Matthew 9:14-17 14 14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. 16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Here we see that when John’s disciples came to ask Lord Jesus why his disciples did not fast. Lord Jesus told this parable of new and old clothes, the new and old wineskins. What do new cloth, old clothes and new clothes represent here? How does it relate to the fasting mentioned earlier? Old clothes refer to the old man, and new clothes refer to the new man. New cloth represents new teachings. At that time, the disciples of Lord Jesus were still old men and had not yet received the Holy Spirit. The new cloth represents new teachings such as fasting. They were old men and there was no need to fast, only when they became new men, they needed to fast. Believing in the Lord is not about repairing and improving the old life, not by patching new cloth on old clothes, but wearing new clothes and being a new person. What do new wine, old wineskins and new wineskins represent? The old wineskins represent the old men, and the new wineskins represent the new men. The new wine represents the Holy Spirit. The new wine cannot be put in old wineskins, but put in the new wineskins, it means that the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in an old life, in an old man, but can only dwell in a new life, in a new man.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
A person who believes in the Lord and is baptized, is born again and be saved, and receives the Holy Spirit. He becomes a new person and lives a new life. The new creation has come.
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
Lord Jesus came so that his disciples have life, and have it to the full. A life filled with the Holy Spirit, and a life with the presence of the Lord.
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)
Here the apostle Paul tells us not to be drunk on wine, but to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Here the wine is related to the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, it was said that the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. People thought that they were drunk. The wine and the Holy Spirit were once again related.
All of you who are thirsty should come to water. Those who don’t have money can come. You all come, buy and eat. You can buy wine and milk without money or value. (Isaiah 55:1)
Here it is about seeking God, seeking the Holy Spirit. Anyone who is thirsty and has no money can go to the Lord to buy wine and milk. Once again, wine is related with the Holy Spirit. In short, in this parable we study, the new wine represents the Holy Spirit.
May God bless you and your family. 😊
