"Something New" - a sermon on Mark 2:18-22

We have seen from our study of Mark’s Gospel so far, that Jesus had taken a path that was radical and controversial, especially in his claim to have authority in forgiving sins. Jesus had also challenged the religious status-quo by accepting the hospitality of “tax collectors” and so-called “sinners”. For those looking on, in some ways Jesus resembled a prophet and a teacher – which would have been all right – but he was claiming to be on a par with God; then at the same time he was hanging around with the most disreputable of people … how confusing! Well this would be confusing if Jesus was restricted to a line of prophets within the religion of Israel, however Jesus was far more than this – far too new and revolutionary to be restricted to the capacity of the old wineskins!

Jesus was actually the turning point of all history. Following a long history of rebellion, Jesus was actually God’s predominant statement about the destructive nature of sin. Jesus was sent to make a once-and-for-all sacrifice for humanity. Jesus could not be contained by the religious parameters of the past. Jesus very much represented something very new. And where the pious or rigid practices of formal religion got in the way of God’s desires for the future welfare of human beings, Jesus opposed such practices.

As Werner Kelber comments, “The Kingdom of God entails a new lifestyle, a new sense of priority, a new community”. Sometimes you might scratch your head, when someone becomes a ‘Christian’, which should mean a ‘follower of Jesus’, and then you see no real change at all. There should at the very least be: an obvious sense of purpose and commitment, a concern for the well-being of others, and a desire to belong to a worshipping community. These three areas would provide evidence of a life’s new orientation in Jesus.

The followers of the Pharisees were fixated on their outward religious service. Even the disciples of John the Baptist, through their emphasis on repentance, followed in ritualistically observing fasting. Not to say this was a bad thing in itself – there is much benefit in fasting – in laying off from eating and other pursuits to fully focus on religious observance. As this is the period of lent (leading up to Easter), many people are fasting or sacrificing as an observance or preparation for the sacrifice of Jesus.

But when this was foisted upon Jesus and his disciples in a critical fashion, Jesus took the opportunity to further explain the significance of his coming! As the previous passage (2:15-17) indicates, Jesus’ ministry to the world was about accepting hospitality, eating with “tax collectors and sinners”, sharing life with such people (on the margins of society). Jesus was about connecting and engaging with people, taking up the presenting opportunities to show acceptance to the outcast, offer forgiveness to the wayward, and bring wholeness to the broken.

The metaphor of a wedding reception is used to make the point here (v.19-20). When the hosts of a wedding celebration have gone to all the trouble of providing elaborate provisions for a large feast, it would not be appropriate or respectful for wedding guests to refuse to partake. The time for fasting would be the next day when the wedding is over (when fasting would probably become a very good idea). Jesus’ three-year long incarnation is here likened to a wedding celebration, where every guest or participant makes the very most of everything on offer while it lasts! Celebration is the correct response when God breaks into history with redemption in mind.

The expression translated here “the wedding guests” could equally be translated “the groomsmen” (v.19) – and this particular translation would have particular application to Jesus’ own close disciples. The groomsmen’s job would be to help and support the bridegroom. Often this deteriorates these days to just the organisation of a ‘buck’s turn’. However, the real idea is for the ‘groomsmen’ to take some of the pressure off the bridegroom on his big day; and then later the bridegroom can relax and be a central part of the celebration. Thus the disciples were called to be significant contributors in the time of Jesus’ incarnation!

For the disciples in the time of Jesus, there would be ample time to fast (and mourn) after Jesus’ death on the cross (as alluded to in verse 20). In fact, because of their lack of courage and flight under pressure, the disciples will have great cause to “fast” and pray, and probably did so in that period between discovering the empty tomb and seeking out the resurrected Jesus in Galilee. So here in verse 20 we have a prediction of the emotions that will be felt by the disciples following the cross. More about this on Easter Sunday!

I think I can detect from this passage that there is a time for fasting and a time for action. Fasting in Judaism (as in some Greco-Roman religions) was undertaken as part of a spiritual preparation for special occasions; or was practiced in connection with a time of mourning because of the loss of a loved one; or more often being undertaken as part of a period of repentance. Combined with prayer, fasting was a statement of self-denial and submission to God. No doubt fasting is very useful for many people in helping them focus on God in a special way or in dedicating time to concerted confession and receiving forgiveness. But there would be other times where the ‘window of opportunity’ was such that individual and corporate action becomes the greatest priority.

The inappropriateness of ‘fasting’ at the time when the disciples should be celebrating God’s redemptive activity in Jesus, flows into the similar inappropriateness of sewing a patch of new cloth on an old garment, or pouring new wine into old wineskins. Now I don’t know much about sewing, or wine, but even I can see some problems here!

The new patch of cloth will shrink more than the old coat when it is washed and therefore it would tear away … so you wouldn’t do this. Old wineskins would not have had the required elasticity to cope with the expanding gases of the fermenting new wine and therefore would burst … so you wouldn’t do this either!! Nor would you then try to contain what is new and radical and exciting in Jesus within old parameters.

The “new wine” would be far too valuable to be wasted by skimping and using “old wineskins”. Believing in Jesus is not essentially about abstract rules and remote regulations, but much more about a daily relationship with the Triune God and a concern for the community around where we live … love for God and neighbour empowered by knowledge of Jesus (and the presence of the Holy Spirit). This is why I say, that if you what to know how to live the Christian life, you start with Jesus in the gospels, and then work back and forward from there. We should interpret the ancient Hebrew texts of the Old Testament through the eyes of Jesus. We should interpret events happening around us also through the eyes of Jesus.

Mark’s Jesus following community of 70CE will be encouraged to read that they are on the right track – following the “new wine” of Jesus in the face of those who would be antagonistic and threatening in their opposition to Jesus and them. Such communities as this drew together, supported one another, worshipped God, and sought the welfare of their city. Just like each generation of Christian community that has followed, we will have to discover together what these “fresh wineskins” carrying the “new wine” should look like in our context?

As another application of this text, we could look at the possibility that we accept Jesus into our lives, but try to use Jesus only to patch up our worn out coat, or contain Jesus in our old outmoded wineskin. This is where we have accepted Jesus only as a ‘mister-fix-it’! We want to keep things the way they have always been, and just get Jesus to cover over or fill the areas that cause us trouble or grief. But we’re not willing to let Jesus reign in everything! We’re not willing to allow Jesus to transform us from the inside out. We’re actually still comfortable with some of those pursuits or attitudes we’ve always had – that we’ve inherited from previous generations or from our cultural environment.

Can you see that this would be like sticking valuable new leather patches on old worthless clothes, or maybe like pouring clean water into dirty bottles … and seeing the waste involved here!! Truly accepting Jesus into our lives, and then following him (in community), is about allowing him to recreate what has let us down in the past into something that is radically new, different and thoroughly satisfying. In this way, the person we are can meet the person we could be!