Of Weddings and Wineskins
Jesus is preaching about the Kingdom of Heaven, and using strange metaphors about weddings and wineskins.
Mark 2:18-22 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. People came and asked Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. But the time will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” NKJV
What is a Covenant?
What do these references to a bride and groom and patches on old cloth all mean?
Jesus is speaking of a new covenant. American Heritage Dictionary definition of covenant is…
"… literally, a contract. In the Bible, an agreement between God and his people, in which God makes promises to his people and, usually, requires certain conduct from them. In the Old Testament, God made agreements with Noah, Abraham, and Moses. To Noah, he promised that he would never again destroy the Earth with a flood. He promised Abraham that he would become the ancestor of a great nation, provided Abraham went to the place God showed him and sealed the covenant by circumcision of all the males of the nation. To Moses, God said that the Israelites would reach the Promised Land but must obey the Mosaic law. In the New Testament, God promised salvation to those who believe in Jesus".
The old covenant of Moses required adherence to at least 613 laws and a number of sacrifices and ceremonies that must be attended in order to maintain a right standing with God. We were "bound" to the old covenant until Jesus paid all the debt of our sins owed in the Old Covenant. That's why we don't sacrifice sheep or go up to Jerusalem 3 times a year for the feasts.
Marriage Symbolism
Paul describes what was necessary to transition from the old covenant to the new as a metaphor of marriage. Notice we were "bound" to the old covenant until it was fulfilled by the death of Christ.
Romans 7:1-4 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.
Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. NKJV
The death of Jesus released us from the obligation of the old covenant, setting us free to be "wed" to the new covenant. Jesus paid the "bride price" for us and now we can be wed together in a permanent bond of love with Christ. It is important to note that you cannot choose to exempt yourself from the old covenant and declare you are free of all laws without accepting Jesus as Lord. We are slaves to either the law of sin or the law of grace. There are no other options.
Paul explains our situation under the new covenant:
Romans 6:3-9 Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death,we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection.
For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin’s claims. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over Him. NKJV
Replacing Old Wineskins
The old garment or old wineskin is the Pharisaic form of Judaism; a rigorous adherence to Mosaic Law. Jesus perfectly fulfills the burdens of the Mosaic Law which frees those in Christ from its burdens of ritual, sacrifice and ceremonies in order to do other works of mercy and love.
The Pharisees believed they had completely fulfilled the requirements of the law, and that by their own effort they were in good standing with God and righteous. They were wrong. The burdens of the Law required perfection, and were simply too great for anyone other than Messiah to keep.
The new covenant does not amend the old one - it replaces it. The Old covenant cannot be repaired like a tear in fabric with a patch because at its core, the New Covenant is faith in Jesus Christ. The New Covenant, symbolized by wine, cannot be contained in the worn out wineskin of the Old Covenant.
The Old Covenant was worn out and didn't work. The chief complaint of the Pharisees was they expected Jesus if He was truly the Messiah, to more fully implement the Old Covenant, not replace it with something new. They were sold on their ability to achieve righteousness by works.
Salvation is achieved by works, but not the works of sinful men. Salvation is achieved by the perfect works of Jesus. We are not to invent rules and try to achieve righteousness through our own efforts. The Pharisees tried this and failed.
Further reading on this subject:
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Scripture citations are from: Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) © 2009 Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville TN or New King James Version®. (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson
