Reading
Luke 5:33-39
33 They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.”
34 Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”
36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”
Comment
Jewish law required fasting only once a year for the celebration of Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. All the other fasts were voluntary initiatives and often became, at the time of Jesus, an occasion to show off one's religiosity. The Lord's only fast mentioned in the Gospels is the fast he performed in his retreat of forty days in the desert, before starting his ministry. This fast is carried out in a private way, far from the eyes of the world, as he will invite us to do during his preaching (Mt 6:16-18).
The reference to the image of the wedding refers to the new spousal relationship of God with his people, in the person and mission of Jesus. Not understanding the significance of the event that Jesus, Son of God incarnate, represents in the history of Israel and of all humanity, these disciples of John and the group of Pharisees are unable to appreciate - we can say to "taste" - the new wine of the Gospel.
Jesus' teaching is not a "patch" of Judaism, nor can the gospel be simply an adaptation to the Mosaic Law. A ferment in it makes the skins of ancient Jewish religiosity burst; the precious and newly woven fabric represented by the Son of God can only tear the old fabric if it is force-sewn onto it.
Jesus himself will be "torn", "torn" from his disciples, by the doctors of the old law: this is the meaning of the Greek word apairomai, which heralds the violent end of the Messiah.
Christians too, risk being satisfied with old wine, ignoring the newness that the Gospel always brings with it in personal life, communities, and everyday life.
For this reason, no true believer will try to be a copy - ugly or beautiful - of a believer of the past, even though the memory of the witnesses of the faith can be a useful stimulus for spiritual growth. The Lord wants his word to ferment in us producing unique wine and he wants to weave a completely new garment with our lives.
Prayer
You have woven us into the womb, o Lord; may your grace bring to fulfillment in us what you have established for our days. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
