“Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”
In this parable Jesus was telling them about the spirit they needed in them that only God can create for them to see or enter into or inherit the kingdom of God. We see this said these different ways in John3:3,5 and 1Cor.15:50.
Here Jesus uses wine, something these Israelites were familiar with, to convey this message about the spirit and the resurrection. Saying that if they exchanged new wine for the old wine they had in their old wine bottles the old bottle would burst. Why? Because as grape juice ferments it expands in the bottle. And when it expands enough the bottle will break.
They knew this about the grape juice and wine they made. But, think about this. What He was calling old wine here was grape juice that had already fermented. So there was no danger from it growing and expanding to cause the old bottle to burst. This means that even though Jesus also referred to the new wine as wine. The new wine was not fermented. Because it could still expand to burst the old bottle.
So the new wine Jesus was talking about wasn’t wine as we know it today at all. It was grape juice. Unfermented and sweet. No alcohol. This was the good stuff the “ruler of the feast” said Jesus saved for last at the wedding feast at Cana. When normally they would have served it first.
So whenever you are reminded about the time when Jesus turned water to wine. Or if you talk with someone trying to justify drinking alcohol by saying, “Well, Jesus turned water to wine”. Know that He didn’t turn water to alcohol. He turned it into the new wine that was grape juice.
So the new wine in the parable is the spirit that God creates in us when we are born again. A spirit that no man ever had before Jesus came. The old wine is representative of the Old Covenant Israel had with God. And speaks of their innermost thoughts before they came into the New Covenant to become the new creature in Christ of 2Cor.5:17 after being born again.
The old wine bottle is a container. It is our flesh bodies, our living soul, that we are from our mother’s womb. So the new wine in old bottles is describing a man who is born again. One whose old body now houses the spirit God created in him when he has trusted in Jesus.
The old wine bottle bursting is a description of the death of that living soul. Our flesh bodies. And the new wine bottles is the resurrected body Jesus said in John14:2,3 He has prepared for us. It’s they same body that Paul said in 1Cor.2:9- “9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” And the same body Paul also speaks of in 1Cor.15 when he says, “53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
When our old body dies and we receive a new body at the resurrection we have conquered death. Before this we remain in the old wine bottles that will one day burst. And we will have our resurrected new bottles. But, only if we already have a spirit in these old wine bottles will we enter into, see, or inherit the kingdom of God.
So, new wine in old wine bottles is a description of what happens when we are born again. And the new wine in new wine bottles is a description of our spirit that was created by God when we were born again being clothed with our resurrected body.
It is the resurrection unto life Jesus spoke of in John5:29 saying, “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
What this verse shows us is the greatness of God’s love and hope is for mankind. Because even for those who ultimately reject Jesus, by a choice of their own free will that God in His sovereignty created a plan in which He never usurps His power over, He has prepared a new body, new wine bottle, for them.
A body He made in anticipation of you coming to a saving faith in Jesus. A body that is filled with a spirit God creates in everyone who has trusted in Him. So that life is given to that body that it needs to live in heaven.
The reason God sovereignly made free will such an integral part of how we are saved was to ensure that only real love would join us to the Father. That God’s love being shown first in Jesus joining with all men in the same flesh we all have. So that He would not only be tempted in all points just as all men are. But, He would also join with us in our death. So that by the power of His resurrection He would make it possible for all men to join with Him in eternal life and immortality.
This was the beauty of the story Jesus told them when He spoke of new wine in new wine bottles. And with this new wine first in these old bottles we can have a relationship with God that was never possible even for those who spoke with God in the Old Testament. Or those who are alive today that have not yet come to a saving faith in Jesus.
In Mt.9 after Jesus told them about the old and new wine and old and new wine bottles. He was asked to help a man, a ruler of the synagogue, whose daughter had died. The man saying to Jesus, “My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.”
This man believed that Jesus had the power to give life. And so it is. Jesus does indeed have such power. In fact, Jesus is the only one who has such power. Because only Jesus has lived as a man, died a man’s death, and risen conquering death. This is why Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me.”
And when Jesus went with this ruler and brought his daughter to life again. This was only fleshly life. The life of the old wine bottle. So just as all men do she too died some time later. The old wine bottle that was her fleshly body finally burst. Suffering the death that Jesus came into the world to conquer.
It is only when we trust in Him and believe in our hearts that He has raised from the dead that God then creates in us a spirit that makes us children of God and heir to His kingdom. This is how we join with Jesus in conquering death. If we do not we will remain wine bottles void of the spirit God creates in us that makes us children of God and heir to His kingdom.
So Jesus was telling them then, as I am telling you now, trust in Jesus. Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. And believe in your heart that He has raised from the dead. And you will have the new wine created in you now. The spirit that makes you God’s child. And the new wine bottle at the resurrection. The resurrected body Jesus is right now as we live out our lives here on earth making for us.
Do this and you will have eternal life now. Do this and you will receive an immortal body at the resurrection that will be the new wine bottle, to hold the new wine that is your spirit, that will never burst. Do this and you will inherit God’s kingdom. Do this… and I will see you there or in the air!
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