S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

These parables, found in Mark 2:18-22, begin with a statement that the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist were fasting. The twice-weekly fast was a tradition adopted by the legalistic ...

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July 01 2013 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jay Saunders Supporter

It is simple; the Lord is not going to put His Holy Spirit in a person who has not asked the Lord for salvation and believed that only He (Jesus) is the truth, the life, the way, the door and the only way to the Father. The Father will not indwell or accept anyone that doesn't accept Jesus His only begotten Son for salvation.

March 04 2016 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

John Appelt Supporter

In Mark 2:18, the question was raised as to why the disciples of John and the Pharisees fasted, but the disciples of Jesus did not. In Mark 2:19-22, Jesus answered that question.

He noted that the friends of the bridegroom could not fast because it was a not a time of mourning but a time of joy, while they were with the bridegroom. The time would come when there would be mourning and fasting when the bridegroom would be taken from them. That happened when Jesus was taken from them and crucified.

The rest of Jesus’ answer touches on something different. The usual interpretation is that Jesus taught law and grace cannot be mixed, and that by inference the New Covenant (i.e., Christianity) has replaced the Old Covenant (i.e., Judaism). 

A problem of the law and grace interpretation is that this was not the time Jesus introduced the Church or the concept of Christianity. He was not putting an end to the law but fulfilling it. In the parables, everything is ruined and can never be renewed which does not fit the interpretation. When Luke 5:39 adds that no one drinking old wine wants new wine, this creates a further huge problem to this interpretation. 

Earlier in Mark 2:15-16, the complaint was that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. To Pharisees concerned with being teachers of their disciples, the choice of the Lord of His followers seemed so strange, among them a group of men not formally trained in Jewish traditions. 

It is to this criticism that Jesus presents the two parables of the garments and wineskins. The parable of the garments describes the wasted action of patching an old garment with new material from a new garment. It would tear. The wineskins parable portrays the wasted action of pouring new wine in old wineskins which would burst open and waste the wine.

In wine production, the objective is to prevent spoilage and loss, and to ultimately produce the best wine. New wine is not as much desired as the best and preferred pure, aged wine.

The key to understanding this last parable is the Jewish interpretation that noted that the wine symbolizes the Scriptures and the vessels the students. Jewish rabbi, Elisha ben Avuyah, likened teaching a young student to one who starts with fresh paper and ink, while teaching an old student to one who starts with writing on poorly erased paper. 

The choice of vessels or students makes a big difference. The wrong student, who knows it all, will be a disaster waiting to happen. However, with a teachable student, there is great potential. 

The Lord’s disciples, not encumbered with the teaching of traditions, started with a clean slate under the teaching of their Master. As they, His students, continued to learn the truth, the new wine of His teaching aged into rich wine. These students would go on to produce excellent wine in their ministries. This is the goal of the Owner of the vineyard.

7 days ago • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report