The Parables of Jesus - New Patch, New Wine

Introduction

Today, we begin the first parable in our series on the parables of Jesus. In this passage, our Lord teaches us about the old things and the new things He came to fulfill.

The old things refer to the Law and the Prophets, not as God’s Word removed or rejected, but as they were practiced by the people of God through human effort, often limited to outward and repeated actions.

Jesus, in His perfect love and full obedience, He who is the Messiah of the Jews and the nations, came to fully fulfill the Law. He did not bring a temporary answer, but a final and eternal work. Through His life and His sacrifice, He establishes the new covenant, not based on human works, but on the grace of God, bringing reconciliation between God and His creation.

Context of the parable

In this first parable, Jesus is facing the Pharisees, the scribes, and many disciples of John, the one who prepared the way in the wilderness. For them, who were still under the system of the Mosaic old covenant, it was difficult to understand who Jesus truly was and what He came to accomplish, despite the clear and powerful message of John announcing the coming of the Messiah and the transition toward the new covenant.

This is not about old things (old garment, old wineskins) being updated or improved, as if the new were simply added to the old. Through His coming, Jesus Christ speaks to them in parables, using simple and understandable language to reach their hearts, telling them that they could not take something from the old covenant, that is, what the people of God already had, the Law and the Prophets, and mix it with what He was bringing.

The people had to receive what Jesus was saying fully, as something entirely new, resting on a new foundation and a new basis, in order to receive a new promise, the work of the Holy Spirit in us, received by faith in His Word.

Just above this passage, we see Jesus eating with ordinary people, considered unclean, people who, according to the religious leaders, had no value. They were fasting and displaying an impressive outward appearance, but Jesus sits and eats with these sinners, He who is the physician who came to heal the spiritually sick and to save them from their sinful condition.

Jesus also speaks, in the following passage, about the Sabbath, and more broadly about religious acts and rituals that were soon to find their fulfillment. Jesus Himself would fulfill, for all who believe, the Law and the Prophets through His sacrifice on the cross, and would give true rest, by His grace, to all who have believed and repented before God.

The new covenant was already announced in the old covenant.

God, in His love, spoke through His prophets for centuries, calling His people to return to Him, to listen to His words, and to obey Him. But despite God’s many warnings, and despite the risks taken by His prophets, the people continued in sin, without truly realizing the danger they were heading toward, paths from which there is no return apart from the grace and sovereignty of God.

As the prophet Hosea says in chapter 6: “Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His appearance is as sure as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth. What shall I do with you, Ephraim? What shall I do with you, Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have cut them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that shines. For I desire in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

In this passage, we understand that God, through Hosea, urgently calls His people to turn away from their sinful ways, but also announces the coming of His Anointed One, Jesus Christ. Through His powerful work, He would heal the spiritually sick from their sins, and therefore from eternal death, giving us life, raising us up with Him through His death and resurrection, this long-awaited new birth through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

The statement, “For I desire loyalty rather than sacrifice,” could also be expressed as: “I desire your obedience rather than your religiosity.” This does not refer to outward acts produced by human effort, even when done with sincerity, but to inward realities produced by a heart regenerated by the Holy Spirit, which necessarily lead to obedience according to God’s truth.

“And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

To know God is to know His love toward us, to know who He is, through a sincere and living faith. This faith leads us to offer Him worship that is pleasing, like a sweet fragrance, rather than sacrifices that are merely human, ritualistic, and lacking a deep spiritual knowledge of the Creator.

Let’s go back to the main passage

The Two Comparisons

Here we find two very clear comparisons. One uses the image of an outer garment, something that covers our nakedness before other people, but which cannot cover our spiritual nakedness before God, because we remain exposed in our sins without His righteousness. The other speaks of wine placed into dried animal skins, a substance that goes inside and must produce something good and pleasing, representing the work of God through His Spirit acting within the human heart.

The old garment represents established religious beliefs and practices, while the new cloth symbolizes the new covenant and the teachings of Jesus, which cannot simply be added to old practices without causing a break, even a tear, which would only cause greater damage.

The outward things, especially in religion and various beliefs, are often expressed through liturgy and visible, solemn rituals that please human eyes. But in reality, they completely miss the goal, because outward things remain superficial and have no direct impact on the heart.

When faith rests on outward things, practices begin to guide belief, not on a biblical foundation, but on the observation of things considered “holy” and respectable, without a solid foundation that leads to true sanctification and heart transformation.

The old garment cannot receive a new patch, because the patch has nothing firm to hold onto and will pull away. In the same way, the gospel of the Good News of Christ cannot truly take root unless we put off our old life.

We can clearly understand that the struggle between old things (our flesh) and the new work of the Spirit is real in the believer’s life. If our hearts remain attached to past things, this will inevitably create an inner conflict that will also affect our outward life.

We must also be clothed and renewed by the Holy Spirit, so that this new and supernatural cloth may cover our hearts, making them soft and responsive through His powerful work. In this way, we are made ready to receive with joy, faith, and zeal this blessing that comes from the love of God, and to give Him the glory that is due to Him.

The inner things must also be understood in this passage, like new wine that cannot be contained in an old wineskin. The word “And” is also important, because it shows an addition in the process of inner transformation.

The new wine (or fresh wine) represents the gospel of grace and the Kingdom of God, which cannot be contained within the rigid structures of an unregenerated heart, shaped by a legalistic understanding of the old covenant.

“…and the wine is lost, and the wineskins as well;”

The new wine, this gospel of the Kingdom of God, is poured out, meaning it does not take the place it should. It spills out without being contained, being lost in the world, without taking root in the heart. And the wineskins, which represent the human heart, are lost as well, turning toward the world, and the wine can no longer enter them.

Here, Jesus speaks to us about true transformation, a theme found throughout the New Testament: becoming a new creation in Christ, through the power of the forgiveness of sins, and through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit regenerating our hearts at conversion.

Being a New Creation

God’s perfect plan for humanity as a new creation is to be justified by faith in Christ. This is clearly expressed by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17:

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

This verse shows that when a person is united with Christ by faith and receives the grace of God, a real change takes place. The “old” refers to the former life, marked by sin and separation from God. The “new” speaks of a new life, reconciled with God, produced by His grace, and lived in righteousness and holiness.

The renewal and walking by the Spirit

The renewal of our hearts through the work of the Spirit also requires personal and collective involvement. This transformation can only be beneficial for each of us if we are willing to take concrete actions, both for ourselves and for others.

That means living in a way worthy of Christ, not focused on ourselves, but continually working for the advancement of the Kingdom of God, through our words and through our actions.

Of course, all of this must be done for the glory of God and not for empty personal glory. The Holy Spirit will never lead us into actions that do not give glory to God.

Through the reading and study of the Word of God, the thoughts of our hearts are renewed, and our actions become aligned with what this Word of life says and calls us to obey.

Through prayer, we offer thanksgiving to God and intercede for others, which helps cleanse our hearts and our thoughts.

Through repentance and forgiveness, we unload our hearts from bitterness and anger, changing the direction of our earthly actions and turning them toward heavenly things.

Through fellowship, which involves opening our homes, our hearts, and our weaknesses to others, we build one another up and encourage one another.

All these things help us to be living witnesses, bring glory to God, and lead us into sanctification, so that we may be conformed to the image of Christ on this earth, becoming ambassadors of Christ, no longer attached to the things of this world, but to the things of the Kingdom of God.

Conclusion

This first parable shows us how Jesus brought the word of wisdom, led by the Spirit, and how it could only be received by a humble and sincere heart. His teachings were often misunderstood, rejected, and even attacked, because of spiritual blindness or human pride.

Yet this is exactly what the Lord asks of us: to search, to listen to His Word, and to keep it as a treasure for difficult days, out of love for the truth, which is found in Christ, and in Him alone.

Human beings often resemble the Pharisees and the scribes, closed to new things and to the work of the Spirit, out of fear, lack of understanding, or lack of spiritual knowledge.

To put on Christ also means accepting to leave a heavy past behind and to conform ourselves to the new things of God. The two cannot live together, because they would prevent the transforming work that God desires to accomplish in us through His Spirit.

May our salvation, once accomplished and assured, lead us to seek souls, by living as strong witnesses of the grace of God, and by sharing the gospel of salvation to the ends of the earth.