No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away
from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the
wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined.
No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.
St. Mark 2:21–22 (NIV)

In St. Mark 2, Jesus speaks about new and old cloth and new and old wineskins. In these short
parables, Jesus illustrates how everything is different because of His presence in the lives of those
who believe in Him. Jesus used these two short parables to demonstrate why we should rejoice in
His presence.
The first parable is about an old garment with a hole in it. If one were to try to fix the old garment
by sewing on a new piece of cloth, it wouldn’t work. Not only would the new cloth not match the old
one, but when washed, the new cloth would shrivel up and tear away from the old. So, both the old
cloth and the new cloth would be ruined. The message here is that Jesus wants to clothe us, not with
an old garment that’s been patched, but with a whole new life of grace and holiness. Jesus does not
merely try to patch up our sinful life; rather, He makes us brand new!
The second parable is about wineskins. When wine is new, it is still fermenting and needs to expand
as its volume grows. If fermenting wine is put into new wineskins, there will be enough room for
the expanding new wine as the new wineskin is supple enough to stretch. But old wineskins are
already stretched and cannot expand anymore. So, if new wine was put into them, they would not
be able to contain the wine. Instead, it would rupture, resulting in both the wine and wineskin being
ruined. And what is Jesus telling us here? He’s not really talking about wine and wineskins but
about the capacity of our hearts to receive His love. Jesus’ love is new, expansive, and overflowing.
We need a new heart and a new spirit; we need a heart that enlarges more and more as God’s love is
poured into it by the Holy Spirit.
As many of our children and youths are beginning a new academic year, they should not forget how
much Jesus truly loves them. Every new school year brings with it new experiences and a variety of
challenges. But no matter how tough the new situations may be or how anxious or worried we may
feel, we should remember that Jesus truly is with us and that He loves us immensely. Jesus is very
close to all of us; He not only wants to be with us but also to live in us.
We all are like torn, old garments. Jesus doesn’t just want to patch us up, but He desires to newly
clothe us with His life and love. He wants us to be free from sin so that we can shine with the glory
of His Risen Life. He wants to come and abide in our hearts and souls, but He does not want to live
in a heart that is angry, resentful, or miserly. He wants to live in a heart that is loving, good, and
generous. He desires to live in hearts that are supple enough to receive and respond to His great
love. A heart that is open and responds to Christ’s love is a heart that will be able to rejoice even
when life becomes difficult. Opening our hearts to Christ and living as He taught is the ultimate
source of our joy.
It is our hope and prayer that all of our students will have a wonderful school year in which they are
able to grow in every way possible – in grace, knowledge, skills, wisdom, and in the ability to relate
well to others, such as parents, siblings, teachers, classmates, neighbors, and friends. But above all,
we hope and pray that all of our students will grow in their ability to relate well to the Lord who
loves us more than we could ever imagine!
May God bless us all and keep us always in His love today and every day of our lives!

​With love and prayers,
Rev. Christopher Phil Daniel
Vicar, Jerusalem Mar Thoma Church
Connecticut