Luke 5: 37-39
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.
Obviously, Jesus is not advocating drinking here… Let’s just get that out of the way right off the bat! What this is saying is that Jesus’ teaching was new. They had nothing to do with the old ways of tradition that was so commonly understood by those who were listening. If you were to put His teaching into the traditions of the old Pharisaic traditions – Covenants and ceremonies – that was so understood by the Jewish culture, it would not match and burst open spilling the new teaching of Christ on the ground. No, his teachings were completely against the old traditions.
Then Christ says ” And no one having drunk old wine immediately desires new; for he says the old is better. ”
I thought this was interesting. This is the only place in the new testament that this is recorded. I believe that this is directly speaking of traditions religion today. Many who are used to the old traditions will fight you if you try to teach something that is new to them, and against some tradition that they have always had.
I can remember going to church on Sunday morning and having to walk through a haze of smoke from the decons on the front porch. They all were out there smoking whatever… before they went in to worship God. Humm… I wonder if we were to tell them that the Body is the temple of the Lord and to smoke is an affront to the body that God has provided. (Rom. 12:1-2) BUT to them, smoking was fine! The “new” teaching that smoking is a sin would tear away from them the”old garments” of smoking on the front porch. They would say that it is fine and doesn’t affect their worship of God in any way. For them, it was their liberty to smoke before service.
I believe that there are many examples of what I am speaking of. The point is – is what the Bible SAYS is what is most IMPORTANT – not my traditions or ceremonies done by some local church somewhere. Always be willing to examine traditions and ceremonies before the pure wonderful light of Jesus’s teachings. I believe a true child of God will give up the old traditions and ceremonies once they have truly tasted the new wine of the Lord.
True worship is the response to the new wine of truth and the light of Scripture. It is not the old traditions of standing up and chanting some phase – or kneeling on some padded bench – or chanting some prayer on some beads – or putting on some fancy clothes or robs with tassels before you preach – or putting on your cone hat – or puffing up your hair for TV as we saw in the 1980s (haha) – lighting a candle while chatting some repetitious pray – or dipping your finger in some water before entering the “worship center” – or touching the foot of some statue and saying some crazy prayer –
Come on people – Is God really that far off – stupid – and dull of hearing you – that we need all this stuff? GOD DOES NOT CARE AT ALL ABOUT YOUR TRADITIONS OR STUPID CEREMONIES meant to manipulate God into action! He wants true worship that comes from the right handling of that truth! He wants obedience and a turning away from your sin to righteousness. He wants you to love your brothers and sisters with sacrifice and mercy – understanding. He wants patience with the weak. He wants you to experience the peace that comes from walking uprightly. Ps. 84:11 says “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” BUT walking uprightly means that you must give up your traditions and ceremonies that do not mean anything to God. They do not add any measure to your spiritual life and relationship with the Lord.
Ask yourself, what traditions and ceremonies (old familiar wine) must I be willing to give up?