Mark 2:21-22·~1 min
The Patches and the Wineskins
Jesus says a new patch tears an old garment and new wine bursts old wineskins. He ends by saying new wine belongs in new wineskins.
N21o one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, and a worse tear will result. 22And 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. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.”
Section summaryJesus uses two brief images to show that new cloth on an old garment and new wine in old wineskins both fail. The lesson underscores that what he brings cannot be contained by forms that cannot stretch with it.
Role in the chapterThe images reinforce the mismatch between Jesus’ new work and old containers, warning that his renewal requires forms able to hold what arrives with him.