Stories Jesus Told Part 5

Told is the last message in the Stories Jesus Told Sermon Series. We have been looking at the various parables Jesus taught during His time on earth. He used parables to teach about the kingdom of God, Redemption, Forgiveness, prayer, and so much more.

In looking at a parable, we talked through the 5 major questions to ask:

What is the Context?

Are there cultural references to understand?

Are there standard stereotypes to understand?

What details might be important?

What is the point of the parable?

If you missed any of these, you can check these out on our website for the sermon text or Youtube for the video.

Today we’ll end with a parable out of the book of Luke. Go ahead and turn to Luke 5 and we’ll read starting in verse 33.

While you turn there, I want to mention our next sermon series that will start next week called Faith Like Noah

Faith Like Noah

This will be a short series of messages that will challenge our faith and our response to the call of God. Invite someone to join us next week as we start a new series.

Back to our passage for today…Luke 5 starting in verse 33:

Luke 5:33 NIV

33 They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.”

Here we have the context of the parable. The parable that follows deals directly with this question. Why aren’t you fasting?

Here in Luke it is not 100% clear on who is asking the question, but if you look at the same parable in the book of Matthew (9:14) or Mark (2:18) you’ll see that John’s disciples were asking the question.

Mark 2:18 NIV

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

Fasting had become such a religious act that was prescribed twice a week by the religious leaders. In fact Jesus spoke out against this practice as it became a bit of a competition and source of public pride:

Matthew 6:16 NIV

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

This is how they knew his disciples were not fasting. They weren’t sullen and disfigured…Jesus answers this question in 3 parts:

Luke 5:34–35 NIV

34 Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”

Right Idea, Wrong time

He tells them that now is a time for celebration and joy. You wouldn’t show up at a wedding and ask people to fast. The Bridegroom - Jesus - is with you. Celebrate what He represents and who he is.

But, Jesus says, there will come a time with the groom is gone and fasting will be appropriate.

Fasting is a time to mourn and lament. It is a time of sorrow and petition to God. David fasted when confronted by the sin of sleeping with Bathsheba. The nation of Israel fasted in remembrance of the temple being destroyed. John’s disciples were fasting for their leader who was in jail for his preaching.

Fasting is something that should be done, but at the right time - Right Idea, just the Wrong time. When Jesus came, He changed everything.

Then he tells the first of 2 parables:

Luke 5:36 NIV

36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.

First he says that you don’t tear up the new to fix the old, you just use the new. You don’t buy a new car just take the tires and put them on your old car…Likewise, you don’t go buy a new pants and cut the legs off and sew them onto an old pair…you just wear the new pair.

Remember, Jesus is talking about fasting and the reason his disciples don’t. He has come with something new. The new is a direct relationship with God through the son. The old was religious practice without relationship. In this way, the new replaces the old.

I’ve got an old pair of jeans that fit me great now. I just bought a new pair of jeans the same size and style as the old, but they don’t fit. I’ve gained 10 pounds and the old jeans grew with me. The new jeans have pointed out the areas where I have gathered some stuff that I would rather not have. If I am to wear the new, I am going to have to get rid of some stuff.

Isn’t that just like God to make a parable real in my life just before I’m to teach on it...

He continues in the next parable:

Luke 5:37–38 NIV

37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.

Wineskins were made from animals. Much like leather, when it is new it is easily shaped and is flexible. When new wine is made, it gives off gasses during the fermenting process and causes the skins to expand. After time, the liquids in the wine cause the skin to harden into shape.

If someone were to put new wine into old skins, the skins would not be able to expand and they would burst.

As people in general go through life, they skin hardens. I’ve noticed that about myself at times…we become cynical and expect the worst. We lose our sense of wonder, change becomes harder. Our wineskin becomes conformed to the wine that is in us and hardens.

First, we must become a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

By being in Christ and Christ in us, we become a new creation. We are ready for the new wine Jesus is offering. Our hardened heart is able to change, and this change does not happen by a resolution or will, it happens by grace alone.

Just because we were a new wineskin years ago, that doesn’t mean we can’t get new wine today...

Luke 5:38 NIV

38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.

There are 2 different Greek words here that are translated new. The first is literally new, young or that which just appeared or was not before. That is the new wine or if translating the parable, this is the word of God and promises deposited in us. Jesus coming is new for the time He spoke the parable.

The new for wineskins however is the same as the new in 2 Corinthians 5:17 when it says that we are a new creation in Christ. Our being is not completely replaced, but it is a new version of ourselves that is now in Christ.

It could be translated fresh or renewed. There is a process to make an old wineskin new. There are several processes and the disciples at this time would have known this. Remember, when we read these parables, we have to ask if there are cultural differences that we might not catch…this is one of them...

First, the wineskin is submerged in water, but not just any water. It was often tied to the bank of a river and allowed to move with the current. This accomplished 2 things. 1. The water touching the skin was constantly fresh. 2. The water forces the skin to move which eventually allows the skin to freely flow with the water and is no longer rigid.

The first step is renewing our wineskin for a fresh new wine to be poured out is to get into the river and allow washing of the word over our lives. God may have spoken a fresh word over you years ago and I would say to you, let him speak a new word over you today. Wade into the water. Read the parts of the Bible you haven’t read before. Study in ways you haven’t before…tie yourself to the riverbank of his word and allow the word to toss you about. Even the most jagged rock gets it’s edges smoothed out in a river.

Then the wineskin is taken out of the water and covered in oil. This represents anointing. As the wineskin is covered in oil, it is being prepared for the new wine. It is being prepared for it’s “new” purpose. Prior to the anointing with oil, the skin is gooey and without form. The oil coats the skin and protects it. The anointing in our life gives us a sense of purpose and direction.

Here is what happens with new wine or a new word poured into a new or fresh wineskin. It ferments in the wineskin for a period of time and then increases in size. When it is ready, it is then poured out for someone else to consume.

Jesus ends the parable with a warning...

Luke 5:39 NIV

39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’ ”

This may not seem like a warning, but it is. Remember, Jesus is talking about his coming being the new. The new should be what we want. We should want a new word from the Lord. We should want new wine, but it is so much easier to do what we are used to.

We say…the old is better. What we are really saying is I don’t want to change. I’m good.

The process for renewing a wineskin requires movement. It requires agitation. Just soaking the skin in stagnant water will just ruin the skin because the bacteria will just multiply and eat it away, but moving water removes the harmful bacteria and cleans it away.

Then the anointing with oil provides protection and calling. It allows the vessel to handle the deposit of new wine.

I don’t have new wine for you today. I don’t have a new word, or a new purpose for our church or for me. I do know that if new wine comes, and it will, I want my personal wineskin ready. I want your wineskin ready. I want our church’s wineskin ready. Perhaps today is preparation for a word that is to come. Will you join me in freshening up our wineskins?

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