Jesus’s New Wineskins Can Cope with the Pressure
David W Palmer
In explaining the reason why his ministry appeared to be so different to John the Baptist’s ministry, Jesus chose two illustrations. In the first one, he explained that it would be unwise to put a new un-shrunk patch on an old garment. In other words, adding his ministry into John’s would have only caused tears in the body; he had to begin a new one. In today’s illustration, he pictures new wine in old leather wine bottles:
(Matthew 9:17 NKJV) “Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
In yesterday’s illustration of the shrinkable garment, Jesus said that the network that comes up around a new ministry is subject to shrinkage. In today’s image, however, he says that the new vessel made to carry the new wine can stretch.
What does the wine represent, and how does it help us understand new ministries and anointings for new seasons?
Wine comprises the combined juice from many grapes. Freshly harvested grapes are collected for their sweet nectar. This speaks of the new salvations that are harvested in each new season. When they are brought in, they are separate and individual carriers of delightful sweetness and life-giving nourishment. But individually they won’t achieve much, and they won’t last long.
However, when thrown into the winepress and stepped on, squashed, and squeezed; all their individual juice is lost into a combined pool of sweetness and nutrition. This is what Jesus wants to see in his church: a pool of combined talents, gifts, and callings—each individual investing him or her self into the combined body of resources, capabilities, and teamwork. Potentially, all their sweetness and mutual edification is a powerhouse for achievement in an atmosphere of heaven on earth.
However, when the juice of so many grapes mingle inside the constraints of the leather bottle, an interesting phenomena occurs … fermentation! “During fermentation, yeasts transform sugars present in the juice into ethanol and carbon dioxide (as a by-product).” (Wikipedia). In the Bible, “yeast” speaks of sin (1 Cor. 5:6). Jesus also uses it as an illustration of the growth of his kingdom (Mat. 13:33). How does the yeast enter the wineskin to trigger this process? It comes in with the new grapes.
Sadly, in church life, the inevitable presence of sin among newly harvested believers changes the potential euphoria of the new wine. The yeast causes a reaction in some of the fresh sweetness; carbon dioxide bubbles are released, causing the wine to swell. This puts a lot of pressure on the wineskin; it has to stretch to accommodate the disruption of the yeast. This inconvenient but inevitable process is why the stretchy new wineskins are needed.
Amazingly, although the presence of yeast puts pressure on everyone through what it releases, potentially ruining the whole harvest, it has another side effect: it produces ethanol. This alters the enjoyable sweet taste, adds an intoxicating effect, but it is a preservative. Amazingly, the ethanol helps to keep the grape juice usable for a long time, despite the loss of some of the sweetness and its other side effects.
The old wineskins from the previous seasons may enjoy the sweetness, life, and nutrition of new grapes; but they cannot survive the chaos caused by the presence of the sin that inevitably accompanies them. If the new wine is put into them, they will burst anyway. The new wine will be lost, and the wineskins rendered useless. Jesus says he wants to preserve it all—the new wine, the old wine, the new and old skins.
Interestingly, when all the grapes are squeezed together, and all their juice combines; there would be no point in one of the original grapes getting upset with the others for bringing yeast in and spoiling his bliss, demanding: “I want my juice back! I’m leaving.”
