Mark 2:22

22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. {Otherwise} the wine will burst the wineskins and the wine is destroyed and the wineskins [too]. But new wine [is put] into new wineskins."

Mark 2:22 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 2:22

And no man putteth new wine into old bottles
By "old bottles" are meant, the Scribes and Pharisees, the whole, which needed not a physician, and the righteous, Christ came not to call; and by new wine, either the love of God, which is not shed abroad in the hearts of such persons; or the blessings of the new covenant, which are not bestowed upon them; or the Gospel, which brings an account of both, which is not received by carnal men:

else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled,
and the bottles will be marred:
the Gospel will only fill them with rage and fury, and they will despise it, and let it go; which will be an aggravation of their sin and misery, and so will prove the savour of death unto death unto them:

but new wine must be put into new bottles;
into the hearts of sinners, who are called to repentance, and are renewed in the Spirit of their minds; are newborn babes, that desire the sincere milk of the word, and wine of the Gospel; in these the love of God is exceeding abundant, and it comes in with full flows into their souls; all grace is made to abound towards them, and the word of Christ richly dwells in them; in whom these things remain and abide, and they themselves are saved with an everlasting salvation; (See Gill on Matthew 9:17).

Mark 2:22 In-Context

20 But days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

21 No one sews a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment. {Otherwise} the patch pulls away from it--the new from the old--and the tear becomes worse.

22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. {Otherwise} the wine will burst the wineskins and the wine is destroyed and the wineskins [too]. But new wine [is put] into new wineskins."

23 And it happened that he was going through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and his disciples began to make [their] way [while] plucking off the heads of grain.

24 And the Pharisees began to say to him, "Behold, why are they doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?"

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "but if not"