Luke 5:33-39 “Parables on the New Dispensation”

Let’s Pray!

Good Morning, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Praise God… my son Ethan made it safely back to Peru, South America. Thank you for joining us in prayer to send him off…

For his final season as a student at Bible College… which will be one of his most significant seasons as he will be seeking what the Lord has for him next.

I’m hoping and praying he will return here to help start a Spanish speaking ministry.

But… the Lord’s will be done.

If you would like to be added to his newsletter to stay in touch with what’s happening in his calling, and to know how to pray for him… there is a sign up sheet at the info table.

Well, let’s open our Bibles to Luke 5. Luke 5:33-39 today.

We left off at the end of Jesus’ first year of ministry, which wraps up here in Luke 5…

And thus far… Luke, our Gospel writer, has documented various accounts demonstrating Jesus’ authority as the Messiah…

We saw this in His birth, genealogy, temptation, baptism…

And through His ministry… teaching, preaching, healing, casting out demons, calling disciples, and forgiving sin.

And… when one is doing the work of the Lord… when one answers the call to follow Jesus… expect opposition.

And Jesus faced opposition from Satan… rejection in Nazareth (His hometown), and opposition from Jewish religious leaders.

First as a private thought (which Jesus perceived)… then going behind His back to complain to His disciples…

We saw that complaint last week after the calling of Matthew the Tax Collector… when Matthew threw a great feast… and invited other tax collectors…

But the scribes and Pharisees questioned the disciples, “Why do you [and He] eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?

We left off, where Jesus replied, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Which was Jesus’ extremely wise way of addressing the complaint of the Pharisees… and rebuking their self-righteousness… and revealing His purpose to reach a lost world.

Today, we pick up in this same scene… still in Capernaum on the lake… during the great feast at Matthew’s house.

And what should be a time of joy… for many tax collectors and sinners are beginning to follow Jesus…

Becomes a bit soured… because Pharisaic party poopers complain… and then… as we’ll see today… John the Baptist’s disciples (part of the “they” in V33)… further sour the mood with their questions…

Which will lead into a teaching where Jesus illuminates… with three parabolic examples (a wedding… patching clothes… and new wine in old wineskins)…

Essentially How His new way… and the old way… simply do not mix.

All the Jews had known to this point was the Dispensation (meaning “Administration”) of Law…

A dispensation refers to God’s divine administration… or how He administers His will… in distinct periods of time.

And now that Messiah had arrived… a new day had dawned…

A new dispensation was being ushered in… the Dispensation of Grace.

Thus in our passage… Jesus teaches “Parables on the New Dispensation”… which is our message title today.

Let’s take a look… and in reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read our passage.

Luke 5:33–39 “Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?” 34 And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”

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. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ””

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

V33 begins “Then they said to Him...” and as mentioned the “they” in this verse is John the Baptist’s disciples.

Now… how do we make that conclusion?

By harmonizing the Gospels. By looking at the parallel accounts by any of the other Gospel writers.

And in both Matthew and Mark… in the same scene immediately after Jesus calls Matthew to follow Him… there are names to the “they”…

Matthew 9:14 ““Then the disciples of John [that’s the “they”] came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?””

AND… “they” are some other people as well…

Mark 2:18 states, “The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?””

So, we have the disciple of John and some other people…

This may be the Pharisees… or the Pharisees plus their disciples… depending on how you read that verse.

Many bible translations, simply state “Some people came and asked...”

And I have some questions about this scene… I’m curious where these naysayers were located.

We know Jesus, the disciples, tax collectors and sinners were INSIDE of Matthew’s house…

Where was this other group? Were they standing at the gate?

Peering into the house… which today we call “creepy”… even “illegal.”

I have a difficult time imagining them also inside of Matthew’s house… hovering in some corner… or standing in the back of the room all quiet until they can find something to complain about.

Surely the Pharisees wouldn’t mingle with the like of Tax Collectors and sinners.

I’m also curious HOW they communicated? Did they shout into the house? Did a disciple wonder out of the house and then the opportune time arose to raise the question?

I’d also like to know why they chose to raise this question in what seems to be a time of joy?

Why do we not read, “And when the feast ended, they asked Jesus, why...?”

The timing of their questioning seems to lack courtesy… or sensitivity to the moment… and who was present… very new followers of Jesus.

Typically, it’s better to hold a complaint or to question what is unfolding until a more appropriate and private time.

I would think that John’s disciples are inside the house because they question Jesus directly…

I wonder if the sounds of joy became more hushed… I wonder if tension filled the air…

Did people quiet down to listen intently to this interaction?

John’s disciples present an “us and them” scenario… where they and the Pharisees fast often… but in contrast Jesus’ disciples do NOT fast.

I’m not sure who you would like to be linked to, but sign me up for the eating party… especially the connected to Jesus party.

You can’t go wrong there.

Option A: Eat and celebrate with Jesus…

Or… Option B: Fast and afflict your souls with the Pharisees.

Choose your dinner party… or… non-dinner party.

It’s hard to say what John’s disciples were thinking here? But the timing is terrible.

At the feast the Matthew and his friends… the scribes and Pharisees ask Jesus’ disciples, “Why are you eating with those Tax collectors and sinners?”

And then, after Jesus addresses THAT question… John’s disciples follow up to ask, “Why are you eating at all? Shouldn’t you be fasting?”

Talk about sucking the joy out of the party. This was terrible timing.

Not to mention a bit of friendly fire… John’s disciples should have been looking to Jesus, but instead they are linking arms with the Pharisees.

I imagine that panged Jesus a bit. You expect enemies to strike, but it really catches you off guard when one who should be loyal and a friend attacks.

You would expect the scribes and Pharisees to be obstinate and contentious, but John’s disciples… where are they?

In their minds and in their hearts… where are they?

Like how God asked Adam, “Where are you?”

How could put themselves in the same boat with the Pharisees?

Did they not remember John called the Pharisees a “Brood of Vipers?”

Did they not remember that John baptized Jesus and the Father spoke from heaven… “My beloved Son...” and the Holy Spirit rested on Him.

And John himself said of Jesus that he was the “Lamb of God” and “He must increase, but I must decrease?”

Sometimes though… people have short memories.

And people allow present circumstances to outweigh all that has been said or done in the past.

And what we know about John in the present?… if you recall… he was imprisoned in the Fortress Machaerus.

And John was wrestling with this reality… in fact in Luke 7… John sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

John… like Jesus’ disciples… had an expectation that Jesus would set up His kingdom and captives would be set free…

So, why then was John a captive? Did John get it wrong… being Jesus’ forerunner?

Like many Jews… John was stumbled by the meek and lowly Jesus of the 1st coming… who came to conquer sin.

The Nation expected a conquering King who would usher in His kingdom… the Messiah of the 2nd coming… which they failed to perceive in scripture.

So John sent two disciples to Jesus to ask “Are you the Coming One?”…

The Coming One… a title for Messiah derived from verses like Ps 118:26 "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!"

The Jews… and John… even the disciples… expected Messiah to come, but interpreted OT scripture as He would come once… and held this expectation that He would free them from Roman oppression…

So… in their minds… Jesus did not live up their expectations…

And still today… we need to be cautious about this. Following Jesus does not mean freedom from suffering… freedom from persecution… prosperity (materially or otherwise)…

We may experience these blessings… but scripture also repeatedly speaks about suffering…

Paul wrote to Timothy 2 Tim 3:12 “… all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”

But understand there is a difference when we suffer or are persecuted because we did something foolish… versus suffering for Jesus’ sake.

Jesus taught in Matthew 5:10–11 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.”

Peter echoed this in 1 Peter 3:13–14 “And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.””

There is a blessing in suffering for the sake of righteousness… and suffering for Jesus.

But not for acting the fool… there you have no blessing… just suffering… and that’s on you.

The blessing comes when you suffer for righteousness sake.

Peter guided Christians on how to respond to suffering and do it well…

… by using the example of Jesus. When Christ suffered for us leaving us an example to follow in His steps which were… 1 Peter 2:22-23 “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; 23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;”

Paul… next to Jesus… Paul was the poster child for suffering in ministry…

And Paul added up… he considered the loss of things he suffered… and wrote he counted the loss as rubbish [as trash]… that he “may gain Christ.” (Phil 3:8)

Paul looked beyond present circumstance… he was content (even in miserable and filthy prisons)…

And wrote, “… the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Rom 8:18

81x we read about suffering in the New Testament alone…

And just so we really understand suffering… why don’t we take a moment and read through the remaining 76 mentions of suffering?

That would be a long study…

Point is… suffering… or persecution (which appears 44x in the NT) is a repeated theme in the Bible…

So our hearts are prepared… so we are not stumbled WHEN we suffer or are persecuted…

So we understand that if we suffer for Jesus’ sake… we are blessed… we are connected to the suffering of Christ…

So we don’t have incorrect expectations about life in Christ…

… and make the same error that John and his disciples made… when John suffered… and Jesus did not meet their expectations.

John’s disciples they look upon this scene of Jesus and His disciples feasting with Tax Collectors and sinners… and they think the whole situation rather unusual… they ask “Why are you not fasting and praying like us and the Pharisees?”

Luke alone mentions prayer… which seems to indicate the disciples were not praying as much comparatively… nor fasting.

Now… for Pharisees… they fasted twice a week…

In the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector… the Pharisee proclaimed many reasons he was self-righteous including stating, “I fast twice a week...” (Luke 18:12)

And they would fast on Mondays and Thursdays… because in their tradition Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to receive the law on Thursday and came down on Monday.

Now… in Jewish law a fast was only required ONE DAY a YEAR! The Day of Atonement (or Yom Kippur… the day of confessing sins) (Lev 16:29).

It was set as a day to ‘afflict your souls.’

It was only through their tradition that they fasted twice a week… over 100x in a year.

And this was not freedom… it was bondage… they put all these unnecessary burdens on the people…

True legalism. Adding man-made requirements to be righteous… and missing the whole point of the law…

Galatians 3:24–25 states, “Therefore the law was our tutor [Israel’s tutor] to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”

The law was never intended to provide salvation, but to expose the impossibility of self-righteousness and the need for a Savior.

It pointed to Christ.

Gal 3:24-25 is a great cross reference for this whole interaction in Luke 5.… because Jesus has come… faith has come…

This is not a time for fasting… but feasting…

And the dispensation of law was ending… now was the time of grace.

For John’s disciples… they were fasting often… likely with a different motive than the Pharisees…

Perhaps following the ascetic life of John…

Perhaps afflicting themselves as John was in prison…

Or also following the old system… even Pharisaic traditions… after all John was the last of the Old Testament prophets…

Whatever the case… there was a noticeable difference between the fasters and the feasters… so they raise the question… why don’t you fast and prayer often like us?

So Jesus responds to them in three short parables… picturing a wedding… patching clothes… and new wine in old wineskins…

And being that these are the first parables spoken in Luke… and there will be more to come… let’s quickly refresh ourselves as to WHY Jesus spoke in Parables…

In Matthew 13, Jesus teaches the multitudes repetitively in Parables, to the point His disciples question “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

Jesus responds, Matt 13:11-14 “Because it has been given to you [believers] to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them [unbelievers] it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand [unbelievers have no spiritual intelligence, nor spiritual sight or hearing]. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive...”

So, three reasons why Jesus spoke in Parables:

First, he was revealing truths to His disciples [believers], as seen in the words “to you.” “…it has been given to you to know the mysteries...”

They could unravel the mysteries or discover the truths in the parables, because their eyes were opened spiritually.

Second, He was hiding spiritual truths from unbelievers, as seen in the words “…to them it has not been given…”

They do not see… nor hear… nor understand. Unbelievers were spiritually blind and could not understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

It’s the same today, and unbelievers will quickly mock you for spiritual things that are impossible for them to comprehend.

And Jesus would often conceal truth from unbelievers so they didn’t interfere with God’s divine timing…

Third, Jesus spoke in parables to fulfill prophecy. Isaiah 6:9-10. When Isaiah began his ministry, the people did not understand his message either...which was the near fulfillment to the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus’ ministry.

And in our scene in Luke… present were believers and unbelievers… thus Jesus saw fit to speak in parables.

So, the first parable… a wedding… at least the precursor gathering of the bridegroom and his friends during the betrothal period…

Today… our closest comparison is a “Bachelor’s party”… though Jews knew no such term…

Still this was a party.

vv 34 “And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?”

Answer: No. It is not appropriate to fast at a wedding?

A wedding is a happy time… a time of celebration and feasting…

I was looking back on my notes when I taught the parallel passage in Mark 2… and I went on this rant about weddings and what people so often remember… which is the food more than the actual ceremony.

And I was trying to humorously picture a post-wedding conversation of people discussing the food…

Especially the stand-out food… the bacon wrapped PIGS-IN-A-BLANKET…

But, that’s NOT what I called them. In my mind they were “bacon wrapped ding dongs.”

And boy was I made fun of after that service… because ding dongs are Hostess Treats!

Well… at a subsequent fellowship lunch… we bought Hostess Ding Dongs and wrapped them with bacon…

Creating “Bacon Wrapped Ding Dongs.” So, if you ever hear a whisper about that delicacy… now you know the origin story.

You’re welcome!

Back in Luke… pictured here in V34… Jesus is the bridegroom… his disciples the friends… and they are all acting appropriately by feasting and not fasting. .

John’s disciples should have remembered OT verses where God is likened to a bridegroom… and it was a time for joy!

Isa 62:5 “And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall your God rejoice over you.”

Weddings are a time for joy! God is likened to the bridegroom. Jesus is the bridegroom… Jesus is God.

Hosea 2:19–20 pictures the betrothal period… “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; 20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the Lord.”

Beyond the OT… John’s disciples should have remember John’s own words…

If you recall… John formerly made reference to a wedding party… to his disciples…

John 3:29 “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.”

Hearing the voice of Jesus… the bridegroom… made him rejoice and even more… it fulfilled his joy.

And, I think you all know this, but if Jesus is the bridegroom… who is His bride?

The church. Not a building, but people who trust Him as Savior God.

The New Testament is thick with pictures of Jesus being the bridegroom, and the church being His bride.

In the Parable of the Wedding Feast… Matt 22:2 begins “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son...”

That parable pictures the Millennial Age… where the Son will be married… .which is pictured in Rev 19… the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

The Lamb takes his bride… and she wore “fine linen, clean and bright for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

And saints are believers… believers are the bride of Christ.

If you trust in Jesus Christ… you will be in that scene… that will be our wedding…

And Jesus is the Messianic bridegroom the Jews had been waiting on. Numerous Messianic prophecies were being fulfilled… It was a time of joy and celebration.

A new day was dawning… a major shift was happening in their midst…

And presently the bridegroom was in their midst… NOW was a time to celebrate… to feast…

However… the time of Jesus physically being present with them would come to an end… as we see in V35…

V35 “But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.””

A time WAS COMING when fasting (at least in the metaphorical sense of being sorrowful) would be appropriate…

And Jesus here is foretelling the future… predicting His death which will be a solemn time for His disciples.

He will be… note the words “taken away”… which implies ‘violent removal’… which would be fulfilled through His passion, crucifixion and death.

Taken away looks back to verses like Isa 53:8 “He was cut off from the land of the living...”

And, at that time joy will cease for a time… they will experience sorrow…

Jesus told His disciples in John 16:20 “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.”

Jesus prepared His disciples not only for His death and sorrow, but also of His resurrection… which would renew joy.

They likely fasted in the three days following His death… and certainly fasted after His ascension…

… we read of fasting multiple times in the book of Acts (Acts 13:3; 14:23; 27:9).

Everything would unfold just as Jesus said… which testifies of His divine nature.

Now… Jesus’ words were difficult to understand…

I mean just think about how we get confused reading the Bible… and have the whole Canon of Scripture…

Mankind has had nearly 2,000 years to digest and interpret the words of Scripture… and we are still confused.

How much more difficult for people of Jesus’ day… hearing His words for the first time… and living in the days of a dispensational shift.

So… Jesus continues to illustrate in parables… to John’s disciples that the old religious rituals and traditions do not mix with new faith in Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament Prophets. His was ministry of preparation… calling people to repent… to change their mind…

The Old Covenant and dispensation of law… the tutor that pointed to Christ… was coming to close…

FOR Messiah had come… John the Baptist was the forerunner to the Coming King… John the Baptist pointed to Jesus… “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

And, so Jesus shares two parables to help them understand it was time to stop clinging to the old ways… as the old and the new are incompatible…

We know these Parables as The Parable of the Cloth”… and “The Parable of the Wineskins”… beginning in V36…

And keep in mind this is a continuation of Jesus’ response to the question about ‘Why do we fast often and Your disciples eat and drink?’

V36 “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.”

The “new garment” in Matthew and Mark is called a “piece of unshrunk cloth”…

Kids these days have no clue what it was like back in the 60’, 70’s and 80’s to buy new jeans…

We didn’t have “pre-shrunk jeans”… our clothes went in the dryer one size… and came out a size or two smaller.

One would have a panic attack if their jeans were put in the dryer.

And if you wore your jeans long enough… you earned a tear.

Kids these days don’t even earn the tear! They buy pre-shrunk jeans that are already ripped.

We had the biblical experience… unshrunk clothes.

And Jesus uses this common reality… that if you have an old garment with a tear… and you sew a patch on using a new garment… when that new patch shrinks… it will cause a worse tear.

And the point is incompatibility. Just like it was incompatible to fast during a wedding.

Of course Jesus is not talking about sweaters or jeans… or any clothes in general, but of the Old and New Covenants…

There are differences.… they were intended for different people… intended for different times pre- and post-Messiah’s first coming… and they are not compatible.

And Jesus did not come to patch up or reform Judaic Law… He was ushering in a whole new system…

The old system… the old dispensation of law… was ushered in using Israel.

But… as national Israel rejected Jesus… His kingdom would not come to earth.… not at this time.

Thus, a new order was being birthed… the church age… and a system of grace.

A system that looked deeper then the letter, and evaluated the heart.

A system of grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

And attempting to mix law and grace would be destructive.

Luke says the old would tear… and the new would not match.

And John’s disciples were holding onto old ways… old traditions…

And it wasn’t going to work to patch Judaism up with Christianity.

And, so Jesus’ message to John’s disciples was ‘I’m not here to “patch up” or reform Judaism, but to begin anew with a Gospel of Grace…

Jesus didn’t come to end the law… not one jot or tittle… In Matt 5:17 Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”

The purpose of the Law was instructional… to instruct it’s students that they could not keep the law and they needed a Savior.

The Law pointed to the Messiah…to Jesus.

And, now that He was present in their midst… He was instituting an entirely new covenant, which replaces the old… and went beyond the old… giving His followers new direction and new instruction for this new Messianic age…this church age.

Interesting side story… in 2012, about three months after my calling… my Pastor invited my friend Matt Myers (who is also now a Pastor)… and I to attend a 10-day long course for potential Pastors.

A number of Calvary Chapel pastors came and taught us biblical passages and theological concepts… at this old repurposed mansion called “The Castle” in Northwest Pennsylvania.

It was a really sweet time… and on one of the final nights we had an after-glow… where we sang worship songs… gave testimonies… and were open to the moving of the Spirit…

And there were students present with Calvary Chapel Fingerlake’s School of Ministry… and as this one young lady was sharing a portion of her testimony…

… in my mind I heard Matthew 9:16…

And this was a new experience… So before just shouting out… “Thus sayeth the Lord....Matt 9:16…that’s for you.”

Which I thought wise… I mean what if the verse was something like 1 Corinthians 14:34 “Let your women keep silent in the churches...”

I’m not sure how that young lady would have received that…

So I looked up the verse… I opened my King James bible and read, “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.”

I was pretty new to serious study of scripture… and I was honestly lost… reading from King James didn’t help either… so I was reluctant to share.

But the verse was searing my mind… so after the next worship song… and the next testimony… I shared that when the young lady was sharing, this verse popped in my mind… and while I wasn’t sure what it was about… I thought it was for her… though I didn’t know why.

When the afterglow wrapped up… this young man from the School of Ministry approached me and said, “You have no idea how powerful that was.… how that spoke right into her situation.”

He told me her mom was in a cult and was pressuring her to leave Calvary Chapel and come back to her religion.

And while that’s not exactly what this parable is about… to her that was the old… and it had no place with the new.

It was a word of wisdom… that God gave me… to give to her… and it was a rhema word… a word that spoke into her struggle… and guided her path forward.

And let me encourage you… that if God gives you a word to share… share it.

It may feel awkward… and you may not know the reasoning why, but if the Master says to the servant ‘go and do’… it is the servants place to obey… not to question… and not to disobey.

Well back in Luke… wrapping up V36 and moving to V37… Notice how Luke continues to mention “new” or “old”…

12x he records that Jesus said, “New” or “old”… in just vv 36-39 alone.

Jesus was driving home a point… teaching all who heard…

And, he continues with the Parable of the Wineskins…

vv37-38 “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.”

I have a slide of a wineskin… because this it outside our normal day-to-day context.

And I know this looks kind of weird and gross… almost like a wrinkly pig hanging by ropes…

But… the wineskin portrayed here is most likely the skin of an animal… and judging by the wrinkles… probably an old wineskin…

And you’re thinking… I much prefer my wine in glass bottles… thank you very much.

Well… in those days… they used wineskins… by def. “skin made into a bag”… “a bottle of skin”… or “a leather bag.”

For Jews… they used kosher animals… a goat or sheep… removed the skin… tanned the hide… cut the hair close… turn it inside out… and closed all the openings with cords except for one.

As new wine ferments, it off gases carbon dioxide, and the off gassing would stretch a new wineskin… which was fine, because a new wineskin was flexible.

But, an old wineskin had hardened… and that old wineskin would burst… and then the new wine would spill…

Causing both the old wineskin and new wine to be ruined.

New wine had to be put into a new and flexible wineskin for both to be preserved or “kept safe.”

And as long as new wine remains in new wineskins that are flexible… both will be preserved… and the New Covenant and Church remain preserved…

We are living testimonies… the church remains alive some 2,000 years later.

Jesus likened the old legal system to old wineskins that lost it’s elasticity…

It was an old way of thinking that could not contain the newness of Jesus’ Gospel of Grace.

The new wine of the new covenant… needed the new wineskins of Jesus’ new institution- the Church.

And we are the vessels to carry the New Testament… to distribute the new wind of the Gospel of Grace to the world.

And, Jesus’ disciples who were feasting with him there… they were doing this… they were being flexible to Jesus’ new teachings… even in celebrating with tax collectors and sinners who recently decided to follow Jesus.

They were not calloused in legalism like the Pharisee who wouldn’t even stand close to a sinner…

And I hope you get the picture here… because this hasn’t changed… we need to be like the disciples…

… flexible to the work the Holy Spirit is doing… and taking His new wine… the Gospel to the world.

And, that’s still NEW WINE. The Gospel… forgiveness… grace through faith in Jesus. This is STILL New wine!

What New Wine is NOT… is compromise… and there are those who recklessly re-define “new wine” as being sensitive to the culture…

… even at the cost of compromising Biblical teachings to affirm sin.

Or doing away with teaching the whole counsel of God… downplaying the significance of living lives of holiness…

That’s not new wine… that’s vinegar… it should taste bitter and disgusting and you should spew it out of your mouth.

Forsaking sound doctrine and living in compromise is not “new wine”… it’s something else…

It’s like being under the influence of too much wine… because their thinking is drunk.

Jesus did not model compromise or affirmation of sin. When Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners… He didn’t become one…

And NO WHERE do we read Him nodding in approval of their sinful lifestyle…

Jesus would love a person enough to let them know their ways were destructive…

He told the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.”

He told the woman at the well that she had five past husbands and was living with a man who was not her husband.

He rebuked His disciples when they needed it… He told Peter “Get behind me Satan”… He rebuked the ‘Sons of Thunder’ for wanting to call down fire on the Samaritans…

And sometimes… His mere presence was enough for a person to repent of sin… like the Chief Tax Collector Zacchaeus.

Jesus didn’t have to say a word to Him. Light broke through darkness… and just dining with Zacchaeus led to heart change and salvation.

And this New wine… not only did it have a new focus, but it also had a new quality…

Just as new wine off-gasses… the Gospel too was explosive. It would expand…

Going from Jerusalem… to Judea and Samaria… and to the uttermost ends of the earth…

Reshaping how people understood to come to God to be saved… not through adherence of law through works, but through belief in the Savior who would pay the price for their sin by the cross.

Which no doubt was a difficult message to comprehend… especially for the Pharisees who were still looking back to the law…

For centuries they lived under Mosaic law, and now Messiah had come...change had come…and change is difficult.

And to capture this point… Luke alone closes this teaching by adding V39 “And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.”

This was the way of the religious leaders… they did not desire the new because change is difficult. It’s human nature to cling to the past, even when God reveals Himself.

They consider the old better because it is old… because of tradition.

Even when God Himself stares them in the face… and Jesus indeed revealed Himself, and still… the Pharisees would not change.

And, that is a distinguishing feature of old garments and old wineskins.

They are too rigid to recognize God presence… they grasp tight to man-made traditions… they are not pliable enough to change.

And this is a warning for any of us individually… and certainly for our church…

I don’t ever want to come to a place of rigidity as a church…

Where we lose sight of our first love Jesus… where we are not led by and wait on the Holy Spirit…

Where we have a lot of good ideas from man… that are not the direction of God.

Good ideas are not necessarily God’s ideas. God’s ideas come by waiting on Him and being led by His Holy Spirit.

And waiting is not sitting on one’s hands… it’s an active process of being obedient to live out calling… and discipleship… and faithfully teaching His word.

And living out the character God expects for His people… not a hypocrites, but 1 Tim 3 type character.

Let’s learn from these lessons…

Avoid the legalistic mindset of adding man-made rules to Christian living…

Avoid looking to works… at the sacrifice of the simplicity of the Gospel which is grace through faith in Christ.

I don’t want to be a crusty old wineskin. God will then have to look elsewhere…

He’ll need to find a new wineskin that is flexible to His ways and His leading.

So, let’s apply these lessons and avoid the mistakes.

Putting all of these parables together, we see a pattern of things that do not mix… things that are not compatible…

Feasting and fasting;

A new patch on an old garment;

And new wine in old wineskins.

They were all incompatible… just as trying to fit the tenets of the New Covenant into the Old Covenant would not work.

And, the warning for us today… is to not become rigid… or legalistic… or caught up in man-made traditions…

But, to be flexible and allow God to lead us and move in our lives.

Let’s pray!

I’m so thankful that we serve a God who meets us where we are… eating with tax collectors and sinners…

Teaching those who are caught in old ways and legalism…

Teaching us about faith and grace.

I pray you have open doors to do the same in the week ahead.

If you need prayer, we will have men and women at the sides to pray with you as we close in worship of this great God whom we serve.

May God bless you and keep you in the week ahead. God bless you as you go!