The New Wine Will Burst The Skins (Luke 5:37)

"Nobody puts new wine into old skins" (Luke 5:38)

“Yours eat and drink freely!” the scribes and the Pharisees tell Jesus. What an understatement! The disciples of Jesus had no clue about an organized religious life. They were not at all into fasting, penance, long prayers, or any of the other things that traditionally became part of organized religious practice. If we look at the preferred means of ministry of Jesus, it was table ministry. Jesus accepted invitations from anybody, and he made the occasion of meals and fellowship the vehicle for him to touch people’s hearts and bring them into the great net.

Jesus answers the question about fasting using the wedding feast, in this very same verse, He prophecies about His death and at that time His disciples will fast. In this he talks about the future and the new covenant that would usher in at his death, while remaining on the topic of fasting. The scribes and the Pharisees lived by the old Law that was passing away and some of their traditions were man-made. With the parable of the new and old wine, Jesus tells them that their teachings and the old Law will not mix with the teachings or the new Law that he will establish at his death. Jesus did not come to patch up an old Law, but instead he came to establish a new and better one (Hebrews 8:6-7,13, 9:15, 12:24).

In Luke 5:39 Jesus says, And no-one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, “The old is better.” The underlying message of Jesus is that one cannot mix the new with the old. The closed attitude of the scribes and the Pharisees make them reject the new covenant, just because they seem to be comfortable with the old law and their man-made traditions. Their deluded minds are unable to accept change and see things from a new perspective.

It is not always easy to accept change. Yet change is inevitable, growth is optional, so choose wisely. Whether you like it or not changes will take place, the only way one can stop change is when one refuses to grow! Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown. Thankfully, there is one thing that is constant, the love of God who holds all things together through Jesus who in turn nourishes us daily with the Holy Eucharist! So, leave your prejudices and rigidness' behind and come to the Eucharist, believing that you can be nourished by the 'Bread of Life'.

“Lord, may the gift we offer in faith and love be a continual sacrifice in your honour and truly become our Eucharist and our salvation”