Day 2- New Wine and Old Wineskins
Read it: Luke 5:37-39
Live it:
This is an interesting parable, and it is controversial in that there are a number of interpretations of it. Before we look at interpretations, let’s look at the data. New wine expands as it ferments, and old, brittle wineskins do not have the capacity to expand with the fermenting new wine. As a result, putting new wine into old wineskins will end with spilled wine and torn wineskins.
Three extant (still in existence) interpretations are prominent in the literature:
- Law (old wineskins) versus grace (new wine)
- Old Covenant (old wineskins) versus New Covenant (new wine)
- Old system of spirituality (old wineskins) versus new system (new wine).
None of these really rise to the task of adequately explaining this brief parable. The “new wine” was the newness of the gospel as exemplified in the person of Jesus Christ. The religious leaders of Judaism had become so rigid that they could not accept anything that did not fit into their understanding of the God/human relationship. Jesus addressed this in this parable and further drove the point home with verse 39, When one has had his fill of old, well-aged wine, he has no appetite for wine that is not so well-aged.
Keep your heart and appetite open for whatever God may want to do in your life, even if it is outside of your comfort zone or expectations.
Ps. Rod