Sunday Worship Sermon (September 20, 2026)
New Wine into New Wineskins Bible Text: Luke 5:33–39
And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”
Today’s passage begins with a challenging question from the Pharisees and scribes: Why do Jesus’ disciples not fast? In response, Jesus explains that guests celebrating with the bridegroom must enjoy the feast. Through the parables of the new garment and the new wineskin, He announces that a brand-new era has begun. He concludes this profound dialogue with a striking statement: "And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’"
This passage is not teaching that fasting is obsolete, nor is it a practical tip that new wine belongs in new wineskins, or an endorsement of aged wine because it tastes better.
The core message is that with the coming of Jesus, a new era has arrived, and we must live according to its new standards. However, the realistic and sobering lesson is that the vast majority of people react by saying, "The old ways were better," and ultimately reject the new.
1. A New Era Has Begun with the Coming of Jesus
The background of this scene remains Levi's banquet. The Pharisees and scribes were indignant that Jesus, a renowned teacher, and His disciples were eating with tax collectors and sinners, complaining, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"
Jesus answered them clearly: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."
Yet, they continued their complaints, pointing to the disciples: "The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers... but yours eat and drink." In other words, why are you not teaching your disciples to fast for their piety?
Jesus compared Himself to a bridegroom and replied plainly: "Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?"
This was not merely a statement that fasting is unnecessary right now; it was a declaration that God’s history of salvation had entered a completely new era through the arrival of Jesus. The promised Messiah of the Old Testament had come, and the promises were beginning to be fulfilled. Therefore, those participating in this fulfillment experience the joy of a wedding feast. They had no need for the traditional fasting of the old era.
Within the flow of redemptive history, the practice of fasting transformed:
The Old Testament era: The Israelites fasted once a year on the Day of Atonement as a mandatory act of repentance for individual and national sins. Voluntary fasts were also practiced in times of personal grief, to seek God’s will, or during national crises.
The New Era with Christ: With Jesus' arrival, this world became like a wedding feast. Those with Jesus share in that festive joy and cannot fast.
The Intercessory Period: However, "the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away"—referring to the time after Jesus was arrested by religious leaders and crucified. From then on, Christians began to fast voluntarily for various reasons. This fasting will continue until the final wedding feast is consummated at the return of Jesus. Therefore, we no longer need mandatory fasts like the Day of Atonement in ancient Israel, because Jesus has completely atoned for all our sins.
Nevertheless, if a believer chooses to fast, they must always remember that they belong to the people of the new era.
Despite this, many modern Christians misunderstand fasting. Some view fasting as a surefire secret to getting prayer answered. Others use it as a means to prove their superior faith and spirituality. In fact, many modern believers tend to think that someone who fasts frequently and for long periods is inherently more pious, faithful, or spiritually powerful. Sometimes that is true, but often it is not.
People who undertake 40-day fasts, for instance, frequently tend to become proud without realizing it. A woman in Chicago whom I knew undertook three 40-day fasts. Afterward, she received invitations from various churches to speak at fasting revivals and share testimonies, becoming a circuit speaker. A pastor friend invited her, and I attended that revival twice. About 10 years later, curious about how she was doing, I asked after her. I learned she had converted her house into a prayer retreat center and no longer attended her local church. When asked why, she replied that her senior pastor lacked spirituality and refused to listen to her, despite her having received answers from God through prayer.
In this case, fasting became a spiritual hazard rather than a benefit.
Let me state it once more: Christians living in the new era of grace may fast. However, that fasting is never mandatory. Fasting should be done voluntarily to accomplish God's purposes, to battle personal sin, or for missionary and church-related endeavors. In Acts 13–14, the early church fasted when commissioning missionaries or appointing elders.
2. Our Fasting and Service Can Turn Us Into Pharisees
A Pharisee is someone who establishes their own righteousness through their deeds and judges others. The place where Pharisees proliferate most abundantly is within the hearts of people who earnestly desire to love God and strictly obey His law.
The moment the thought, "I have served so much, why isn't that person doing the same?" enters your heart, you have begun to transform into a Pharisee. It happens when someone who prays frequently compares themselves to others and feels a sense of superiority: "I pray much more than that person." The moment we take pride in our hard work and view it as our own righteousness, we can easily become Pharisees.
The easiest place to breed Pharisees is in churches packed with excessive rules. They start by creating numerous regulations under the guise of "discipleship training." If you keep them, you are an exemplary disciple; if you fail, you are deemed spiritually lacking and in need of more training. Such churches may see short-term results, but they completely stifle the joy of the Christian life.
The first church I attended had an overwhelming number of inspection metrics. Zone leaders and youth presidents graded members on how many chapters of the Bible they read. Offerings were broken down into tithes, Sunday offerings, thanksgiving offerings, zone offerings, building fund offerings, mission offerings, and zone-meeting offerings—all meticulously scored. We had to submit reports detailing how many people we evangelized each week. I worked extraordinarily hard at all of it. Yet, there was no joy in my heart. Without realizing it, I found myself rebuking brothers and sisters who didn't follow the rules, declaring their faith weak. At some point, I had become a zealous Pharisee within the church.
Therefore, we must guard against evaluating or judging others based on our own religious zeal. We must become quiet, humble servants who pray for and serve our brothers and sisters behind the scenes. We must help them experience the joy of coming to church, worshiping God, and fellowshipping with one another. This is the true image of God's people living in the age of grace.
3. New Wine Must Be Put Into New Wineskins
Jesus uses the parables of the new garment and the new wineskin to teach a profound truth. The new garment and new wine represent the brand-new era of salvation brought by Jesus Christ and the life worthy of it. Conversely, the old garment and old wineskin represent the old religious traditions and systems that rely on human religious merit and external performance apart from Christ.
When Jesus says, "No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment... if he does, he will tear the new," He means that the Gospel of Jesus cannot simply be patched onto an existing religious system like a minor accessory. Furthermore, "New wine must be put into new wineskins" warns that the reality of the new salvation inaugurated in Christ cannot be forced into the rigid, old religious frameworks and legalistic structures of the past.
In short, the old religious methods kept while waiting for the Messiah must now yield to the reality of the fulfilled New Covenant. If someone attempts to embrace the reality of the fulfilled New Covenant while still clinging to old religious traditions, both the new wine and the old wineskins will be ruined. The wisest way for a Christian to live in this new era is not by asserting one's own merits or clinging to old traditions, but by living entirely by faith in Jesus Christ.
4. Historical Extremes: Abuse of Grace vs. Human Merit
Throughout church history, whenever God's grace was powerfully proclaimed, people frequently misunderstood it and fell into two opposing errors:
First, the abuse of grace. In the late 4th and early 5th centuries, Augustine taught, "Human beings are fallen and cannot return to God on their own; we desperately need prevenient grace originating from God." However, people distorted this teaching, concluding, "If we are saved by God's grace, then human effort and obedience don't matter, do they?" Consequently, some of Augustine's parishioners lived immoral lives while boasting that they were saved by grace, causing great scandal.
Second, legalistic reliance on human merit. Pelagius reacted strongly against the moral laxity spawned by the overemphasis on grace, fiercely championing human moral responsibility and obedience. He argued that human beings could choose good and obey God through their own free will and ability without depending on God's grace. While his argument was a reaction to the abuses surrounding the concept of grace, his teaching that human free will and effort could secure salvation was a grave heresy.
Amidst these historical errors, the truth we must hold fast to is clear: God’s grace is always the foundational starting point. Those who are justified and saved through the unmerited grace of God are called to live out their obedience as true children of God. However, treating that obedience as the cause or merit that earns salvation is entirely wrong.
Good works are the fruit of salvation, not its root. Just as an apple tree bears apples, branches abiding in Christ the Vine naturally bear the fruit of good works. A bad tree can never bear good fruit.
5. Tragically, People Prefer the Old Wine Over the New
Luke 5:39 states: "And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’"
Why do people prefer old wine to new? This statement is not a culinary review of vintage wine varieties. Jesus concluded His parable with human nature's preference for the "old" to expose humanity's stubborn resistance to accepting new truth.
Consider a restaurant project where business management students spent nearly two weeks analyzing a restaurant's kitchen and dining hall layout to optimize workflow and efficiency. Yet, within a week, the restaurant reverted entirely to its old layout. Why? Because the staff continually complained to the owner that the old way was better and the new arrangement was awkward and inconvenient. If they had persevered with the new system for just a month, it would have undoubtedly proven far more efficient.
This human tendency to cling to the old and familiar explains why people struggled—and still struggle—to accept the new era brought by Jesus. The new era introduced by Jesus is the age of grace. The age of grace refuses to validate human effort in the slightest; it forces us to look entirely to the grace of the cross.
Our sin-stained hearts always want to boast about ourselves: "I fasted twice a week, I paid my tithes, I served meals, I never missed early morning prayer." But the Gospel strips away every ounce of our boasting: "Your righteousness cannot stand before God. You need the righteousness of Christ alone."
Jesus Christ completely accomplished the work of forgiving our sins on the cross. Therefore, we do not need to patch up the wineskins of the law or cling to old religious practices to add anything to our standing before God. Christ alone is our sole righteousness.
As we reflect on this Word, let us examine whether we are unknowingly clinging to the old wineskin of "our own zeal." May we quietly lay down our self-righteousness and pride at the cross today, and be filled completely with the new wine of grace and joy that only our Lord provides.
Let us pray.