I have found a variety of interpretations and discussion regarding Jesus’ remarks in Mark 2:21-22.
21“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. 22“No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”
Some are confident that this means that we should discard all the Old Testament teaching and law of God and begin again with Jesus Christ. This cannot be the case because Jesus Himself constantly obeys and teaches from the Old Testament scriptures during His earthly ministry. Jesus even clearly stated that He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. He emphasized the importance of keeping and teaching God’s commandments!
17“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
So then, let us consider a different meaning for Mark 2:21-22, one that assumes Jesus is correct and consistent in His teaching, which we know Him to be. Let us look at the broader context in Mark 2.
15And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. 16When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?” 17And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
18John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” 19And Jesus said to them, “While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20“But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
21“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. 22“No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”
As we study the broader context we see the Pharisees just clearly do not understand the differences in Jesus and His disciples compared to their own behaviors and attitudes. Let us consider that the Pharisees are called out by Jesus and John the Baptist and the disciples throughout the gospels as living in a way that was not representative of the commands of God. They had a wrong understanding and wrong application of the direction God had given His people.
1Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; 3therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.
Before we get to hard on them, recognize that we all come from a wrong starting place when we first come to know and decide to follow Jesus. All of us start from a place filled with error in how we are living… our attitudes and behaviors. This is why we need to repent and turn to God as a foundational principle in following Jesus.
As I reflect on Jesus’ response to them in Mark 2:21-22, it seems to me that Jesus is reminding them that they can not take in new revelation of truth (such as “Jesus is Messiah”) and just “patch” it on to their old way of living, which was not consistent with God’s instructions on how they should be living. Each of us must put down the old wineskin of our attitudes and behaviors, our world view before knowing Jesus, and pick up a new one that represents Jesus’ world view. We must not cling to the habits and customs that we had before, as they will not be compatible with changing our lives to truly follow Christ.
We must begin again with new cloth, with new wineskin, if we are to fully follow Christ in all that He teaches. All the while we can remember that what Jesus teaches is the same as what the Father instructed and commanded His people to do. It is not a new truth or teaching. It is not a change in policy by God. It is a change in our understanding and application of the truth that always existed and is recorded throughout the whole of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ
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