And 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 He 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 comments that Levi (Matthew) answers Christ's call, "Follow Me," and leaves his occupation to become a disciple.  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, as we read in the verses that follow these.  My study Bible adds that Levi may also have been one of the tax collectors prepared for Christ by John the Baptist (Luke 3:12). 

 

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 expresses Matthew's joy and gratitude, according to my study Bible.  It says that the guest register is a stirring demonstration of the fruit of Jesus' love and forgiveness.  

 

 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."    My study Bible comments that Jesus' earthly life is a time of joyous blessings.  But there will come a time when His followers will practice the fast.  In Jewish life, there were both regular fasts and occasional fasts which were proclaimed.  Most solemn was the Day of Atonement, and in times of mourning.  But the time of the Messiah was a joyous wedding feast -- a time of great celebration and gladness.  My study Bible comments that Jesus proclaims that day, effectively calling Himself the Bridegroom -- and the guests the friends of the Bridegroom.   Times of Christian fasting, on the other hand, are considered not to be gloomy but desirable, called a "bright sadness" by my study Bible, for we gain self-control, and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast through specific periods of fasting as a community.

"And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"  This saying occurs only in Luke's account of this story.  According to my study Bible it is illustrative of the difficulty with which the Jews would accept the new covenant.  It also represents the inner resistance which a person faces in turning from a sinful way of life.  Additionally, it describes the general stubbornness of the human heart. 

At this stage, perhaps we could say that the hostility of the religious leaders isn't quite in full bloom, hasn't reached the great peak it will reach later.  As such, their criticism focuses on what looks different from what they are used to; that is, what is surprising to them about Christ's ministry.  In yesterday's reading, the Pharisees and scribes criticized Jesus (at least in their thoughts!) for declaring that someone's sin was forgiven.  "Who can forgive sins but God?" they reasoned, thinking He blasphemed.  But then the astonishing happened, and He healed the paralytic.  Here in today's reading, the surprising and possibly unnerving thing (to them) is that even the disciples of John the Baptist (as well as the disciples of the Pharisees) fast often, but they're watching even tax collectors having a feast with Jesus and His disciples!  Jesus offers a very simple explanation -- that their Bridegroom is with them.  If we think of it even in modern terms, this analogy makes sense; for how could the friends of a bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away.  This rejoicing at having found Christ is revealed as something truly new, a deep change in the reality that people know.  Wine is symbolic of covenant, and this is new wine and a new covenant that has come to be -- and if it looks completely different from what they're used to, there's little wonder.  It must do so.  And there must be new wineskins for this new wine -- it must have time to do what new wine does.  It will grow and ferment with hidden, mysterious enzymatic action -- the energies of the Holy Spirit forming and shaping a new covenant and a new people within that covenant.  Jesus seems already to have grasped the impossibility of pouring this new wine into the old wineskins (so to speak) that cannot expand to take them in and hold them.  Even sewing a patch on the old -- some sort of augmentation or modification, even a sort of "band-aid" to breach the tears -- won't work, either.  We must assume, therefore, given this imagery, that Jesus already knows there will be no compromise on these issues, but a new vessel is necessary to contain the great expansion that is going to happen, even the multitudes who will be caught in the net of the apostles, like the fish in the apostles' net in yesterday's reading (above).  But this final verse that is only in Luke tells us also about the perspective of the scribes and Pharisees, and their attitudes to this "new" thing they observe happening.  It will never look "right" to them.  It hard to give up what one is used to in order to try something new.  Let us consider Christ's words as a metaphorical teaching also for the changes we might go through in our lives, especially a maturing in our own faith, a new time of renewal and repentance and "change of mind."  What is around the bend can feel alien and unknown, making changes means we step into new territory and break new ground.  We need to "expand" to accommodate it.  There are times when growth in our faith will ask us to go forward and do this, just as we watch the disciples doing throughout the Gospels.  So let us not simply think of this story as only a "tell" on the scribes and Pharisees, but a surprising metaphor for our own calling going forward.  Can we be like Matthew the tax collector, or the fishermen in yesterday's reading, and leave all behind to "Follow Him?"  Sometimes it seems to me this is the whole of the ongoing life of faith in Christ, and our participation in it, in His communion, for He expands in us, the new wineskins.  Let us go forward with the saints, and Christ's call in our lives.  Today's reading also makes it clear that these changes are meant to heal ("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").   Quite often, to heal after one has been sick for a long time requires the acceptance of change as well, a new way of life, and a new perspective on life.  Let us then consider the call of our Physician, and the changes that His new life and new wine will bring for us to accept and to live.