Sometimes pictures can tell us much more than some heady explanation. Advertisers monopolize on this ability of the human brain to capture a message from what is seen much more than what is said. Think about the commercials for the medications you see on TV. One long commercial I saw the other day was almost entirely warnings about side effects. Unless you were really listening to the words, all you heard was a pleasant voice saying something while images of family and fun were running across the screen. Heart attack and stroke were spoken at the moment a child was being pushed on a swing. You would think these side effects were a desirable thing, if you listened to the images.
The ability of the human mind to picture things is amazing. The ability to tell a good story hinges on our ability to transport ourselves to other places simply by allowing our minds to travel there. We have great memories of past happy times because we can picture them.
Jesus has a way of using verbal pictures to transport us and teach us. I don’t know if you have ever tried to repair clothing, but it can be more difficult than you think. If you have a simple tear, it can be much easier than if you have a hole to cover. Jesus points out the problem. You need old material to make the patch. If you try to use new, unshrunk material to make the patch, the hole will just get bigger. The materials much match in flexibility and elasticity.
And you can’t put new wine in an old wineskin. Wineskins are animal skins used to transport wine. When a skin in new, it stretches with the expanding contents during the fermentation process. Once the skin is stretched, it has no stretch left. If new wine is placed in an old skin, the fermentation will burst the skin and everything will be lost.
Jesus is telling those who asked about fasting that the old ways don’t fit in with what is ahead, just as a new piece of cloth will ruin an old garment if used as a patch. If the new practices are piecemealed into the old, it will destroy them both. They just don’t belong together. Required fasts don’t fit.
Jesus message and the transformation that will take place is a new thing. They won’t fit in the old vessel of rituals and ceremonies of the Old Testament. All those rituals and ceremonies are fulfilled in Jesus. There is no need for them any longer. If you try to cram these types and shadows into the realities, everything is ruined.
Be careful of those who insist on particular activities as being necessary for Christian life. If they are surface, cosmetic issues, like dress or worship style, watch out. Remember the Early Church in Acts only put a few stipulations on new non-Jewish believers. We should follow their pattern. Stay away from spelled out sins, and pursue holiness.
The Arnold Journey 