Hey, Church! 

We introduced a song called “New Wine” a few weeks back and plan to sing it again this Sunday. Its title and message come from an interaction Jesus had with some Pharisees and John the Baptist’s disciples. John’s disciples asked Jesus, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 

Jesus answered, “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved” (Matt. 9:16-17).

It is likely that the Pharisees have, in this instance, bent the ear of John’s disciples in order to make them their spokesmen. Perhaps they figure their passive aggressive accusation of impiety against Jesus’ disciples will be better received from friends. It is worth noting that the enemy loves to sow seeds of discord and suspicion in the minds of good men. It is also noteworthy that the wicked seed was not planted by a pagan tribe but by the most outwardly-pious “believers” (as they would, by all accounts but God’s, appear to be par excellence). 

Fasting was a routine part of religious devotion. Many, if not all, of the men asking this question likely fasted for two days every week. The Pharisees excel in what we might call the spiritual disciplines, and yet they are hypocrites and schemers. Boasting of their fasting practices (“we and the Pharisees fast”), they demand to know why the followers of this so-called prophet and teacher, Jesus, are not equally devoted. 

Jesus answers in His usual way, with a word picture. If I may paraphrase His response: “You are so stuck in the old way of doing things that you cannot receive the new thing standing right in front of you.” He is comparing their rigid lawkeeping with old wineskins (animal skin made into a bladder) that are dry and cracking, utterly unable to contain anything of substance. Jesus, and soon after this, the Holy Spirit, along with all of His benefits is the “new wine.” Pharisees-at-heart cannot receive Him. 

When I think on this passage of scripture, I am forced to look inward and ask, “What ‘old ways’ am I clinging to that may be preventing me from receiving new deposits of the Holy Spirit?” Because the truth is that if we wish to be filled in ever-increasing measure, we must ever-forsake our idols. Jesus could have chosen any type of container to make His point. So, it matters that He chose a vessel of wine. 

You have heard this elucidated before, but it is worth rehearsing: 

Wine is the product of many tortures. From the grape’s perspective, making wine is a painful process! A seed dies and falls into the soil, and is buried. The vine grows only how the vinedresser desires; it is cut and pruned until it reaches maturity. When the grape is ripe, it is plucked from its branch, thrown into a vat, crushed, and hard-pressed until every drop of its life has been bled out. Only after it has been fermented and aged is the product of so many deaths able to give life and joy to the heart of man. 

When the circumstances under God’s providence feel most crushing, take heart. He is making new wine and molding you into a more worthy vessel of His Spirit and power. As it is written, “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work” (2 Tim. 2:21). 

Seek to pray the words of “New Wine” with a genuine heart over the weekend: 

In the crushing, in the pressing,
You are making new wine.
In the soil I now surrender;
You are breaking new ground. 

So I yield to you and to your careful hand;
When I trust you I don’t need to understand.

So make me a vessel, make me an offering, 
Make me whatever you want me to be; 
I came here with nothing, but all you have given me,
So, Jesus, bring new wine out of me. 
Jesus, bring new wine out of me.

‘Cause where there is new wine, there is new power,
There is new freedom, and the Kingdom is here;
I lay down my old flames 
To carry your new fire today