|
The
Old is Good: Parables of Patched
Dr.
Anders Eriksson
In the traditional interpretation of the parables of the patched garment and the wineskins the opposition between the old and the new is seen as an opposition illustrating the question to Jesus concerning the fasting of the disciples of John and the Pharisees contrasted with the feasting of Jesus. Almost all commentators consulted therefore see the new as Jesus or the Kingdom of God and the old as the Pharisees or Judaism. This interpretation is nourished by 1) the belief that all parables is about the kingdom of God (as contrasted to Judaism); 2) the modern cultural topic that the new always is better than the old; 3) a theological belief that Christianity has replaced Judaism in God's plan of salvation. Contrary to this prevailing interpretation the Lukan ending of the story concludes: "The old is good." My alternative reading sees the parables as illustrating the point the Lucan Jesus is making in his response in Luke 5:34-35. The point is that feasting with the bridegroom Jesus is good as long as he is with them but that there will be a time when he is taken away and then they will fast. The opposition is thus between feasting now and fasting then. I read the riposte from Jesus as a chreia and the parables as argument from analogies in an elaboration. The point the parables make is that the situations are incompatible. The old garment is worth patching because it is very valuable, the new patch is not valuable and its unshrunk fabric is not good. Unfermented wine is not good to drink, but fermented old wine is. Unfermented wine will ruin the old valuable wineskins. In the ancient context the old is generally better than the new, and thus feasting with Jesus when he is with the disciples is better than fasting in the future when he will be taken from them. An ethic of interpretation asks why the traditional interpretation has become dominant, whose interests it serves and what consequences the interpretation has had in history.
|
