Luke 5:36-38 “Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
A common practice in Jesus’ day was the process of storing wine in animal skins. The process of fermentation took time and as the wine fermented the wineskins would become old and brittle. If new wine were to be placed in old ones, the risk of the skins tearing and spilling out the wine was a much greater risk, therefore new wine was placed in new wineskins.
Jesus shared a parable with the disciples regarding the practice of storing wine. As in all things Jesus did, He took a common practice and applied a spiritual principle that all listening might understand.
Wine of God’s wrath
Wine has an interesting history in the Bible. I suppose, since wine has been common among mankind for thousands of years, it has been easily relatable when it comes to it’s usage.
During the days of Jeremiah when Israel had been practicing idolatry and had turned from serving the Lord, wine was representative of God’s wrath.
Jeremiah 25:15 “For thus says the Lord God of Israel to me: “Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. And they will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”
For those who were drunk with the wine of pleasure and self-fulfillment, the senseless nature of the drunkard is likened to those who live for their own pleasure then find in the morning, after the harm had been done, exactly what their actions now entail. For Israel, their actions led to their downfall, not by chance but God directly intervened and made sure they understood the magnitude of their error.
Job likewise likens the drinking of fermented wine to God’s wrath:
Job 21:17-21 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does their destruction come upon them,
The sorrows God distributes in His anger?
They are like straw before the wind,
And like chaff that a storm carries away.
They say, ‘God lays up one’s iniquity for his children’;
Let Him recompense him, that he may know it.
Let his eyes see his destruction,
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
For what does he care about his household after him,
When the number of his months is cut in half?”
Whether it is God’s people living in rebellion or the wicked who have forsaken any notion of God, wrath is poured out like wine, filling their cups. It is an interesting image of the rebellious, they hold up their goblets as if waiting to receive something back from the world, good times are short lived with the filling up of the flesh, and into those goblets God pours into them their request. All the world has to give is death but death is in the hands of the Almighty, He is the One who holds the key. Wrath comes forth from Him and all this world represents is just a front, a false representation of something that looks good but has no substance.
In the last days, the world will inherit the recourse of their ways:
Revelation 14:9,10 “Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”
To those who seal their fate during the tribulation, the wrath of God will be made manifest on Earth. The time of great tribulation will be unlike anything mankind has ever known, woe to those who are upon the earth at that time, their fate will depend upon who they place their trust in.
Wine of Redemption and Healing
During the last supper, before Jesus’ crucifixion, He shared a timeless example for the act He was about to finalize.
Luke 22:17-20 “Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; or I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
The wrath of God was satisfied by the shed blood of the Lamb.
Nothing else would do.
Jesus gave His life that we might have eternal life. Jesus gave of Himself to purchase us for His own possession. For those who have received this life giving wine, we are now the new wineskins of God’s grace.
If we try to take the morality of this world and fit it into God’s standard of righteousness, it would be like pouring God’s wine of grace into a standard that can’t hold it. The world, like the pharisees in Jesus’ day, attempts to justify itself by their actions, they think they can make themselves good by doing what they deem as good. There is none good. There is not one who can do good in and of themselves. Goodness is relegated to God alone and Jesus is the perfect manifestation of God’s goodness. When we receive Christ, we receive His goodness within us. When we walk in Him, we walk according to His Spirit and His Spirit manifests God’s goodness through us. This is the only way to be good. By allowing God to work in and through us.
Wedding Supper of the Lamb
When this age is complete, when the time of the church on earth had reached its end and evil has been vanquished, then a blessed time of holy union will finally occur. Every man, woman, and child who ever lived will join in this wedding supper of the Lamb and we will celebrate what brought us to the table.
Revelation 19:9 “Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
I don’t believe this time will be some gluttonous feast that is the culmination of being on the winning side. This supper will be a Holy convocation for the Bride and Bridegroom, a celebration of the union of the Savior with His people. Jesus promised that He would not partake of this ceremony again until the Kingdom of God comes.
What is the KIngdom of God?
It is the manifestation of all who have ever followed the King. The Kingdom of God is you and I, we have been bought with a price and that price was costly. Your value was worth Jesus’ life.
One day, we will all be seated around God’s table and Jesus will lead the sacred assembly through a communion like no other. I pray you will be there. If you haven’t known Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, there is no better time than the present to begin. It starts with humility, it proceeds with repentance and a contrite spirit, and then it leads on with trust.
Trusting in the Savior is to trust in God’s love.
U.T. 