1. Wineskins In The Bible
2. Wineskins

I was reading Luke 5, and could not understand verses 36-39. What did Jesus mean?

Luke 5:36-39 (New King James Version) reads: 36 Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.

New Wine into Old Wineskins is a parable of Jesus. It is found at Matthew 9:14-17, Mark 2:18-22 and Luke 5:33-39.

• [36] He told them this parable: 'No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. [37] And no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
• Wineskins were made of whole tanned goatskins where the legs and tail were cut off and had been sealed (1 Samuel 1:24; 10:3; 16:20; 25:18; 2 Samuel 16:1). In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word nebel, 'skin-bottle, skin,' is translated by the KJV as 'bottle' which gives us images of glass wine bottles.

39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’”. I was just answering someone who was questioning this Scripture. In Pentecostal circles the wine is often referred to as the Holy Spirit. I was explaining that in the context Jesus was using a parable to explain that His new teaching did not go with the old teaching or His new ways were not compatible with the old. Her follow up question then was if the new wine is the new teaching and the old wine skins is the old then what is meant by them both being preserved? Can anyone expound on that?

– user3385 Jan 27 '14 at 3:15. Summarizing Hastings Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels: In ancient Israel, the grapes were pressed in the winepress and left in the collection vats for a few days.

Fermentation starts immediately on pressing, and this allows the first 'tumultuous' (gassy) phase to pass. Then the must (fermenting juice) was put in clay jars to be stored, or into wineskins if it was to be transported some distance. The wineskins were partially tanned goat skins, sewn at the holes where the leg and tail had been. The skins were filled with must (partially fermented wine) in the opening at the neck and then tied it off. If one puts freshly pressed must directly into the skin and close it off, the tumultuous stage of fermentation would burst the wineskins, but after this stage, the skins have enough stretchiness to handle the rest of the fermentation process. However, skins that have already been used and stretched out ('old wineskins') cannot be used again since they cannot stretch again. If they are used again for holding wine that is still in the process of fermenting ('new wine'), they will burst.

This, then, is the meaning of Jesus' parables of the patched garment and the wineskins: the gospel of the Kingdom which Jesus brings cannot be fitted into the the Pharisees' paradigm or way of living, for 'by a mongrel mixture of the ascetic ritualism of the old with the spiritual freedom of the new economy, both are disfigured and destroyed'. These parables came in response to the Pharisees' question about Jesus' practice of fasting compared to their own and John the Baptist's. Hence this parable also apparently applies to John the Baptist's asceticism, which Jesus seemed to view as good but passing away, since it was part of the Old Covenant which he was fulfilling and renewing (cf. By contrast, Jesus generally viewed the Pharisees' practices as hypocritical and 'majoring on minors,' as it were (e.g., ) The last verse in the quoted passage about preferences for new and old wine seems to refer to a period of adjustment for followers of the old paths (e.g., John and his disciples) who will grow into the new ways. An initial confusion or negative reaction to differences between the old and the new, which on first glance offend both the Pharisees' and John's disciples, will grow less for the faithful as they acquire a taste for and better appreciate the new, as they transition into the new economy. It is a lesson 'on the one hand, to those who unreasonably cling to what is getting antiquated; and, on the other, to hasty reformers who have no patience with the timidity of their weaker brethren!'

The natural antipathy between the old (Judaism) and the new (Jesus's message) is what Jesus spoke of in His wineskin/garment analogies. He thought Judaism was brittle and inflexible, like an old wineskin, or a worn-out garment not fit to wear. In Jesus' day, unfermented grape juice was placed in wineskins instead of bottles. If the wineskin container was old, as the juice ferments, the brittle and inflexible wineskin container fails to expand as the chemical reaction is taking place inside it; consequently the skin bursts, and the juice is wasted. A similar thing happens today when a balloon is blown up past its ability to contain the air inside, and 'pop,' it bursts. When you repair a holey garment, if you patch it with new fabric having strong fibers, the new patch will simply make the old garment with its weak fibers to become even more holey. Jesus saw himself and his message as the new wine and the new patch, which from his perspective caused the inflexible religion of first century Judaism to burst and tear.

What was needed, he said, was a new wineskin and a new garment; the old needed to be thrown out, and the new needed to be welcomed. This could not happen with the mosaic covenant (old wineskin) but came about through the apostles teaching and the church (new wineskin). @gideonmarx: Jesus had a variety of ways of referring to the Gentiles (notice the capital G). For example, if His fellow Jews were 'the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:23),' then the Gentiles were the 'other sheep I have, which are not of this fold,' as He put it in John 10:16. Jesus also referred, interestingly enough, to the Gentiles as 'little dogs' (e.g., the Syro-Phoenician woman in Mt 15)-in other words, household pets or lapdogs. He also likely linked Gentiles with 'street people' and 'the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind' (Luke 14:21-23).

– Dec 18 '13 at 16:40. This parable is said directly after the question why Jesus' disciples didn't fast. I believe Jesus is talking here about the promise.

The Holy Spirit which would come (after fasting) at pentecost. It will come after they put off the old skin and be renewed by the Spirit. John 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. When also looking at Matthew 3:11 (John the baptist speaking), Christians should ask themselves if the baptism by Christ is a promise to everyone having their skin renewed. He told them this parable: 'No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.' ' Elisha ben Avuyah said: 'He who studies as a child, unto what can he be compared?

He can be compared to ink written upon a fresh new sheet of paper. But he who studies as an adult, unto what can he be compared?

He can be compared to ink written on a smudged previously used and erased sheet of paper. Rabbi Yose ben Yehudah of the city of Babylon said, 'He who learns from the young, unto what can he be compared? He can be compared to one who eats unripe grapes, and drinks unfermented wine from his vat. But he who learns from the old, unto what can he be compared?

He can be compared to one who eats ripe grapes, and drinks old wine. Rabbi (Meir) said: Do not pay attention to the container but pay attention to that which is in it. There is a new container full of old wine, and here is an old container which does not even contain new wine. Like the larger Gospel context of Luke chapters five and six, the Avot passage is comparing different types of teachers, disciples and teachings. If we allow the similes of Avot 4 to inform the metaphors of Luke 5, we have surprising results.10 In Avot, the vessels for containing wine are not institutions, religious movements or teachings.

The vessels containing the wine are individuals. The wine is the teaching that the individual consumes or contains.11 Applying this symbolism to Luke, we could parse out Luke 5:36-39 as follows: Symbol Meaning New garment previously uneducated students Old garment previously educated students Patch teaching New wineskins previously uneducated students Old wineskins previously educated students New wine new teaching Old wine previous teaching Singular Meaning: New teaching requires previously uneducated students in order to be received.

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Can you edit this to include support for your assertions with citations/links/references to credible sources. Here are the core things you will want to know to strengthen your posts: BH-SE, answers must 1)show their work (logical steps), 2)support any assertions, and 3)stop short of application (this forum deals with what the text means, not how it applies). BH-SE Questions must 1)begin with a specific text (not doctrine), and 2)must demonstrate that you have done some research on it yourself. – user2027 Feb 14 '14 at 22:15. In the parable of the new and old wine, and the new and old bottles, we see a parable that certainly has more meaning than just talking about wine and wine skins. Of course, we know that in Jesus' day, the juice of grapes was sometimes put into bladders of animal skins.

As the juice went through the natural fermentation process, bubbles would form which caused the wine to expand. When a new wine skin was used for this purpose, the wine skin, being new, was pliable, and would stretch like a balloon. It could expand to accommodate the fermentation process. However, we also know that old wine skins are no longer pliable. They become hardened, and any attempt to expand them like a balloon only causes them to burst. Jesus did this same thing to his apostles when he told the parable concerning the leaven of the Pharisees. It wasn't until the disciples understood that Jesus was talking about doctrine rather2 than actual bread, that they could then understand what Jesus meant.

In Matthew 13, Jesus was asked by his disciples why he taught the people in parables. The reply Jesus gave was a quote from Isaiah 6:9-10.

Let's read it. It says, “And he said, Go, and tell these people, Hear indeed, but understand not; and see indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of these people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” Now, did you hear what it said? God had no intention of delivering people who’s hearts are hardened against him. He only wants to deliver those people who’s hearts are tender toward him. Now, someone might ask the question, “Why would Jesus not want people to know the truth?” The answer to that is that Jesus does want some people to know the truth, but does not want all people to know the truth.

The people that he does want to know the truth are those people who are sincere of heart. God wants these people to be set free. But the people who are not sincere of heart, he wants them to remain trapped in their sins.

The Bible tells us plainly in John 8:32, that the truth shall make us free. This means free from the bondage of sin and free from Satan's lies. But God does not want to deliver the wicked from their bondage, for their hearts are hard. Now that's a nice thing to know, especially if you happen to be storing new wine. But how do you apply this knowledge to other areas of your life if you don't know what Jesus was referring to. Of course, we have an advantage over the people of those days, for we have the explanation that Jesus gave. He explained that the doctrine he was bringing to God's people was new, and that in order to preserve it, there had to be a new people to put the new word of God into.

The new wine that Jesus was referring to was the New Testament of Jesus Christ, and the new bottles, or wine skins, were the people who were able to not only accept the words of Jesus Christ, but to allow this New Testimony to expand and grow within them without breaking apart. The New Testament that Jesus taught is not contrary to the Old Testament, for both the Old and New Testaments are the word of God, just as New and Old wine are both wine. But the very term implies a new word of God, the New Testament, in regards to the old word of God, the Old Testament. The people who were fit to receive the New Testament were only those people who were able to be expanded by this new understanding, rather than be destroyed. Basically, Jesus was saying that when the New Testament is heard, some of the people have the capacity to expand with the new knowledge, and some people don't. Now, notice that the people who would be able to expand with the new knowledge of the New Testament were those which represented the new wine skins.

They would be pliable enough to receive the New Testimony of the Word of God and expand with its knowledge. But the people who were represented by the old wine skins were the people who had become so hardened that they could not expand with the new knowledge. These people were hardened in their hearts like old wine skins that have become hard and are no longer pliable. In order to be considered a vessel that can handle the New Testament of the word of God, given by Jesus Christ, you have to be stretchable. You have to have a heart that is soft, that has not become hardened. In Jesus' day there were many people who's hearts were hardened. As it says in Zechariah 7:12, they had set their hearts to be like an adamant stone.

An adamant stone was a stone that was especially hard, and could therefore be used as an axe head, or other chiseling work. People who's hearts are hard are unable to have their hearts penetrated by the word of God. In Romans 2:5 it reads: But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. So, what does this all mean for us Christians today? It means that Jesus was trying to tell us, and is still trying to tell us, that the New Testament of Grace is not just like the Old Testament of the Law of Commandments.

And the people who are the body of Christ are not just like the old people of Israel. For God created a new people when he gave his New Testament. Israel was the chosen people of God in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament, God's people are no longer one nation, but all people from all nations who are able to comprehend the new testimony of Jesus Christ, and are able to receive it and grow with it. Most of the actual nation of Israel had become so hardened in heart, that they could not see how the Old Testament could include Jesus Christ, for they viewed Jesus as a destruction to their lives rather than as salvation even though the Old Testament had clearly prophesied that there would be a deliverer for Israel who would save the nation. However, because most of them, and especially the priest class of people, had viewed the Law of Commandments as just a hard set of rules, they could not comprehend how Jesus Christ was actually the materializing process of God's word, bringing about a much more expanded view of God himself and of his plan for the people of earth. The New Testament of Jesus Christ was not a different doctrine, but actually the same doctrine as the Old Testament, only in a much more clearly revealed form, with greater comprehension of God and his ways.

It, like the new wine, was an expansion of the Old Testament concepts, and much more clearly revealed, much like taking a small photograph and blowing it up to life size. Now instead of a physical temple in which God dwelled, the people of God would recognize that we ourselves are the temple of God, his place of abiding.

Jesus explained this clearly when he told us in John 14:23 that he and the Father would come and dwell with us. We also know that instead of just observing all the rites and rituals of the Law of Commandments, we would move past the rites and rituals and into the spiritual worship that these rites and rituals pointed to. These physical representations had been just the initial symbols of the deeper spiritual concepts which were to come. And, with the advent of God’s New Testament, we were being led into the expanded comprehension of a new and greater testimony of God’s word on the earth.

Here, let me give an example of this. Under the Law, the Israelites were to abstain from eating certain meats. This was a physical representation in the Old Testament law which pointed to a spiritual meaning and observance. In the Old Testament, Israel had been the only nation in the whole earth who were chosen as the people of God, and who were given the Law of Commandments. Because of this, the rules governing the abstention from eating certain meat symbolized the physical separation of Israel from the other nations of the world.

In essence, the clean animals symbolized the nation of Israel, and the unclean animals symbolized all other nations. Therefore, the Old Testament decree of abstention from eating certain animals was only a shadow picture of that which was to be further revealed by the new testimony of Jesus Christ. With the coming of the New Testament, God revealed his purpose of including all nations of the earth as his people instead of just Israel alone, and therefore the unclean meat which was previously rejected was now accepted because all nations could now come to the Father through Jesus Christ.

Looking again at the the parable of the new wine, and old wine skins, actually the old wine skins represent those people who cannot comprehend the extent of the New Testament, and can only receive it as long as they can twist it together with the Old Testament ritual and rules. They cannot comprehend the change from the symbolic physical representation of the Old Testament to the spiritual equivalent of the New Testament. These are the people who are blinded to the revelation of the New Testament, and therefore they attempt to take the New Testament and make it fit within the Old Testament boundaries. This, of course, is exactly what most of the Jews did at the time of Christ.

But, when we look in 2 Corinthians, chapter 3, we see several interesting things. Paul refers to the Law of Commandments as the letter written in stone. And we see that in verse six it tells us that we are to be ministers of the New Testament, and not of the letter, because the letter kills. As it says in verse seven, the letter, engraved in tables of stone, is a ministration of death. We also see in verse seven that the Law of Commandments, that which was engraved in stone, was glorious, but then in the following verses explains that this Law could not compare to the glory which arises with the New Testament of Jesus Christ. Now think about this. Romans 8:14 tells us that those who are the children of God are led by the Spirit.

However, this was not how Israel was led in the Old Testament. They followed a set of laws and ordinances. The church of today, the body of Christ, has not been called to follow a set Commandments which were written in tables of stone, but have been called to follow the directives of the Holy Spirit.

And, the laws we now follow are not the old physical symbols, but are now the laws of God which are written in the fleshy tables of our hearts. This is clearly stated in 2 Corinthians 3:3. What is most important is that the New Testament is not really a different gospel, but rather the emergence of a much greater revelation of God’s word.

During the time of the Law, the people of God were prevented from seeing the divine revelations of God’s Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament Law, God only revealed himself to a select few. But this was done in order to bring man to a greater understanding of heavenly things, and to a greater understanding of what sin is.

What Christians need to recognize is that Jesus Christ was represented each and every day by those rites and rituals of the Old Testament Law. Therefore, salvation is not by returning to the Law of Commandments, but by the receiving of God’s divine influence on the fleshy tables of our hearts, thereby knowing the will of God in our hearts rather than by a set of written rules. Just because the Holy Spirit writes his laws on the tables of our hearts does not mean that the Holy Spirit just tells us to do the same things in the same way that the Israelites did. Of course, if you're a Christian, you recognize that we no longer have to have a physical temple, and we no longer have to have physical sacrifices. And, as Paul tells us in the book of Galatians, we should not allow anyone to pull us back into the bondage of the Law, for if we attempt righteousness by observing any part of the Law, we are then obligated to do the whole law. Our righteousness is no longer attempted by our works, but is accomplished strictly by the blood of Jesus Christ because we believe in him. It must be understood by Christians that to be under the Law is an opportunity for Satan to bring about our condemnation because of sin.

But when we are not under the Law of Commandments, Satan cannot accuse us of breaking the law. Revelation 12:7-11 refers to Satan as the accuser of the brethren who has been cast down from heaven.

When the Law of Commandments were in force, Satan had been able to accuse God's people of sin by the breaking of the Law. But when Jesus died for us, and we then accept him as our deliverer from our debt of sin, Satan can no longer come before God and accuse us of sin. For as Paul said in Romans 4:15, “Where there is no law, there is no transgression.” It is specifically this point that took such a great amount of power away from Satan. And it is specifically because of this inability of Satan to accuse us when there is no law, that he so wants us to come back under the law. Therefore, he has tempted man in many instances to create new religious systems whereby Christians would only partly come under the Law of Commandments, or similar laws. The religious movements which encourage a return to parts of the Israelite Law of Commandments have eroded the gospel of salvation by faith in Jesus, and of being led by the Holy Spirit.

Today, there is very little encouragement to follow the Holy Spirit, but there is a great deal of encouragement to tell you to follow what other men have termed to be right and wrong. This causes people to replace the leading of the Holy Spirit with a set of rules and regulations. This is exactly what Satan is attempting to do, to pull people back under a law and therefore they will once again be subject to his accusation.

This is displayed in various religious movements which have developed doctrines which require adherence to various physical rites and/or observances which bring Christians back under the bondage of law. When we look again at the parable of the new wine and the old wine skins, what we see is that in today's church there is still a great resistance to the concept of being led by the Spirit. Just as there were many in Christ's day who could not comprehend being led by the Spirit instead of being led by engravings in stone, there are many in the church today who also cannot conceive of being led by the Holy Spirit. This is because of Satan’s attempt to bring Christians back under the Law.

His twisted doctrine encourages us to depend on our own works, our own might and power, to bring about our righteousness. But, in Zechariah 4:6, it tells us that it is not by our own might and power that God wants us to overcome, but by his Holy Spirit.

Romans 4:15 tells us that where there is no law, there is no transgression. Satan cannot accuse us of transgression if there is no law to transgress. In the days of Christ's earthly ministry, there were many who could not comprehend the concept of Jesus Christ being the fulfillment of the Law of Commandments. As a consequence, neither could they receive the Law of Faith. The final end for these people was to trust in their own ability to keep the law and therefore earn their righteousness. They would, of course, fail in this endeavor, because no man, other than Jesus Christ, was able to keep the whole law.

The bottom line is that following various religious rules and rituals rather than following the still small voice of the Holy Spirit will just ensure that Satan will be able to accuse you before God. And if Satan can successfully accuse you, then you will be condemned. But we should remember the exhortation of the Apostle Paul in Colossians 2:20-21, which says, “Wherefore if you are dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances, 21 Such as, Touch not; taste not; handle not;?” And, Galatians 4:9-11, says, “But now, after you have known God, or rather are known of God, how can you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed labor upon you in vain.” And lastly, we read in Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty in which Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” You see, Satan would certainly like to have you back under the Law of Commandments because he could then accuse you before God, but if you trust in the perfect law of liberty, and in righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ, you will never come under Satan’s accusation again. @Kepler, very beautiful piece.

I just need more clarification on this '.but does not want all people to know the truth. The people that he does want to know the truth are those people who are sincere of heart. God wants these people to be set free. But the people who are not sincere of heart, he wants them to remain trapped in their sins. The Bible tells us plainly in John 8:32, that the truth shall make us free. This means free from the bondage of sin and free from Satan's lies. But God does not want to deliver the wicked from their bondage, for their hearts are hard.'

Why does God no – user5543 Jul 23 '14 at 0:30.

Text Luke 5:33-39 33 They said to him, 'John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.' 34 Jesus answered, 'Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.' 36 He told them this parable: 'No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.

38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.' ' Exposition Jesus has called Levi to be a disciple (5:27-28) and Levi has responded by holding a banquet attended by his tax collector friends (5:29).

By this time in Jesus' ministry, the Pharisees and scribes are watching him carefully, seeking ways to criticize him - fairly or not - much like presidential candidates pick at an opponent trying for an advantage in the public eye. When they object to Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus responds that he had come as a doctor to heal the sin-sick; no wonder he spent time with sinners. This week's passage continues the Pharisees' criticism: 'John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking' (5:33).

The implication is that Jesus and his followers aren't as spiritual as John the Baptist and the Pharisees. Fasting in the Bible and Jesus' Day (5:33) So Jesus doesn't fast enough, the Pharisees say? We see fasting throughout the Bible as a minor theme.

Moses, Elijah, Daniel, and Jesus all went through prolonged fasts as they sought God. Times of national calamity and personal bereavement sometimes called for fasting as a means of humbling oneself, mourning, and seeking God's mercy (Deuteronomy 9:18; Nehemiah 9:1; Esther 4:16; 1 Samuel 7:6; 31:13; 2 Samuel 1:12; 3:35; 12:16, 21-23; Psalm 35:13; Jeremiah 36:6; Daniel 6:18; 9:1-3). At least once a year on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the Jews would fast, or 'afflict their souls.'

(Leviticus 16:29-31; 23:27-29; Numbers 29:7). The would also fast at the New Year, Rosh Hashanah. Some people would fast regularly week by week. We learn from this passage that regular fasting was the practice of John's disciples (5:33). The Prophetess Anna fasted regularly (Luke 2:37), as did Cornelius the Gentile Centurion in Antioch (Acts 10:30 in some texts). Paul, too, may have practiced regular fasting, though this isn't entirely clear (2 Corinthians 6:5; 11:27).

But the Pharisees certainly DID practice fasting, often proudly (Matthew 6:16-18). They fasted twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays (Luke 18:12).1 We're conditioned to think of all Pharisees as hypocrites, but that's certainly an overstatement. Of course, many Pharisees WERE hypocrites, with exterior practices that masked a selfish heart. But doubtless there were many sincere Pharisees that fasted and obeyed the oral law as unto the Lord, such as Nicodemus. They were sincere, but encumbered by a great weight of legal minutiae which composed much of their religious practice.

The Bridegroom and His Guests (5:34-35) The Pharisees who contrasted Jesus' and his disciples 'eating and drinking' with John the Baptist's and the Pharisees practice of fasting, however, were more interested in putting Jesus down rather than making a sincere inquiry. Jesus answers with a word picture. 'Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?' For the wedding in Jesus' day, the bridegroom and his family were expected to put on the celebration (John 2:9-10), not the bride's family as in our American custom. The groom would go to the bride's home to fetch her and her attendants and friends, and the couple would lead them in a procession to the groom's house (reflected in the Parable of the Ten Virgins, Matthew 25:1-13) where the celebration would take place. Though the consummation would take place that night, the party might go on for as long as a week with friends and family who had traveled some distance to attend. Jesus is saying, though not openly, just as you don't fast while the bridegroom's hosts the wedding celebration, neither should my disciples fast while I am ushering in the Kingdom of God.

It is a time for celebration, not for mourning. Then he adds, darkly, 'But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast' (5:35). Jesus knew that his crucifixion and death lay ahead and refers to it here. The Biblical Imagery of Wife and Bride But was Jesus trying to say something deeper as he refers to himself as the bridegroom? Throughout the Old and New Testaments runs the theme of Israel as the wife of Yahweh (Isaiah 54:5; 62:4-5; Jeremiah 2:2; 3:14; 31:32; Ezekiel 16:8; Hosea 2:19-20), and later, of the Church as the Bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-32; Revelation 19:7-8; 21:2; 21:9; 22:17). The long period of betrothal finally culminates in the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9), 'for his bride has made herself ready.'

As attractive as it might be for 'deep' teachers to explore, I don't think Jesus is referring to this theme of the Bridegroom and the Bride. 'Nowhere else, either in the Old Testament or in the later literature to the time of Jesus, is the Messiah represented as the bridegroom.2 In Jesus' day, the term 'bridegroom' wasn't laden with Messianic connotations. I think he is just using an analogy to explain why this wasn't to be a time of fasting but of rejoicing and celebration at the Good News of the Kingdom breaking into and intervening in the troubles and heartache and oppression of mankind.

Patched Garments (5:36) Now, as he often did, Jesus uses an incident of the Pharisees' criticism as the occasion for teaching. The Pharisees and scribes are insisting that Jesus conform to their traditions. Jesus speaks in parables to explain - especially for his disciples benefit, I believe - why it is important that he doesn't fit his new teaching into their mold. First, he uses the metaphor of patched garments: 'No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.' (5:36) Notice the deliberate contrast here between the old and the new? That's the point of the parable.

Matthew and Mark make explicit the 'unshrunk (Greek agnaphos) cloth' that is implied by Luke's 'new (Greek kainos) garment' (Matthew 9:16; Mark 2:21). Jesus is saying that to try to attach the new to the old not only results in destruction of the new ('he will have torn the new garment'), but also the old, which won't look right and will eventually tear again.

He makes the same point with a parable about new wine and old. Winemaking and Wineskins The image of wineskins that Jesus uses in his parable is foreign to our culture. The only leather wine container we can imagine is the tear-shaped leather bota that Spaniards use to carry wine and squirt it into their mouth.

But that is very unlike the wineskin Jesus refers to. Wine was made by treading barefoot on the grapes in a wine press, a square or circular pit hewn out of the rock, or dug out and lined with rocks and sealed with plaster. (See Isaiah 63:2-3; Job 24:11b; Lamentations 1:15; Joel 3:13; Matthew 21:33; Revelation 14:19-20; 19:15, where treading the winepress was a symbol of judgment.) The juice then flowed through a channel into a lower vessel, a winevat which functioned as a collecting and fermenting container for the grape juice or must. In the warm climate of Palestine, grape juice began to ferment very quickly and there was no easy way to prevent fermentation. After the first state of fermentation had taken place in the winevat, the wine was separated from the lees (that is, sediment of dead yeast, tartar crystals, small fragments of grape skins, etc.) and strained through a sieve or piece of cloth (cf. Matthew 23:24). After four to six days it was poured into clay jars lined with pitch (called amphorae in Greece, e.g.

Jeremiah 48:11) or animal skins for storage and further fermentation.3 Wineskins were made of whole tanned goatskins where the legs and tail were cut off and had been sealed (1 Samuel 1:24; 10:3; 16:20; 25:18; 2 Samuel 16:1). In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word nebel, 'skin-bottle, skin,' is translated by the KJV as 'bottle' which gives us images of glass wine bottles. But these were rather whole goatskins, with nubbins bulging out where the legs once were, the neck tied off where the wine has been poured in, the whole large skin bulging almost to bursting as the carbon dioxide gas generated by the fermentation process stretches it to its limit. This image is well described by Job: 'For I am full of words, and the spirit within me compels me; inside I am like bottled-up wine, like new wineskins ready to burst.' (Job 32:18-19) Fermentation in the wineskin might continue for another two to four months until the process slows down and stops.4 By that time the skin has been stretched to its limit. The alcohol is probably about 12%, and the collagen protein that gives the leather its stretching ability has been stretched out, and probably denatured by the alcohol, destroying its natural resiliency. The skin's ability to contract and stretch again has been lost.

New Wine in Old Wineskins (5:37-38) While we aren't familiar with the details of wineskins, Jesus' hearers are. He didn't have to explain fermentation and the aging of leather. They know what he means. 'And no one pours new wine into old wineskins.

If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.' (5:37-38) Here's the same contrast of old and new that we saw in the parable of the patched garment. His point is the same: you can't join the new to the old or you'll ruin both the new wine and the old skin. The gas pressure from the fermentation is eventually so great that the inflexible old skin ruptures, and the new wine gushes out onto the ground and is wasted.

His hearers all know not to use old skins with new wine. They understand. The Old Is Better (5:39) But why talk about the contrast between old and new? What is new that would be ruined by being attached to the old? What's he getting?

Jesus has come with a radical gospel of Good News to the poor, the disenfranchised, the oppressed, the sick, the brokenhearted (4:18-19). He speaks with authority, rather than the casuistry of the scribes of his day. Their man-made rules of who he can eat with and how he should fast would just get in the way. They are externals, that is all. Jesus, on the other hand, is aiming to expose afresh the heart of the ancient faith. He helps them to return anew to love for God and for one's neighbor, to do mercy and love justice and walk humbly with their God. These are the core of the Hebrew faith - its life, not the dead Pharisaical external traditions that offer an appearance of piety but don't change the heart (see Colossians 2:23).

You may think that this is a dead issue, but it has a way of raising its head again and again. Paul, trained as a strict Pharisee, grasps the radical nature of salvation by grace through faith, and goes preaching it boldly throughout the Mediterranean. Soon he is called on the carpet to explain why he isn't imposing the familiar Jewish regulations on his Gentile converts (Acts 15).

Again and again he has to insist that we are free in Christ, so we must not become entangled again in a legalistic religion trying to pass itself off as Christianity (see Galatians 5, for example). The Judaizers try to infect church after church with their legalism; the recipients of the Letter to the Hebrews are tempted to turn again to the regulations of Judaism.

Yes, legalism and an external faith are problems of every generation. Why is that so? At the close of his parable of the wineskins, Jesus puts it this way: 'And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better' ' (5:39). It is easier to fall back to what is familiar and comfortable, and justify that, rather than launch out into a life guided not by laws and regulations but led by the Voice of the Spirit of God.

The two are opposites, the old and the new. You cannot combine them without destroying both. No, Jesus, insists, the Gospel of the Kingdom must not be hindered by the man-made rules of the Pharisees' religion. It must be free to work its power unfettered. The New Wine may not be as smooth to the tongue, and finely aged as old wine. It may be a bit sharp and unrefined.

Wineskins In The Bible

But it is alive. You can't contain it in old structures. You must find new wineskins for it or none at all. Integrating the New with the Old That is not to say that Jesus' threw out the Old Covenant. He makes it very clear in the Sermon on the Mount that he comes to fulfill the Law, not to abrogate it: 'Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.' (Matthew 5:17-20) He doesn't come to set aside the law, but to strip away the Pharisees' precious oral tradition so people can see the power and spirit of the Law, and repent, preparing for the coming of the Kingdom. The Spirit Jesus sends now fulfills the law within us (Romans 8:1-4; Galatians 5:16-23).

Neither was Jesus always critical of the old. He tells his disciples, 'Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.' (Matthew 13:52) Pouring the Life of the Spirit into Your Life Having put Jesus' teaching in perspective, however, we must pause to grapple personally with the power of his words: 'And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins' (5:37-38). What are the structures of our own age and culture that cannot coexist with the new wine of the Spirit. What have we tried to sew Christianity onto that will cause a greater tear and undermine the faith itself.

Wineskins

In Jesus' day it was the legalistic spirit of Pharaiseism. What is it in your own life? What is it in your work, your community, your school, your environment? 'New wine must be poured into new wineskins,' not accommodated to those comfortable things in our lives with which it is basically incompatible. The message for disciples is to be uncompromising about our faith and the work of the Spirit in our lives.

If our honored customs and habits, and the structures of our society must adjust to that, then so be it. Prayer Lord, fill us full again with your New Wine. This time help us to contain it and grow with it, rather than lose it through out stubbornness and inflexibility. Help me, Lord, to recognize the powerful new ways you want to work in my own life and not miss it. In Jesus' name, I pray.

Key Verses 'And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins' (Luke 5:37-38). Questions All 120 lessons now compiled as a Get your copy for easy reference. Does Jesus speak against fasting in this passage? What does he teach about fasting, if anything, in this passage?.

What are the structures in our lives and society that are incompatible with the Life of the Spirit in our lives?. Please share a struggle you had with trying to contain the Life of Christ in an 'old wineskin'? Some of your brothers and sisters may understand the concept better if you'll share personally in your discussion group. (If you aren't in a discussion group and would like to be send a blank e-mail to study12-subscribe@onelist.com and you'll be added.) References Common abbreviations. An early Second Century document, the Didache, sometimes called the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, instructs.

'Be careful not to schedule your fasts at the times when the hypocrites fast. They fast on the second (Monday) and fifth (Thursday) day of the week, therefore make your fast on the fourth (Wednesday) day and the Preparation day (Friday, the day of preparation for the Sabbath-Saturday).' ( Didache 8:1).

D.J. Williams, 'Bride, Bridegroom,' DJG 87, citing Jeremias ' numphe, numphios,' TDNT 4:1099-1106. Bandstra, 'Wine Press, Winevat,' ISBE 4:1072; and Duane F. Watson, 'Wine,' DJG 870-873. Watson, DJG 871. Copyright © 2018, Ralph F. All rights reserved.

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