The Parables of the Lord Jesus Christ
12 - New Wine in old Wineskins
This time we are going to discover another parable of the Lord Jesus Christ found in the Gospel of Matthew chapter nine verses fourteen to seventeen. It is a parable about putting new wine into old wineskins. It all began with a question about fasting. John the Baptist's disciples approached Jesus directly, unlike the Pharisees. They asked what was really an unnecessary question. They should have known God's Word better. Their question was: "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
The only fast required by God's law in the Old Testament was on the Day of Atonement. There was, of course, an important reason why the disciples of Jesus did not need to fast, as Jesus Himself explained. He, the bridegroom was with them and they could not fast while He was with them. They would do that after He was departed. Jesus compares his presence on earth with a wedding feast. The relationship between God and his people, between Christ and his church is compared with the bond of love between a bridegroom and his bride. Just imagine friends fasting during a wedding feast. It would be unthinkable. Imagine the disciples grieving and mourning while their Master was with them. It was a time of great blessing. The point is that Jesus had ushered in a new order with signs and wonders to attest his ministry. Above all there was the message of salvation from sin. This glorious new order did not fit in with the old one of fasting appointed by men.
Then Jesus talks about new cloth and an old garment. If a new piece of wool is placed on an old garment the result will be that when this unshrunk piece becomes wet it will pull to pieces the bordering cloth of the badly worn garment. The patch that was supposed to take care of the original tear will now produce an even bigger tear. Then Jesus changes the picture and talks about not putting new wine into old wineskins. These wineskins were usually made of the skin of a goat or of a sheep. After being removed from the animal the skin was tanned, and after the hair had been removed the skin was turned inside out. The neck opening became the mouth of the bottle and the other openings were closed with cords. An old wineskin was no use for new, still fermenting wine that tends to stretch the container. The wineskin must be sufficiently elastic to cope with this. An old wineskin would be stiff and rigid and would crack and the wine would spill out.
So what does all this mean? Does the new wine represent salvation by grace in contrast to the old wine of the law? This is not what Jesus is actually referring to here. The context is one of fasting. The frequent fast was of purely human institution. There was no joy in it, no blessing. It was a formal and empty religious exercise without any value. Jesus brings the message of salvation by grace. The salvation He offers has nothing in common with these miserable fastings. In other words, all those like his disciples who know the Lord Jesus Christ, who have trusted in Him as Saviour and Lord, have tasted the new wine of rescue and riches available to sinners. The new wine must be poured into the fresh wineskins of gratitude, freedom and spontaneous service for Christ, to the glory of God.
There is flexibility in these new wineskins, adjustments occur after the new wine has been poured in. They do not fully keep their shape. They have to adapt to certain changes that are going on. The question arises, "How are you and I adapting and adjusting to the rescue and the riches of the Gospel? If you are a Christian, one who has trusted in Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you have actually been rescued from the power of darkness. You have been rescued and brought into an eternal kingdom. Your eyes have been opened and you have come to realise the riches there are in Jesus Christ.
What bitter trials the Lord Jesus endured for our sakes. He did not drink wine vinegar on the cross but the full cup of the wrath of God that we might enjoy the new wine of a full and free salvation. We should be so grateful for that. And then there is freedom. Sinners are slaves because sin is slavery. Jesus said, "Whoever commits sin is the slave of sin." It is a terrible and destructive tyranny to be ruled and governed by our sin. But Christians know the rescue and the riches of this new wine. They are no longer slaves. They are free to serve a new master and free to lead a new life. They are free to sing a new song and to experience a new peace and joy. Christians are free to develop a new relationship with Christ, to grow in grace and the knowledge of God. They are free to enjoy God's word.
The new wine also speaks of spontaneous service to the glory of God. Someone has said that where hearts burn for the Lord, hands will be busy for the Lord. The Pharisees did not serve the Lord, they had just a dead, formal religion. Jesus said to them, "You search the scriptures for in them you think that you have eternal life." We are not to be like those hardened old wineskins. God's Word must affect us continually. Are you receptive to God's Word? Are you eager to live in ready obedience to the Lord? What difference will this parable make to your life? In what ways do you serve the Lord? There is more to Christian stewardship than giving money, though we should give to the Lord's work. Christ has the right to our whole lives.
The final result of this new wine is joy. Matthew Henry, wrote many years ago, "When Christ is with them, (the church) the candle of God shines upon their head and all is well. When He is withdrawn for but a small moment they are troubled and walk heavily. The presence and nearness of the Son makes day and summer; his absence and distance, night and winter. Christ is all in all, the church's joy." Paul tells us we should rejoice always. Rejoicing is a Christian duty, it is therefore an evidence of the blessedness of the new covenant. Because Jesus Christ has suffered for us we can rejoice. We are encouraged to rejoice. We are commanded to rejoice and we are enabled to rejoice. Rejoicing is the personal, permanent duty of God's people. May you know much of the joy and blessing of the new wine of Jesus Christ in the days that lie ahead.