36 He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he 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. If he does, 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. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.'"
Continuing to respond to the question of why Jesus’ disciples did not fast and pray and the followers of the Pharisees and John the Baptist did, Jesus begins by giving a set of contrasts or things that simply just do not mix. A guest of the bridegroom would not fast on that joyful occasion (verse 34); no one would sew new cloth on an old garment because it would not match (verse 36); and no one would pour new wine into old wineskins because the new wine would burst the old skins that had lost their elasticity (verse 37). Jesus was explaining to them that His way (the new way) and the way of the Pharisees (the old way) were simply unmixable. The Pharisees refused to try the new way (Jesus’ way) because they assumed that their old way was better. Interestingly, old wineskins had lost their elasticity and were unable to stretch and hold what was new. How very much we can all relate to that in regard to holding on to tradition rather than stretching and growing in the truth of God’s Word. Jesus had many things to say about that and they weren’t very complimentary! The Jews had had a very long period between the time the law had been given to them and when Jesus entered their scene. That meant that they had had sufficient time to adopt “traditions of men” into their customs to the point that they considered them God given law. Boy, do we have that same tendency! Here is what Jesus had to say about that: 1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"
3 Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” Matt 15:1-3 (NIV) 6 He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
"'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." 9 And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! Mark 7:6-9 (NIV) 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that." Mark 7:13 (NIV)
These are strong words by our Lord. We are to be careful if the traditions we are holding on to rob us of our ability to discern Truth from the rules made by men. Voices heralding from many of our pulpits today bear no resemblance to God’s Word. We often sit under teaching that is merely opinions of men. Scripture tells us: 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. Col 2:8 (NIV)
One last point – when Scripture tells us that new wine must be poured into new wineskins (verse 38) it goes right along with Paul’s teaching in II Corinthians: 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Cor 5:17 (NIV)
Pour the New Wine in Lord!