9:13 But go and learn what this means, âI desire mercy and not sacrifice,â for I did not come to call the righteous,
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 27 THE CONTINUATION OF THE KING’S MINISTRY (3) Bible Verses: Matthew 9:11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, Why does your Teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners? 9:12 Now when He heard this, He said, Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill. 9:13 But go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. 9:14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast? 9:15 And Jesus said to them, The sons of the bridechamber cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. [THE LORD AS THE PHYSICIAN] In 9:9-17 we come to a very fine, sweet, and intimate portion of the Gospel of Matthew. After the King decreed the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens and after He manifested His authority as the King in many situations, in 9:9-13 we see Him feasting with sinners. In 9:9 we have the calling of Matthew. This verse says, “And as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the customs office, and says to him, Follow Me. And he rose and followed Him.” Matthew was also called Levi (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27). He was a tax collector who became an apostle by God’s grace (Matt. 10:2-3; Acts 1:13, 26). He was the writer of this Gospel. Verse 10 says, “And it came to pass as He was reclining at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and reclined at the table together with Jesus and His disciples.” The house spoken of in this verse was Matthew’s house (Luke 5:29; Mark 2:15). After being saved, Matthew was so grateful to the Lord that he opened his house and prepared a feast for Him and His disciples. Thus, this section of the Word opens in such a sweet, intimate way. While the Lord Jesus was enjoying the feast with all the tax collectors and sinners, the Pharisees criticized and condemned Him, and they asked the disciples why their teacher ate with such people. The Lord took the opportunity given Him by the Pharisees’ question to give a very sweet revelation of Himself as the Physician. In verse 12 we see the Lord’s reply to the Pharisees’ question: “Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.” The Lord was telling the Pharisees that these tax collectors and sinners were patients, sick ones, and that to them the Lord was not a judge, but a physician, a healer. In calling people to follow Him for the kingdom, the King of the heavenly kingdom ministered as a physician, not as a judge. The judgment of the judge is according to righteousness, whereas the healing of the physician is according to mercy and grace. [THE LORD CALLING NOT THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT THE SINNERS] The Lord Jesus gave the Pharisees a further word in verse 13: “Now go and learn what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” The Lord says here that He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Actually, there is none righteous, not even one (Rom. 3:10). All the righteous are self-righteous like the Pharisees (Luke 18:9). The kingly Savior did not come to call them, but to call sinners. The Lord seemed to be telling the Pharisees, “You Pharisees are self-righteous, and you condemn these people without mercy. But God desires mercy. Now is the time for Me to exercise God’s mercy upon these pitiful people by being a physician to them. I am not here as a judge. I am here as a lovely physician taking care of their problems, and now I am healing them.”
Are you righteous? If you say, “No, I am not righteous,” you are blessed. Blessed are those who do not think that they are righteous, but who recognize that they are sinful. The Lord could say to the selfrighteous ones, “If you consider yourselves righteous, you are not suitable for My coming, because My coming is for the sinners. Do not consider yourselves to be righteous. Rather, you must realize how sinful you are. If you consider yourselves as sinners, then you are ready for My coming.” Those tax collectors and sinners were not physically sick; they were spiritually sick. While the Lord Jesus was feasting with them, He was healing them. The Lord was telling the Pharisees, “Pharisees, you are the judges, but I am the Physician. As a Physician, I can heal only the sick ones. If you feel that you are not ill, then I have nothing to do with you, and I cannot heal you. I have come here to call the sinners, the sick ones, not the righteous, the whole ones. On which side do you stand—the side of the righteous or the side of the sinners? If you take the side of the sinners, then I am here to be your Physician.” Matthew reveals more than thirty-three aspects of Christ, one of which is Christ as the Physician. He is not only our King, our Savior, and our life; He is also our Physician. If we have this vision, we shall have faith in Him and trust Him whenever we are sick physically, spiritually, or mentally. We need to trust Him as our Physician. The Gospel of Matthew is a book of the kingdom, yet it is also a book full of the riches of the heavenly King. This heavenly King is our Physician. [THE LORD AS THE BRIDEGROOM] As a book of doctrine, Matthew presents us another case in 9:14-17: the case of fasting without the Bridegroom. Verse 14 says, “Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast?” Verses 10 through 13 record the Lord’s dealing with the question of the Pharisees, who were in the old religion. Now in verses 14 through 17 the Lord deals with the problem of John’s disciples who were in the new religion. John the Baptist dropped the old religion and began his ministry in the wilderness outside of religion. However, after a short time, his disciples formed a new religion to frustrate men from enjoying Christ, just as the Pharisees in the old religion did. To be religious means to do something for God without Christ. To do anything without the presence of Christ, even though it is scriptural and fundamental, is religious. Both the disciples of John, the new-timers of religion, and the Pharisees, the old-timers of religion, fasted much, yet without Christ. Meanwhile, they condemned the disciples of Christ who did not fast, but had Christ with them and lived in His presence. Both the Physician and the Bridegroom are pleasant. In the case concerning the Pharisees, He likened Himself to a Physician. Now in the case with the disciples of John, He likens Himself to a bridegroom at a wedding. The Lord asked if the sons of the bridechamber can mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. It is a joyful time with the Bridegroom. But when the Bridegroom is taken away, they may fast. The question of John’s disciples seemed to be one of doctrine. But the Lord did not answer with a doctrine, but with a Person, the most pleasant Person, the Bridegroom. The religious people always care for their doctrine with their doctrinal reasonings. But Christ cares only for Himself. The living and walk of His followers should be regulated and directed only by His Person and His presence, not by any doctrine. The Lord seemed to be saying, “You religious people have missed the mark. Don’t you realize that I am the Bridegroom and that all My disciples around Me are the sons of the bridechamber? They shouldn’t be fasting. They must feast with Me.” Without these two cases, the Lord Jesus could never have been revealed as the Physician and as the Bridegroom. We should thank the Lord for the Pharisees and for the disciples of John. We should even thank the Lord for all the religions, for without the occasions afforded by religion the Lord could not be revealed in so many different aspects. It is the same today.
Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 28 THE CONTINUATION OF THE KING’S MINISTRY (4) Bible Verses: Matthew 9:16 No one puts a patch of unfulled cloth on an old garment, for that which fills it up pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 9:17 Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved. [CHRIST AS OUR WEDDING GARMENT] In 9:16 the Lord continues with something even finer, sweeter, and more intimate. He says, “Now no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for that which fills it up pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.” The Lord Jesus was very wise. In verse 16 He did not say, “You disciples of John must realize that your garments are torn and full of holes. By fasting you are actually cutting a piece of unshrunk cloth and using it to patch the holes in your garments.” Instead of saying this directly, the Lord Jesus indicated to the disciples of John that they did not have a perfect garment. He indicated that their garments had holes and that by fasting they were trying to patch the holes. No human being could utter such a word as that spoken by the Lord Jesus in verse 16. His wise word is full of meaning, rebuke, revelation, and instruction. The Lord was saying to the disciples of John, “Why do you ask Me about fasting? Your fasting is a way of patching your torn garment. By your fasting, you show that you realize that you have holes in your garments that need to be mended. Your teacher, John, introduced you all to Me. Now you are utilizing Me to patch your holes. This means that you are cutting a piece from My unshrunk cloth to mend the holes in your garments. But My cloth is full of shrinking power. Don’t put any part of it on your old torn garments. If you do, the hole will become larger.” The account in Luke 5:36 is somewhat different from that in Matthew 9:16. Luke 5:36 says, “No man tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old.” Notice that Matthew says “cloth” and that Luke says “garment.” The Lord Jesus likened Himself to a piece of unshrunk cloth. This points to what He was between His incarnation and His crucifixion. During this period of time He was unshrunk cloth, new cloth that had never been fulled or dealt with. Through His death and resurrection this new cloth was dealt with and was made a new garment. The Lord’s intention was to give Himself to us not as a piece of unshrunk cloth, but as a complete, finished garment that we might put on as our righteousness to be justified before God. After His death and resurrection, He was made the finished garment for us to put on so that we may attend His wedding. Thus, He is not only the Bridegroom, but also our wedding garment that qualifies us to attend His wedding feast. [CHRIST AS THE NEW WINE IN THE CHURCH AS THE NEW WINESKIN] Verse 17 says, “Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are destroyed ; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” The new wine here signifies Christ as the new life, full of vigor, stirring people to excitement. The new wine is Christ’s cheering life. The divine life is likened to wine that has cheering strength. When we receive His life, it works within us all day long to stir us up and to excite us. This new wine strengthens us, energizes us, and makes us very happy. The kingly Savior is not only the Bridegroom to the kingdom people for their enjoyment, but also their new garment to equip and qualify them outwardly for attending the wedding. Furthermore, He is also their new life to excite them inwardly for the enjoyment of Him as their Bridegroom. He, as their heavenly King, is the Bridegroom for the kingdom people’s enjoyment, and His heavenly kingdom
is the wedding feast (22:2 ) that they may enjoy Him. To enjoy Him as the Bridegroom in the kingdom feast, they need Him as their new garment outwardly and their new wine inwardly. Old wineskins signify religious practices, such as the fasting held by the Pharisees in the old religion and the disciples of John in the new religion. All religions are old wineskins. New wine put into old wineskins bursts the wineskins by its fermenting power. To put new wine into old wineskins is to put Christ as the exciting life into any kind of religion. The new wine needs a wineskin, a container. Because the new wine is filled with fermenting power, if you put it into an old wineskin, the fermenting power of the new wine will burst the old wineskin. Any religious practice is an old wineskin. In this verse Christ seemed to be saying to the Pharisees and the disciples of John,” Fasting is an old wineskin. Do not try to put the new wine of My life into the wineskin of your old religious practices. The wine will burst your religious practices. The new wine of My life requires a new wineskin.” [T]he new wineskin is the church life. The church is actually the enlargement of Christ. The individual Christ is our wine within us. When this individual Christ is enlarged into a corporate Christ, that is the church. This corporate Christ is the wineskin, the container, to contain the individual Christ as our wine. Never consider the church a religion; the church is a corporate entity full of Christ, because the church is Christ enlarged. We must also realize that the wineskin is not only the container of the wine, but also the means for us to drink the wine. Many of us can testify that whenever we come into a church meeting, we discover that it is truly the place where we can drink Christ. It is here that we drink the Lord as never before. The church life is not merely a container, but a vessel from which we may drink. We need Christ as the new garment, we need Christ as the new wine, and we also need Christ in a corporate way as the new wineskin. We need the church life. We do not care for religion, forms, or rituals. We care only for Christ in you and Christ in me. This is the new wineskin. Remember that religion is something for God without Christ. But the church is Christ enlarged; it is the enlargement of Christ. And the new wineskin is Christ enlarged into a corporate expression. This is the church. The church is not something for God without Christ and without the Spirit. The church is an entity which is the enlargement of Christ and which is full of Christ. The church is filled with Christ and constituted with Christ. No matter what our age may be, we must be filled with Christ. Then when we come together, we shall be the local expression of the church. This is the wineskin. No matter how much fermenting power there is in the divine life of Christ, it can never burst the church. [KNOWING THE LORD IN MATTHEW 9] Praise the Lord that He is our Physician! After He heals us, He becomes our Bridegroom. He is also our garment to qualify us and our new wine to stir us up. As I see the faces of the brothers and sisters in the meetings, I can tell that they have been stirred up by the new wine. How we praise the Lord that this new wine is in His enlargement, the new wineskin. Christ is everything to us! We need to know our Lord to such an extent. He is not only our King, our Savior, and our life. He is also our Physician, and this dear Physician is our lovely Bridegroom. And this Bridegroom becomes our garment, our new wine, and eventually the wineskin. We are now in the wineskin, in the church life, enjoying Him to such a high degree. Hallelujah for Christ and the church!
Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
