Forcing New and Old Together is from Mark 2: 21-22
What’s the Problem?
The main ‘problem’ with these two mini parables is that they’re now the ‘old’ and we’re the ‘new’! They’re both good candidates for retelling, because they’re almost impossible to understand without explanation. So, people listening today might get the idea that there’s some kind of problem putting old and new together, but what they might not realise is that Jesus swaps the problem item between the two parables.
Old and New
In the first parable, the ‘new’ item (the cloth) is worse than useless as a patch until it’s been aged up a bit. ‘New’ cloth, in Jesus’ time, would shrink the first time you washed it. A patch that’ll shrink more than the surrounding material isn’t a very good patch.
In the second, the problem is now the ‘old’ wineskin. While it’s still perfectly useable for aged wine that’s finished fermenting and is stable, it can’t cope with new wine that’s still going to produce a lot of gas. Nowadays, we only buy wine that’s finished fermenting, so we might have never seen this. But if you have ever made wine at home (or had relatives who did) you might have experienced the modern equivalent of the new wine in the old skin – the exploding bottles that result from prematurely bottled wine.
Interpretations
Throughout the years, replacement theology has heavily influenced interpretations of these two mini-parables. What’s replacement theology? It’s a strand of Christian thought that believes Christianity (the new) replaced Judaism (the old). But personally, I dislike replacement theology; I think these particular parables show off one of the problems it has. Rather than the parables (or sayings) of Jesus leading us to the theology, the theology (new replaces old) got shoehorned into the parables. In effect, Jesus is saying what we want him to say.
The parables are not about the new replacing the old; they’re about the new and the old not fitting together. Why? Well, in both parables useable things are ruined by being forced together. In the first, the garment would be perfectly wearable if only it had been patched with properly aged cloth. Far from the new replacing the old, the new is the problem that’s making the old worse.
In the second, there’s a perfectly useable (if stretched) wineskin and some new wine that needs time to mature. The (old) garment is repairable. The (old) wineskin can still hold wine. The new cloth and the new wine? They might be better if they have time to mature – and they don’t match up well with older material.
So Jesus is not presenting ‘new’ as automatically ‘good’. The old garment is faulty, yes, but all it needs is a patch made of old material. The new wine needs a brand new wineskin to contain it. And in Luke 5.39, Luke finishes off this pair of parables with another saying of Jesus – old wine is a lot better than new.
Fasting
These two parables are connected with Jesus’ reply to a question about fasting. He’s just used a metaphor – you wouldn’t fast at a wedding – and is now using the parables to continue the illustration. Like most of Jesus’ parables they have a wider applicability, but what he seems to be saying (in this situation) is that there’s nothing wrong with fasting as such. However, trying to shoehorn fasting into a place or time where it’s not appropriate can make things worse.
This applies to a lot of religious practices – or even to Bible interpretation. If we’re going to patch the antique chair of the Bible with our shiny new interpretations, we need to check what we’re doing. Is our interpretation carefully turned, varnished and aged to fit with tradition, reason and the Spirit? Or are we just gluing on a plastic leg?
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