Hi everyone, welcome back to the podcast.
Today we're looking at Mark chapter 2, verses 18 to 22.
That's what you hear. If you go to mass today and we
want to pull apart that text, see if we can understand what
the original author was trying to get at and this text in
particular is one of those ones where it is.
Actually, quite important to look at the cultural context.
What did these words mean? In the time that they were
spoken by Jesus? Because if we jump straight to a
spiritual application, we might get it wrong.
And so as you'll see here, in the passage, there's a few words
in need to be unpacked. So Mark chapter 2, verses 18 to
22? One day, when John's disciples
and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and
said to him, why is it that John's disciples and The
Disciples of the Pharisees fast? But your disciples do not Jesus
replied. Surely the bridegroom's
attendance would never think of fasting while the bridegroom is
still with them. As long as they have the
bridegroom with them, they could not think of fasting.
But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from
them. And then, on that day, they will
fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk
cloth on an old cloak. If he does the patch pulls away
from it, the new from the old and The Tear gets worse.
And nobody puts new wine into Old wineskins.
If he does, the wine will burst the skins and the wires lost and
the Skins to know new wine fresh skins.
So that's our reading for today. And as you can hear, there's a
few elements there which are not entirely familiar to us with old
cloaks and new wineskins and things like that.
So let's look at the start of the passage to work out the
setting. So it starts with the words one
day, so that's an indication to us, that this could really have
happened at any time in Jesus ministry.
The setting could be anywhere and the timing could be at any
time. Often, the gospel writers, don't
put things in chronological order.
I could have happened. It could be chronological, could
have happened. Just after the same from
yesterday, which remember was Jesus having the banquet in his
own home. However, we're not sure how long
after that, it is because it just says one day, and even then
it might have been at a completely different time in
Jesus ministry, and Mark has just put it next to this one
because there's a common theme relating to food and fasting,
and eating And it says, this is a comment by Mark.
Mark says, when John's disciples were fasting, this is John, the
Baptist and he was a popular teacher and he developed quite a
large following people would follow him around they'd follow
his teachings. And apparently, John the Baptist
is teaching his disciples too fast and also the Pharisees are
fasting and they're teaching their followers too fast.
So, both John and the Pharisees say that fasting is an important
spiritual discipline and their followers, followed them and
that makes sense. It was one of the basic three
practices of Jewish piety, and they're listed in, toub 12:8,
Tobit 12:8, and most Jews would consider a fasting.
In normal way of getting closer to God, it helps turn their
attention from physical things to spiritual things.
So it would seem a little strange.
If there's this prophet of God going around, not requiring his
disciples too fast. Well, technically fasting was
actually only required once a year, which is on the day of
atonement according to Leviticus 16.
But by the time of Jesus most people practiced it more often
than that the Pharisees did it twice a week as a mark of their
devotion? And it sounds like John, the
Baptist's disciples were doing it pretty often as well for
them. It was a ra sign of repentance.
But there's another element of fasting here apart from turning
ourselves to God and it's an element of mourning and sadness
and this seems to be the path that Jesus has the problem with
as Jesus goes on to describe this element of morning and
sadness is not appropriate for his followers during his
ministry that that sort of element isn't there.
And that's sort of where things come apart a bit.
So, some people came to Jesus and asked him a question.
Notice. It's not the Pharisees that come
to him. It's just some people.
So it's just people with a genuine question.
That's not a trap question. Jesus Answers by doing a
rhetorical question and often he does this.
He asks them a question of which the answer is obvious and the
question he asked them is Surely the bridegroom's attendance
would never think of fasting while the bridegroom is still
with them, would he? So that's the question.
Now, this is where we need to unpack, the cultural context a
bit because Jesus is going to make a comparison here between
himself and his ministry and Jewish wedding practices at the
time. So he had, what were some things
a bit. There's a lot of interesting
stuff about weddings, actually and Jesus Taps into this, quite
a few times in his ministry, particularly when he talks
about. I must go and prepare a place
for you. And so that's actually tapping
into wedding imagery as well, but he's doing it here.
So, in the culture of Jewish is in Jesus day, When getting ready
for a wedding, the groom would have attendance.
So sort of male assistants, who would assist him in getting
ready for the wedding, that also be some girls amongst that as
well. Some girls who like the lab.
So we had a whole group of people who would help him get
ready for the wedding. And while the groom was with
them getting ready, they would celebrate.
And there were not going too fast, it's actually quite a
joyful time to be there with the groom just before his wedding
but eventually the groom would leave with his bride after the
wedding ceremony and they wouldn't see him anymore.
And at that point the attendance would mourn and fast because
they're groomed that they had loved and served was gone.
So that did happen in Jewish culture.
So Jesus here appears to be implying.
By making this comparison, he doesn't come right out and say
it, but he seems to be saying I am like the groom.
So Jesus is the groom. My disciples are like my
attendance. My disciples celebrating spend.
As much time with me as possible while I'm here but soon I will
be taken away and they will be sad and mourn.
That appears to be what he's implying here.
So notice that he's making a subtle prophecy about his own
coming death. So that's one thing that's
contained in here and there could also be a reference to the
Old Testament passages, which talk about God being the groom
God, often describes himself as being married to Israel in the
Old Testament. So, for example, Isaiah 40 54,
verse 5, and Hosea 2, verse 20. So, by Jesus saying, I'm the
bridegroom, this could be another hint that he is, God
that he is divine. But our overall on the literal
sense here in this comparison, Jesus is answering the question
of. Why do your Body or disciples,
not fast. And he's based basic answer so
far is, I haven't got a problem with fasting and principle but
it's not the appropriate time for my disciples too fast.
They will fast in the future but not now.
So I think that's really important to emphasize Jesus
hasn't gotten problem with fasting In this passage is just
saying the time for fasting from my disciples is not now.
So that's what he said so far. He could also, there could also
be a deeper literal level deeper spiritual sense here, where he's
thinking of himself, literally as a bride, not just
metaphorically, but literally, as a groom, and he's getting
ready to find a bride for the wedding.
And I remember as part of Christian theology, that's
certainly true. Jesus is the groom, the church
is the bride. So, perhaps Jesus is thinking of
that as well. That's the thing.
With a lot of Jesus teachings is usually he's making his
answering a question directly by making a clear point, but the
way he phrases it, he's probably also got some other implications
tied up in that as well, which obviously the churches are
impact over 2,000 years. So he's talked about the wedding
now. He's going to make two more
comparisons first 20. No, one sews.
A piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment.
So unshrunk cloth is like new cloth, good cloth.
And in that culture if you are going to modify an old cloak,
you actually need to sew on Old cloth.
You can't sew on new cloth onto an old cloak because if you do
when it goes through the wash the patch of new fabric once
it's washed would shrink and pull away from the sewn edges
and it's actually going to make the tear worse. so that's the
next comparison he makes he says, look if we're going to
work with old, Sorry. We're going to work with new
fabric. It needs to not go on Old
garments. That's his point here and then
he makes one more comparison verse 22.
No one puts new wine into old wineskins so it's a similar
comparison to what he just said. So what a wineskins, their
special jars for keeping wine and then made of leather, they
keep whining there for a long time.
The problem with these wineskins is because they might have
leather, that would become dry and brittle as they get older.
And if you it's in, Jesus says, if he does put new wine into Old
wineskins, the wine will burst the Skins.
So old wineskins could contain old wine, but if you try to put
new wine into the old wineskins, the new wine releases gases and
that can burst the old wineskin. So, basically in that culture,
if you had old wine, you need to put it in our Old wineskins.
And if you had new wine, you need to put in new wineskins.
Otherwise it doesn't really work.
So notice what those last two comparisons have in common with
the cloth in the wineskins. You can't put new with old.
That's Jesus, main point. You can't mix old with new.
The last thing he says is no new wine fresh skins.
So new wineskins have some elasticity and they can contain
new one. So Jesus here is being emphatic.
When he says no new wine fresh skins saying, something like
this with new teaching, we need a new way of thinking.
So he's remember, he's the Messiah, bringing the kingdom of
God, which is a new way of Salvation, that can't be
contained. Within the old institutions, You
could also say the wine skin represents the human heart.
So the Messiah needs hearts that appliable and ready to expand
with the message of the kingdom of God, with the message of the
Gospel that new message, the kingdom of God won't really go
into Old. Wineskin Hearts.
So that's possibly another way of thinking about it.
Now we need to be careful here. He's not making a sweeping
statement. So let's discuss this a bit
more. He's saying that in some sense
his new message doesn't fit with old wineskins.
Doesn't fit with old institutions, that's true.
But to what extent is he saying? That?
His basic point is, I'm the Messiah and my teaching is
something new so we're going to kick that so that that's right.
If my followers tried are only follow the Jewish Customs that
they're used to in order to follow me.
It's not going to work. That's Jesus main point.
You can't just use your old way of thinking you old Customs.
If you're a follower of me that's not going to work, you
need to have a broader mind and a broader heart than that.
If they can't do that, if the disciples can't be open to this
new teaching, then they're going to miss the whole point.
So Jesus is basically caution in his disciples and in fact is
answering the question that people have he's saying, people
need to be careful that they don't look at my teachings and
just try and understand those teachings by falling back into
their old ways. They need to have a new heart,
be open to a new way of thinking about.
About things about spiritual things.
I think that's what Jesus is saying.
It's important though to discuss what Jesus is not saying here.
Often you'll hear this presented as a teaching about fasting in
general, as in Jesus, is saying fasting used to be a thing in
the old Covenant, but now it's no longer needed in the kingdom
of God. I don't think that's what Jesus
is saying. Because remember earlier on, he
said, at the moment when the attendants are with the groom,
they won't fast. But when the groom leaves they I
will fast so he's implying that when he leaves his disciples
will fast. So it's not a teaching about we
no longer need fasting. Jesus is not abolishing fasting.
He's not making a general statement here about the old
Covenant did this. Now the New Covenant is going to
do this. It's not a general statement
that we can based General theology on his answering a
specific question that people brought to him about why do your
disciples not fast. So he's answering the specific
question about how his immediate followers should act while he is
still with them. So in a nutshell my disciples
are not Fasting right now for a certain reason and it has to do
with my teachings and new ways of thinking once I'm gone
though, they will fast. So I think we need to draw
modest conclusions from this and not, we need to interpret it in
line with other things. Jesus says, for example, later
in the gospels, he tells his disciples when you fast here,
are the ways you should do it. So Jesus is bringing something
new but he's not abolishing the old.
So, I hope that's been helpful analysis for you of this
passage. I think it is one of those
passages that can be misunderstood particularly if we
jump straight to the spiritual sense, and we don't discuss the
literal sense. And it's also one of those
passages where we can over interpret it, or maybe try and
or may be interpreted the wrong way to make it say things that
Jesus probably wasn't trying to say.
There's one reference to this passage in the catechism and
that's in relation to Jesus being a groom.
Remember we said that perhaps in Jesus teaching here, he's
implying that he's the groom and that's the catechism takes up
that theme actually so paragraph. 796 says the theme of
Christ as bridegroom of the church was prepared by the
prophets and announced by John the Baptist, the Lord referred
to himself as the bridegroom. The Apostle speaks of the Holy
The church and of each of the faithful members of his body as
betrothed to Christ the lord. So as to become, but one spirit
with him. So you'll hear their that the
Catholic teaching is that Jesus is the groom which is certainly
true and that the church is the bride and it uses this Mark to
passage as one of the scripture references to suggest that Jesus
is the groom. Thanks for listening.
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