The new has come

‘No one uses a piece of new material to patch up an old coat because the new patch will shrink and tear off some of the old cloth making an even bigger hole. Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, because the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.’ (verses 21,22)

Read Mark 2:13-22

Do I fast or don’t I? Should I drink alcohol or not? What can I give up for Lent? Should I give up anything? Questions about what some people see as Christian disciplines and others as Christian rules have troubled people and divided churches throughout the ages.

Jesus turns an argument about a specific issue, fasting, into a wider issue; the joy of Christian freedom. He looks at the way people live in the ‘new order’, the last times, when the gospel has come among us, when salvation is by faith and not by works. Time spent with Jesus, the one who makes salvation by grace through faith possible, is a time of joy, of celebration.

This is so even when we are doing the works which no longer earn salvation (if they ever did) but are part of the expectation God has of people whose salvation has been guaranteed. Service of God is no longer a burden but a joyful privilege. Love, compassion, mercy, service are still the same activities, but now, by watching Jesus, we know what they really mean. His yoke is easy, his burden is light.

Father, I cannot get over the fact that you allow me to do your work. I thank you for the privilege! Amen.

by Bob Turnbull, in ‘New Strength for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 1998)

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