Luke 5:33-39
New Wine for New Wineskins
Read the passage
33Then they said to Him, “John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees frequently fast and pray, but Yours keep on eating and drinking.”
34Jesus replied, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them?
35But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”
36He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will tear the new garment as well, and the patch from the new will not match the old.
37And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined.
38Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.
39And no one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
Some people ask Jesus why John's disciples fast often and pray, and why the disciples of the Pharisees do the same, while His disciples eat and drink. Jesus answers with the picture of a wedding feast: the wedding guests do not fast while the bridegroom is with them.
Jesus says the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away, and then they will fast. He speaks of both the joy of being with Him now and the sorrow that will come.
He gives two more pictures. No one tears a piece from a new garment to patch an old one, because that tears the new garment and leaves a patch that does not match the old one. No one puts new wine into old wineskins, because the fermenting wine will burst them.
New wine requires fresh wineskins. Jesus is not praising novelty for its own sake. His presence changes what is fitting for his disciples, just as the bridegroom's presence changes a wedding gathering. They cannot understand their practices while leaving him out of the picture.
Jesus also observes that someone accustomed to old wine prefers it. Familiarity can make a new thing unwelcome before it has been received. The point is not to discard everything inherited, but to be willing to recognize what Jesus brings.
Questions
1 What question do people ask Jesus?
AnswerThey ask why John's disciples and the Pharisees fast and pray while Jesus' disciples eat and drink.
2 How does Jesus describe the present time?
AnswerHe compares it to a wedding feast because the bridegroom is with them. He says fasting will come when the bridegroom is taken away.
3 What happens when new wine is put in old wineskins?
AnswerThe fermenting wine bursts the old skins, and both the wine and the skins are lost. New wine requires suitable wineskins.
4 What should a family examine in its traditions?
AnswerKeep practices that serve faithfulness, but ask whether a tradition has become a way to resist Jesus, exclude people, or avoid repentance.
What This Means for Us
Jesus does not dismiss fasting or inherited practice. He places them in relation to Himself. Christian habits are valuable when they help us receive the living Christ, not when they let us feel righteous without listening to Him.
Change is not automatically faithful, and tradition is not automatically wise. Families can ask what a practice is producing: gratitude, mercy, truth, and obedience, or pride and resistance.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, make our household receptive to Your kingdom. Give us wisdom to keep practices that nourish faith, courage to release habits that resist You, and joy that knows when to celebrate Your presence. Amen.