In my past few blogs I have been looking through John’s writings to get a better grasp on Jesus since John was closest to him. In John 2, the young apostle records the wedding in Cana of Galilee at which Jesus turns water into wine at the request of his mother. John records many things that he believers are symbolic. Symbols are one reality that point to a greater reality. A menu at a restaurant is a reality that points to a greater reality – the food waiting in the kitchen to be prepared and served. They symbol by itself is not the blessing, it simply points to the blessing. A few bites of the menu itself should convince you of that.
When Jesus turned water into wine, that miracle pointed to a greater reality. The host of the wedding feast also added that the wine Jesus created (though the host did not know its source) was the best wine that had been served at the feast. Interestingly, Jesus only speaks of wine about four or five other times in the gospels.
One statement was primarily about Jewish religious leaders in the context of “whatever God does is never good enough for you.” To them, Jesus said, “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ’ (Lk.7:33-34).
He mentions wine again in the story of the Good Samaritan who anointed the injured man’s wounds with wine and oil. But the most famous of Jesus’ teachings, where wine was involved, is reported in several of the gospels. I’ll quote from Luke.
He told them this parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ” (Lk.5:36-39).
Jesus is using a familiar symbol of new wine and wineskins to make a spiritual point. As new wine continues to ferment it expands. If it is placed in an old wine skin that has lost its flexibility and can’t be stretched it will rupture as the new wine pushes outward. He also mentions our human preference for the familiar – the taste of things we have always known.
The question is, “What does the wine symbolize in his parable?” There are numerous thoughts about that question. It may be that the ultimate answer is that Jesus is the new wine or the Holy Spirit is the new wine. I think both of those would be great answers and accurate in many ways. One other related answer might simply be the New Covenant which encompasses all of the above. The most profound connection of wine to Jesus in the New Testament is at the last supper where Jesus takes the “cup of blessing,” which is one of several cups of wine in the Jewish Passover ritual, and says to his disciples, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you” (Lk.22:20).
Interestingly, John gives by far the most extensive treatment of the last hours that Jesus spent with his disciples in the upper room where they took Passover together. He never mentions those famous words that both Luke and Paul quote in their writings. But what John does mention starting in Chapter 13 is a kingdom ruled by love and service, a fresh revelation of the Father through the person of Jesus Christ, the amazing ministry of the Holy Spirit, fruit born out of a connection with Jesus rather than a written law, and the unity of all believers through Christ. All of these were to emerge as a result of Christ’s death on the cross. In a very real sense, these things are the heart or the substance of the New Covenant.
If Jesus had the new covenant in mind when he spoke of new wine in fresh wine skins, then he was saying that the New Covenant and it’s manifestations was going to be such a drastic departure from the old that familiar ways of thinking and approaching God would have to be discarded. To receive the new revelations of salvation, love, service, power, transformation, unity, and so forth that were part of the new mix being poured out by heaven, an openness to a new move of God would have to be maintained.
On the day of Pentecost, this new wine was poured out on Jerusalem. Those who were open to a fresh move of God and who were willing to be stretched were filled with the promises of the New Covenant. As a result, the church was birthed full of love and generosity, power and miracles flowed into the streets of Jerusalem through these new wineskins, Jesus was declared with boldness, and unity was the mark of believers.
Here is the thing. God still has much that he wants to pour into his people. “And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” (Mt.13:52). There is always new treasure that God wants to give his people. Much of that treasure will be deposited in us by the Holy Spirit (fruit, revelation, spiritual gifts, etc.), but some will be external experiences of God’s power and presence as well as love and joy experienced with our spiritual family.
The caution of the parable was not just for the guardians of the Old Covenant, but was also for those of us who live this side of the cross. We will limit God and the wine he wants to continually pour into his house if we become rigid in our ways believing that there is no more truth to be mined from the scriptures, no new ways that God will manifest himself to his people, or no new strategies for evangelizing the planet. History confirms that every fresh move of God, every revival, and every awakening becomes crystalized into “the only way God works” by the second generation after his last fresh move. It’s easy for us to enjoy the old wine.
However, in heaven there is always more. Ask for it. Seek it. Be open to “the more” that God has for you. The old wineskins around you may frown and issue warnings about seeking more of God and his Spirit but keep yourself “stretchable” and ask for more of the Father’s gifts and treasures. It is his pleasure to give if it is your pleasure to receive.
