Tearing Cloth and Bursting Wineskins ... What Does it Mean?
(36) And He was also telling them a parable: "No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. (37) And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. (38) But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. (39) And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, 'The old is good enough.' " [Luke 5:36-39]
I've pondered over this passage for years now and prayed that the Lord would show me something to make sense of this. What in the world does this mean? Before, I always tried to make sense of the entire parable as one piece, but I think there are a few truths tucked in here that can be pulled out individually. Then, maybe it will make sense as a whole. Let's take it apart one verse at a time.
(36) And He was also telling them a parable: "No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
Jesus talks about sewing a patch on a piece of cloth. From what I understand of cloth, once washed, it takes a new shape and loses a bit of its original color. Once washed many times, it will eventually stop changing shape and size, but its color will continually fade with age. So, if I were to sew a patch of new cloth on an old garment, the new would shrink and its color would begin to change after just the first washing. Of course, the old garment would be already faded and shrunken from many washings. The result would be a tearing away of the stitching between the patch and the garment. Besides, the colors of the cloths would never likely match because the old garment has a head start on fading. The two are different colors.
Likewise, characteristics of Christ cannot be placed upon an unregenerate man because the Holy Spirit would cause growth and change, tearing away from the old man. A huge rift would be the result. The two cannot be be sewn together. Besides, they don't match. There is no similarity in the appearance of the characteristics of the Spirit-filled man and the unregenerate man. One is light, the other deeply dark. Christlikeness must be placed on a changed, renewed man, who has been given a soft and supple heart, able to grow and change with the movement of the Holy Spirit.
(37) And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. (38) But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
Wineskins, when new, are soft and supple leather -- able to accomodate the expanding gases emitted by the fermentation process. Old wineskins, however, are brittle and hardened with time, not able to handle this expansion. They would break if filled with new wine.
Likewise, the old, dry, hard, brittle heart of unregenerate man is not able to handle the Holy Spirit coming in. The Spirit comes in and cleans house, making radical changes in thought, word, deed, and desire. He would burst the brittle unregenerate heart. The Holy Spirit must move into a heart that he has been renewed, changed, made supple and soft, is ready for growth and change, and is able to accomodate expansion in love, compassion, and desire for the things of God. The "new wine" of the Holy Spirit must be placed into "new wineskins", or a new heart.
(39) And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, 'The old is good enough.
Those accustomed to old wine, who have never tasted the new, are satisfied with what they have. They have no desire for new wine because they don't even realize theirs is old and undesirable. They are drinking what they are accustomed to, all they have, all they know ... the old wine.
Likewise, unregenerate man has never tasted the newness of life in Christ. He knows nothing of it and has no desire to obtain it. He is satisfied with his sinful self and believes it is enough. He has no idea his life and heart are bad or undesirable.
Praise God that He gives us new "patches" or desires, to sew onto new "garments" or our new, regenerated man. He changes us from dark to light so that we match Him through the regeneration and sanctification processes. Praise God that He gives us supple hearts (wineskins), into which to pour Himself (the new wine), so that we do not burst when He begins to change and grow us in the grace and knowledge of Christ! Thank God that He does not leave us in that state of being satisfied with the old wine, for without the Holy Spirit's work, we would surely be drinking it now!
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I've pondered over this passage for years now and prayed that the Lord would show me something to make sense of this. What in the world does this mean? Before, I always tried to make sense of the entire parable as one piece, but I think there are a few truths tucked in here that can be pulled out individually. Then, maybe it will make sense as a whole. Let's take it apart one verse at a time.
(36) And He was also telling them a parable: "No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
Jesus talks about sewing a patch on a piece of cloth. From what I understand of cloth, once washed, it takes a new shape and loses a bit of its original color. Once washed many times, it will eventually stop changing shape and size, but its color will continually fade with age. So, if I were to sew a patch of new cloth on an old garment, the new would shrink and its color would begin to change after just the first washing. Of course, the old garment would be already faded and shrunken from many washings. The result would be a tearing away of the stitching between the patch and the garment. Besides, the colors of the cloths would never likely match because the old garment has a head start on fading. The two are different colors.
Likewise, characteristics of Christ cannot be placed upon an unregenerate man because the Holy Spirit would cause growth and change, tearing away from the old man. A huge rift would be the result. The two cannot be be sewn together. Besides, they don't match. There is no similarity in the appearance of the characteristics of the Spirit-filled man and the unregenerate man. One is light, the other deeply dark. Christlikeness must be placed on a changed, renewed man, who has been given a soft and supple heart, able to grow and change with the movement of the Holy Spirit.
(37) And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. (38) But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
Wineskins, when new, are soft and supple leather -- able to accomodate the expanding gases emitted by the fermentation process. Old wineskins, however, are brittle and hardened with time, not able to handle this expansion. They would break if filled with new wine.
Likewise, the old, dry, hard, brittle heart of unregenerate man is not able to handle the Holy Spirit coming in. The Spirit comes in and cleans house, making radical changes in thought, word, deed, and desire. He would burst the brittle unregenerate heart. The Holy Spirit must move into a heart that he has been renewed, changed, made supple and soft, is ready for growth and change, and is able to accomodate expansion in love, compassion, and desire for the things of God. The "new wine" of the Holy Spirit must be placed into "new wineskins", or a new heart.
(39) And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, 'The old is good enough.
Those accustomed to old wine, who have never tasted the new, are satisfied with what they have. They have no desire for new wine because they don't even realize theirs is old and undesirable. They are drinking what they are accustomed to, all they have, all they know ... the old wine.
Likewise, unregenerate man has never tasted the newness of life in Christ. He knows nothing of it and has no desire to obtain it. He is satisfied with his sinful self and believes it is enough. He has no idea his life and heart are bad or undesirable.
Praise God that He gives us new "patches" or desires, to sew onto new "garments" or our new, regenerated man. He changes us from dark to light so that we match Him through the regeneration and sanctification processes. Praise God that He gives us supple hearts (wineskins), into which to pour Himself (the new wine), so that we do not burst when He begins to change and grow us in the grace and knowledge of Christ! Thank God that He does not leave us in that state of being satisfied with the old wine, for without the Holy Spirit's work, we would surely be drinking it now!
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
You are talkin' well sister!
Good, solid, exegesis from the word of God!
You are a warrior!
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I really like the personal application that was shown you on this passage! There are a few approaches that the Lord shows in His word- Personal,Literal, prophetical,typical,and historical approach; which all passages can have more than one. from a literal point Luke shows a dispensation change from the O.T. Law to the N.T. grace period- Jesus was letting his audience know that His death (which they didn't understand at the time) was going to introduce a new dispensation (seen by the new skins) and that Law and Grace could not co-exist. And that was why His Father's will was for Him to fulfill every stroke of the letter of the law...
I would love to correspond with you- you have my email and please come and visit me at www.breadbreakers.typepad.com
In Christ's gracious love
Rev Deb
Keep up the great insights!!!
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Praise God that you were blessed, Deb. I must respectfully disagree with the notion that Jesus introduced a "new dispensation". Dispensationalism is completely unbiblical. According to God's Word, all the elect from the foundation of the world have and will be saved the same way, which is by grace through faith. Those in the OT were saved by faith looking forward to Christ's coming. We are saved through faith looking back to the finished work of Christ. Grace through faith is the key. The law never saved anyone, but only led people to see their need for a Savior. Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.
You are welcome to email me as well. My address is newcreation@colleenebarnett.com.
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Good morning Colleen,
I wholeheartedly agree with your statement that Grace by faith is the same for everyone in every age...No one understood that more than king David after his long string of sin. A dispensation is merely a stewardship of an "age" Paul states this in Eph. 3:1. He said in verse 9 that it had been hidden for "ages"past. A dispensation simple is an "economy". I believe Jesus was showing that a new economy "grace" meaning that the law was going to be fulfilled by Him through His death and then a new and better way Heb 9:15,16 would be implemented by His resurrection and would encompass a freedom "in" Christ from the law that past "ages" did not experience. Each economy was responsible to believe (the same way "thru faith") by the knowledge or revelation that was revealed to them at that time. Like the first dispensation of "innocence" Adam and Eve was told not to eat from the tree of... as a steward of their economy- when they fell the only way back was to believe by faith in the sacrificial lamb that was offered by God to them. Thus the giving of the coats made from the lamb God had slain.. a type of Christ (Rev 13:8) Even the Hebrew word for the word "coat" means "atonement"- that is how even Able knew how to believe by faith... So I agree that all ages must come and believe by faith, but the word "Grace" is the N.T. term expressing the difference between the "Law" economy and "grace" economy that was established at Pentecost. The bride in Christ is a special undertaking that started at Pentecost and ends with the rapture. the Law economy started with Moses at the mount and for the Jewish race ends at the second coming of Christ. The Church is an "parenthetical clause" if you will...That is why there was no mention of it in the O.T. This is what was kept hidden for ages past and revealed to the apostle Paul who was given the "stewardship" of the Gentiles. I believe that in the context Jesus prefaced His answer with the "Bridegroom" to establish His intent of the wineskins. He is the bridegroom to His bride (the Church- Matt 16; Act 15 etc.) The little preposition "in" occurs only after Pentecost and up until the last mention of the church. Gal 3:26-29 says that ALL who are "in" Christ "belong" to Him.. I believe the term dispensation has been abused just as much as the term born again, but the definition of both remains the same despite the misuse of both.. I love reasoning the Scriptures and if after this, you still disagree, I respect your view and still wish to correspond with you. In deepest respect and in Christ's mighty love...
Rev Deb
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Good afternoon Deb,
Indeed, David certainly understood that it was by the unmerited grace of God, through the blood of Christ, which would one day be spilled, that he was forgiven and redeemed. David, as well as many other Old Testament believers, was a Christian. He was saved by grace through faith in the coming Messiah - Jesus Christ. All the Old testament laws and rituals pointed to the coming Messiah who would fulfill them by His death and resurrection. God's favor was always on the church, which was represented in the Old Testament by the nation of Israel. We learn of this connection between the nation of Israel and the church clearly in Romans 9:6 where Paul states the fact that "not all Israel is Israel". Israel represents the chosen of God, not a bloodline - but a faithline. God's church has always consisted of those saved by faith, which is credited as righteousness (as in the example of Abraham in Romans 4). The amazing mystery revealed in New Testament times is not grace but that the Gentiles are included in this spiritual "Israel", which is God's chosen people. The way of salvation has always been the same. No man was ever saved through the any other means or economy. All who have ever been saved, or ever will be saved, are redeemed by the completed work of Jesus, sacrificing Himself on the cross and raising again, conquering once and for all both sin and death.
There is some really great information at the following links, which may be of interest to you. I have enjoyed our correspondence and pray that you are blessed as well.
Above all things, may Christ Jesus be exalted,
Colleene
Link 1
Link 2
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