New wine in an Old wineskin

Mark 2:22 And no-one pours new wine into old wineskin. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins. 
The concept of New Wine in an Old Wineskin is quite a popular parable that Jesus mentioned during a dinner at the house of his disciple Matthew. And obviously I never heard of it before coming across it in a beautiful sermon by Pastor Avinash last Sunday. 

Initially I was a bit confused whether the Pastor’s intended message was about “Change in general” or was it about “The attitude needed to receive God’s word”. I put the question to my friend Sangeet and the pastor and both obliged me with beautiful thoughts and additional notes. But the thought that remained with me was put very succinctly by Sangeet, “The good thing about the Bible is that the words don't change but they mean something new every time you read.” 
After studying Avinash and Sangeet’s notes I found that there was a tonne of literature online which highlighted additional interpretations. I must admit that all that reading did lead to some confusion. But what I want to take forward is the idea that verse above is a beautiful verse about change and its challenges. I am amazed how people 2000 years ago could construct such sophisticated ideas. Further its quite possible that when I read about it next I will figure out new things. But till then let me not fret about the things I haven’t figured :)

Comments

Shijo said…
In addition to the parable about the Wineskin Jesus mentioned another one in Mark 2:21: "No-one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse".

Taken literally its safe to say that both the New wine and the Cloth go through transformations and become old. Figuratively speaking anything new will be subject to changes and adjustments. By the time the new becomes an old hand it would have developed its own setups to handle its environment. With time these setups would represent dogmas or views that may be difficult for the new to understand.

As of now I don't have any perspectives on how to avoid or resolve such conflicts. When I find something I will comment and keep these musing alive :)
3:17 am
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