New Wine, Old Wineskins Series

There is an old television commercial that I still remember, and I still snicker when I think about it. The commercial is in black and white. A somber old man in a cold grey stone building barks out these words; Tenacity! Gumption! Discipline! Suddenly there is color, party music and they switch to a Pizza Hut and say sometimes you just need to stop and smell the Pizza.

It reminds me of the conflict in the first century between Pharisees and John the Baptist disciples verses Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees and John’s disciples fasted twice a week. It was their religious duty. They were somber they had; Gumption! Tenacity! Discipline!

The Pharisees were hopping mad that Jesus and his disciples were living it up feasting, celebrating and having a good old time.

Why were Jesus disciples feasting and not fasting? That was the question they had to ask. As usual Jesus not only answered their question, but gave them a deeply profound theological answer. There was a three part answer; the bridegroom illustration, the patch on a torn garment and new wine and old wineskins.

Mark 2:18-22 (NIV)

18Now 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?”

19Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

21“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. 22And 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.”

The question that Jesus was asked and the lesson he gave centered around the issue of fasting. The occasion may well have been at the banquet that Matthew hosted for Jesus. That is what is normally thought about when this question took place.

They had questioned Jesus about dinning with sinners. Now they will question him about something else. How come he and his disciples did not fast?

Fasting held an important place in the Jewish religion of Jesus day. Not just the Pharisees but for the disciples of John the Baptist. The Old Testament required the Jews to fast once per year at Yom Kipper. That is when the high priest would make atonement for the sins of the people. But the custom became to fast twice a week, on Monday from 6:00 am to 6:00 Pm and Thursday from 6:00am to 6:00 pm. That was their gumption and discipline.

In Luke 18:12 there is the story of Pharisees. Who thought he was right before God because he tithed and fasted twice a week. The Bible called for one fast and they had 104 fasts. Why all the fasting?

The Pharisees and John the Baptist disciples fasted in light of the Kingdom of God. Fasting was associated with sorrow and mourning as they awaited the promised Messiah. What they wanted to know was why all the celebration, feasting and joy of Jesus disciples. Where is your gumption, tenacity, discipline and somberness? Jesus used the wedding illustration.

The Bridegroom and the wedding Party.

We put a lot of emphasis on the wedding. It is a celebration with fancy wedding dresses, tuxedos, elaborate wedding cakes, gold rings, professional pictures, flowers and limousines and bands. In the first century they celebrated, (if it is possible) even more that we do. It was the social event of the season. Jesus first miracle was at a wedding celebration. They celebrated for a whole week before the wedding and the bride and groom were the center of attention. What about the fasting twice a week, the mourning and somberness? The wedding feast took precedence as long as you had the bride and groom in your presence you suspended all fasting and mourning and you celebrated.

What Jesus was implying was, you are fasting and somber because you are waiting for the messiah. Jesus and his disciples can celebrate because the messiah is here!

John’s disciples were asking why Jesus and his disciples did not fast, but John the Baptist himself understood the wedding and bridegroom illustration. In john 3:29 John used this illustration himself: 29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

Jesus is the bridegroom, the awaited messiah.