Mark 2 - Fasting and New Wineskins

Fasting and New Wineskins

See also: Fasting, New Wine into Old Wineskins, and New Covenant (theology)

It appears Mark then jumps to a future time, though it is possible he is still referring to Jesus' dinner with the sinners. Some (unnamed) people ask why is it that the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees are fasting (observing a fast, i.e. not eating), but the disciples of Jesus are not (2:18). People fasted for many reasons, such as mourning or penitence, but another reason was to prepare for the anticipated coming of the messiah and perhaps even to speed up the process. Leviticus 16:29 demands fasting on the Day of Atonement, "a permanent statute", "whether the native, or the alien" (New American Standard Bible). Luke 18:11-12 has an unnamed Pharisee brag about his fasting. For what reason John's disciples were fasting Mark does not say. In Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus gives instructions about fasting, but see also Sermon on the Mount#Interpretation. Jesus also talks about fasting in the Gospel of Thomas in sayings 14, 27, 104, sometimes against it such as saying 14 but saying 104 closely resembles this story about fasting and weddings.

Jesus justifies this behavior and speaks of himself as the bridegroom and his disciples as his guests at his wedding and by giving the parable of the Patch and the Wineskins. Jesus speaking of himself as the bridegroom carries messianic overtones. Jesus is referred to as a bridegroom in several places in the New Testament such as John 3:29, 2 Corinthians 11:2, the Epistle to the Ephesians 5:32 and Revelation 19:7 and 21:2. In Thomas saying 75 Jesus talks about being alone and entering the bridal suite. Several books of the Jewish Bible speak of God as Israel's husband such as the Book of Hosea 2:19, the Book of Isaiah 54:4-8 and 62:4-5, the Book of Jeremiah 2:2 and the Book of Ezekiel 16:7-63.

Jesus then says the bridegroom will be "taken from them" and then his disciples will fast, on that day, see also Lent. This is taken as an allusion to Jesus' death. For those who do not believe Jesus really had foreknowledge of his death this is taken as a product of the early Church. There is no purpose in fasting as the messiah, Jesus, is already here and his coming is like a wedding celebration, at which people do not fast.

Jesus then speaks of wine and wineskins:

No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins. (2:21-21)

This is a very famous saying of Jesus. What its exact meaning is in the original context is not totally clear to even scholars today. It is easily interpreted to mean Jesus was proposing a new way of doing things. The new "unshrunk" patch for the cloth can not be melded to the old cloth as it will shrink and make the tear of the cloth worse. One can also not use "new" wine with "old" wineskins as the new wine will ferment and expand and break the old skins. Jesus thus seems to be concerned that the patch and the "new" wine as well as the "old" cloth and old wineskins be preserved. This might be Jesus trying to convey that one must shed those old things that are incompatible with his new way. Some of the old things however are worth preserving, but one must not mix the two.

Many, especially Christians, have interpreted it as Jesus saying he was the start of a new religion separate from John the Baptist and Second Temple Judaism, called Christianity, for example see Ignatius of Antioch Magnesians X. Some Christians have used it to propose new ways of being Christian or even entirely new forms of Christianity. As early as the second century, Marcion used it to justify his doctrine, later called heretical Marcionism. Against these interpretations, Luke 5:39 adds: "And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, 'The old is good enough.'" This saying is also found partially as saying 47 of the Gospel of Thomas. This is the midpoint of Jesus' early conflicts with other Jewish teachers in Mark.

The interpretation favored by John Calvin does not suffer from the inconsistencies and the disconnectedness of the interpretations listed above. In his Commentary on Matthew, Mark, and Luke Calvin states that the old wineskins and the old garment represent Jesus' disciples, and the new wine and unshrunk cloth represent the practice of fasting twice a week. Fasting this way would be burdensome to the new disciples, and would be more than they could bear.