personally.

Christianity was not just a patch or a patch on to their old religion, although many treat it as such.  As Jesus points out, such a patch can actually make things worse, and trying to fit Christianity into the old traditions and customs completely destroys them, so that what is left is neither traditional nor Christian.  God doesn’t just do behavior modifications to fix some problems areas, but as II Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “…if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”    The results are very different.