Some scribes and Pharisees want to know why, when their disciples and those of John the Baptist regularly fast, Jesus' disciples "eat and drink freely." Jesus gives two answers to the question. First, he says that it is not appropriate for guests to fast when the bridegroom is still around. Here Jesus is clearly the Bridegroom. There will come a time when he is not physically with his disciples and then they will fast. The second reason goes deeper. One does not use a new piece of cloth to patch an old garment. At the first sign of stress, the new cloth will tear the older. Nor does one put new wine into old wineskins. The new wine is still fermenting and expanding. When the new wine expands, the old wineskins will not be able to stretch any more and will burst. The result is lost wine and ruined wineskins. So new wine has to be poured into new wineskins. In this Jesus is clearly saying that his whole vision of life is new and it can only be accepted and adopted by people who are prepared to see things in a new way. The old religion emphasised externals like observance of legal and ritual regulations and fasting; Jesus emphasises the interior spirit which is the real measure of a person's value. In our Church today there are many who still hanker for the 'old wine' of pre-Vatican II days.