September 30, 2025 -New Wine - New Life

LUKE 5:1-11

MARK 1:40-45

MATTHEW 8:1-4

LUKE 5:12-16

MARK 2:1-12

MATTHEW 9:1-8

LUKE 5:17-26

MARK 2:13-17

MATTHEW 9:9-13

LUKE 5:27-32

MARK 2:18-22

MATTHEW 9:14-17

LUKE 5:33-39

Chronological Bible Readings

Luke 5:36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.

As I read all these accounts of the same teaching about the wine and the wine skins I don't recall looking into what all of this means. I am kind of glad that we have the ability to search and receive an AI summary of what you could find.

We are the new wine skin when we put our faith in Jesus because we are a new creation. There will be a change in a person who accepts Christ. Even if you are not a Jew, before Christ you are living under some other understanding of salvation. Some other understanding of God and your relationship with Him. When you accept Christ there should be a change in you spiritually that makes you new. You can't change spiritually without it having an effect on you personally. If you try to make Jesus fit into the framework of the old covenant it will not work or make sense and it will be lost.

Below is the full AI summary that was very helpful for me.

Jesus taught that the new wine of his transformative message, representing the New Covenant and the Holy Spirit, cannot be contained in the old wineskins of Judaism and its rigid traditions, because the old skins are brittle and will burst, wasting the new wine. The parable emphasizes that Jesus' new way of salvation requires a spiritual and internal renewal, a "new wineskin" or a person who is a "new creation," to fully receive and embody the fresh life and spirit of his teaching.  

The Components of the Parable

• Old Wineskins:

  Represent the old religious system, its rigid rules, traditions, and the legalistic practices of the Jewish Pharisees and Scribes. These structures were inflexible and incapable of holding the new revelation of Christ. 

• New Wine:

  Symbolizes the new message of the Gospel, the fresh teachings of Jesus, the New Covenant, and the power of the Holy Spirit. 

• Bursting of the Wineskins:

  Signifies the inevitable destruction and failure that would occur if the revolutionary teachings and transformative spirit of the New Covenant were forced into the established framework of the Old Covenant. 

The Meaning of the Teaching

• Incompatibility:

  The core meaning is the radical incompatibility of the old religious system with the new spiritual reality Jesus was bringing. The old legalism could not hold the new grace and freedom offered by Christ. 

• Need for Spiritual Renewal:

  For people to truly receive the new teachings, they needed internal change and a "born again" experience, becoming spiritually "new wineskins" capable of embracing this new spiritual life. 

• New Expression of Faith:

  Jesus' message wasn't meant to be a mere addition to the old ways but to inaugurate an entirely new form of worship and a new way of relating to God based on grace and transformation. 

• The Power of the New:

  The parable highlights the inherent power and freshness of the Gospel, showing that it is God's work that transforms, not human effort or adherence to old laws. 

Luke 5:39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”

I wondered why this verse was in Luke and what it means. After reading the AI overview I see that it speaks to or about the Jewish religious leaders. They had a harder time receiving Jesus' truths because they thought they had the best already.