New Wine, New Wineskins!!!
“New Wine, New Wineskins!!!”
Reflections: In our readings today, we see 3 different time periods in the life of God’s people, Israel. In the psalm, we see the psalmist lamenting that Judah’s enemy (the Babylonians) had reduced the temple to rubble. The psalmist wonders how long the Lord’s judgment will last and if there will be consequences for their oppressor. He pleads for mercy.
In Deuteronomy (which means 2nd Law!), we see Moses stating the terms of the covenant, which if Israel had obeyed they wouldn’t be in the mess they are in. Importantly, it starts with love of God, from which all obedience flows. We see God is even interested in the practical ways the Israelites could remember the laws, by tying it on their wrists and pasting to their foreheads! He wanted faith to be taught in the home and for parents to remind their kids of God’s laws, so that it would go well with them every day! Here we see the vision for parents being the primary faith mentors for their children!
In the Gospel lesson, we see these same religious leaders (the Pharisees) still didn’t get it. The purpose of God’s law was for Israel to be set apart so that all nations would see God’s goodness and turn to Him. But the Pharisees have missed the point and are more interested in their own power and authority, than in this instance the tax collector, who really gets it and turns to Jesus for forgiveness. The Pharisees are worried about fasting (the purpose of fasting is to bring us closer to God), but they don’t realize that Jesus is right there, and therefore they didn’t need to fast!
Finally, Jesus calls himself the New Wine and New Wine needs a New Wineskin! The old wineskin was the law, which the Jews were unable to measure up to because of sin. The new wine was the new covenant through Jesus’ blood, as He became our righteousness. From now righteousness would come by faith through God’s grace and Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. As we taste this new wine, we are compelled to live for Jesus and His purposes in the world. The law is written on hearts! The church becomes the new wineskin as the body of believers that live out God’s purposes for the world, as we continue to drink the New Wine of grace, as is celebrated each week in Holy Communion when we remember what Jesus did for us!
Psalm 79:1-8
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
3 They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
of scorn and derision to those around us.
5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name;
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.
Deuteronomy 5:22-6:25
Love the Lord Your God
6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Luke 5:27-39
Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus Questioned About Fasting
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.”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.”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. 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. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”
Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Psalm 150:2 (NIV)
In Jesus Christ every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20
We praise you, great Promise-Keeper, and give thanks for gifts aplenty! As your resounding “Yes” answered all of our prayers in Christ, let us respond, “Amen” again and again, to your glory! In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Reflections: In our readings today, we see 3 different time periods in the life of God’s people, Israel. In the psalm, we see the psalmist lamenting that Judah’s enemy (the Babylonians) had reduced the temple to rubble. The psalmist wonders how long the Lord’s judgment will last and if there will be consequences for their oppressor. He pleads for mercy.
In Deuteronomy (which means 2nd Law!), we see Moses stating the terms of the covenant, which if Israel had obeyed they wouldn’t be in the mess they are in. Importantly, it starts with love of God, from which all obedience flows. We see God is even interested in the practical ways the Israelites could remember the laws, by tying it on their wrists and pasting to their foreheads! He wanted faith to be taught in the home and for parents to remind their kids of God’s laws, so that it would go well with them every day! Here we see the vision for parents being the primary faith mentors for their children!
In the Gospel lesson, we see these same religious leaders (the Pharisees) still didn’t get it. The purpose of God’s law was for Israel to be set apart so that all nations would see God’s goodness and turn to Him. But the Pharisees have missed the point and are more interested in their own power and authority, than in this instance the tax collector, who really gets it and turns to Jesus for forgiveness. The Pharisees are worried about fasting (the purpose of fasting is to bring us closer to God), but they don’t realize that Jesus is right there, and therefore they didn’t need to fast!
Finally, Jesus calls himself the New Wine and New Wine needs a New Wineskin! The old wineskin was the law, which the Jews were unable to measure up to because of sin. The new wine was the new covenant through Jesus’ blood, as He became our righteousness. From now righteousness would come by faith through God’s grace and Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. As we taste this new wine, we are compelled to live for Jesus and His purposes in the world. The law is written on hearts! The church becomes the new wineskin as the body of believers that live out God’s purposes for the world, as we continue to drink the New Wine of grace, as is celebrated each week in Holy Communion when we remember what Jesus did for us!
Psalm 79:1-8
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
3 They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
of scorn and derision to those around us.
5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name;
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.
Deuteronomy 5:22-6:25
Love the Lord Your God
6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Luke 5:27-39
Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus Questioned About Fasting
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.”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.”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. 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. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”
Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Psalm 150:2 (NIV)
In Jesus Christ every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20
We praise you, great Promise-Keeper, and give thanks for gifts aplenty! As your resounding “Yes” answered all of our prayers in Christ, let us respond, “Amen” again and again, to your glory! In the name of Jesus. Amen.
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