Out with the old

On Sunday we looked at the New Covenant which is better than the Old Covenant.  I did not mention the parable of Jesus from Luke 5:36-39 dealing with the old wineskins and the new wineskins.  Why?  The message of Jesus is clear: you cannot mix the two wineskins and keep the wine safe.  The principle is one that all Jewish people would have understood.  Old wineskins become brittle and shrunken over time.  If you placed new, unfermented wine in the old wineskins, the wineskins would swell with the fermentation and would burst, spilling all the new wine on the ground.  Who would want that?  And if you had an old wineskins and it had a tear in it, you only patched with with wineskins of the same age, or again, the fermentation would burst the wineskins and the the wine would be lost. 

Instead, new wine was placed in new wineskins as the skins would have the ability to expand with the fermentation.  Is Jesus talking here of the Old Covenant?  Unfortunately, the Old Covenant had been added to by the religious leaders over time.  Jesus was not condemning the Old Covenant, but the ritualistic, man-made legalism that deadens the heart and condemns the soul.  Even in the Old Covenant there was a faith that was needed, and when exercised was counted to the believer as righteousness.  Those Old Testament saints were awaiting the fulfillment of the promise of the Old Covenant.  Instead of a covering of sin, there would be forgiveness of sin through the Messiah, the Savior or God.  And Jesus Christ is that sacrifice, the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world.  

One more unfortunate part which is when Jesus says, “And no one having drunk old wine, immediately desires the new, for that person says “The old is better.”  My friend, anyone that really tastes the forgiveness and grace of Jesus would not want to return to daily sacrifices and the covering of sin, when their sins have been forgiven.  No, this statement refers to the person who is comfortable with the old, ritualistic, checklist of goodness that they have trusted to save them from their sins before a holy God.  Jesus clearly is telling us to stop trusting that which is broken, decayed and worthless, for what good is an old wineskin if you cannot fill it?  Instead, trust Him and Him alone in whom you can find forgiveness, hope, peace, joy, contentment and purpose for living.  Do you have those things in your life right now?  If not, what is keeping you from trusting Jesus?  If it is questions, please let us know.  We want to help you answer them.

Pressing on…

Ron Tipton, Senior Pastor