Stop Waiting
Sometimes the old way and the new way don't mix.
As Jesus sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” - Matthew 9:10–17
Today's Gospel reading reminds me that there will always be people who will continue to see things the way they always have and not realize something new may be better or true.
What many considered new teaching or even sacrilege, Jesus saw as a logical extension of the faith.
What did they expect of the Messiah?
When the Messiah comes, will not everything in the law be fulfilled? Will they not have a chance, finally, to celebrate, rather than fast?
Jesus uses the example of the bridegroom because it is something everyone could relate to. For us, it may be something else, like the birth of a child or the safe return of a hostage.
When these things happen, the prayers and waiting have been completed, fulfilled, and joy resounds.
Like the Pharisees and scribes of his day, we tend to cement ourselves in the forever waiting mode. What are we waiting for?
Justice? Fairness? Equity? Peace?
Whatever it is we long for and advocate for, we may fail to see it when it arrives.
I know that sounds hard to believe, but maybe we need to take small steps in the right direction until the vision is clear.
When Jesus came, the vision was completed, and yet most continued to wait.
So it will be when someone rises up to make life better for all.
More to come...