33Then 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?”
34And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”
36Then 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. 37And 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. 38But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39And no one, having drunk old wine,immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’
What do these verses mean? Before we even attempt to answer that we must ask what problem Jesus is addressing. This passage has been the object of curiosity and various interpretations over the years. I’m not a seamstress, neither winemaker so what is Jesus getting at? Is it about the incompatibility between law and grace, or the incompatibility between structure and Spirit? Is there something more going on here?
The interpretation that Jesus is talking about Law versus grace is a traditional view. This view has a measure of truth to be sure. The Pharisees and lawyers were questioning His teaching and authority. They asked Him why His disciples did not fast like their disciples or John the Baptist’s disciples. Jesus answers their question about fasting and prayer saying that the friends of the bridegroom will fast when the bridegroom is taken away just like Jesus will one day not be present with His disciples. He then shares two parables as examples to illustrate what He is talking about.
He shares that you cannot put a new piece of a garment on an old one because it will tear, and it does not match the old one. In a similar way, you cannot put new wine into old wineskins because it will burst, and the new wine will be spilled. Also, the wine skins will be destroyed.
In Matthew 5:17 Jesus said that He did not come to destroy the law or the Prophets but He came to fulfill what they promised about His coming. Paul, on the other hand, in Ephesians 2: 15, says that when Christ died on the cross that He abolished the enmity attributed to the Law. Paul in no way contradicts what Jesus is saying or doing. Paul deals with the condemnation that the Law may point out upon those who do not and cannot keep it for both Jews and Gentiles. Law cannot save people. The Law becomes enmity or the place of hostility between people and God, and between people and people like Jews and Gentiles. So, in Luke 5, yes, Jesus’ words do address Law and grace, but is there still something more going on?
Structure versus Spirit is another alternative view. This view also can be applicable. Consider the book of Hebrews. The entire book of Hebrews compares the old covenant, or testament, with the new covenant, or testament. The key word in Hebrews is the word “better.” Hebrews 7:22 says,” by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.” The Apostle Paul says in Romans 7:12 that “the Law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” Yet, there is something better.
There is a new covenant of the Spirit that is better than the old system of sacrifices. Hebrews 10:4 says,”for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” The entire sacrificial system and temple structure is not sufficient enough for our salvation. You and I need something more.
In 2 Corinthians 6:16b, Paul says,”you are the temple of the living God.” This is only possible because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. There is a new structure. This gets us a little closer to what Jesus was talking about, but there is still something more going on in this passage.
The question that Jesus is addressing is not about fasting, but the quality of disciples Jesus had around Himself. In fact, in many other versions of Luke’s Gospel this verse is not stated as a question, but simply as a statement. The disciples are the subject of the verse, and are the ones in question, and not so much about fasting. In Matthew and Mark’s Gospel both the Pharisees and John the Baptist’s disciples are fasting and both groups comment about His disciples.
Jesus’ response is about the kind of disciples that He chooses. His disciples are like brand new garments, and new wineskins. Neither the disciples of John, nor the Pharisees are ready for Jesus’ Message, because they are satisfied with what they have experienced already in the past.
Jesus’ disciples could be considered like a fresh piece of paper with a clear new message written on it. Any other disciples are like using a smudged piece of paper. Any new message on it would be illegible. It’s like the welder who preferred to teach a person with no welding skills to become a welder instead of a person who already had some experience. The person with no skills would be more likely to listen and learn, rather than a person who had even some experience.
Jesus’ words in the above passage follow the story of how Jesus chose Matthew the tax collector to be His disciple, and then Jesus goes to Mattheew’s house to feast with many other tax collectors and people who are considered sinners. This bothered the Pharisees and John’s disciples because Jesus and His disciples were all together under one roof, and at one table. This picture implied that the other guests were following Jesus too, or invited to follow Him.
It’s among people like that Jesus chooses his 12 apostles. Mark’s Gospel even tells us that after Jesus chooses the twelve that His own family members thought that He was crazy for choosing the them and sending them out to preach. Among His disciples He chose common Galilean fishermen, tax collectors, doubters, skeptics, political Zealots, trouble makers, and men of violence. These same disciples needed healing and deliverance themselves.
They needed the new wine, but the disciples of John and the religious leaders were the least likely to receive it because they were satisfied with the old wine. Jesus’ disciples were all like Samson in the Old Testament in a way. They were all broken people. God could use Samson to the greatest extent in his weakest moment as he stood blind and weak before his enemies. His spiritual eyes were opened and he depended upon the power of God’s Spirit to bring judgment upon them.
God will call and use broken people for His glory. In order for there to be the new wine of salvation there must also be the pressing of the grapes in the wine press. In order for there to be the healing oil of the Holy Spirit there must be a crushing of the olives. God is still calling flawed people, but broken in repentance toward God, to use them for His glory. We are still in need of the power of the Holy Spirit and not dead religion. We are still in need of healing and deliverance. Salvation is more than just a ticket to heaven. Salvation is not self-improvement, or self-reform, or even management of sin, but a daily repentance and commitment to rely on God to change your life through His grace and through His Spirit.
Salvation comes with a call to flawed people to go outside of the church to share truth with a dark and hurting world, and build a community of people who will depend on God for forgiveness and healing and share that healing and deliverance with one another and with others in need. If you are His disciple then you are the wineskin. You are His disciple. He has chosen you. You are the wineskin. Are you able to contain the new wine that He wants to fill you with? Are you willing to be that kind of person?
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