“New wine must be put into new wineskins” (Luke 5:38).

“New wine must be put into new wineskins”

(Luke 5:38).

 

 

 

“No one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the wineskins, the wine will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. New wine must be put into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better’” (Luke 5:37–39).

 

 

While meditating on the words, I desire to receive the lesson given:

 

(1)   Yesterday we meditated on Luke 5:36 under the title: “If we attempt to blend the ‘new garment’—the gospel of Jesus Christ—with the ‘old garment’—Judaism—so as to create a ‘mixed gospel,’ then it is a ‘false gospel,’ a ‘pseudo-gospel’!”  Today, I wish to receive the lesson given as we meditate on Luke 5:37–39:

 

(a)    This passage in Luke 5:37–39 is also recorded in Matthew 9:17 and Mark 2:22: “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins burst, the wine is spilled, and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved” (Mt. 9:17).  “No one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine and the skins will be lost. But new wine is put into new wineskins” (Mk. 2:22).  Comparing these three biblical passages, I wish to meditate on them in three parts:

 

(i)               First, no one puts new wine into old wineskins (Lk. 5:37a; Mt. 9:17a; Mk. 2:22a).

 

·        The reason is that if new wine is put into old wineskins, the new wine will burst the old skins, the wine will spill, and the old skins will become useless, and both will be thrown away (Lk 5:37b; Mt 9:17b; Mk 2:22b).

 

-        Here is a passage from the Hochma Commentary concerning “old wineskins”: “In ancient times, people made skins from animal hides to store various liquids.  After slaughtering the animal, they cut off the head and legs, removed the hide, stitched up all openings except the neck, scraped off the fat, and prepared it for use over a period of time, with the hair side facing outward.  This method was used not only in Palestine but even in Europe and South America until recently.  Over long use, such skins become wrinkled and lose elasticity.  Therefore, when strong, fermenting new wine is poured into old wineskins, the powerful gases generated during fermentation corrode the skins and soon burst them.  Thus, new wine is always put into new skins.  Otherwise, the skins burst, and both wine and wineskins are lost” (Hochma).

 

-        Here, “new wine” refers to Jesus’ teaching, the gospel, the kingdom of God, and “old wineskins” refer to the formalism of Judaism (Hochma, Internet).  Yesterday, meditating on Luke 5:36, we learned that the “new garment”—the gospel of Christ—and the “old garment”—Judaism—can never be joined as one.  Today, in Luke 5:37, it says that no one puts Jesus’ “new wine” teaching into the “old wineskins” of Jewish formalism (v. 27).  What does this mean?

 

n  Here, “the formalism of Judaism” is a critical term describing the tendency to emphasize literal, external observance of the Law (Torah) and tradition—stressing the act of keeping rules itself more than the religious essence, inner faith, and spiritual meaning.  The core concept is the keeping of the Law (Halakha).  The essence of Judaism is keeping the Torah delivered by Moses—covering dietary laws (kashrut), Sabbath (Shabbat), prayer, festivals, and many detailed regulations of daily life.  Formalism means keeping these laws only “as forms,” neglecting the relational, inner, and spiritual values of God—justice, compassion, and mercy (Internet).

 

n  What is Jesus’ teaching regarding this Jewish formalism?

 

#   (Mt 23:13) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces; you yourselves do not enter, and you hinder those who are trying to enter.”

 

#   (Mt 23:15) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel across sea and land to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”

 

#   (Mt 23:23) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You give tithes of mint, dill, and cumin, but have neglected the weightier matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others.”

 

#    (Mt 23:25–26) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside, so that the outside may also be clean.”

 

#   (Mt 23:27–28) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside but inside full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

 

#    (Mt 23:29–33) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?”

 

#   What kind of people are hypocrites?  They are like the Pharisees, seeking salvation by keeping the Law.  In other words, hypocrites seek salvation through works.  Rather than believing that God’s righteousness has been imputed to them, they attempt to attain that righteousness by their own effort and merit.  Their righteousness is one that acknowledges their own effort and merit—self-exalting righteousness.  Thus this righteousness inevitably leads people to pride.  Hypocrites consider themselves wise, yet their wisdom is not from above (Jam. 1:15).  How do we know?  Because wisdom from above is gentle and humble, yet hypocrites exalt themselves in pride.

 

#   “Jesus criticized the formalism of Judaism and emphasized the essence of the Law—love, mercy, and justice. In Matthew 23, He rebuked the hypocritical formalism of the Pharisees and scribes, saying that ‘the outside is clean but inside is full of greed and self-indulgence,’ and that they ‘neglected the weightier matters of the Law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness.’ He urged them to cleanse the inside as well as the outside. This means He required an inner, sincere faith that follows God’s will and heart, beyond merely observing the literal text of the Law” (Internet).

 

n  On July 16, 2018, under the title “Hypocrisy (Psalm 50)”, I meditated on Psalm 50, and I reread this portion:  “Second, God warns us against our hypocritical formalism.  Look at Psalm 50:7: ‘Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you.  I am God, your God.’ Here God says He will testify against hypocritical Israel.  This means He is warning them against their hypocrisy and formalism.  At that time, the Jews thought that simply coming to the temple and offering sacrifices would please God (Yoon-sun Park).  Instead of worshiping in spirit and truth, they focused only on performing external ceremonies….”

 

n  Also, on October 18, 2019, under the title “Do you still not understand? (Mt 8:21)”, I wrote a short meditation, and I came again to meditate on this part: “We must understand. We must hear Jesus’ warning and understand.  We must beware of the formalism and hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and the secularism and materialism of the Sadducees.”

 

(ii)             Second, new wine must be put into new wineskins (Lk. 5:38; Mt. 9:17b; Mk. 2:22b).

 

·        The reason is that in this way both the new wine and the new wineskins are preserved (Mt 9:17b).

 

-        In “new wine,” “new” means temporally new—wine most recently produced.  In “new wineskins,” “new” means qualitatively new—skins that are undamaged and in excellent condition (Hochma).

 

-        Then what are the “new wineskins”?  Jesus says that His “new wine”—His teachings, the gospel, the kingdom of God—must not be put into “old wineskins”—Jewish formalism, but into new wineskins.  What does “new wineskins” refer to?

 

n  Hokma says that they are “a fundamentally transformed new heart and a new form of faith,” or “a fundamentally transformed new heart and life in which the new truth of the new era—which fulfills the Old Testament Law and surpasses formalistic legalism—is joined.”  In my view, these “new wineskins” refer to essential commandment-keeping—the new-covenant command, the heavenly command of the kingdom of God, namely the twofold commandment of Jesus, which is practiced as a new form of faith.  This twofold commandment appears in Matthew 22:37 and 39: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind  …  You shall love your neighbor as yourself….”  Jesus said, “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets” (v. 40).  When I meditate on these words, I think that whereas in the Old Testament (old covenant) the Ten Commandments were considered most important, in the New Testament (new covenant) Jesus said that the most important are the commandments of “love for God” (Commandments 1–4) and “love for neighbor” (Commandments 5–10).  The reason is that Jesus’ twofold commandment is the commandment of God’s kingdom—the new heaven and new earth, the new Jerusalem.

 

·        Therefore, when I meditate on Jesus’ words, “New wine must be put into new wineskins” (Lk. 5:38; Mt. 9:17b; Mk. 2:22b), I believe that the “new wine”—Jesus’ teaching, the gospel, the kingdom of God—must be placed into the “new wineskins”—the new form of faith that practices the essential, new-covenant commandment, Jesus’ twofold commandment.  Only then are both the “new wine” and the “new wineskins” preserved (Mt. 9:17b).

 

(iii)           Third and finally, a person who has drunk old wine does not want new wine (Lk. 5:39a).

 

·        The reason is that a person who has tasted old wine thinks that the old wine is better (v. 39b).

 

-        The meaning is that the “Pharisees and their scribes” (v. 30), who were listening to Jesus’ parable, were people who had tasted the “old wine”—formalistic Judaism—and because they considered that formalistic Judaism “better” (v. 39b), they did not want to drink the “new wine”—Jesus’ teaching, the gospel, the kingdom of God (v. 39b).

 

n  The main point is that Jesus’ words, “New wine must be put into new wineskins” (v. 38), mean that the old, formalistic way of Judaism cannot hold the new gospel or teaching of Jesus.  Therefore, to receive the teaching, gospel, and kingdom of God of the new covenant age—the “new wine”—one must abandon (repent of) the “old wineskins” or the “old wine” of formalistic Judaism (Ref.: Internet).