Watchman: Daily Devotional, They Had Lost Their Teachable Attitude and Open Mind. They Believed They Had Complete Knowledge of the Truth and Would Not Accept Anything That Did Not Fit the Hard Container of Their Narrow Thinking
Matthew 9:15-17 (NIV) 15 Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. 16" No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.
John's disciples questioned why they and the Pharisees fasted but not Jesus' disciples. Jesus responded with a wedding analogy. When there is a wedding, visitors are required to participate in a feast. Jesus has arrived to take the church as his bride. He is calling people from all around the world to be His own. They should rejoice while he is with them. He predicts that Jesus will be removed, and they will fast as a result.
He then moves on to another analogy. Jesus could utilize analogies to express things he couldn't express explicitly. It made the audience think more thoroughly and not be as easily upset. We find it difficult to relate to the analogy of wine bottles. The new skin felt soft and pliable. It grew alongside the wine while it fermented. It began to solidify into the shape it had expanded into after fermentation. If you tried to reuse it for new wine, it would rupture, wasting both the wine and the skin. The Pharisees and the rest of John's disciples had accepted the Old Covenant. The law's norms and structure had formed their container. Jesus has come to bring about the New Covenant. They would have harmed both the truth and themselves if they had attempted the change now.
Some Pharisees and disciples of John did make the shift. They were still adaptable. Their beliefs had not yet crystallized. It was too late for some. They had lost their teachable attitude and open mind. They believed they had complete knowledge of the truth and would not accept anything that did not fit the hard container of their narrow thinking. Maintain your adaptability! One approach to do so is to reflect on how many times you have been wrong. Jesus has a lot to teach, doctrines to change, and attitudes to change.
Consider this: the best wine skin preservative is humility.
The Great Tribulation
It is our belief that the Great Tribulation referred to in the New Testament Book of Revelation (chapters 6-11) is unfolding before our eyes. In the near future, we will devote the "Tribulation" tab on our "Trending" menu to this emerging reality. As people continue to unplug from mainstream media, our commitment is to present the truth and encourage our audience to understand current events from a Biblical perspective. Click here to begin the journey.
The Watchman
In the Bible, the Watchman is responsible for keeping watch and warning others of potential danger or impending judgment. The role is mentioned several times in the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 33:6, God says to the prophet Ezekiel, "But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand." Click here to begin the journey.
Will Putin Attack Israel?
Trending Topics
Tribulation
