Jesus Christ expects His followers to become totally committed to all of God's laws and way of life. Jesus teaches that the transition can be very difficult!
What happened the first time you heard the truth of God? What happened when you found out the truth about Christmas, Easter, or God's holy days? What was your reaction? Did you decided right away to obey God and reject the world? Or did you try and reconcile your preconceived ideas with the Bible?
The decision to obey Jesus Christ will mean that you must change many aspects of your life, some small, others major. You might have to change the day that you have kept "holy," from Sunday to the seventh-day Sabbath or some of the things that you eat. Maybe you must alter the way you budget your money and eliminate many words from your vocabulary. It is a major shift in most people's lives that to observe the ways of Christ can mean a major disruption.
People who convert, all of a sudden have to explain themselves to their parents, relatives friends etc...about why they don't observe certain days anymore-no more Christmas tree, or Easter eggs. You have to explain to people why you are now eating Matzos when you are not even Jewish!
Some may even feel guilty about this major shift in their lives. Some would even try and compromise their beliefs. It was just that the "old way seemed so comfortable." Jesus Christ knew this would happen. He explained to His disciples that they would indeed miss some aspects of the old way of life, and that even as they learned the truth from Him they would look back nostalgically from time to time.
"New Wine into Old Bottles"
When Jesus began His public ministry, He immediately came into conflict with the Pharisees, a religious sect who prided themselves on the way they kept God"s laws. They had become so fanatical in their self-righteous attempts to be perfect that they had added many traditions to the basic law of God. The Pharisees thus made the keeping of God's law into a burden.
Along comes Jesus, and to them Jesus was an outright Liberal. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He did not fast the way the Pharisees did. He did not (ceremonially) wash his hands the way the Pharisees did. He did not keep the Sabbath the same way the Pharisees did.
Finally the asked Jesus, "...Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?" (Luke 5:33). They were speaking of his lifestyle in general; they believed that Jesus was just too liberal when it came to obeying the law of God.
Then Jesus came teaching an important lesson about obedience to God, "No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old." (v.36). A garment (clothes) is a symbol of God's righteousness (Isa 61:10; Rev 7:9, 14; 19:8). Of course this is the context of these verses-obedience to God's law.
Any seamstress understands what Jesus is saying. New, unshrunk material cannot be used to patch old, worn garments. When it shrinks, it will tear the old cloth even worse than before. What did Jesus mean-spiritually?
Let's examine the next analogy, for both lead to the same meaning. Jesus said, "And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.
"But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.
"No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better." (vv.37-39). This analogy, many in this 21st century will find a little difficult to understand.
In New Testament times glass bottles were rare, so wine was often transported in animal skins, usually from goats. They made a strong, airtight and moisture proof container, but you had to be careful. New wine that had not finished fermenting gave off gas that would expand the skins. A new wineskin had some "give" to it, and would allow for the expansion. But old, used skins lost their elasticity. They would burst. The wine would be spilled and the wineskin ruined.
What does wine symbolize-spiritually? Christ said that wine symbolized the blood of the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28-29) which contains the laws of God (Jer 31:33). Jesus blood makes one righteous because the life of the flesh is in the blood (Lev 17:11); and Jesus life was "without sin" (Heb 4:15) and sin is the breaking of God's law (1 John 3:4). So wine is the symbol of the obedience to God's laws.
The "woman" in Revelation 17 is a symbol of a church. This is an apostate church that made compromises. Notice, "...the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." The woman makes people "drink" her wine, the wine of fornication which is her Idolatrous doctrines.
Israel was accused of "...committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.
"Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.
"Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith." (Ezekiel 16:26, 28-29). Gill says, "By entering into leagues and alliances with them, and seeking to them for help and assistance against their enemies;...and joined themselves to them by solemn covenant; and not only so, but fell into the worship of their idols, who were a people of all others the most superstitious, and given to idolatry; and many of their idolatrous rites and ceremonies were received and retained by the Jews, as the worshipping of Tammuz, and other idols:" (emphasis added). So clearly wine is a symbol of obedience to God, or obedience to man's ways-man's commandments! Jesus said about the Pharisees, "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Matthew 15:9).
Why did Jesus put it in this way? Jesus was using a familiar situation to teach an aspect of Christian living.
The Old Way seems Better?
When people begin to understand the teachings of the Bible, it is a totally new experience-unlike anything he or she has ever known-like new wine or an unused piece of cloth.
What some people try to do is to fit this new truth into their old way of life. That is only natural, because it is hard to change, and no one likes to admit having been wrong. The old way of life is familiar and comfortable, and we want to hang on to as much of it as possible and ease into the new life-even if it is right, sometimes seems like an unwelcome intruder, and you find yourself resenting it. "No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better." (Luke 5:39). The truth comes smashing into inherited religious ideas and preconceived notions of right and wrong. It challenges comfortable beliefs, making you question things you have always done.
It is not surprising that so many people, even though they acknowledge the truth, still prefer to cling to their old beliefs. Or perhaps meet the truth halfway. People try to put their new wine in the old bottle, but as Jesus said it will spoiled everything. This is why Jesus and his disciples were not following the same way the Pharisees did, it was the commandments of men (old wine), and not the new truths of Christ-the ways of God (new wine).
Go All the way
Don't make that mistake. If you are beginning to understand what it means to be a real Christian, realize that it is going to demand positive action on your part. You can't have it both ways, observing this world's customs and still expect a blessing. Jesus said, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46).
He expects total commitment. He demands that we come out of the Babylon of confusion (Rev 18:4) that characterizes so much religion today.
So along with the excitement of learning new truth comes the responsibility of making some painful decisions. Don't compromise!
God does not want to take from us anything that is good. His way of life is filled with exciting experiences that mean something and lead somewhere not empty, senseless rituals that lead nowhere, "walked after things that do not profit." (Jer 2:8)
As you follow God's way of life, you will begin to miss the "old wine" less and less. You will see it for what it is-a hollow counterfeit of the real thing.
God is showing you the way to freedom from all that. Instead of looking back at the fraudulent ways of this world, you will begin to anticipate the excitement of the truth of the Gospel, and remember, "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62).
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