But 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 Jesus again 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 on 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.   Levi is also known to us as Matthew (Matthew 9:9).  He is a tax collector.  That is, he collects taxes for the Romans.  My study bible explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  In other words, with the backing of Roman force, they also extorted money from their own people.  My study bible adds that their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption caused other Jews to hate them and consider them unclean.  For the Jews, Jesus calling a tax collector as a disciple and also dining at his home with many other tax collectors and sinners is scandalous.  But it reinforces the nature of Christ's ministry in His capacities both as Redeemer and forgiver of sins.

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."    Jesus couches His ministry in the perfect language to characterize what He does:  He is a physician who goes where the need for Him is greatest.  His ministry is about redeeming, transforming, in both the forgiveness of sins and the practice of repentance ("change of mind") among those who follow Him.  He offers transcendence and healing of our lives.  As in the story of the paralytic in yesterday's reading, above, those like the tax collectors are not "stuck" in their sins, but He offers a way forward to righteousness.

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."    Here Jesus gives a deeper revelation of the difference of His new ministry in the world.  He is the Bridegroom.  This bridegroom is the One whose bride is the heavenly Jerusalem, the people of God.   Incarnate as Jesus Christ, He is both human and divine, and so for the time being, He is with them. 

"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."  Here is a statement affirming the great difference that the Incarnation of Christ makes to the world.  It is an affirmation of the healing nature of Christ as Physician, as well as His authority to forgive sins, and the power of repentance in His ministry.  In some sense it is also an allusion to Christian baptism, which is a form of death and rebirth. 

Why and how is Christ's ministry so different?  How is He introducing something brand new into the world?  There is first of all the power to forgive sins, disputed by the religious authorities in yesterday's reading (above).  Illustrated by the calling of Levi/Matthew the tax collector, Christ's ministry is not only one in which sins may be forgiven, but one which is transforming, offering a type of new birth.  Repentance (literally "change of mind" in the Greek) becomes a constant form of rebirth, illustrated by Christ in His repeated teaching that we must take up our crosses day by day in order to follow Him (Matthew 10:38; Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; Luke 14:27).  In using the term "new wineskins" Jesus gives us an affirmation of the completely new nature of this ministry, this new covenant that has come into the world.  He is not just another teacher, neither is He a prophet.  His is not merely a philosophical movement, a set of principles, an intellectual design for a new method of finding God.  He brings holy power with Him, an authority to forgive sins, and very real spiritual help of grace for transformation, redemption, and the renewal of life.  This is the essence of what it means for Him to be seen as our Physician, why He "did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   The illustration of the new wineskins tells us all about this shocking and scandalous ministry.  It doesn't look like what is already known, it tells us something new.  And this is also the very nature of the Christ Himself; His work will always reflect the role of Creator, the One who is always making all things new.  As such, we must remember His words as affirming our own need to take up our personal crosses day by day, to live within this prayerful relationship that will ask us to change in some sense, for constant renewal day by day.  To be a follower of Christ is to be this new wine, for which new wineskins must be provided to contain it.  We are always in the process of change through a kind of internal enzymatic action, and this is the work of grace within us and among us.  The story of disciples like Levi/Matthew and the rest of them is a whole history of lifelong transformation and growth, as shaped by the Spirit and the ongoing ministry of Christ.   Can we truly follow that call in our own lives?