Bible Stories › When God Makes All Things New
Bible story · Mark 2:18–22
New Wine
Read it yourself in the King James Bible: Mark 2:18–22 ↗
“And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.”
Mark 2:22 (KJV)The Story
Some people came to Jesus with a complaint. John the Baptist’s disciples fasted regularly. So did the Pharisees. “But thy disciples fast not.” Why not?
Jesus answered with a picture from a wedding. You don’t fast at a wedding feast while the bridegroom is with you, He said. It’s a time to celebrate. The day will come when the bridegroom is taken away. Then they will fast.
Then He gave two more pictures.
Nobody sews a patch of new, unshrunk cloth onto an old garment, He said. When the new patch shrinks, it tears away and makes the hole worse.
And nobody pours new wine into old wineskins. In those days, people stored wine in containers made from goat skins. As fresh wine fermented, it expanded. An old skin that had already stretched as far as it could would burst. You would lose both the wine and the skin.
“But new wine must be put into new bottles.”
Reflection
Jesus wasn’t just giving advice about sewing and winemaking. He was saying that what He brings is new. It can’t simply be patched onto the old way of doing things. It needs a new container.
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Day 22 of Book 8
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