No one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, "The old is better"

 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 it happened when Jesus was in a certain city, that a man who was full of leprosy saw Him; 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.  Levi is also known as Matthew.  He is a tax collector, member of a group of people widely hated by their society.  Tax collectors are seen as collaborators with the occupying Romans, who are willing to use intimidation and force to extort their fellow Jews.  Matthew leaves his occupation and accepts Christ's call to "Follow Me."  My study bible notes that from the beginning of His ministry, Christ has been a friend of tax collectors and sinners -- one of the Pharisees' complaints against Him.  Levi is possibly one of the tax collectors who were prepared for Christ by John the Baptist (3:12).

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."  Matthew gives a feast to express his joy and gratitude.  It's important to understand what it means to find salvation with Christ; here, Levi/Matthew is restored to community.  The scribes and Pharisees, however, complain about the company which Jesus keeps.  My study bible calls this guest register of those at the feast "a stirring demonstration of the fruit of Jesus' love and forgiveness."  It will be an ongoing theme of Luke's Gospel to understand the Church as hospital, and Christ as Physician, who came to heal those who are sick.  To understand sin as sickness is essential to understanding the healing balm of mercy.

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."   Jesus' earthly life -- the time when the Bridegroom is with His friends -- is one of joyous blessings.  But there will come a time when His followers will practice the fast.  This is an intimation by Christ of the events that will culminate His earthly life. 

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.'"  As the religious authorities begin to confront Christ, so His teachings reflect what is to come -- the new start that is necessary, a new covenant.  My study bible says that this saying, "And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better,'" is only found in Luke's Gospel.  Accordingly, my study bible says, it illustrates the difficulty with which the Jews would accept the new covenant, the inner resistance that a person faces in turning away from a sinful way of life, and also the general stubbornness of the human heart. 

In today's reading, we're given an illustration of hospitality.  While there are those who scorn the sinners and tax collectors at Matthew's table, Christ sees them differently, as patients who need healing.  In a certain sense, Jesus' statement that those who have drunk old wine do not desire the new also represents the healing action of medicine.  What's good for us -- a change -- is not automatically desired.  Jesus presents this as human nature, when He says that "no one" who has drunk old wine immediately desires the new.  What we're used to, what we have already accepted, we say is "better."  So, who do we invite to our table?  Christ speaks of change, and the desire to change.  He dines with those in need of change, who want change.  This itself is His new doctrine, one of repentance, transformation, change.  Is sin permanent?  Must it afflict us forever?  Can we break free of old behaviors, old debts?   The key here is the desire to change.  Some would mistake Christ's company with tax collectors and sinners to say that this is the example for all of us, in the sense that we must keep company with those whose behaviors and habits may be less than desirable.  But that's too facile; that is simply taking this story purely at face value without looking into the meaning of Christ's words.   What is remarkable and new here is the effect of transforming sin, the desire for repentance and change.  The expanding wineskins are an illustration of that change.  They must be able to accommodate the new.  What is important about these sinners at this feast is not that they are sinners, but that Christ is at their table, the special guest of honor, the Bridegroom.  What marks these people as different, the great change in the midst of this society, is simply that they seek the company and teachings of Christ for themselves.  We are all invited to this table, but the key is that we seek the guidance of the Physician for ourselves.  Hospitality is an image of the Eucharist, the cup to which all are invited -- but it is also the cup of change, transformation, repentance.  It is the cup that asks us to participate in the life of Christ for ourselves, to become a member of His Body.  How can we accommodate the changes He will ask of us if we really want to be a member of the wedding party at the table?  What new wineskins do we need to become to contain all the internal enzymatic action of God's energies within us?  The message of this table, of this Physician, and of His cup, is precisely one of change and transformation, of ever-active renewal.  It is for those who are willing to give up the old and familiar, and to be called to the new -- even to become the new.  Perhaps it is those who are truly aware of their own illness who are prepared to leave everything behind, and trust in faith that where they are being led has to be better.  Shall we go on this journey with them?  What do you have to lose?  Or gain?