New Teaching, Old Institutions
When Christ is saying this parable it appears that He is talking about His own teaching and the current religious establishment. In the same manner as He stated that one does not tear a piece off of a new garment and use it to patch the old, He was speaking that His teaching is not a new teaching to merely be a patch to the established teaching and religious society. Christ came to establish a completely new covenant in His blood (bring a completely new garment) (Luke 22:20) not to use His new covenant as a fix or patch to the old. As seen through Christ's general rebukes to the hypocritical pharisees His teaching did not match the old teaching and if He had attempted to use His teaching as a patch He would have both ruined His teaching and not matched the old teaching.
It is the same with the wineskins. If He had poured His blood into the old religious establishment and covenant He would have broken the establishment and ruined His teaching all at the same time. Instead He had to create a completely new covenant that was capable of holding the sacrifice of His blood; He had to create a covenant consistent with His sacrifice and its consequences.
He also accurately describes those who are only lukewarmly involved in religion and have tasted the old covenant and presence of God. Those who have tasted the old wine generally become lukewarm and don't ever wish to have some of the new wine for they say that the old wine, their lukewarm religion, is good enough. Why try something new when the old and familiar is good enough? Even if the new wine might be better it has just as high of a chance of being worse as well. Of course those who have tasted of the new wine know it to be better, yet it is still extremely difficult to convince others of that truth.
Created over 2 years ago
