New wine must be put into new wineskins

 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

- Mark 2:13-22

Yesterday we read that, once again, Jesus entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.  And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power of earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   Levi is also called Matthew, and is the author of the Gospel of Matthew.   Jewish tax collectors were assigned to specific areas by Roman overlords.  The tax collectors were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit, backed by Roman power and the soldiers who would do their bidding since they represented the state.  They were collaborators with the occupying Romans, committing extortion and fraud against their own people.  All of this, plus their corruption, caused fellow Jews to hate them and to consider them unclean.  That Jesus would be dining with such people and accept a tax collector as a disciple offends the Pharisees.  But Christ's defense is simple.  He goes where the need of the physician is greatest. 

 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days."   Fasting practices of the Jews typically included fasting twice a week, on Monday and on Thursday.  (In the early Church, the practice changed to Wednesdays and Fridays, marking the day of Christ's betrayal and the day of Crucifixion.)   There were also public fasts among the Jews which were regularly observed, as well as those which were occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15).  Such public fasting was particularly important for the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34)  and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  However, the day of the Messiah is a time for a wedding feast of God with God's people, a time of joy and gladness.  Jesus is proclaiming that this day is here, in effect declaring Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom, the Christ.  My study bible says that for Christians, fasting is not gloomy but desirable, a bright sadness, for by fasting one gains self-control, and prepares oneself for the Wedding Feast to come.

"No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."  My study bible says that the old garment and the old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, seen as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  And in this light, the new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling in renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

Sinfulness such as that which is portrayed in today's reading might be a little difficult to understand in a modern perspective.  These tax collectors are those who in some sense have betrayed community.  They do things that the whole community find opprobrious and worthy of scorn. They do things which are seen as betraying of community, and helpful to an occupying enemy.  More than that, they cheat, they extort -- all of which is unrighteous behavior.  Even today, considered in this blunt reality, we may find it hard to imagine how Christ calls these particular sinners to discipleship, and sits at table with them.  We don't read in the text how Matthew (Levi) repents, but repent we know he does, as he becomes a disciple and leaves the tax office behind.  There's another story of a tax collector in the Gospels, that of Zacchaeus, who wasn't just an ordinary tax collector, but rather a chief tax collector.  Christ calls to him and tells him that He must stay in his house that day.  In the story of Zacchaeus, found in Luke's Gospel, we do read of his repentance:  He tells Jesus (when the people complain about him), "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."  This restoration is in keeping with the Law; indeed, Zacchaeus goes further than the Law demands.  But if we are to understand today's reading, we take it in context with that of Zacchaeus, and we remember Jesus' words that He came not to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them.  In Matthew's (Levi's) Gospel (chapter 5), Jesus takes the Law one step further, when in the Sermon on the Mount, He elaborates upon and expands the understanding of the statutes against murder, adultery, and those concerning divorce and the swearing of oaths.  But this is part of an overall deepening of our understanding of justice, which the entire chapter seeks to address.  His view may be at once seen as tougher on sin than even the Law allowed, and at the same time more merciful, proclaiming that we must love our enemies.  Perhaps it took a former tax collector to record all of this for us, because the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount are here contained in today's reading.  Repentance is a central key, as we are to understand that in the restoration of relationship, in the practice of mercy, there is the opening to change, to an about-face.  This combination of mercy and repentance is the key to the new wine and the new wineskins.  It allows in so many more to the banquet of the Bridegroom and the feast of the reconciliation of the Kingdom:  God with His People.  The key here is the power of God which is present to us in this new wine that needs new wineskins, as my study bible says of the Holy Spirit.  God supersedes the Law, is the purpose of the Law.  If we are to understand the place of these tax collectors in a modern setting, we may think of those who seem to gain the world through actions which are not socially nor politically correct.  Whatever laws we want to erect, whatever concerns of justice we deem appropriate, there is a deeper, stronger, more strict and at once more merciful system that allows in possibilities we otherwise don't consider -- and that is the power of God who is with us, within us, and among us.  That is the strength of the new wine that needs new wineskins to expand with it.  As human beings, we commit sin -- but who we truly are is so much more than our sin, and for this Christ has come into the world as human being, bringing God not just into our midst but even as one of us, so that we may be with Him and become like Him.  How many people understand this great and tremendous gift, and enter into its mystery?  His table is ready for all.