“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. For this reason I came eating and drinking with tax collectors and ‘sinners’ — those living in immorality and harboring envy, greed, lust, and hatred in their hearts. Yes, I tell you for these I came, for I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

“No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins and the wine will run out:  the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’

“Truly I tell you, some will refuse to the new wine — will refuse to change even when new wine is poured out in abundance. Yes, they will hold to their religious traditions and ceremonies, their rituals and rules and refuse to come to me. They nullify the word of God for the sake of their tradition. They honor me and my Father with their lips, but their hearts are far from us. They worship in vain for their teachings are merely human rules. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect and have the most important seats and the places of honor. They practice their righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. They announce their good works with trumpets and in the streets in order to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

“But you, come to me in humility with repentance. Confess your sins. Be baptized into my name and my Spirit. Flee from the coming wrath of my Father. Whoever believes in me has eternal life. Whoever rejects me will not see life, for my Father’s wrath remains on them. Therefore, produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

Luke 5:31, Matthew 9:13, Matthew 15:7-9, Luke 20:46, Matthew 3:5-8, John 3:36