They didn’t like how Jesus did things. It wasn’t the way. Their way.

First of all he offended them when he made it clear that he was claiming divinity. A bunch of guys lowered their buddy through the roof to get to Jesus. And Jesus said he forgave the man sins.

The Pharisees and teachers of the Law were furious. Only God could forgive sins!

Jesus said basically, “yes, that’s true. And to prove that I am who say I am the man is going to be healed.” So he healed the man.

They tried again.

Jesus called one of his disciples who was a tax collector. These were the worst of the worst. They were Jewish people who sold out to the Romans for money. And then they used their position to get more money squeezed out of the people. They were traitors who exploited their own people for wealth.

This was the one whom Jesus called. Then Levi, the tax collector, invited all his friends. So there Jesus was feasting and hanging out with a bunch of other sinners.

This was not the way of the Pharisees. A rabbi had to choose righteous and Godly people if he was truly a Rabbi. And Jesus wasn’t doing it right.

Jesus answered he didn’t come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.

Then one more time they came after him. But instead of making it direct, they targeted his disicples. His disciples were not praying and fasting like the other disciples such as John the Baptist.

Jesus said to them it wasn’t their time. When Jesus was with them it was a time of celebration. Not fasting and mourning.

He then says to them he is doing a new thing. It’s a new season. No one pour new wine into an old wineskin as the old wineskin will break. It is the season for a new wineskin.

Jesus had come not to patch up old broken things. But rather to give them something new, better and more wonderful.

Then there’s this verse that is strange:

And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”

It would seem that Jesus is saying the old is better. But that’s not the case considering the context.

What he is saying is that some get attached to the old and do not realize that something better has come. Wine can spoil when it’s in wineskins. It can actually taste bad. But it’s familiar. And hard for some to change. But Jesus is bringing something new and it is better.

The Pharisees were angry with Jesus because he didn’t conform to custom. They wanted to use these things to try to prove he wasn’t who he said he was. But their attacks failed. Jesus wasn’t falling for it. He was crushing their traditions in order to show the value of mankind.

Jesus was the one who could forgive their sins

Jesus was the one who was a friend of sinners, calling them to repentance with love and kindness.

Jesus was the one who was to be celebrated as he was doing a new thing on the earth.

Now if the Pharisees could only open their eyes and see, they would see that the Messiah has come.

It’s scary to thing how easy it is for our traditions can block us from seeing God who is right in front of us.

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 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.  And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,  but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.  And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”  And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.  And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.  And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”  And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

A Question About Fasting

And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.”  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. ³⁷ 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. ³⁹ And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”