New Wine Skins for New Wine
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk clothe on an old garment. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins.” (Mark 2: 21 & 22)
It never ceases to amaze me how often revelation can come from a verse, story, or parable we are well acquainted with, when we focus on the big picture, the context of the event. Ask questions like: Who is speaking? Who are they speaking to? Are they answering a question or addressing a particular concern? What is the full inference of their response? Often these pertinent questions effectively separate fact from fiction.
Regarding the above verse, several things rise to the forefront of my understanding. First, three out of four Gospel writers were led to include this parable. Second, it is one of the first parables that Jesus tells. But above all, I must admit that I’ve always focused more upon the wineskins and less upon what was going into them. I failed to recall and tie together the fact that Jesus began his ministry by turning water into wine and why His first parable is about the importance of pouring new wine into new wine skins.
In his first miracle, Jesus turns water in stone jars into wine. The stone jars were for ritual washing with which was a religious symbolic practice which offered a temporary sense of spiritual purity – a coming clean moment. John rightly identified Jesus as “the lamb that takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Before Jesus went to the cross he offered an image and understanding that His flesh (words) are real food and his blood is real drink. Jesus’ urging that we remember him through the Lord’s supper reminds us of two essential truths – we are one with Jesus Christ through feeding on His word and drinking (accepting) his blood sacrificed for the permanent forgiveness of our sins. The cleansing offered through ceremonial washing with water was fleeting. The blood shed by Jesus covers our sin forever as graciously as the metaphoric angel of death that passed over the homes in Egypt that had the blood of a lamb over their door posts.
In this first parable, Jesus compares The Kingdom of God to new wine. The old wine in old wine skins was religion with all its empty ceremony centered around the consequences of sin. The Gospel was the new wine that had to be poured into new wine skins. The early church quickly struggled with old Jewish rituals and traditions being introduced into church practices, such as “observing special days and months and seasons and years” (Galatians 4:10). Sadly, a good example of why The Gospel (new wine) can’t be poured into old wine skins (old Jewish religious practices) still exists to this day in many of the denominational churches. Weekly ceremonial confession of sins followed by absolution offered by a priest or pastor tragically encourages a sub-conscious belief or understanding that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was not enough. The same churches that declare that “the just shall live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4) teach that daily or weekly accounting and confession of our sins that can then be forgiven to making us clean for another day or week’ is important. Christian liturgy is deeply meaningful and beautiful, but when recited from memory, it tends to become habit and not truly heart felt.
The lure of the Gospel was three-fold: 1. Complete forgiveness of sins. (The believer is set free from the slavery of sin by Jesus.) 2. The Kingdom of God was open to all adopted sons and daughters of God through faith in the finished work of Jesus. 3. Death is no longer to be feared. “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my words and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”) This is what caused thousands to follow and flock to Jesus to hear these new and astonishing pronouncements and see him perform miracles – all of which confirmed that he truly was the son of God and Savior of the world. He confirmed that the Jewish leaders had permitted their religion to completely misrepresent God and reject most common folks.
We, individually and collectively remain the body of Christ. We are the new wine skins, and the new wine is within us through the power of the Holy Spirit. With God’s help we preserve and share this new wine – the endless unconditional love of God the Father with all that have ears to hear and eyes to see.