Jul 9 2023 New Wine vs. Old Wineskins

Mark 2:21 21 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If they do, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And people do not pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins."

Many believe that verse 22 is KEY to understanding the gospel of Mark (I tend to lean toward Mark 8 – but we will get to that eventually) –

We see that JESUS is the NEW WINE!

When we read this text – we tend to read NEW vs. OLD – New (good) / Old (Bad) – that is not what Jesus is saying.

IN a sense, He is not talking about people when He talks about new wine and wineskins.

We tend to think of this like the phrase, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

Mark is saying – In Jesus, the Kingdom of God has arrived. Jesus is the new wine – the new way of faith – the new way of righteousness – the new way of, some might say, religion. The old way is the Torah – the old way of religion – and not that that was bad, it’s just its time has come.

In light of that – we’ll continue to the next slide – the beginning of the story –

Mark 2:18 John'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?"

John the Baptist was doing amazing things! And we think of the Pharisees as bad, but that is not true – they were teachers of Torah who had some things that weren’t quite right.

This is kingdom teaching.

19 Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they do not fast. 20 But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and at that time they will fast.

When He talks about the bridegroom and wedding – He is talking about the kingdom.

“The new wine of the kingdom cannot be contained in the old ways of Judaism”

Jesus has fulfilled the Torah. He is the climax of the whole thing – so there is something brand new. He did not come to patch up the garment of Judaism. The old is set aside and there is something new.

So, what this means – we are all new wineskins – because you are in Christ. And because of that (and only because of that) are we new wineskins. You are new wineskin EVEN if you like old hymns more than new praise choruses! This verse has been used by many (including mine self) – to judge older denominations and Christians who do things differently. But that is not what this verse is talking about at ALL. Yes, we can get set in our old ways. For Cindy and I – in our 50s and 60s – we have changed our way of thinking MORE than at any other time in our Christian experience.

My dad, who is turning 90 – is set in his ways.

Cindy has her tortellini recipe – handwritten – and he says – This isn’t like mom made it! BUT – He is constantly, in his faith – taking up new things! It is amazing to watch. I mention a book – and he reads it – and I think – why would you read THAT? – and he says, because you are!

When it comes to faith, we are always learning new things. Behold, I will do something new. God is one thing – NOT BORING!

So, there are passages surrounding this new wine and old wineskins that we will look at over the next couple of weeks that reveal what this looks like – this New Kingdom vs. the Torah – not that the Torah was bad, but it had fulfilled its purpose and now there is Jesus.

Backing up:

Mark 2: 1 When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. 3 Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Now, there are some strange things happening here – unclear – troublesome even! Enter into the story – and choose a character – the owner of the house, the friends, the crowd, the man… - let’s read it again…

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. 3 Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him;

And the owner is thinking – will insurance cover this?

And there is drywall falling down below…

and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay.

Imagine the crowd – they’ve probably heard stories of His healing – and excited with anticipation:

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Full stop.

Notice I have this highlighted. Your sins are forgiven. That is it. Nothing else is said.

Wednesday, we had the monthly Cuyahoga Falls Pastors meeting here – and no one had a devotional – and I opened to where I was Tuesday night – and there was just this little phrase in red – Son, your sins are forgiven.

Imagine the disappointment of the crowd! Is that all you’ve got?

We have a problem.

This is troubling – and it is meant to be. It should be troubling to us – but we have a problem – we know the end of the story. There is a SILENCE. A PAUSE.

Mark 2: 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 "Why does this fellow speak in this way?

There are some theological problems for this group – “Who does this guy think He is?”

“This guy is claiming to be God” – and that is their problem.

“It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 8 At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, "Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and take your mat and walk'?

So, the scribes are Bible teachers. They are the teachers of the Torah.

Mark 2: 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"-- he said to the paralytic-- 11 "I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home." 12 And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

They got what they came to see! This is a kingdom story – Jesus’ authority – over demons – over disease – and now, authority over SIN! He has the authority to forgive sin. He is the new wine. The teachers of the Torah are the old wineskins.

I will do a detailed explanation of two phrases.

I’ve never seen a paralyzed person healed, by prayer. I’ve heard of it. It doesn’t seem real to me – I know it can be – but it has never been my experience.

Let’s say they bring a poor person – starving – needing food – and Jesus says – My daughter – your sins are forgiven. That is a little disturbing, is it not?

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven.“

For some reason, Jesus sees it as the most important thing to do is to tell him his sins are forgiven. WHY – with a paralyzed man – or a hungry person – in front of him – why does He say – THIS? We must go deeper. When something in the Bible disturbs us – it is telling us that there is something there you need to learn – something you need to know. Instead of saying – it is too confusing – dig deeper to discover what is there.

So this should take us back to new wine and old wineskins.

Let’s go back. Aaron is responsible for the priests… those offering sacrifices -

Leviticus 21:17 "Speak to Aaron, saying, 'No man of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect shall approach to offer the food of his God. 18 'For no one who has a defect shall approach: a blind man, or a lame man, or he who has a disfigured face, or any deformed limb, 19 or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles. 21 'No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to offer the LORD'S offerings by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer the food of his God.”

This language sounds so HARSH! So INSENSTITIVE. In the old wineskins of Judaism, disabled people are prohibited from entering the presence of God. There are many verses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy who are prohibited – sick people, unclean people, people with TATTOES!

These things are just shadows of something much bigger. Jesus is saying – You have had all of this – but I have fulfilled all those rules and regulations – and now they are getting laid aside because these things that are shadows are meant to address heart problems that are much bigger. SO when Jesus is addressing the paralytic – he is going to the heart problem of separation from God – and the heart problem is SIN. Sin has made a separation between you and your God. SO, when Jesus says to the lame man – your sins are forgiven. If he remained lame, he would be allowed access into God’s presence. And Jesus is saying – no matter your condition – you have complete and free access to God.

Hebrews says – speaking of Jesus’ death and resurrection - …that we might find mercy to help in the time of need.

What Jesus did on the cross – forgiving our sins – is where grace and mercy comes to help. It is the reason that the paralyzed man could be healed – Because He fulfilled the Old Testament wineskins completely – then all the other things can take place. To live lives of wholeness, the foundation is forgiveness. The understanding of our forgiveness is the foundation for everything we do in life – from feeding the hungry to sharing the gospel – all of it is done because we have been forgiven.

Again – working backwards:

Mark 1: 40 A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. "If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean," he said. 41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. "I am willing," he said. "Be healed!" 42 Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.

Not only was a leper not allowed in the presence of God – he was not allowed in the community! So, Jesus, this new wine, brings him into the presence of God – and into the presence of the community in Christ.

We need to understand the importance of our sins being forgiven.

Some reasons we don’t – some don’t believe they deserve forgiveness. At times I don’t believe that I am worthy or deserve forgiveness. The answer is – no one is worthy. God forgave the paralyzed man – he never asked! Forgiveness is God’s initiative, not ours – He took the initiative to do it, before we were even alive.

9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and take your mat and walk'?

For some, we believe it is easier for Jesus to say your sins are forgiven – you know, because our sins are so small…

It goes back to the parable of the borrowers – both debts forgiven – the one who is forgiven much loves much.

We are all forgiven much and we better get that through our brains!

The ones who don’t understand that they have been forgiven much will have a hard time receiving their forgiveness. We need to be able to receive forgiveness if we want to live whole lives.

Forgiveness can only be found in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Paul – I determined to know nothing among you but Jesus and Him crucified.

May it never be that I boast except in the cross of Christ – because it is only there that we can receive forgiveness.

There are many verses where it says that God chooses to no longer remember our sins.

SO in order to receive forgiveness, we must no longer bring them up – we need to learn to forget what lies behind and reach forward to what lies ahead.

We need to get people to Jesus – in a desperation – to let Him do the rest – only He can do it. All we can do – plant some seed, throw some water, say some prayers, share our story, share the cross – God has to do the rest – it is just not our job.

Our job is to get folks to Jesus.