No one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the skins burst and the wine is spilled out and the skins are destroyed.  Matthew 9:17

Don’t mix the old with the new.  That was the message Jesus wanted to convey in this passage. 

Wine, when poured into a wineskin, begins the aging process. As it ferments, the gases cause it to expand. A new wineskin will swell, and everything will be fine. However, when you pour new wine into an old wineskin, the wineskin has already stretched to its limit and may burst during fermentation. The skin can’t handle any new pressure. So, what is the allegorical meaning?

When Jesus arrived, people assumed that everything He was teaching (new wine) was to be added to their traditions (the old wineskin). But His message was clear that He came to change everything. They were instructed not to combine the old with the new.

Let me personalize it. If I’m a religious person and then encounter Jesus and am born again into God’s family, am I supposed to add Jesus to my previous religious practices? No way. I’ve been rescued from religion and all the trappings. 

When the Gospel brings with it a new paradigm, it turns my life upside down.  The old wineskin of past paradigms must be abandoned.  I called to turn away from anything associated with old religious archetypes. 

Old wineskins suffocate the dynamic Spirit of Christ. They can’t contain the fresh, transformative power that bursts forth from true faith.  Embracing new life in Christ invites us to seek vessels that blend reverence for our history but that nurtures a faith that expands and evolves.

If I have attached You to something that should be dead to me, show me.  Amen