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The Bridegroom Is with Them
Matthew 9 keeps asking what kind of authority Jesus carries. He forgives sins, calls an outsider to follow him, interprets Scripture through mercy, restores an unclean woman, raises a girl, opens blind eyes, frees a mute man, and then looks at the crowds with compassion because they are like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus calls Matthew from a tax booth and then eats with tax collectors and sinners. When challenged, he quotes Hosea 6:6—“I will have mercy, and not sacrifice”—and identifies himself as a physician for the sick. A fasting question then becomes a bridegroom saying and a pair of new-patch/new-wine images.
Where this fits in the story: Hosea attacks covenant worship that lacks loyal mercy; bridegroom imagery elsewhere can describe God’s covenant relationship with his people.
Where Scripture takes it next: Matthew 12 quotes Hosea 6:6 again in a Sabbath controversy, making mercy a repeated interpretive key.
Evidence boundary: “new wine” should not be turned into a free-floating symbol for whatever a modern ministry labels “new.” Its meaning belongs to Jesus’ presence and the changed situation created by his kingdom mission.
Parable focus — New Cloth and New Wine: The point is incompatibility, not contempt for the Old Testament. Jesus’ kingdom work cannot simply be squeezed into patterns unable to receive it, while the same Gospel continues to treat Scripture as God’s word.
Song 3 celebrates a human bridegroom’s wedding day; Jesus later uses “bridegroom” language for his own presence with the disciples, advancing the canon’s bridegroom motif into the messianic age.
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