OLD CLOTHES AND NEW WINESKINS ~ reflex on Lk 5:33-39

Jesus is engaged in trying to get the Pharisees to see something new. But to do that, they must let go of what is old. They must be “made new” in order to receive the Good News he brings, the Truth that he is.

But they show they have not let go of anything at all, because they are still demanding that the One who makes all things new conform to the old cloak, fit into the old wineskin, as it were. Accusingly, they point to all the ways Jesus’ disciples fail to conform to their understanding of the Law, showing again that their attitude toward the Law cramps their own capacity to grasp the liberating power of it. They are like old wineskins, worn out and ready to rupture, unable to hold the “new wine” of Christ’s teaching. Their spiritual blindness, their clinging to their own positions and opinions, have made them incapable of receiving the New Covenant of grace.

Our souls and our capacity to receive what Jesus has won for us can also become like threadbare clothes or old, brittle wineskins. We want God to fit into our cramped understanding, or operate according to our personal rules. We can become weak and rigid, unable to hear, receive, and act generously upon God’s Word, unless we open ourselves to the transformation of grace. In order to properly receive something new, we must be open to being surprised! We must be open to being made new by the One who makes all things new.

We begin this journey of being made new at Baptism, when we are cleansed of sin and anointed into Christ – into his Body, and into his mission. And then we must live this new life daily by walking with him and opening ourselves to the many gifts offered to us in the sacraments and at prayer – gifts of grace to heal our brokenness and blindness, strengthen our weakness, increase our capacity for all that is good and true, and feed our souls with the very Bread of Heaven.

In the sacraments, we are made a new creation, again and again! Offering ourselves fully to the Love  and in service to the Good News of salvation (and all that it requires of us), we become new wineskins, ready to receive the rich wine of the Bridegroom of our souls, the One who loves us unconditionally with a Heart burning with desire to draw us to himself!