In the last episode, I mentioned the Asbury Revival which began on February 8, 2023, and continued for about a month. Is it a true revival, an awakening, or a church event? Could it be another Jesus Revolution? Is it a movement of the Spirit?
There are fantastic stories of miracles and healings coming from those who attended, but is it real or emotional manipulation? Revival isn’t something that’s planned, it’s a move of the Holy Spirit. There are Christian leaders who have views all over the map about what is being called the “Asbury Revival.”
Is it real or not real? Only time will tell.
In this episode, we will discuss the parable of the New Wineskins. The atmosphere in the religious community when Jesus told this parable is similar to the events with Asbury. people had a lot of questions. Religious leaders like the Pharisees, priests, scribes, teachers, and lawyers were unclear about what was happening.
It’s important to understand the climate in Israel when Jesus began his ministry. John the Baptist was preaching repentance and baptism. There were false Messiah’s rising up. Crowds of people were drawn to Jesus because of the miracles and some because of his teaching.
The crowds were causing the Romans to question if the Jewish leadership had lost control of the people. So the Pharisees and scribes were following Jesus around because they were nervous and scared. They didn’t know what Jesus was doing, so they were questioning everything he said and did.
- Healing the sick.
- Forgiving sins.
- Eating with sinners.
They found fault in Jesus and his disciples, not because they were wrong, but because they weren’t like them. They were confused by Jesus because he was doing things in the Name of God that didn’t line up with their traditions and teachings.
Some wanted Jesus to tone it down. Some wanted Jesus to go away completely. And some were still trying to determine whether he was from God or not.
This is the atmosphere for the parable of the New Wine.
The context; the disciples of Jesus don’t act like the disciples of other rabbis, like John and the Pharisees.
In Luke 5:33-35 Jesus is questioned about why his disciples don’t fast. There was only one required fasting day in the Law; the day of Atonement. But the Jews were unaware that Jesus was the new everlasting atonement to end the day of atonement.
The purpose of fasting is to weaken the flesh through denial and to strengthen the spirit. Fasting is to get spiritually closer to God. But Jesus was right there with them. They couldn’t get any closer. Their question wasn’t really about fasting, it was about tradition. The disciples didn’t follow the fasting tradition of the Pharisees and rabbis, including John The Baptist.
Knowing this Jesus tells the parable of the New Cloth; Luke 5:36 (Mark 2:21 and Matthew 9:16).
We have all patched clothes. We know that what Jesus is saying here is true. If you put new material on old material the two materials will shrink differently and eventually tear away from each other making the hole worse. Although we pay extra for clothes with holes today.
The point Jesus is making in the parable is you can’t mix the old and the new. It just doesn’t work.
But in case the audience didn’t get his point about combining new things with old things, he takes it a step further and tells the parable of the New Wine; Luke 5:37-39 (Mark 2:22 and Matthew 9:17).
They all knew the wine-making process of their day. They also knew that clay jars weren’t ideal for transporting wine because of the roads. The best way to move wine was in wineskins.
Wineskins were sown together and the seams were sealed with resin. They would pour the new wine into the wineskins and as the wine fermented the wineskin would stretch. An old wineskin wouldn’t have the elasticity of a new wineskin and if you put new wine in an old wineskin it would burst from the gases and both would be ruined.
What was Jesus getting at with these parables as they relate to the original issue of why Jesus and the disciples don’t follow the fasting tradition?
Jesus is preaching the kingdom of God to the world. The message of Jesus is the new wine. His message isn’t a patch for Judaism and it isn’t something that can be put into old inflexible containers.
His Gospel is new cloth and new wine. The new cloth is for a new garment and the new wine is for a new container. The old must be thrown away and the Gospel message must be received as a new teaching so it can grow and change the lives of those who receive it.
Just like the fermenting process changing grape juice into wine, the Holy Spirit changes the hearts and minds of those who believe in the Gospel.
The old wineskins with their rituals, ceremonies, ideologies, politics, and institutions will explode with the changes the Holy Spirits bring to a new life; a born-again life. Whether 2,000 years ago or today.
The Gospel message is active and alive because the S[irit of Jesus is active and alive in our world and in the lives of those who have received him.
Our old wineskins; our ideologies, our political views, our religious traditions, our biases, and our values, are all part of an old wineskin.
If we try to keep the Gospel in our old wineskins they will burst, and both will be ruined. If we water down the message of Jesus to make it safe for our old wineskins it will make the Gospel and the Spirit ineffective in our life. This is why Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 that the old life has passed away and they are new creations.
Those who believe the Gospel message of Jesus Christ must become New Wineskins. Our sins are forgiven, we have been washed in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Paul tells the believers in Rome that we have the Spirit of Christ so that we will be changed into his image; Romans 8:29.
Like the wineskin conforming to the changing wine within it, so we are being conformed by the Holy Spirit into the image of God’s Son.
What do we have to do? Let the Spirit reshape you.
In the last episode about the parable of the Friend at Midnight, we talked about prayer. I have prayed a certain way for decades. Since the last episode, I’ve prayed differently. I’ve prayed, always asking; Is God’s word in it? I’m praying, always seeking; is God’s will in it? And I’m praying, always knocking; Is God’s Son in it?
Was it easy to patch my prayer tradition? No, I had to start a new way of praying with new material. I had to let the Spirit of Christ expand my wineskin by giving up the old way so I can pray like Jesus wants me to pray. And with that change, my prayers and my understanding of God’s response to my prayers have been revolutionized.
Jesus was showing the Pharisees, the disciples, and us that the old wineskins can’t hold the new wine of the Gospel. The worldviews, ideologies, philosophies, politics, principles, values, cultural influences, and religious traditions of the old life must be forgotten to allow for the Spirit to make us new.
We have amazing potential in Christ as a new creation if we don’t water down the Gospel to fit into our old wineskin.
We are the friends of the bridegroom that can’t fast. We are the new cloth that can’t be sewn into an old garment. We are the new wineskins that will be shaped by the Spirit of Christ.
- Jesus doesn’t put his spirit in our old lives, he puts his spirit in our new life.
- Jesus doesn’t put a new patch on our old life.
- Jesus doesn’t blend a new life with our old life.
2. Jesus gave us his Spirit to create a new life in us and create a new being.
