When Jesus Doesn't Fit

Jesus has a way of defying our expectations, and that is actually good news. In Matthew 9:14-17, when John's disciples questioned why Jesus and His disciples did not fast, Jesus responded not with a defense but with a revelation of His identity. He called Himself the bridegroom, a title drawn from the Old Testament that Israel's scriptures reserve for God Himself. His arrival was not a patch on an old system but the fulfillment of everything God's people had been waiting for. Just as new wine cannot be contained in old wineskins, the new life Jesus brings cannot be squeezed into the old patterns of a life still centered on self. He does not come merely to improve our existing lives. He comes to make us entirely new. The bridegroom has come, and nothing can stay the same.