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Hi everyone, welcome back to the
podcast. 

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Today we're looking at Mark 
chapter 2, verses 18 to 22. 

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That's what you hear. 
If you go to mass today and we 

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want to pull apart that text, 
see if we can understand what 

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the original author was trying 
to get at and this text in 

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particular is one of those ones 
where it is. 

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Actually, quite important to 
look at the cultural context. 

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What did these words mean? 
In the time that they were 

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spoken by Jesus? 
Because if we jump straight to a

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spiritual application, we might 
get it wrong. 

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And so as you'll see here, in 
the passage, there's a few words

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in need to be unpacked. 
So Mark chapter 2, verses 18 to 

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22? 
One day, when John's disciples 

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and the Pharisees were fasting, 
some people came to Jesus and 

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said to him, why is it that 
John's disciples and The 

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Disciples of the Pharisees fast?
But your disciples do not Jesus 

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replied. 
Surely the bridegroom's 

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attendance would never think of 
fasting while the bridegroom is 

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still with them. 
As long as they have the 

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bridegroom with them, they could
not think of fasting. 

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But the time will come for the 
bridegroom to be taken away from

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them. 
And then, on that day, they will

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fast. 
No one sews a piece of unshrunk 

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cloth on an old cloak. 
If he does the patch pulls away 

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from it, the new from the old 
and The Tear gets worse. 

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And nobody puts new wine into 
Old wineskins. 

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If he does, the wine will burst 
the skins and the wires lost and

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the Skins to know new wine fresh
skins. 

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So that's our reading for today.
And as you can hear, there's a 

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few elements there which are not
entirely familiar to us with old

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cloaks and new wineskins and 
things like that. 

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So let's look at the start of 
the passage to work out the 

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setting. 
So it starts with the words one 

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day, so that's an indication to 
us, that this could really have 

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happened at any time in Jesus 
ministry. 

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The setting could be anywhere 
and the timing could be at any 

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time. 
Often, the gospel writers, don't

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put things in chronological 
order. 

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I could have happened. 
It could be chronological, could

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have happened. 
Just after the same from 

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yesterday, which remember was 
Jesus having the banquet in his 

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own home. 
However, we're not sure how long

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after that, it is because it 
just says one day, and even then

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it might have been at a 
completely different time in 

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Jesus ministry, and Mark has 
just put it next to this one 

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because there's a common theme 
relating to food and fasting, 

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and eating And it says, this is 
a comment by Mark. 

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Mark says, when John's disciples
were fasting, this is John, the 

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Baptist and he was a popular 
teacher and he developed quite a

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large following people would 
follow him around they'd follow 

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his teachings. 
And apparently, John the Baptist

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is teaching his disciples too 
fast and also the Pharisees are 

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fasting and they're teaching 
their followers too fast. 

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So, both John and the Pharisees 
say that fasting is an important

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spiritual discipline and their 
followers, followed them and 

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that makes sense. 
It was one of the basic three 

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practices of Jewish piety, and 
they're listed in, toub 12:8, 

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Tobit 12:8, and most Jews would 
consider a fasting. 

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In normal way of getting closer 
to God, it helps turn their 

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attention from physical things 
to spiritual things. 

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So it would seem a little 
strange. 

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If there's this prophet of God 
going around, not requiring his 

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disciples too fast. 
Well, technically fasting was 

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actually only required once a 
year, which is on the day of 

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atonement according to Leviticus
16. 

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But by the time of Jesus most 
people practiced it more often 

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than that the Pharisees did it 
twice a week as a mark of their 

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devotion? 
And it sounds like John, the 

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Baptist's disciples were doing 
it pretty often as well for 

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them. 
It was a ra sign of repentance. 

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But there's another element of 
fasting here apart from turning 

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ourselves to God and it's an 
element of mourning and sadness 

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and this seems to be the path 
that Jesus has the problem with 

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as Jesus goes on to describe 
this element of morning and 

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sadness is not appropriate for 
his followers during his 

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ministry that that sort of 
element isn't there. 

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And that's sort of where things 
come apart a bit. 

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So, some people came to Jesus 
and asked him a question. 

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Notice. 
It's not the Pharisees that come

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to him. 
It's just some people. 

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So it's just people with a 
genuine question. 

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That's not a trap question. 
Jesus Answers by doing a 

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rhetorical question and often he
does this. 

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He asks them a question of which
the answer is obvious and the 

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question he asked them is Surely
the bridegroom's attendance 

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would never think of fasting 
while the bridegroom is still 

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with them, would he? 
So that's the question. 

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Now, this is where we need to 
unpack, the cultural context a 

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bit because Jesus is going to 
make a comparison here between 

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himself and his ministry and 
Jewish wedding practices at the 

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time. 
So he had, what were some things

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a bit. 
There's a lot of interesting 

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stuff about weddings, actually 
and Jesus Taps into this, quite 

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a few times in his ministry, 
particularly when he talks 

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about. 
I must go and prepare a place 

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for you. 
And so that's actually tapping 

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into wedding imagery as well, 
but he's doing it here. 

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So, in the culture of Jewish is 
in Jesus day, When getting ready

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for a wedding, the groom would 
have attendance. 

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So sort of male assistants, who 
would assist him in getting 

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ready for the wedding, that also
be some girls amongst that as 

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well. 
Some girls who like the lab. 

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So we had a whole group of 
people who would help him get 

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ready for the wedding. 
And while the groom was with 

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them getting ready, they would 
celebrate. 

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And there were not going too 
fast, it's actually quite a 

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joyful time to be there with the
groom just before his wedding 

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but eventually the groom would 
leave with his bride after the 

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wedding ceremony and they 
wouldn't see him anymore. 

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And at that point the attendance
would mourn and fast because 

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they're groomed that they had 
loved and served was gone. 

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So that did happen in Jewish 
culture. 

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So Jesus here appears to be 
implying. 

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By making this comparison, he 
doesn't come right out and say 

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it, but he seems to be saying I 
am like the groom. 

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So Jesus is the groom. 
My disciples are like my 

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attendance. 
My disciples celebrating spend. 

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As much time with me as possible
while I'm here but soon I will 

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be taken away and they will be 
sad and mourn. 

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That appears to be what he's 
implying here. 

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So notice that he's making a 
subtle prophecy about his own 

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coming death. 
So that's one thing that's 

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contained in here and there 
could also be a reference to the

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Old Testament passages, which 
talk about God being the groom 

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God, often describes himself as 
being married to Israel in the 

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Old Testament. 
So, for example, Isaiah 40 54, 

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verse 5, and Hosea 2, verse 20. 
So, by Jesus saying, I'm the 

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bridegroom, this could be 
another hint that he is, God 

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that he is divine. 
But our overall on the literal 

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sense here in this comparison, 
Jesus is answering the question 

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of. 
Why do your Body or disciples, 

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not fast. 
And he's based basic answer so 

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far is, I haven't got a problem 
with fasting and principle but 

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it's not the appropriate time 
for my disciples too fast. 

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They will fast in the future but
not now. 

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So I think that's really 
important to emphasize Jesus 

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hasn't gotten problem with 
fasting In this passage is just 

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saying the time for fasting from
my disciples is not now. 

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So that's what he said so far. 
He could also, there could also 

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be a deeper literal level deeper
spiritual sense here, where he's

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thinking of himself, literally 
as a bride, not just 

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metaphorically, but literally, 
as a groom, and he's getting 

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ready to find a bride for the 
wedding. 

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And I remember as part of 
Christian theology, that's 

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certainly true. 
Jesus is the groom, the church 

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is the bride. 
So, perhaps Jesus is thinking of

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that as well. 
That's the thing. 

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With a lot of Jesus teachings is
usually he's making his 

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answering a question directly by
making a clear point, but the 

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way he phrases it, he's probably
also got some other implications

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tied up in that as well, which 
obviously the churches are 

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impact over 2,000 years. 
So he's talked about the wedding

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now. 
He's going to make two more 

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comparisons first 20. 
No, one sews. 

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A piece of unshrunk cloth on an 
old garment. 

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So unshrunk cloth is like new 
cloth, good cloth. 

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And in that culture if you are 
going to modify an old cloak, 

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you actually need to sew on Old 
cloth. 

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You can't sew on new cloth onto 
an old cloak because if you do 

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when it goes through the wash 
the patch of new fabric once 

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it's washed would shrink and 
pull away from the sewn edges 

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and it's actually going to make 
the tear worse. so that's the 

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next comparison he makes he 
says, look if we're going to 

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work with old, Sorry. 
We're going to work with new 

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fabric. 
It needs to not go on Old 

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garments. 
That's his point here and then 

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he makes one more comparison 
verse 22. 

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No one puts new wine into old 
wineskins so it's a similar 

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comparison to what he just said.
So what a wineskins, their 

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special jars for keeping wine 
and then made of leather, they 

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keep whining there for a long 
time. 

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The problem with these wineskins
is because they might have 

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leather, that would become dry 
and brittle as they get older. 

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And if you it's in, Jesus says, 
if he does put new wine into Old

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wineskins, the wine will burst 
the Skins. 

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So old wineskins could contain 
old wine, but if you try to put 

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new wine into the old wineskins,
the new wine releases gases and 

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that can burst the old wineskin.
So, basically in that culture, 

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if you had old wine, you need to
put it in our Old wineskins. 

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And if you had new wine, you 
need to put in new wineskins. 

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Otherwise it doesn't really 
work. 

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So notice what those last two 
comparisons have in common with 

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the cloth in the wineskins. 
You can't put new with old. 

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That's Jesus, main point. 
You can't mix old with new. 

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The last thing he says is no new
wine fresh skins. 

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So new wineskins have some 
elasticity and they can contain 

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new one. 
So Jesus here is being emphatic.

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When he says no new wine fresh 
skins saying, something like 

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this with new teaching, we need 
a new way of thinking. 

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So he's remember, he's the 
Messiah, bringing the kingdom of

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God, which is a new way of 
Salvation, that can't be 

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contained. 
Within the old institutions, You

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could also say the wine skin 
represents the human heart. 

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So the Messiah needs hearts that
appliable and ready to expand 

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with the message of the kingdom 
of God, with the message of the 

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Gospel that new message, the 
kingdom of God won't really go 

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into Old. 
Wineskin Hearts. 

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So that's possibly another way 
of thinking about it. 

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Now we need to be careful here. 
He's not making a sweeping 

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statement. 
So let's discuss this a bit 

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more. 
He's saying that in some sense 

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his new message doesn't fit with
old wineskins. 

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Doesn't fit with old 
institutions, that's true. 

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But to what extent is he saying?
That? 

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His basic point is, I'm the 
Messiah and my teaching is 

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something new so we're going to 
kick that so that that's right. 

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If my followers tried are only 
follow the Jewish Customs that 

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they're used to in order to 
follow me. 

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It's not going to work. 
That's Jesus main point. 

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You can't just use your old way 
of thinking you old Customs. 

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If you're a follower of me 
that's not going to work, you 

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need to have a broader mind and 
a broader heart than that. 

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If they can't do that, if the 
disciples can't be open to this 

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new teaching, then they're going
to miss the whole point. 

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So Jesus is basically caution in
his disciples and in fact is 

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answering the question that 
people have he's saying, people 

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need to be careful that they 
don't look at my teachings and 

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just try and understand those 
teachings by falling back into 

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their old ways. 
They need to have a new heart, 

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be open to a new way of thinking
about. 

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About things about spiritual 
things. 

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I think that's what Jesus is 
saying. 

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It's important though to discuss
what Jesus is not saying here. 

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Often you'll hear this presented
as a teaching about fasting in 

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general, as in Jesus, is saying 
fasting used to be a thing in 

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the old Covenant, but now it's 
no longer needed in the kingdom 

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of God. 
I don't think that's what Jesus 

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is saying. 
Because remember earlier on, he 

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said, at the moment when the 
attendants are with the groom, 

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they won't fast. 
But when the groom leaves they I

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will fast so he's implying that 
when he leaves his disciples 

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will fast. 
So it's not a teaching about we 

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no longer need fasting. 
Jesus is not abolishing fasting.

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He's not making a general 
statement here about the old 

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Covenant did this. 
Now the New Covenant is going to

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do this. 
It's not a general statement 

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that we can based General 
theology on his answering a 

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specific question that people 
brought to him about why do your

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disciples not fast. 
So he's answering the specific 

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question about how his immediate
followers should act while he is

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still with them. 
So in a nutshell my disciples 

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are not Fasting right now for a 
certain reason and it has to do 

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with my teachings and new ways 
of thinking once I'm gone 

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though, they will fast. 
So I think we need to draw 

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modest conclusions from this and
not, we need to interpret it in 

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line with other things. 
Jesus says, for example, later 

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in the gospels, he tells his 
disciples when you fast here, 

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are the ways you should do it. 
So Jesus is bringing something 

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new but he's not abolishing the 
old. 

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00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,400
So, I hope that's been helpful 
analysis for you of this 

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00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:50,600
passage. 
I think it is one of those 

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00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:53,000
passages that can be 
misunderstood particularly if we

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00:14:53,008 --> 00:14:57,100
jump straight to the spiritual 
sense, and we don't discuss the 

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00:14:57,100 --> 00:14:58,900
literal sense. 
And it's also one of those 

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00:14:58,900 --> 00:15:04,300
passages where we can over 
interpret it, or maybe try and 

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00:15:04,300 --> 00:15:08,600
or may be interpreted the wrong 
way to make it say things that 

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Jesus probably wasn't trying to 
say. 

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00:15:11,300 --> 00:15:16,300
There's one reference to this 
passage in the catechism and 

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that's in relation to Jesus 
being a groom. 

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00:15:19,100 --> 00:15:22,500
Remember we said that perhaps in
Jesus teaching here, he's 

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implying that he's the groom and
that's the catechism takes up 

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00:15:25,300 --> 00:15:29,900
that theme actually so 
paragraph. 796 says the theme of

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Christ as bridegroom of the 
church was prepared by the 

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prophets and announced by John 
the Baptist, the Lord referred 

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to himself as the bridegroom. 
The Apostle speaks of the Holy 

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00:15:41,300 --> 00:15:45,300
The church and of each of the 
faithful members of his body as 

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00:15:45,300 --> 00:15:49,400
betrothed to Christ the lord. 
So as to become, but one spirit 

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with him. 
So you'll hear their that the 

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Catholic teaching is that Jesus 
is the groom which is certainly 

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00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:00,800
true and that the church is the 
bride and it uses this Mark to 

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passage as one of the scripture 
references to suggest that Jesus

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is the groom. 
Thanks for listening. 

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good analysis of the text, 

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00:16:13,300 --> 00:16:15,700
please tell others about it. 
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00:16:15,700 --> 00:16:19,300
text or anything about the Bible
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00:16:19,300 --> 00:16:20,800
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00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:25,300
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and the link for that is in the 

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00:16:25,300 --> 00:16:27,700
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