Passage
Day five! Chapter two completed! I am making progress. (...I probably just jinxed myself. Watch my post tomorrow be late.)
First off: We have a confirmed Pharisee sighting! Eeeeooooooeeeeeeooooo. (That's the Pharisee alarm.) It comes after Matthew is called, and Jesus is hanging out with the tax collectors and "sinners". I think it's significant to note that Matthew was called just before this; it proves A, that the tax collectors were wanted, and B, that they were allowed to be part of Jesus' ministry. It goes back to that Aslan quote a mentioned a few days ago--we would not respond to God's call unless we were first called. The tax collectors, by way of Matthew, were called first, and they responded.
It goes on to two metaphors from there--that Jesus came for the sick (in this case, the sinners), not the healthy, and that they shouldn't fast while they are with Jesus. I think the metaphor of Jesus being with the sinners is pretty self-explanatory, but it's the second one that confuses me a little bit more, or at least causes me to pause.
Well, I sort of get the bridegroom thing. Although if the bridegroom wanted to fast, then the attendants should be fasting, and why are all the groomsmen fasting anyway? But the cloth and wineskins are confusing. Maybe the wine is the gospel/truth? You can't put it into the old wineskins; the ones that have been filled with the (old) truth. Similarly, the Jews (see: Pharisees, above) were rejecting the gospel now. But the cloth? Hmm. Maybe the significant thing to look at is "unshrunk" cloth. The cloth, or Jesus' ministry, wasn't done yet. If Jesus had gone to the old garments, or the Pharisee-type groups, it would cause a tear. He needed to wait until the cloth was done, and shrunk, before sewing it on.
I think. Metaphors are confusing.
We finish with discussion of the Sabbath, and how man wasn't made for the Sabbath. We weren't built to automatically celebrate God; we were given the Sabbath so we could choose to celebrate God. Which I suppose I did today, by going to church and taking a nap and preparing for Bible Study tomorrow? Maybe.
I also baked cookies. Celebratory sabbath cookies, now. Om nom.
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