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.  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 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 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.  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 known to us as Matthew, the Evangelist.    My study bible explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors such as Levi/Matthew, and in turn these tax collectors were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  Their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption meant that other Jews hated them, and that they were considered unclean (Matthew 11:19).  As Jesus is seen here dining with tax collectors as well as accepting one as a disciple ("Follow Me"), He has offended the Pharisees.  But, my study bible explains, Christ's defense is simple.  He goes where the need of the physician is the greatest.  Matthew records Christ as quoting the prophet Hosea to the scribes and Pharisees:  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13, Hosea 6:6), an indication that mercy is the higher priority.

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."  My study bible informs us that the Jews typically fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), on May and Thursday.  Moreover there were public fasts which were regularly observed or proclaimed on occasion (2 Chronicles 20:3, Ezra 8:21, Esther 4:16, Joel 2:15).  The Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:31-34) and times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19) were particularly important times for fasting.  But the day of the Messiah was seen as a wedding feast -- which is a time of joy and gladness.  Jesus is proclaiming in effect that that day is here, and declaring Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  My study bible adds that for Christians, fasting is therefore not gloomy but desirable, a "bright sadness," because by fasting we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast we know will come.  In respect to the image of the old garment and old wineskins, my study bible explains that they stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, which are regarded as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is a figurative image of the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who are not constrained by the old precepts of the Law.  

Jesus embraces the concept of healing as basic to His ministry, and expands that to include liberation from sin.  As only God has the power to forgive sin, Christ is proclaiming -- again, but in a more indirect way -- His divinity.  If we look at yesterday's reading, above, we see the direct challenge regarding His divinity and the forgiveness of sin.  Jesus takes that into an astonishing act of healing, although the much "greater" thing is to forgive the sin, for that is the prerogative of God.  In today's reading, notions of healing are expanded, and Jesus' explanation of Himself as physician come forth to more completely fulfill the events of yesterday's reading.  Elsewhere Jesus tells us that "whoever commits sin is a slave of sin" (John 8:34).  But His word, and the truth it contains is the way to freedom, to liberation from the sin (John 8:31-32).  Here in today's reading, not only is Matthew/Levi set free from his sin, but Jesus sits and dines -- essentially communes -- with him and his friends who are fellow sinners in the eyes of the Jews.  And let's make it perfectly clear that the tax collectors weren't simply victims of a legalistic system:  what they did would be considered loathsome in our own society today, as the not only worked for occupiers of a great empire but also typically extorted extra for themselves from their own people, backed up by the power of the Romans.  Actually, there were tax collectors and soldiers who also came to John the Baptist, and his advice to them for righteousness and repentance was to do their jobs honestly; see Luke 3:12-14.  But Jesus' liberation is a transformational one, and this is something important to remember.  It expands people and changes them from within -- even as the wine ferments in the wineskins and so new wineskins are necessary to handle the resulting expansion.  This wine contained within, my study bible explained, is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, working in mysterious ways we don't create of ourselves but with which we can cooperate with our acceptance.  And this is the key to the new life and the new freedom -- this new and strange picture with which the scribes and Pharisees are confronted, that of a holy Man sitting at table with tax collectors and sinners.  Jesus further takes us into new territory, once again by introducing Himself as Messiah.  For fasting is an unquestionably good practice in spiritual tradition, practiced in accordance with the Jewish custom by both the Pharisee and the disciples of John the Baptist.  Christians will also follow with fasting practices as well, but with the "one thing needed" that will change all perspective on its practice:  that the Bridegroom has come to dwell with us, and that He will return.  When we fast now, we do so looking forward in preparation for the fullness of His return and the Wedding Feast.  Compassion is not missing from the spiritual history of Israel, nor is the understanding of God's tender mercies.   But just as in the image of the new wineskins, Christ brings a deeper and fuller understanding of what that is and means, and how it can work among us.  As He has said Himself, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17).  It is that fulfillment and fullness, the promise of expansion and completion, that our ancient Christian ancestors knew and understood about Christ, even as the pagan cultures of Gentile believers were transfigured and transformed -- with the good and beautiful and true remaining, but fulfilled and expanded through the understanding and advent of Christ.  What we must understand is that this action of fulfillment and expansion in Christ is ongoing, that it is present for each and every generation.  The One on the throne declares, "I am always making all things new" (Revelation 21:5), and these words are yet true and faithful, and at work within us and among us.