“But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”
- Luke 5:38-39
Jesus wasn’t much of a traditionalist. While He was consistent with the Law and fulfilled the Covenants in the Old Testament, He was also profoundly radical and controversial. Jesus was presenting a New Wine which was much to the displeasure of the traditionalist around Him. The traditionalists, the Pharisees, liked to keep the Law, but they did so as if the Law were the end of things. They kept the Law for the Law’s sake, and never really draw closer to God. They cared a lot more about the order of things rather than the restoration of things.
New Wine for Simon, James, and John:
Chapter 5 opens with Jesus’ teaching ministry along the Sea of Galilee. Crowds are starting to come, they hear His words, but they prefer His miracles. Simon, James, and John are just trying to do their work and overhear all that Jesus is teaching until Jesus turns directly to Simon and asks to get in his boat to amplify His voice for the crowds. Simon lets Jesus get in and pulls out a bit from the shore. Whether minutes or hours pass, at the end of Jesus’ teaching, Jesus requests Simon to cast their nets into the water. Simon relents to the request but with doubt since they haven’t caught a fish all night long.
Miraculously the nets fill with fish, to the point that James and John get in their boat to come help, and the weight of the fish nearly sinks both ships. They all pause amid the chaos, Simon falling to his knees in astonishment and echoing the cry of Isaiah, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” Then Jesus offered these three fishermen New Wine, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” Simon, James, and John dropped all their things and followed Jesus without a doubt. From fishermen to disciples, and one day apostles.
New Wine for the Leper:
Jesus came upon another city on His preaching tour of Galilee, and along the roads encountered a man with leprosy. An awful and painful disease that often meant ostracization and even death. Paralleling Simon’s fall to his knees, the leper comes to Jesus begging on his hands and knees, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”
The traditionalist would have run away, and ostracized the man, practically leaving him for dead. Yet, Jesus is a radical man with New Wine to offer. Jesus turns to this desperate man, “I will, be clean.” And like that, the leper was no more, just a man healed from a disease! The man’s joy so overwhelmed him that he couldn’t listen to Jesus about just going to the priest and performing a ceremony, instead, he went on a preaching tour of his own, drawing crowds to Jesus, and drawing the traditionalist to Jesus. Could we blame him though? Don’t we, when discovering a new and the best, want to share that with everyone we know?
New Wine for the Paralytic:
As crowds draw in, so do the traditionalist. In fact, at this point, teachers of the Law are coming from all over Galilee and Judea to hear this radical miracle worker. People were lined shoulder to shoulder in the streets where Jesus was. This became a great problem for a few friends who have carried their paralyzed friend on his mat from a long distance to come to Jesus. After seeing the streets, they knew it would be too hard, so instead, they climbed up onto the roof of where Jesus was teaching, and began digging through the roof! Dust and debris no doubt descended upon Jesus and those below, but these friends’ faith was too strong to let their friend go another day paralyzed. Once the hole was big enough, they lowered their friend on his mat, and Jesus looks into the hearts of these friends, and looks into the eyes of the paralytic, and says, “Man, your sins are forgiven.”
At this, the jaws of the traditionalists drop just like the roof did, “Who are you to forgive sins? Only God can do that!” Jesus heard this in their hearts, and inquires of them, “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk?’” You see, they questioned Jesus’ authority, for only God can forgive sins, but they could see what Simon, James, John, the leper, nor the friends could see, that Jesus is the Son of Man. To prove to them that Jesus is God, Jesus not only forgives the man’s sins but commands the man, “Rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” And he does to the astonishment of traditionalists and the joy of the friends. Jesus poured out New Wine right in front of the Old Wine.
New Wine for Levi:
This leads us to one last story in chapter 5. Levi has likely heard reports about Jesus, maybe he has even received Jesus’ taxes. Yet this encounter is different. Jesus lays out the New Wine, plain and simple. “Follow me,” Jesus invites Levi, a frowned upon tax collector turned disciple. The traditionalist had no place for tax collectors and sinners, but Jesus went to feast with them!
It’s at this feast and in response to the criticisms of the traditionalists that Jesus says our devotion’s verses. Some have become content with the Old Wine, accustomed to its taste, and are beneficiaries of keeping the Law and the authority that it gives them. They have lost sight though of its purpose. The tradition was meant to reveal our deep need for God, it was not an order of rules to follow, but a way of redemption and faith in God. Simon, James, John, and Levi tasted this and become Jesus’ disciples. The leper and the paralytic received in full faith the restoration of the New Wine. May we too drink deeply in faith as they did?
Final Blessing:
The old is gone, the new has come, and restoration is made near and personal. Jesus’ New Wine is consistent with the Law and the Covenants, it’s always been accurate to God’s plan. It’s we who decide to make a different wine and drink from that, losing the taste for the wine that God would rather have us drink. May we respond in faith each day to the call of Jesus, “follow me.”
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breath, and every heartbeat of your journey!
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