THE WINESKIN EXCHANGE

Luke 5:37-39

37 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. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.[a] 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’”

New wine, new wine skins.  Old wine, old wine skins.  We see the obvious application for the Pharisees and Sadducees, but can we see ourselves as those resisting the fresh thing ("new wine") that God is releasing in the earth today?  I know that if I am honest with myself, I can sympathize.  Ouch.  Before we dive into the wine, though, we must have a handle on what the skin represents; and that is the focus of this nugget.  The skin being addressed here is for maturing, not drinking.  (Take a moment to let that settle in your head, because it makes a difference.)  We know this because of verse thirty-seven.  New wine won't burst a bib that only has enough wine in it for immediate consumption.  The physics supports this, as a small amount of wine in a single-serve skin is unlikely to swell enough to burst the vessel.  However, a skin being used to ferment wine would typically be large enough to hold a number of servings, so it must be able to stretch and expand with the fermentation process.  This assumption also makes contextual sense, as Jesus was speaking with Israel's leaders when He shared this illustration.  In other words, the real challenge with new wine is not in the sampling, but the storing.  It is the vintner who deals with the fermentation process, not the casual drinker.  Jesus is talking to those who would become part of His process, not just those who would partake of His product.  The Pharisees and Sadducees claimed to be brokers of the blessings of God.  They stood in the place of the Vintner, distributing the wine of God's will.  As the new harvest of grapes came in, however, they balked.  Jesus told them plainly, "The problem is not in the wine, but the skin.  If you want to be part of what God is doing today, you must be willing to step away from the skins He gave you yesterday."   There it is friends, the nugget: That which contained God's will for you yesterday is, by Jesus, declared unsuitable to contain God's will for you today.  The wine is not the problem.  It's the skin.  We must all make a conscious choice: be comfortable in our own skin, or trade it in for that which is compatible with what is coming.  We must not idolize the skins of God's move, for they only carry the wine, they don't create it.  They don't fabricate grapes, they ferment them.  I want to drink what God is serving today and tomorrow.  I want to carry what He wants to serve.  I like my old wine skin.  It made it possible for me to suckle His Spirit in previous seasons.  But I am in love with His will, not my ways.  I am trading in my skins.  Will you join me in some new wine?

Forever panning for gold,

Chris Liotta

Lead Pastor
Rivergate Church
Chris@WeAreRivergate.com



© 2016 Chris Liotta