Matthew 9:14-17

Matthew 9:14-17 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Everyone was struggling with how to deal with Jesus Christ.  They were so firmly rooted in their traditions, which were good, that they were unable to be flexible enough to deal with the new thing that God was doing.  What they had been waiting for, expecting, for hundreds of years had shown up, but God had done so in such a different and unexpected way that they weren't sure what to do.  They had been fasting and waiting, but now God was here, telling them not to fast, but to celebrate.
  So how do we live?  Our first reaction is to hold tightly to our own traditions, trusting them to anchor us in our identity.  And this is important, but we can't hold too tightly to anything, because it's easy to allow our traditions to prevent us from grasping on to the new.  We fill our hands with the old and are unable to let go and accept the new thing God is doing.
  Let us continue, then, to be a people in prayer, trusting that God will show us the way by the power of the Holy Spirit.  When we're uncertain of what tomorrow holds, let us trust that God will give us hints, clues, pointing the way forward.  The miracles that Jesus did, the healings and feedings -- were those hints, breadcrumbs to help the people see that God was on the move.  May our eyes and hearts be open to how God is leading us forward today, that we might be ever watchful for how God is on the move!