Jesus on the Old and the New
Mark 2:21-22

Intro:
Good evening.
Our lesson tonight is going to come from the book of Mark chapter two and two verses of scripture 21 and 22. Here’s what scripture says: “"No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.''” [NKJ]

The world into which Jesus came was a religious world filled with rites and forms and ceremonies and traditions. The world into which Jesus came was a religious world into which, at least for the Jews, the law of Moses had been THE law of religious life for hundreds of years. No wonder then that the religionist of Jesus’ day opposed Him at virtually every turn. Every day in the life of Jesus was a day during which close scrutiny was given to all that He did and all that He said. Not necessarily with a view to learning anything, but rather with a view to finding ways to discredit Him or to bring charges against Him. All that He said, all that He did was questioned and usually by those who really didn’t want to learn anything. As I said, just wanting to discredit Him.

I. TWO WORD PICTURES – The situation into which He came, a situation into which there was so much that was part of the old way, He had to preach the new covenant. To do so He had to help people understand that they could appreciate the old, but they needed ultimately to be accepting of the new. In the text that I have read are two word pictures, sort of unusual perhaps and to our mind they don’t make a lot of sense because we are not folks who are accustom to putting patches on garments or using skins for wine. But in that world this made a great deal of sense.
A. The background?
1. The background, of course, is that Jesus had already been questioned about His forgiving others. He had been questioned about why He and His disciples do not fast like the Pharisees and the disciples of John.
2. Quickly He is going to be questioned about the Sabbath Day and the keeping of the Sabbath Day. Then finally He’ll be questioned about marriage and divorce. The example of sewing new cloth on an old garment - Mark 2:21
B. It seems that He uses the example of a garment that has a tear in it or a hole.
1. The solution to the problem would be to put a patch over that rift in the garment.
2. If you put a new piece of cloth, Jesus says, on that old garment the solution that you have used is ultimately going to be the ruination of the garment because this new cloth will begin to shrink as it’s washed and it is going to pull and tug at the old cloth which already has been shrunk. The result is there will be a greater rent in the garment than when you first began. Therefore no one puts a new piece of cloth on an old garment. Keep in mind—old covenant, new covenant.
C. Then Jesus says in His second word picture that you should not put new wine in old wine skins. I know very little about wine skins, I’ll be honest with you. - Mark 2:22
1. What I know I have read. What I’ve read is this; Wineskins when new are of supple, stretchy leather. As the wine sits in the skin and fermentation begins gas is produced and the wine skins were stretched and often harden as they aged. Also, and this is an important thing about them; they have in them the residue of the bacteria which causes fermentation.
2. Thus if you put new wine in the old bottles, the old wine skins, the residue of the bacteria that is there is going to cause fermentation to take place very quickly. As it takes place it is going to give off gasses which are going to put pressure against the old, already stretched and hardened skins and likely they are going to burst with the pressure that is put against them.
3. The problem is that you not only lose the wine skins, you lose the precious commodity of the new wine which has not been kept new for very long because it was put in old wine skins wherein there is the corrupting bacteria. For this reason you put new wine in new wine skins.
D. What’s the point that Jesus is trying to make? What is the lesson here? The lesson is obvious, isn’t it? You do not add to the old the new, nor do you add to the new the old.
1. The Old Covenant and the New Covenant could not be mixed!
2. You don’t patch the new with the old for in doing so you are ruining both the old and the new.
3. What was the attitude that Jesus had toward the old covenant? There’s a beautiful thing He says in chapter five of Matthew’s gospel at verse 17. It’s interesting to me that He says this near the beginning of His public ministry. Here’s what He says: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” Then He goes on to say, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
4. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say I’ve come to destroy the law. Often I have heard, during my life, people say concerning the law that it has been done away with or destroyed. That is not the case at all. It has been fulfilled. There is a vast difference between the words fulfilling and destroying.
5. Jesus did not come to destroy the old. He appreciated the old. He lived under the old covenant, but He had to prepare peoples minds for the new covenant. In doing so He has to tell them, you can’t patch one unto the other.
II. THE STRUGGLE IN THE EARLY CHURCH
A. That led to somewhat of a struggle in the early church. Very early on there were attempts made to add to the new covenant vestiges of the old or to patch on to the new covenant, parts, bits, pieces of the old covenant.
1. I suppose this is a very natural human tendency. Let me illustrate it like this.
2. For example, someone could say; I have been a Jew all of my life. I have celebrated the Sabbath Day all of my life. I have kept the Passover all of my life. What harm would it be for me to continue to observe the Sabbath? What harm would it be for me to eat the Passover meal on the day of Passover?
3. You see, it’s difficult for us to let go of years and years of upbringing and tradition. Folks, it was difficult for people in the first century to do that, especially for the Jews.
B. This problem is very clearly emphasized in the book of Galatians with the letter to the Galatian churches.
1. If you’ll turn to the fourth chapter of the book of Galatians with me, and read there verses 9 and 10. Something is happening there among the Galatians. Here’s what it says: “But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.” Now notice next verse 11: “I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.” What was happening? There were folks among the churches of Galatia that sought to add on to the new covenant the days of observance from the old covenant.
2. The Jewish calendar had so many days to observe, celebrations to observe, and there were apparently teachers among the Galatian people who thought that it was very acceptable to continue to observe the Sabbath or the Passover celebration or the Day of Atonement or whatever it may have been.
a What the apostle Paul says is that this add-on is ruining your faith. I am afraid that the labor that I’ve bestowed on you is going to be in vain as you go back to this old way, this old covenant, bondage to the old way.
b You’ve left that bondage. Don’t go back to it. You can’t add on the old covenant.
3. Then Galatians 5:1-2 – “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.” What was happening? They were trying to add on circumcision as a religious ordinance as it had been in the old covenant. I suppose that there were those people who did not know or did not care that you can’t add the old to the new. You can’t patch on part of the old to the new for it is going to ruin the new.
a One more thing, I have a strong suspicion, from what we read in scripture, that there were those who thought that the mixing of the two covenants might be very appealing.
b Just as I’ve suggested, some may have said, I’ve been a Jew all my life so it’s ok if I keep the Passover. I also observe the first day of the week, but I want to patch on to my faith parts of the old covenant.
C. Then I wonder as I think about this particular problem about the emphasis of the book we call Hebrews. The book of Hebrews is one of the lengthiest of the letters of the New Testament. This is one of the most profound of the documents of the New Testament for its purpose.
1. If you’ll look at; Hebrews 1:1-4 – and listen “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” You look at this and what you see is a reference to the old covenant, the prophets, the fathers of the old covenant, but then you also see a superiority of Jesus even to the angels because of His inheritance. Who is it that inherits? It is the son that inherits from the father.
a You learn a couple of things. First of all, the emphasis in the book of Hebrews is on Jesus Christ and His revelation to us. Here is confirmation that He is God’s spokesman, no longer is God’s spokesman Moses or the prophets.
b Furthermore, He is God’s spokesman by right of inheritance for He Himself is deity.
2. Then over in chapter eight of the book of Hebrews there are some verses we need to consider; Hebrews 8:7-8 – “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:” In the book of Hebrews there’s an emphasis on the new covenant, but I want you to go back now and read verse six because there is a comparison between the new and the old. “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”
3. Not only is the very son of God God’s spokesman, but the new covenant is a better covenant than the old one and it is established upon better promises. The purpose of the entire book of Hebrews is to compare the old covenant with the new, and to convince people that the new covenant is better than the old one. Someone once quipped; that Hebrews was a letter to the Hebrews telling them to stop acting like Hebrews. In truth, many of the early Jewish believers were slipping back into the rites and rituals of Judaism in order to escape the mounting persecution. This letter, then, is an exhortation for those persecuted believers to continue in the grace of Jesus Christ.
4. I’ve gone through this whole exercise to get to this point. What is the necessity of such a book as the book of Hebrews unless there is a problem with patching on to the new - vestiges of the old?
a This is what Jesus is teaching. This is what He is dealing with in Mark’s gospel when He talks about new material put on an old garment or new wine put in old wine skins. He is dealing with this very subject. He’s doing it in a way that people can visually remember.
b This is one of the things I love about word pictures. I may not be able to remember Hebrews chapter one, Hebrews chapter eight, but I can remember these word pictures because they’re so vivid. I may not be able to find them in scripture, but I can remember them and so could people of that time who did not have the advantage of having the New Testament in their hands. They could remember these word pictures long after the Lord was gone. They could remember the lesson of them.
5. How could these things apply even now? I’ll just suggest a couple of ways then the lesson for tonight is going to be yours.
III. HOW CAN THIS APPLY EVEN NOW?
A. As an example, there is a desire these days among people of the Lord to have in the worship assemblies of the Lord’s church instrumental music based on the fact that instrumental music was used in the Old Testament.
1. It’s true, it was. Instrumental music was part of the temple observances in the old covenant. I might also mention, by the way, there was no congregational singing. Only the priests were involved in the music of the temple. When synagogue worship developed there was apparently a wider or broader use of music—always acapella. But in the temple there was instrumental music and that’s a fact.
2. What we’re being told these days is, “Ok, if it was used in the old covenant, it must be acceptable to God so we can have it in the Lord’s church.” That is faulty logic.
3. Don’t people understand that this is no more - or no less than an attempt patch on,… similar to that patching on that was practiced in the first century church? Let’s patch on the Jewish holidays and festivals. Let’s patch on circumcision. Let’s patch on instrumental music. You see, the problem with it is, and this is what Jesus taught in those two word pictures, when you patch on, you ruin. When you put the old in the new, you ruin the new. You lose. Invariably when you patch on these kinds of things, these vestiges of the old covenant, whatever they may be and you insist that they be practiced by the Lord’s church today, you ruin that which is new. You ruin the new covenant.
B. Another illustration: We might think of the innovations upon which people are insisting from the denominational world.
1. Some of these innovations will involve, for example, the role of women in the Lord’s church, the organization of the church, in the proclaiming of God’s word in the Lord’s church and those kinds of things. “Well, they did it in the church of which I was a part before I obeyed the gospel. I liked it when Mrs. So and so or pastor or I guess it would be pastorette so and so preached to us. You know, women have sort of sympathy with folks. They’re a lot more compassionate, a lot more tender than people like Brother Larry is <i’m larry="" on="" picking="" just=""> and I kind a really like that. Why can’t we do that?”
2. Well, let’s just start patching on, you see. Patch on to the new covenant. Patch on to the pattern these innovations that come out of the denomination world. ”I tell you what we do. Let’s start calling Brother Larry Reverend Cummings. We did that over yonder where I was a member of that church a long time ago and you know what else? I don’t like the fact that he likes to wear a suit so why don’t we put a robe on him because that’s nice. It makes him ok. It sets him apart. We did that over yonder.”
3. “You know we should have a nativity scene and special services for Christmas eve and Christmas day like they had in that church I used to attend. It makes the time seem special and gives everyone a warm feeling.”
4. What we start seeing again is the patching on of the innovations that come out of the religious world around us. Patching on to the new covenant and what’s happening when you patch on, you ruin. Folks, you ruin. That’s the great lesson of the two verses I read from Mark’s gospel, chapter 2. If you patch on you ruin. If you put the new in with the old, you ruin.
C. What we need to do, folks, is simply observe the pattern of the New Testament. I grant you that it may be difficult to turn loose of those beliefs and those practices and those traditions of which we’ve been such a part for many years, but turn loose of them we must because in Christ we are new creations and part of the new covenant. We cannot patch on our desired beliefs and practices because in doing so we invariably ruin that which the Lord came to establish.
D. Now patching on has been and continues to be practiced in some places.
1. Justified for the very reasons that I mentioned earlier and invariably where the patching on happens and is accepted, that which results is something other than the church that Jesus Christ died to establish. Let’s not patch on, folks. Let’s accept the simplicity of the word of God, the pattern that God has given us. It’s a perfect plan.
2. It’s a perfect pattern and we need simply to observe it. What a wonderful lesson from two very memorable word pictures.

CONCLUSION:
What are you going to do with Jesus? You know, in a way that was the question the folks in the first century had to ask. What are we going to do with Him? Are we going to accept that He teaches things that are different from which we are familiar and which are comfortable to us and that we need to accept them? What are going to do? What are you going to do with Jesus tonight?
That was the question that had to be asked a long time ago in Pilot’s hall as the words of the song “What will you do with Jesus” says.

Jesus is standing in Pilate’s hall—
Friendless, forsaken, betrayed by all:
Hearken! what meaneth the sudden call?
What will you do with Jesus?

What will you do with Jesus?
Neutral you cannot be;
Some day your heart will be asking,
“What will He do with me?”

What should I do with Jesus that is called Christ? The answer of the crowd was, “Let’s crucify Him.” The question for you is; what are you going to do? Are you going to accept what He is and what He taught and as He taught it? That’s the only way for us to be Christians. That’s the only way for us to be people of the new covenant. Accept Him as He is, what He taught as it is and practice it as it should be practiced. What are you going to do with Jesus?

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

# 640

Reference Sermon
Cecil A. Hutson
03 September 2006