Wine Skins for New Wine - Luke 5:36-39

A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick


There is a man in the Bible who was acclaimed to be the wisest of all. His name was Solomon, the son and successor to King David. This is what is written about the legendary King Solomon:

    “Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.” (I Kings 4:30-34)

A few chapters later in the history provided in the book of I Kings, we have the fascinating story of an Arabian Queen who, having heard of Solomon's great wisdom, makes the trip to Jerusalem to see for herself if the reports are true. After arriving, she exclaimed, "The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard." (I Kings 10:6, 7)

However, with all due respect - for who am I to stand up against this greatest of wise men - there's some things Solomon got wrong. As the author of Ecclesiastes, he wrote, and this may surprise you: “Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.” (Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20) Do you believe that? Are men and animals going to end up as mere dust; is everything you do meaningless?

This isn’t the only thing Solomon got wrong - he also said, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (1:9)

The fact is, the Bible identifies many things that are new. In a previous message we identified some of them:

    In Christ we are New Creatures because of the New Birth. He gives us a New Song, a New Name, and a New Spirit.

    There is a New Covenant, a New Way, New Tongues, New Bread Dough, and New Wine.

    And yet to come is a New Heaven.

The particular "new" thing we're talking about today comes from a segment of our daily readings, actually the reading assigned for today when Jesus talked about “new wine”.

In Luke's account, Jesus had just been asked why His disciples were not participating in the practice of fasting like their Jewish counterparts and the disciples of other rabbis. They, it was claimed, fast twice a week, but Jesus' Disciples "go on eating and drinking." In response, Jesus so much as said, "There's something new happening now." To make His point, He used the familiar images related to clothing and beverages.

    "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." (Luke 5:36, 37)

As for the analogy with the garment, not many of us understand this language - we don't patch worn clothing, we either proudly wear them ragged, or just throw them away - I’ve noticed that some people buy torn clothing with patches already on them.

Some of us may remember the day when, if you washed a new garment in hot water, it would shrink. Now let's say by the time you were ready to wash this piece of clothing the next time, you had repaired a tear with a patch, but the patch had never been washed before - when it would shrink in the hot wash, it would pull away from the rest of the garment that was done shrinking. The piece of clothing would be ruined.

The other image, concerning the wine bottle, is even more foreign to us. In the days of Jesus, actual glass, ceramic or clay bottles would be rare, owned only by the more wealthy people. Common people would make vessels for liquid substances out of goat skins - on the outside was the fur of the animal, with the inside being like leather. After a while, these skins would become brittle, so that if new, unfermented wine was put in, they would burst as the fermenting process caused an expansion - thus everything would be ruined.

    There's an interesting associated picture in this admission of the Psalmist, "Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees." (Psalm 119:83) If the goat-skin wine bottles were left hanging in the rafters of a smoke filled kitchen, as they often were, they would dry out and become brittle.

Jesus' first listeners knew exactly what He was talking about - the last thing they would want is to waste or ruin a good bottle of new wine - so they would make sure to store new wine in new wine-skins.

The application Jesus was making was clear. In His day there were religious practices such as ritual fastings. Even though there was only one fast prescribed by the law, that to be observed on Yom Kippur, the religious Jews boasted in the fact that they fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12) - this showed their superior spirituality. The Gospel that Jesus came to preach could not be contained within such formal, rigid rules of man. The Good News of the Kingdom would need to find more pliable vessels. In other words, there would need to be a willingness to be changed.

One more thing we must add. While the parables of cloth and skins are related in all three of the Synoptic Gospels, only Luke adds this line, "No one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, `The old is better.'" (Luke 5:39) At first this sounds contradictory, as though it would be better to only keep old wine. Actually, Jesus is poking fun at the rationalizing behavior of the religious leaders who are defending the old, rigid forms. We would say today that Jesus was speaking "tongue in cheek." Jesus' listeners all knew that new wine was always preferred. Only those who wanted a fermented “strong drink” (Proverbs 20:1) would say that the old was better.

    Do you remember the first recorded miracle of Jesus, the turning of water into wine at the Cana wedding feast? The wine Jesus made was superior because it was newer even than the first wine offered. The first wine to be offered was the new sweet wine; when that ran out and the older wine poured into the glasses of the revelers, they hardly noticed the blander taste. But the new, sweet wine offered after the old, would startle the taste buds, thus the comment by the wedding organizer, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." (John 2:10).

In fact, new sweet wine would certainly be preferred - it was a sign of God's favor displayed toward those who place their trust in Him: "Honor the LORD with your wealth . . . and your vats will brim over with new wine." (Proverbs 3:9, 10)

However, because the religious leaders of Jesus' day didn't want anything to disrupt their comfortability, they claimed, "The old is good." It's kind of like our saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." However, Jesus didn't come just to fix what was broken, He came to replace it with something far better. He came to provide new wine.

Now we may ask, “What does this have to do with Easter?” Simply that with the resurrection of Jesus, there is a bursting forth of new life. Death could not contain Him - the stone was removed and the new wine broke out.

For us, this new wine means that we are spiritually alive; no longer do we merely go through the motions of a formal, dead religion. There is now a new, direct, relationship with God - no longer do we have to approach God through a priest, or by way of confusing laws about sacrifices and incense. This new relationship views God as a loving Heavenly Father who is always ready to welcome His children.

What else that is new could be represented by the new wine?

    Before there was a burden of guilt - now there is a wonderful reality of forgiveness.

    Before there was lust and self-centeredness - now there is the ability to give and receive true love.

    Before there was alienation - now there is acceptance.

    Before there was law - now there is grace.

    Before there was condemnation - now there is “joy unspeakable.”

    Before there was anxiety - now there is peace.

No, when wise King Solomon said there is “nothing new under the sun,” he got it wrong. In the words of Paul, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away behold all things are become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17)

Many years ago we often sang this song written by the prolific song writer John Peterson:

    "New life in Christ, abundant and free,
      what glories shine, what joys are mine,
      what wondrous blessings I see.

    My past with it's sin, the searching and strife,

      forever gone there's a bright new dawn,
      for in Christ I have found new life!"

Today we hear a lot about so called “New Age” religions. In fact, these are nothing more than dressed up, old pagan philosophies which deny the existence of God, saying that we, ourselves are gods. The true “new age” religion is what was introduced by Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago - it’s called Christianity.

It is the resurrection of Jesus that ushers in this New Age of the Gospel. So, as Paul exhorts in Ephesians 5:18, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

Discussion Questions
Wine Skins for New Wine

1. According to the historian of I Kings, who was the wisest man of his day?

2. How can it be explained that some of the writings of this wise man, and included in our Bible, seem to be wrong?

3. What are some things that are new according to the Scriptures?

4. Jesus’ parables about cloth and wineskins were offered in response to a complaint about His Disciples not fasting. What part should fasting play in the Christian’s life?

5. Can you explain what Jesus was trying to teach when he talked about new patches and new wine?

6. What about Judaism had to change in order to contain the new wine of the Gospel?

7. What do you think the Psalmist had in mind when he wrote, "Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees." (Psalm 119:83)

8. Why did the Jews believe that the “old is better”?

9. Why did the wedding manager express surprise that the last wine offered was so good?

10. What is the relationship between “new wine” and the resurrection?

11. What are some of the new things that enter into a person’s life when they become a Christian?

12. Why is the common use of “New Age Religions” an inaccurate name?

13. According to Ephesians 5:18, what does Paul identify to be symbolized by the New Wine?

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