New Wine for New Wineskins.
(Mark 12:28-34)
Context
As we continue our journey through the Gospel of Mark, we have come to a significant section, precisely chapters 11 through 13, that narrates the last week of Jesus' life, highlighting His interactions in the temple and with its leaders. To fully grasp the importance of these events, we must draw on a critical statement Jesus made earlier in His ministry, which sets the stage for the transformative actions He takes in these chapters.
In Mark 2:22, Jesus says, "No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well. But one puts new wine into fresh wineskins." This metaphor is crucial for understanding Jesus' actions and teachings throughout chapters 11-13 of the Gospel of Mark. The practices and sacrifices in the temple have become corrupt and are insufficient to atone for the people entirely. As Mark narrates these events in the life of Jesus, in Chapters 11-13, he leads the reader to understand that Jesus is making new wine that will be put in a new wineskin.
Mark begins this section in chapter 11 when Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey and is hailed as King by the people waving their palm branches. Jesus immediately finds that the temple has become a place of commerce rather than a house of prayer. Jesus clears out the temple, symbolically removing the corrupt practices to make way for the new. This act angers the temple leaders, who begin to conspire against Him.
The temple leaders, unable to directly confront Jesus due to His growing influence, attempt to undermine Him by questioning His authority. They send three groups to challenge Him: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and ascribe.
Political Checkmate.
The Pharisees ask Jesus if they should pay Caesar taxes. They try to trap Jesus by pinning him between Rome and the people, creating a sort of political checkmate. If Jesus says yes, then He would be siding with Rome, who the people felt oppressed by. If He said no siding with the people, then He would be instigating rebellion against the Roman Empire and could potentially be put to death. This seemed like a win-win for the Pharisees, who wanted Jesus destroyed. Either Jesus' influence with the people would be dismantled, or Rome would destroy him; either way, it was a win-win, or so they thought. There is something the Pharisees didn't account for in this scheme. God. There is a third option: give Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's. Jesus silenced the Pharisees and moved on with even more influence than before.
Painted Into A Corner.
Next, the Sadducees, who deny the resurrection, present a hypothetical scenario to discredit Jesus. They ask about a woman who marries seven brothers in succession, questioning whose wife she will be in the resurrection. Jesus refutes their argument by explaining that in the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. He uses their source of authority, the Torah, to demonstrate that God is the God of the living, not the dead.
The Sadducees tried to paint Jesus into a corner by creating an extreme scenario that sought to refute Jesus' teaching about life after death and the resurrection. However, painting someone into a corner is hard when they know how to walk on water! Jesus exposes their ignorance by using the only source of authority they believed in, the Torah. Jesus reveals that their understanding of Heaven is uninformed, and they are blind to the truth that the Torah reveals.
The Closer.
Finally, a scribe who has watched Jesus succeed at all the challenges steps in as the closing pitcher to strike Jesus out and win the game. The Scribe challenges Jesus on the Law by asking which law is the foremost. If Jesus cannot answer rightly, the scribe would expose Jesus' ignorance of the law, revealing that He is unfit to have any authority in the temple. Jesus responds by quoting the Shema: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength," and adds, "Love your neighbor as yourself." The scribe agrees, acknowledging that these commandments are more significant than all temple sacrifices. In a twist of events, the scribe affirms that Jesus is an expert in the law like himself, but Jesus demonstrates that he is the supreme expert of the law and can teach the scribe. Jesus commends the scribe's understanding but notes that he is"not far from the kingdom of God," indicating that intellectual agreement alone is insufficient without recognizing Jesus as fulfilling the commandments.
New Wine for New Wineskins.
Jesus' actions in the temple and His responses to the challenges from the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the scribe reveal His authority and teach us about the need for Him to pour out the old wine to make way for the new wine made from his blood. Jesus reveals that Love for God with the entire being is required to enter the Kingdom of God. Obeying the Law devoid of Love for God only gets you close to the kingdom but not entering it. The wine that God desires is not the old wine made from sacrifices of animals that are insufficient to atone fully for mankind, but a new wine made from the sacrificial love of Jesus on the cross.
In Mark 11-13, Jesus dismantles the old way of obeying the law to earn God's love and replaces it with Grace (which can't be earned) that frees one to obey God out of love. Obedience without love is like a loud, annoying cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1). No one wants that! However, love-motivating obedience is what God desires and is displayed perfectly in Jesus's life.
Peace be with you!
Pastor Bruce
