After emphasizing that to experience forgiveness of sins is a greater miracle than physical healing, Rev. Sang Ho Bae explained the parable of the "New Wine and New Wineskins." He warned us about the danger of measuring people from our standard. In counseling, this tells us that understanding the wounds of others might require sensitivity, for there are situations that don't fit the conventional analysis.

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The disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked, “We and the Pharisees fast, but why do Your disciples not fast?" This question did not arise from simple curiosity but from discomfort over why the form of piety they had kept did not appear among Jesus’ disciples. They regarded fasting as the absolute standard of piety, and they thought that others should follow the way they practiced. But Jesus spoke words that shook their standard: “Can the wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is with them?” (Matt 9:15). Jesus does not deny fasting itself. Rather, He says that fasting has its proper time. The time when the bridegroom is present at the wedding feast is not a time for fasting. Just as a Jewish wedding was a great celebration lasting a week, the time when Jesus was on earth was the time when the joy of the kingdom of God was being revealed.

When Jesus proclaimed the word, that word was sweeter and more astonishing than honey. As the prophet Isaiah foretold, “The eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will give attention” (Isa 32:3), people listened with such focus that they hardly blinked. Jesus’ words carried authority and were essentially different from the teaching of the scribes. If Jesus’ words were wheat, the words of the scribes were chaff blown away by the wind. Wherever Jesus went, lepers were cleansed, paralytics rose, and demons fled. In a place where the power of the kingdom of God was unfolding before their eyes, it was unfitting to fast and create an appearance of sorrow. When the lame walk and the blind open their eyes and praise God, to frown and say, “Today is a fasting day, so we must be sorrowful,” is an attitude that completely fails to discern the time. While Jesus was present, it was a time of joy, and that joy took precedence over the obligation of fasting. But Jesus continues, “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

When Jesus dies on the cross—when the disciples fall into deep sorrow and confusion—that is the time for fasting. Fasting is not a mere religious duty but an act of tearing one’s heart before God, grieving over sin, and seeking grace. Jesus was saying that fasting must not become a religious form mechanically repeated without discerning the situation and the time. Jesus then speaks two parables: “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment…," and “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins….” Both parables point to the same truth: the new must be placed into a new container, and if one forcibly combines things that do not fit, both will be damaged. Some interpret the new wine as the gospel and the old wineskins as the forms of Judaism, but the immediate context in which Jesus spoke these words is the debate about fasting. That is, Jesus rebukes the attitude of forcing one’s own form of piety upon others. No matter how precious fasting may be, applying it uniformly to every situation and insisting that others must do it exactly as oneself does is like forcing an unshrunk patch onto an old garment or putting new wine into old wineskins and ruining both.

The attitude of forcing one’s own standard upon others is a kind of violence similar to the way of Procrustes. In Greek mythology, Procrustes seized travelers, laid them on an iron bed, and if they were taller than the bed, he cut them down, and if shorter, he stretched them until they died. Thus, the phrase “the bed of Procrustes” became a symbol of a violent mindset that forces others into one’s own standard. The life of a Christian must be the exact opposite. We must acknowledge that each person’s situation and background are different, and we must abandon the attitude of judging others as if cutting off their legs to fit our frame or forcing them to stretch to match our measure. The mindset that if I fast, others must fast as well, and if I pray all night, others must also pray all night, is a misguided attitude that absolutizes one’s own way and uses it to judge others. As long as it does not contradict the teaching of Scripture, we must instead have a heart that steps into another person’s place, seeking to understand their circumstances and culture—a cross-cultural posture. Just as Jesus said, “New wine is put into new wineskins,” Christians must learn the flexibility to act wisely according to the situation and the person. Mature faith does not absolutize my own standard but embraces others with a broad heart within the truth of God.

My Personal Response

These are easier said than done:

We must acknowledge that each person’s situation and background are different, and we must abandon the attitude of judging others as if cutting off their legs to fit our frame or forcing them to stretch to match our measure.

Mature faith does not absolutize my own standard but embraces others with a broad heart within the truth of God.

I find this particularly true in dealing with the wounds of the people. Most pastors and counselors are too lazy to do the hard work of listening. Consequently, they followed Job’s friends giving “wise words” to a mistaken situation. They end up misdiagnosing the problem, and despite their claim to knowledge, they become presumptuous and useless counselors.

Check Before We Speak, Let Us Listen for the AI-generated song version of this article.