NEW WINE; NEW WINESKINS

Passage: Mark 2:18-22

Key verse: 22

NIV

Jesus Questioned About Fasting(A)

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.(B) 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?”

19 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. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them,(C) and on that day they will fast.

21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

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Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

A Question About Fasting

18 Now (A)John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, (B)“Why do John's disciples and (C)the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, (D)“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 (E)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and (F)then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old (G)wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”[a]

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Footnotes
  1. Mark 2:22 Some manuscripts omit But new wine is for fresh wineskins
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

1. When the Bridegroom is with us (18-20)

When some people wanted Jesus to fit into a religious mold, he hued three metaphors to teach the meaning of the gospel. Jesus is the Bridegroom. When he is with us, joy is in our hearts, no matter what the circumstances. He makes our lives like a wedding feasts. He satisfies our hearts.

2. Old garment, new patch (21)

When an old garment patched with unshrunk cloth is washed, the patch shrinks and tears the garment. Jesus' gospel cannot be used to patch up old, legalistic ways of living and thinking.

3. New wine, new wineskins (22)

Old wineskins become hard and brittle. New wine ferments and expands. If it is put in old wineskins, they will burst. Jesus' gospel changes us into new people. If we are not ready to repent and be changed, the gospel cannot be put in us.

Prayer: Lord, let the new wine of the gospel be in me. Let me stay with Jesus.

One Word: Be a new wineskin