CHANGE THAT COUNTS

Mark 2:18-22
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

A Discussion about Change

18 Once when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples and the Pharisees do?”

19 Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. They can’t fast while the groom is with them. 20 But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

21 “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.

22 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”


Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders of His day, making it clear to them, that He had not come to put a Band-Aid on the old system (Judaism). A new patch on the old system would cause harm. Likewise old wineskins cannot handle the new wine.

Jesus was a change agent … a change maker … an innovator. It was a new day … there was a new covenant. Grace was more than a patch for the Law. Grace was a brand new way that God chose to love humankind. The old form of Judaism could not handle the brand new message that Jesus brought.