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Today's Gospel
Don’t Categorize Jesus
5 min
Gospel
Lk 5:33-39
And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” He told them a parable also: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it upon an old garment; if he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new; for he says, ‘The old is good.’”
Readings are from Dynamic Catholic’s New Testament Bible: RSV Catholic Edition
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Transcript
Don’t Categorize Jesus
What is it that jumps out at you today? The disciples of Jesus, they were different. And again, people are questioning why are they different? Why aren't they like John's disciples? Why aren't they like the Pharisees? And what they're missing here is that John isn't Jesus. And the Pharisees, they're not Jesus. They are not the Christ. They are not the chosen one. They are not the Savior of the world. They are not the king of kings and the Lord of lords, and the master of the universe. And so when Jesus says the parable, what does he say? He says, "Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom, Jesus, is with them?" And the answer, of course, is no.
The other thing is that Jesus' explanation is perfectly reasonable. It's logical, it's reasonable. And I'm sure this was massively frustrating for his enemies, for his critics, of which he had many. But where is the message in all of this today? Is the message that we don't have to fast and pray? No, that's not the message. I think sometimes we overlook the fact that Jesus was a very faithful religious Jew. And so the things that he would have done throughout his life were those of a very faithful religious Jew. And so he would have been very familiar with praying several times a day. He would have been very familiar with fasting. He would have been very familiar with tithing. He would have been very familiar with all the practices of a faithful religious Jew. And I think that's overlooked sometimes when we conjure images of Jesus or when people present images of Jesus. And I think it's dangerous to forget his roots in that sense. And it's dangerous to compare him to anybody. And that is ultimately what's happening in this reading today. They are comparing Jesus to John. They're comparing Jesus to the Pharisees, which is essentially saying they have no understanding of who is in their presence. Absolutely no understanding of who's in their presence. And sometimes, people will talk about Jesus and Buddha and Gandhi and Muhammad and whoever else they want to put in that conversation. Jesus doesn't belong in that group. Jesus doesn't belong in any group. Jesus is a group unto himself. And it's very important that we stay clear about that. Have a great day, and remember, don't just be yourself. Be the-very-best-version-of-yourself, all that God created you to be.
