In Matthew 9:15-17 and 12:3-8 we have Christ’s teaching concerning the New Testament economy.
In answer to the question asked by certain disciples of John the Baptist regarding fasting, the Lord Jesus said, “Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?” (Matt. 9:15a). The “sons of the bridechamber” refer to Christ’s disciples. In the transitory period of His earthly ministry, His disciples were the sons of the bridechamber. Later they will become the bride (John 3:29; Rev. 19:7). The crucial point here is that the Lord Jesus reveals Himself as the Bridegroom to take the bride. John the Baptist had told his disciples that Christ was the Bridegroom (John 3:25-29). Now Christ reminded them of this. The followers of the Lord Jesus should appropriate Him as their Bridegroom so that they may have a living enjoyment in His presence.
In Matthew 9:16 the Lord Jesus goes on to say, “Now no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for that which fills it up pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.” The unshrunk cloth signifies Christ from His incarnation to His crucifixion as a piece of new cloth, whereas the new garment in Luke 5:36 signifies Christ, after being treated in His crucifixion, as a new robe. First, Christ was the unshrunk cloth for making a new garment, and then through His death and resurrection He was made a new garment to cover us as our righteousness before God so that we may be justified by God and acceptable to Him (Luke 15:22; Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 1:30). The Lord’s intention was to give Himself to us not as a piece of unshrunk cloth but as a complete, finished garment that we may put on as our righteousness. Hence, Christ is not only the Bridegroom but also a finished garment that we may put on as our righteousness.
In Matthew 9:17 the Lord Jesus continues, “Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are destroyed; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” The new wine here signifies Christ as the new life, full of vigor, stirring us to excitement. The new wine is Christ’s cheering life. When we receive His life, it works within us to stir us up and excite us, to strengthen us, energize us, and make us happy. Christ, therefore, is not only the Bridegroom for our enjoyment and our new garment to cover us, but also our new life to excite us for the enjoyment of Him as our Bridegroom. In order to enjoy Christ as the Bridegroom, we need Him as our new garment outwardly and as our new wine inwardly.
In 9:17 the Lord Jesus said that we should not put new wine into old wineskins. Old wineskins signify religious practices, such as the fasting practiced by the Pharisees and the disciples of John in their religion. All religions are old wineskins. New wine put into old wineskins bursts the wineskins by its fermenting power. To put new wine into old wineskins is to put Christ as the exciting life into any kind of religion, into different modes of religious ritual and formality. The new wine, however, requires a fresh wineskin.
The fresh wineskins in 9:17 signify the church life in the local churches as the container of the new wine, which is Christ Himself as the exciting life. The believers are built into the church (16:18), and the church is expressed through the local churches in which they live (18:15-20). The believers in Christ are regenerated persons constituting the Body of Christ to be the church (Rom. 12:5; Eph. 1:22-23). This Body of Christ as His fullness is also called “the Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12, lit), the corporate Christ. The individual Christ is the new wine, the exciting life inwardly, and the corporate Christ is the fresh wineskin, the container to hold the new wine outwardly. Here we have the church life with Christ as the contents.
As the new wineskin, the church is actually the enlargement of Christ. When the individual Christ as the wine within us is enlarged into a corporate Christ, that is the church. This corporate Christ is the wineskin, the container, to contain the individual Christ as our wine. Thus, the church is a corporate entity full of Christ, for the church is Christ enlarged.
Christ is not only our new garment and new wine, but, being increased, He is also our new wineskin to contain the wine. He is our outward qualification, He is our inward satisfaction, and, in a corporate way, He is the church, the Body, capable of holding the wine. In the New Testament economy Christ is everything. He is the Bridegroom, the new garment, the new wine, and the corporate vessel to contain what we enjoy of Him.
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