David Bahn – Reflections

Matthew 9:14-17

¹⁴Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. ¹⁷Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Sometimes we fail to appreciate the totality of Jesus’ redemption; we don’t realize how completely he changes our lives. Jesus’ comments about new wine and wineskins indicates that he is not interested in just our souls, but the bodies that contain them as well.

Gnosticism is a religious tradition that sought to infiltrate Christianity in its earliest days. The Gnostics taught a dualistic ideology: that the body was evil, the soul or spirit was good. But not Jesus! He says that we put new wine into new wineskins “so both are preserved.” Jesus is hinting at God’s desire for our complete salvation; he is pointing toward the resurrection and the new heaven and new earth.

Even his use of wineskins as a metaphor here tells us something about Jesus’ view of worldly things. He teaches us about real life; not merely a cardboard cutout of spiritual half-truths. His gift is a gift of abundant life in every corner of our being.

Jesus does not call us to the old and worn ways of worldly selfishness and materialistic greed or hedonism. He calls us to a new life of self-sacrifice and self-giving love. He shows us that such a new wineskin kind of life is full and rich where water can become wine and there are times of feasting and celebration.

Jesus also says that there will be times of sadness and loss. That day would come for the disciples. But even the sadness of Jesus’ death would be overshadowed by his resurrection from the grave. In the end there will be a banquet with the new wine and new wineskins of life and salvation. That hope changes our lives and teaches us to enjoy every gift God gives.