seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Mark 2:18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”
19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
Let's get one elephant out of the room. "John's disciples" refers to those who were baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. John Mark [Mark who wrote this gospel] is talking about John the Baptist [the cousin of Jesus]. They would be praying and fasting because Jesus hadn't come along to baptize them in the "Spirit". These people were following old traditions after being Baptized as one of "John's disciples". These are the people in waiting. They were still fasting with the good Pharisees. Now on to the wineskins babble. Humans today rarely, if ever, use wineskins. Hardly anyone patches clothes anymore. We are a "wear and toss" society now. So, most humans don't get the meaning of new patches or new wineskins.
Yesterday I had to buy some thread. I'm working on a couple of dolls. I'm making them from a pattern my neighbor across the way gave me before she passed away. The pattern calls for a specific thread that no one makes anymore. The pattern is from 1983. I went to a couple stores looking for it, which is a major feat because I don't have but one eye and I can't drive. I have to bum rides and go thru crowds without my walking stick [it's too long and intimidating]. If I found the thread the pattern calls for, it would be 50 years old.... and not really reliable enough to hold a doll together. The thread would disintegrate as I was using it. I finally found button and craft thread that would come close to the construction of the thread I was searching for. I am using new thread.
The fabric I'm using is a used bedsheet. No, it's not threadbare.... the woman who used it before me passed away. I got it at her "estate sale". It was used by not worn. It seemed to be a very good quality soft sheet.... and it went together almost perfectly.... until I started sculpting the face with my "new thread". I was stuffing and shaping the nose and lips and tugging on the fabric to take all the wrinkles out.... and the fabric ripped. New thread tore a hole in the older fabric..... and that's like the new wine in old skins or new cloth patching old fabric.
I know, it's the opposite of new skins, but it works. Fifty years before the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah, people were required to fast. John came along and told people the times were changing. Jesus was going to bring a new baptism.... a new way of worship.... and Jesus was going to turn the teachings of the Temple.... with all the laws and rituals.... right out the window.
New thread and old fabric!
