The faithful Father has taken us far in this divine feast, and tomorrow, we shall be hitting two solid weeks of waiting on the Lord/fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit in preparation for the year 2022 (Isa.40:31).
However, we have a very important message today based on a metaphor:
Title: NEW WINE IN NEW WINESKIN Test: Matt.9:14-17
The disciples of John the Baptist unto whom Jesus had been introduced as the Messiah superior to their Master (Jn.1:29) came to Jesus wondering why His disciples were not rugged and ascetic like themselves and even the religious Pharisees. The Lord replied to them that the time will come when His disciples will fast (but not while He was still physically around). He concluded the reply with the metaphor. To understand the metaphor, one needs to know some element of the culture of the Jews at that time.
In the Bible times, there existed fragile vessels of earthenware formed by potters which were used to keep fluids like water (Jer.19:1,10-11) or even ointment or perfume (Mk.14:3); but wine was stored in wineskin made from goatskin which when fresh are firm and elastic and able to withstand the stress of pressure from within. But this elasticity and ability to withstand pressure wanes with time and the material becomes rigid and liable to tear/snap from the seam.
On the other hand, fresh wine is prone to fermentation which produces a lot of gas. When this wine is put into a fresh wineskin the pressure built by the released gas is checkmated by the integrity of the goatskin and the wine can remain there until when needed. But if the new wine is poured into an old wineskin, the container will either snap from the seam or rupture out rightly leading to the loss of both wine and wineskin (Matt.9:17).
Jesus used the metaphor to explain that new order is coming to replace the old and there was a need to have a change of thinking. In otherwords, He didn’t come to go the way of the Law and Old Testament prophets but rather a new living way (cons. Matt.5:17-20, 17:2-5, Rom.3:21,22).
The keyword is “Change” in order to accommodate the differences. Change through a constant is one of the phenomena resisted by human nature especially when the person has acclimatized to the condition (Lk.5:39).
Yet, change is a necessity in the kingdom as growth is a process of change.
The believer is required to be malleable and adaptable to new situations (Jer.18:4-6, Phil.4:12, 3:13-15). The child of God is expected to know/perceive the tune of the Spirit and “dance” accordingly (Acts 16:4-9; Rom.8:14). Failure to understand the times and adapt has caused a lot of stagnation in many lives and ministries (cp. 1Chro.12:32, Jer.8:7).
The ministry is entering a final phase of existence, a phase of divine acceleration enroute to the rapture, and so all members must adjust to the divine demand (Prov. 4:20,23, Jn.8:29, Rev.4:11). It is time to think of what to be doing in the Church and for God as a responsibility and not just what to get (1Cor.9:16).
It is time to make friends with heaven with the mammon of unrighteousness (Lk.16:9-11). The rapture is around the corner, therefore, shifting from the state of indifference, despondency and lukewarmness, to vibrancy, diligence and industry (Lk.18:8, Matt.24:45-51).