Ian Barclay's Thought For The Day

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The problem of the new
Reading: Matthew 9:16-17 click on passage to view

In our throw-away culture of the 21st century we are not really into repairing clothes. However in the old days when garments were patched, if you used a piece of unshrunk material in your mending, it would probably tear again quickly once it started to rain.
The Jews were passionately attached to the status quo and could not see how the radical new teaching of Jesus would fit into old ideas of Judaism. Jesus responds to this by pointing out the folly of repairing an old garment with unshrunken cloth or filling old wineskins with new wine.
We need to very careful here! Christianity is both the new wine and the new wineskin. The foundations of our Christian Faith have been established, we can’t invent them. We simply have to make them relevant to our time and culture. Let me illustrate: Should women cover their heads in church on a Sunday? No, that is a cultural issue which we can revise for our time. Should we change our view regarding homosexuality to fit in with the mores of the 21st century? No, because this is a moral issue and that can’t be changed. Matthew 9:16-17 was a word to the Jews, the new wine and the new wineskin is here and the fundamentals of Christianity can’t be altered.

Meditate: On the unchanging issues for a changing world.
Prayer pointer: I need to be flexible when things are not important but inflexible with the Truth.