Receiving the fulfilment God has brought in Jesus
Read: Mark 2:13-28; Luke 5:33-39; Matthew 5:17; Colossians 2:16-17.
Key verse
“I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17.
Focus: Receiving Jesus as the fulfilment of God’s purpose and allowing all we know and practise to lead us to Him.
Jesus does not change the story God has been telling. He fulfils it. God’s earlier revelation prepared His people to receive the One in whom His promises would find fulfilment.
The old was meant to reach its rightful destination. That destination is Jesus. We honour what God gave by receiving the One to whom it pointed.
In Mark 2, questions about eating with sinners, fasting, and the Sabbath gather around Jesus. The physician has come. The bridegroom’s presence calls for joy. He is Lord even of the Sabbath.
New wine bursts old wineskins: both wine and skins are lost. What Jesus brings cannot simply be contained within established expectations. His arrival calls for a response shaped by who He is.
Is what we know of God leading us to His Son?
Recognising the fulfilment
Colossians 2:16-17 describes food regulations and sacred days as a shadow, with the substance belonging to Christ. The shadow serves its purpose by pointing us to Him.
Luke does not explicitly call the old wine a shadow. Yet this wider biblical movement from preparation to fulfilment helps us understand why Jesus’ coming requires a fresh response.
Do I read Scripture seeking to know Christ more fully? Will I let Him deepen my understanding?
When the familiar feels sufficient
The person accustomed to old wine says, “The old is fine” (Luke 5:39). In this setting, those words can describe reluctance to receive what Jesus brings because the familiar seems sufficient.
We too can become settled in a familiar understanding or pattern of worship, resisting Scripture’s call into a fuller knowledge of Christ.
Newness alone proves nothing. What matters is recognising Jesus and receiving the fulfilment He brings.
Where do I say, “What I already know is enough”? What am I afraid of losing if Christ reshapes my expectations?
We can bring that fear honestly to Him.
Lord, make my heart willing to receive what You reveal.
Receiving His authority
God gave the Sabbath for human good. Jesus declares Himself Lord even of it. The gift must be understood in relation to the Lord who reveals its purpose.
Our practices also need examination. Bible reading, prayer, fasting, and worship should nurture trust in Christ, obedience to His word, and love for people.
Am I satisfied with completing a practice while avoiding the obedience it calls for? Does my understanding of holiness make room for Jesus’ mercy towards sinners?
Receiving Him as fulfilment includes yielding our dearest habits and convictions to Him as Lord.
With the Bridegroom again
Jesus said His disciples would fast when the bridegroom was taken away. Yet our present longing is moving towards joyful reunion.
He looked ahead to drinking with His disciples in His Father’s kingdom (Matthew 26:29). Revelation 19:7-9 pictures the marriage supper of the Lamb. His people will be gathered to Him.
The fasting that expresses our longing for the Bridegroom will have reached its purpose. Longing will give way to the joy of His presence.
This hope sustains us as we follow Him today. The One who fulfils God’s promises will bring us into that joy.
Feasting, not fasting, because the Bridegroom is with us.
A practical response
Choose one familiar belief or spiritual practice. Ask how it helps you know and follow Jesus. Name one response His words call for: showing mercy, surrendering a fixed expectation, or obeying a command you have delayed. Take that step in dependence upon Him.
Prayer
Father, thank You that Jesus fulfils what You promised. By Your Spirit, open my understanding and make my heart willing. Where familiarity has made me resistant, teach me to trust Your Son. Let my reading, prayer, and worship deepen my fellowship with Him. Help me receive His mercy, yield to His authority, and obey His word. Sustain me with the hope of the coming feast, when longing gives way to the joy of being with Him. Amen.
Quote
“The old was meant to reach its rightful destination. The destination is Jesus.”
Food for thought
- Is what God has already taught me leading me to a fuller knowledge of Jesus?
- How might the hope of being with the Bridegroom shape my obedience today?