Parable · Mark 2:21-22
New Wine in Old Wineskins
You do not patch old cloth with new, or pour new wine into brittle old skins.
Also called The Patch and the Wineskins, New Cloth
The point
Said when asked why his disciples were not fasting. The answer is that something has changed.
21No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, and a worse tear will result.
22And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.”
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Read the whole chapter
Told again in other gospels
The same parable, recorded differently. The differences are worth reading, not smoothing over.
Matthew 9:16-17Read the chapter
16No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. For the patch will pull away from the garment, and a worse tear will result.
17Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Luke 5:36-39Read the chapter
36He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will tear the new garment as well, and the patch from the new will not match the old.
37And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined.
38Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.
39And no one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
Using this at church
Read in church on
For a newsletter or sermon notes
The parable of New Wine in Old Wineskins, explained in plain words. You don’t pour new wine into old, brittle wineskins. https://freescripture.org/parables/new-wineskins/
Lines for the next eight Sundays, on Digital Lutheran Church
More on counting the cost
The Wise and Foolish Builders Two houses, one on rock and one on sand. The same storm hits both.Counting the Cost A man builds a tower without pricing it out. A king marches to war outnumbered.The Barren Fig Tree An owner wants to cut down a tree that has not fruited in three years. The gardener asks for one more year.The Unworthy Servants A servant who has done his work does not expect to be thanked for doing his work.