New Wine

“No one sews a piece of
unshrunk cloth on an old
garment;
or else the new piece
pulls away from the old,
and the tear is made worse.
And no one puts new wine
into old wineskins;
or else the new wine
bursts the wineskins,
the wine is spilled,
and the wineskins are ruined.
But new wine must be
put into new wineskins.”
(Mark 2:21 – 22)

In this passage from Mark 2:18 – 22
Jesus continues with two pictures

The first concerns sewing on
An addition to a garment

Perhaps there was a tear in
The original garment or
A gap that needed to be covered

But no-one would try and fix
An old garment, which has been
Washed a number of times
And so has shrunk somewhat
With a new piece of unshrunk cloth

The resulting “fixed” garment
Would most likely tear again
And create an even bigger problem

The second concerns alcohol
And the containers that it is kept in

In the days of Jesus…
Wineskins were used…
Which were made of a material
Like the cloth
In the first picture

And just as cloth had a tendency
To shrink with washing…
So too would wineskins
That were filled with wine…

So when the wineskin was empty
And all the wine had been drunk
The OLD wineskin was no longer
Of ANY use…

Only a FOOL would try and re-fill
An empty USED wineskin
With NEW WINE…

BUT before we conclude
With the final statement of Jesus…
Let me take you back
To the beginning of this section
To Mark 2:18

“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?” “
(Mark 2:18)

These two pictures are
Given by Jesus
In the context of Fasting…

And come immediately after
He has talked about His Disciples
Being with Him and so not needing
To FAST…

The disciples of John needed to Fast
Because John was NOT the Messiah
But pointed to and preached about
The Messiah who was to come
And was now here…
Jesus, the Lamb of God…

The disciples of the Pharisees
May have fasted as instructed
By their masters, the Pharisees

Both them and the Pharisees
Would have been seeking God
Or at least having the appearance
Of seeking God…

What the disciples of John
And of the Pharisees were doing
Was the OLD way…
OLD cloth…
OLD wineskins…

“But new wine
must be put into
new wineskins.”
(Mark 2:22)

So why do so many people
Insist on “clinging” onto the OLD?

When we COME to Jesus
We ARE Born Again…
We become a NEW creation
(2 Corinthians 5:17)

As a NEW creation we are able
To be FILLED with NEW WINE
The Holy Spirit…
As our bodies are a temple
Of the Holy Spirit
(1 Corinthains 6:19)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation;
old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new.
Now all things are of God”
(2 Corinthians 5:17 – 18a)

We are now NEW…
So why do so many
Keep hankering after the OLD?

YES – the OLD has value
In that we can learn from it…

But we are not meant to LIVE there
Or to LIVE according to what it teaches

Jesus fulfilled the Law
(Matthew 5:17)

And exhorted those He spoke to
As it says in Matthew 5:43 – 47

Ending with:
“Therefore you shall be perfect,
just as your Father in heaven
is perfect.”
(Matthew 5:48)

Many people may falter
At this point…
“How can I be perfect…
Like my Father in heaven?”

Only as a Born Again…
Spirit filled (NEW WINE)
Believer…
Who is a NEW creation
Having the Spirit of Jesus
Living inside of them…
Be PERFECT

We need to realise
WHO we ARE
In Christ

And LIVE from that position

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.