‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.’ Mark 2:21-22
The first weird thing about this text is the number of people who don’t know the first thing about sewing patches on to anything. When I was growing up, patches on pants were as normal as holes in tennis shoes. I always had stuff that needed to be patched and my mom always kept a bag of pieces of old denim to be repurposed for new respectability. It seems that ended with my generation.
As for wineskins…isn’t that what snow skiers use up on the mountain?
My point – things change. What is normal and understandable in one age becomes strange and esoteric in another. Things change.
When Jesus spoke of patches and wineskins he was reaching into a world of common sense that his hearers immediately understood. He was talking about change. He was talking about something new entering into the world that could not be contained by the world remaining the same. Jesus is birthing something new that will not fit in the old world and the old ways of understanding God.
I’m reminded here again of a talk that I heard given by a specialist in addictive illnesses. He was talking about the family dynamics involved in helping an addict stay sober. He said that a family is like a jig saw puzzle. Everyone is a piece and they all fit together nicely. But when one person seeks fundamental change in their lives – like getting sober – their “piece” changes.
His warning was that, if the other family members didn’t also work on changes in their own behaviors, their own understandings, then their own pieces would not change. And that when their loved one re-entered the family system, and no longer fit like they used to, the rest of the family would unconsciously conspire to sabotage their recovery. They would slide back into the old, familiar, ways of being. Deathly though it is.
God’s love for all people; God’s plan for people living in peace, with justice; the simple concept of “enough for all.” These are revolutionary ideas in the world. They are new wine and new patches. When they show up, they give rise to what Paul called “the whole creation groaning in travail” as the new world is birthed among us.
How long is the list of the changes that bring tension into our lives these days? Racial justice and reparations. Embracing the diversity of human experiences of gender and sexuality. Discovering ways for people of diverse cultures to live in cooperation and mutual respect. Religious pluralism. Gun violence. Suicide. Addictions. Sweeping changes in technology. An increasing global economy.
Things change. But human nature doesn’t change very much. Some will welcome and embrace the new wine that Jesus brings. Others will reject it. Some will say “we’ve never done it this way before” even when we all know full well that history is far more cyclical than linear and there is nothing new under the sun.
Except for God. The One who makes all things new.
Let us pray: Dear Lord, we expect the earth beneath us to be stable. We want normalcy. We want peace and quiet far more than peace and justice. But you are our Healer and sometimes the emotional, physical, intellectual surgery you need to perform on us to heal us seems too much for us. Help us die to the old that we might be reborn with you into the new. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Daily Devotions 
May 22, 2026 at 3:55 am |
Hi ,Rev. Kerry
(Mark 2:21-22) states : Jesus said to scribes & Pharisees, ” No man seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, & the rent is made worse & no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, & the wine is spilled, & the bottles will be marred .”
This is one way of explaining
the verses :
Sometimes, Jesus way of talking was in figurative speech. About it, He Himself said to His disciples :“I said to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. “(John 16 : 25 )
Jesus’s metaphoric statement about the piece of new cloth, old garment, & new wine is, regarding Old & New Covenant.
Scribes & Pharacies, were following the Law of Moses, Jesus frequently rebuked them for nullifying God’s commandments in favor of man-made traditions,such as circumcision & fasting.
(Acts 15 :5) states :’A certain sect of the Pharisees said about Paul & Barnabas ,that it was needful to circumcise them, & to command them to keep the law of Moses.’
The disciples of John, also asked Jesus,” Why do we & the Phari
sees fast , but thy disciples fast not ?” & Jesus said unto them, “No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment & the rent is made worse.( Matthew. 9:14, 15, 16)
About Scribes & Pharacies, Jesus said,” They sit in Moses’ seat. “( Matt. 23: 2)
(John 8 : 41) says :‘ They were
doing the works, their father did.”
Jesus said to them, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint, anise & cummin, & have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, & faith: these ought ye to have done, & not to leave the other undone.
you say, If we had been in the days of our father’s“.Matthew .23: 23,29,30)
The traditions ,like fasting & circumcision, that the Pharisees have built up around the law were like an old garment .
(Hebrews 8 :13) says :’A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth & waxeth old is ready to vanish away.’
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