Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, ``Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"
15
And Jesus said to them, ``The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16
``But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.
17
``Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
What are wineskins?
Wineskins in bible days were bottles made from the skin of sheep or goats. Once the skin was removed, it was converted into leather.
Wineskins were used to either store or transport wine or water.
Wine was a beverage that was made from fruits like the grape. After the grapes were picked from the trees, the juice was squeezed out.
The juice would be converted into wine through a process called fermentation. When grape juice is fermenting, tiny bubbles appear on the surface.
WINE FERMENTING
Why was new wine put into new wineskins?
Grape juice or new wine would be allowed to ferment until it aged. If it was put into new wineskins, these could stretch and give room for the bubbling to take place.
Old wineskins could not stretch because the leather was harder. These old skins would break under the pressure as the new wine bubbled and bubbled inside.
What does the parable of the old and new wineskins mean?
Here is one meaning of the parable of the wineskins:
The wineskins are people in the world.
New wineskins
New wineskins are people who are born again by the Holy Spirit. They have the ability to hear and see the invisible things that God teaches from the Word of God.
New wineskins change their ways into being what God says as He teaches His Holy Word. This is because His Spirit dwells in them and helps them to see and hear what He is saying.
People who are not born again by the Holy Spirit cannot receive and understand things that God wants to teach from His Word.
Old wineskins
Old wineskins are people who are hardened in their hearts. They are sinners and do not believe the Word of God.
Old wineskins rebel against God and do not change their ways in keeping with His Word.
New wine
New wine refers to the Holy Spirit who teaches believers the Word of God and things that God wants them to know and do.
When a person is born again by the Holy Spirit, he or she can receive and understand the things that God wants them to know about His Kingdom.
This is because His Spirit dwells in them and helps them to see and hear what He is saying.
People who are not born again by the Holy Spirit cannot receive and understand things of the Heavenly Kingdom because their spirits are dead to God.
Jesus told the parable of the mustard seed in order to explain about the Kingdom of Heaven.
In the parable, the tiny mustard seed grows into very tall trees. He said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a field.
Amazing, but that tiny seed grows into a large tree. It is so large that the birds make nests in its branches.
Mustard trees can become very tall. Their height can range from six feet to 20 feet.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
Mat 13:32
It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
Mustard Tree
Parable of the mustard seed meaning
Jesus told another parable that helps us to understand the meaning of the seed. In that parable called the Parable of the Sower, He said that the seed is the Word of God.
When the Word of God is taught and preached, those who obey and practice it will bear fruit. Their fruit will be plentiful which means that they will be like Christ.
When Jesus came to the earth to live, He preached His Word in Israel. His followers went everywhere telling others about Him.
Today. millions of people all around the world believe in Jesus. The seed that He planted in Israel grew into a huge tree of followers everywhere.
His Kingdom continually increases everywhere whenever His people share His Word so that others come into His Kingdom.
And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
Luk 13:7
And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’
Luk 13:8
And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.
Luk 13:9
Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
Parable of the fig tree with no fruit explained
The fig tree represents people who repented of their sins and who are children of God.
The believer is not bearing the fruit of God. That means that he or she does not show evidence that he or she is a
child of God.
The gardener is a pastor or someone who cares for the people of God.
The landowner is God. He hates it when his children do not produce evidence that they are children of God.
Ephesians 5 22 and 23 say that the fruit of God or fruit of the Spirit include:
- love
- joy
- peace
- longsuffering
- gentleness
- goodness
- meekness
- temperance
- faith
Everyone who is a child of God must read the Bible and follow the way that God wants us to live in order to produce fruit.
If we do not, God will sometimes allow difficult situations to come in order to produce the fruit of righteousness.
Therefore, it is easier if we obey the Word Of God in order to produce lives that please Him.