Mark 2:21-22

Mark 2:21-22

[21] No man  also  seweth  a piece  of new  cloth  on  an old  garment:  the new piece  that filled it up  taketh away  from  the old,  and  the rent  is made  worse.  [22] And  no man  putteth  new  wine  into  old  bottles:  the new  wine  doth burst  the bottles,  and  the wine  and  the bottles  will be marred:  but  new  wine  into  new  bottles. 

What does Mark 2:21-22 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Two more parables clarified why fasting was inappropriate for Jesus" disciples then. Not only was the timing wrong, but the messianic age that Jesus would introduce would render the old traditional forms of Judaism obsolete. Judaism had become old, and Jesus was going to set up a new form of God"s kingdom on earth that would be similar to a new garment (cf. Hebrews 8:13), the messianic kingdom.
A garment symbolized the covering of man"s sinful condition in Old Testament usage (e.g, Genesis 3:21; Isaiah 61:10). The Jews were to lay aside the old garment of the Mosaic dispensation and put on the new of the messianic age. Judaism had also become rigid and inflexible because of the traditions that had encrusted it, like old goatskins that contained wine. Jesus" kingdom could not operate within those constraints. It would be a new and more flexible vehicle for bringing joy (wine) to humanity.
The first of these three parables may have been more relevant to John"s disciples since they anticipated a coming change. Jesus may have directed the second and third parables more to the Pharisees since they wanted to maintain the legalistic practices of Judaism that were now threadbare and inflexible.