New wine must be put into new wineskins

 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.

Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."  Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"

- Luke 5:27-39

Yesterday we read that when Jesus was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."   Immediately the leprosy left him.  And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."  However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.  Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.   And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"    But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"

After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.   My study bible says that Levi (or Matthew) answers Christ's call, "Follow Me," and leaves his occupation to become a disciple.  It says that from the beginning of His ministry Christ has been a friend of tax collectors and sinners, which is one of the Pharisees' complaints against Him (see later verses in today's reading).  It's possible that Levi may also have been one of the tax collectors prepared for Christ by the ministry of John the Baptist (see the reading for April 16th, Make His paths straight).

Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   This feast, says my study bible, expresses the joy and gratitude of Matthew.  It tells us, "The guest register is a stirring demonstration of the fruit of Jesus' love and forgiveness."   This gives us a sense of Jesus' mission, and it's another admission by Jesus about the purposes for which He's here.  He's already declared that He had to preach in many cities, "because for this purpose I have been sent."  Although His revelation as Christ isn't in the cards yet, we do get statements about purpose and mission.  He is here to call sinners to repentance, to collect what is "His" and not to lose any of them, to reclaim souls for the Kingdom.

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."  Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"  My study bible says that Jesus' earthly life is a time of joyous blessings.  But there will come a time when His followers will fast.  Jesus introduces a new sort of image, a paradigm, of what faith is and does.  It saves.  Thus, the new wine that needs new wineskins.

Jesus defines His mission.  Everything He does is revealing His purpose, what He is doing here.  Here's here to save.  He's come to claim those who were otherwise lost to Him.  And let's not forget, the image of the Church is a hospital; saving means healing:  "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."    In addition to what He does, He is always teaching, the first thing He said was His purpose (Luke 4:43).    Redemption and forgiveness bring salvation.   It's a new paradigm, in a sense.  This isn't just about what side of the Law you may fall on, but it's about relationship and love.  Forgiveness and repentance also go hand in hand.  We need to be aware of the ways in which we harm that relationship to God and thereby in community.  God's love doesn't exempt us from that; rather it helps us to come to terms with it.  I read a story once about a polar explorer.  It was meant to teach about heroism.  This particular man had to turn back his expedition, just when he was close to his stated goal.  When asked why, he said, "I had to bring my men in out of the cold."  We could link this notion of heroism to Christ, to the new wineskins He's talking about.  A hero is the one who thinks about his men.  Christ comes to bring all of us in out of the cold, to find a way to bring us closer to Him and to never let us go -- not to lose a single one of us.  That's the new, true paradigm, the new wineskin needed for new wine.  This covenant is about love, love that claims and redeems, love that brings us to take a closer look at ourselves and to live with that truth, not to hide in the glorious achievements of our ancestors no matter how illustrious.  Christ's love doesn't leave anything out.  It's not a love that shies away from calling something a sickness; how else could we heal?  It's a love that reclaims and redeems and heals, that saves and restores.  We need a new paradigm for this love.  We need to understand how it works in our lives.  We need to know how our own restoration happens.  We can't live in denial with this kind of love.  It overrides everything, but we bring everything to it.  Whatever Christ's love assumes, it redeems, even as we bring ourselves, "all in," to Him.  There's also an introduction in Jesus' words about the notions of paradox we discussed yesterday.  We're all used to the old wine.  Our reactions at first are for what we know.  But He brings a Kingdom with Him that's "not of this world," and pulls us into its awareness.  That is the power of the new, the "good news."