New Wine (Mark 2:18-22)

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wine skins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

– Mark 2:18-22

I’ve pondered this passage of scripture several times in the past, especially the logical connection between verses 19-20 and 21-22. How does Jesus make the jump from bridegrooms and fasting to old versus new clothes and wine skins? At the first (or in my case even fourth and fifth) glance there doesn’t seem to be much to bring the two together at all.

Maybe Jesus was just really scatter-brained and random. But after the thought I believe God placed in my mind this morning, I think not. I think I understand the connection between these two glorious paragraphs, and so will attempt to lay them out for myself and for anyone who would read.

In verse 20 Jesus speaks of the bridegroom leaving and the followers then fasting. The thought of him leaving earth, I believe, is a thought that he follows on to what will happen after he has ascended. And what does the Savior tell his disciples will happen after he has left? That he would send them what the Father had promised, saying, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49).

This train of thought leads him to speak verses 21-22;

No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.

and in doing so gives an analogy of the renewal and new life of all who have the Spirit. Just as new wine cannot be poured into old wine skins for fear of them bursting, so the newness of the Spirit of God cannot be poured into the old, earthly container of the fallen, fleshly man. God will only pour “new wine into new wineskins.” And we can trust that the new wine from God will be greatly sweeter than the old, earthly drinks we attempt to satisfy ourselves with. (John 2:8-10)

As Romans 7:6 says, “we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” Because as Mark 2:21 declares, the new clothing, the “garments of salvation” (Isaiah 61:10), will not stick upon the old from of the letter of the law. No, it must be a completely new garment that we are covered with.

Again, it is not by the letter of the law – by works – that a man is saved. It is through a man’s death in Christ and his renewal and rebirth as a new wineskin; as a man with a new arrayal of clothing, that he is saved. The Spirit is a seal and an assurance of our salvation, it fills us with the wine of the blood of Christ that is pleasing to God, giving the small and unappealing wineskins that we are worth in God’s eyes.

So I exhort you, brothers and sisters, to seek such newness. If you now attempt to yet live through the word of the law, cease your striving! It is “not by works, so that no man can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-10). Instead, embrace the casting away of the old garments and old wineskins. Join with Christ through faith in His death and take upon yourself a new life, thereby allowing God to fill you with the new wine of the Spirit.

What a glorious thing that God has done! We have been saved and made new, as is testified by the prophets, the apostles, and even Christ Himself. Revel at that though and rejoice, my friends, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls! (1 Peter 1:9)