New Wine into Old Bottles

Matthew 9:14-17

"Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?

And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.

Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved."

There's the text for the parable as written in the King James Version of the Bible. Any guesses as to the meaning of the parable? Anyone? This was very challenging for me. I couldn't make sense of any of it. Here's the thing for anyone who might be reading that is not LDS: The Bible we use is the King James Version. However, we also believe that our prophet Joseph Smith made corrections to errors done to the Bible during translation of the original text. (These would be errors done by King James' people. We do not claim that Matthew, Mark, Luke or John erred. Just a few of the British people that King James employed to translate the original text.) The Joseph Smith corrections are not added to the Bible. They are put into the footnotes. So anyone who takes the extra time to look at the footnotes will see the corrections Joseph Smith made. Here's the parable again but this time, for the sake of continuity, I will add the Joseph Smith Translation in bold italics and see what a difference it makes.

"Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?

And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast

Then said the Pharisees unto him, Why will ye not receive us with our baptism, seeing we keep the whole law?

But Jesus said unto them, Ye keep not the law. If ye had kept the law, ye would have received me, for I am he who gave the law.

I receive not you with your baptism, because it profiteth you nothing.

For when that which is new is come, the old is ready to be put away.

No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.

Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved."

Classification: The Jewish Church and the causes of its fall

Narrative: Without the JST it looks like the new wine in the old bottles has something to do with fasting but it doesn't. Jesus explained that his disciples don't fast because there's no reason to, he's right there. But there will soon be a day when he will not be there and then they will need to fast. The conversation ended there in verse 15 and then a new conversation began with the indignant Pharisees wanting to know why Jesus didn't cling to them and tell them what a great job they were doing seeing they "kept the whole law".

Interpretation:  Jesus made it clear several times throughout the four gospels that He was not happy with those who were leading the church. If they kept the law it was so they could show everyone how pious they were. They kept the letter of the law and not for the purpose of what it was set up for - to recognize the Savior when He came. Had they kept the law as it was given by the Lord to Moses they (the Pharisees and Sadducees)  would have recognized Jesus for who and what He was. But they didn't because the law by then had been corrupted (Isaiah 24:5). So, He spent three years traveling the area teaching the people the correct way to live. He called new leaders, gave them new commandments (John 13:34-35), made a new covenant that He sealed with His blood (Matthew 26:28). Those who should have recognized the truth were the ones who rejected it. These people were stuck in their old ways and were unable to accept anything new.

Application: I have made covenants with my Savior both at baptism and in the temple. The question I have to keep asking myself is, "Do I show up at church just to show people how righteous I am? Do I make a show of paying my tithing or do I do it humbly like the widow with her mite? Am I following the current prophet and doing what he tells us to do?" 
    The Lord directs our prophet to lead us where we need to go. If we begin to stray and change the correct way of doing things (which we do because we're human) the current, living prophet will keep us on the correct course. By following the prophet (and making frequent personal examinations in the mirror) we can keep our covenants and our personal water vessels strong. (HA! Just like a mormon woman to change it from wine bottle to water vessel.) 

Seeking Shiloah, by Joseph Brickey

 "The Power of Covenants" by D. Todd Christofferson