I love reading the Bible. Much of the Bible's teachings, histories and stories make some sort of intuitive sense to me, including the more inaccesible stuff in the Old Testament. Even if (read: "when") I fail to live up to the divine standards of scripture, I mentally and spiritually "understand", at some level, what the Prophets were talking about.
Not so with Jesus Christ. His teaching is baffling. Any time I hear or see someone saying "Well, what would Jesus do?", I have to reply:
"I have no idea. He was completely unpredictable in his three years of ministry. How on earth do you know what Jesus would do?"
There are some portions of Jesus' teachings that just plain don't get preached. I don't believe it is because pastors and priests are hiding anything. I think they really don't know what Jesus was getting at in some sections of the Gospels.
I join them in their bafflement of our Lord and Savior.
Example: At a Bible study last night we studied Luke 5*, when Jesus refers to "old wineskins" and "new wineskins."
I am completely fascinated by this teaching. Yet I have no definitive conclusions about what Jesus is actually talking about here. A few ideas:
1) The "Old Wineskins" refer to Judaism, and the "New Wineskins" to Christianity, the "Old Wine" the old Mosaic Law and Covenant, the "New Wine" the Holy Spirit and the New Covenant brought by Jesus.
2) "Old Wineskins" refer to any religious tradition, with "New Wineskins" referring to any new work of God that is not accepted by established religious structures.
3) As an extension of #1, "New Wineskins" are Gentiles--Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Ethiopians and later all non-Jews--are now partaking in the "New Wine" offered by Christ.
A final implication: is Jesus condemning the Old Wineskins and the Old Wine, or is he just saying the Old and the New have different functions at different times? I think I used to believe the former, now I believe the latter. After all, old wine is in fact, good wine, right? It is rich and full of subtle tastes. New wine can be bitter, and needs time to age. How then can we reject "The Old Wine?"
Any thoughts on the matter are appreciated...
*33And they said to him, "The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink." 34And Jesus said to them, "Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days." 36He also told them a parable: "No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good.'"[d]
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2 comments:
Great entry. I think you're right on track with the "old" and "new" ideas.
Bryan Clark (www.lincolnberean.org) preached through the book of Mark in 2004/2005, and the wineskin story shows up in that gospel as well (Mark 2:21-22).
Link to the transcript:
http://media.lincolnberean.org/pdfdocs/Mark02_13_22Trans.pdf
or
Link to the audio:
http://media.lincolnberean.org/sermonaudio/2004/10-03-04.mp3
I hope you find his message helpful. Let me know what you think.
-tkc
A few thoughts on Pastor Clark's message:
1. I love the example of Martin Van Buren's letter to the President about the "threat" of the railroad system. That is such a good (and hilarious) example of unnecessary fear of change.
2. He makes a necessary distinction between changing because of a trend and changing purposefully. We American X-ians are particularly susceptible to trends, with no vision behind us in history and a short-sighted vision in front of us for the future. While some Christians (often Evangelical, Charismatic, Pentacostal, etc.) need a healthy dose of tradition and history, others (often Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox, Episcopalean, etc) need a healthy dose of "New Wine." To my encouragement, I think each are getting these doses. The first camp is finding "new" traditions in taking on ancient Judaic traditions - including the liturgical calendar, annual feasts and Hebrew art. I think one of the consequences of this "trend" (if it becomes more than a trend) is that many "non-denominational" X-ians will begin to look oddly Catholic, oddly Orthodox. I think this is a positive development. On the other side of the spectrum, Catholic Vigils and Masses these days are actually full of young, passionate followers of Christ who are perfectly comfortable integrating traditional liturgy, Eucharist and Mass with "worship music" generally associated with Evangelicals. This also is a positive development.
3. And the portion about the Wineskins...fascinating. I'm still thinking about it. Is he advocating "flexibility" and pliability in accepting and absorbing new teachings? His message is challening...I agree with him wholeheartedly on remaining fresh and alive in Christ. But I'm not entirely satisfied...I think the "Old Wine" is more than just the Pharisees and their rigid spirits. Pastor Clark seems to interpret that the Old Wine is sinful and condemned (?) I'm not so sure...
Thanks for the link!
BC
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