Jesus used the image of wineskins and wine to reveal a powerful truth about the incompatibility of old religious forms with the new life and covenant He was bringing. His words were not about agriculture, they were about hearts, covenants, and the radical transformation found in Him alone.
The Teaching Recorded in the Synoptic Gospels
This teaching appears in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In all three accounts, it follows questions about fasting and why Jesus and His disciples did not follow traditional religious practices. In Luke 5:36–38 Jesus says:
“No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
The same teaching is echoed in Matthew 9:17 and Mark 2:22. The context in all three gospels is clear: Jesus is responding to religious leaders who questioned why His disciples didn’t fast like the Pharisees or John’s disciples. His answer reveals that something entirely new had arrived in Him.
The Symbolism of Wineskins and Wine
In ancient times, wine was stored in animal skins. New wine, still fermenting, would expand. Only new, flexible wineskins could stretch with the pressure. Old wineskins were brittle and would burst under the strain. Jesus was using a practical image to teach a spiritual truth: the old forms of religion could not contain the new life of the Spirit.
The “old wineskins” represented the traditions, rituals, and self-righteous systems of the Pharisees. The “new wine” was the gospel of the kingdom: the grace, power, and life that Jesus brought. Mixing the two would not work, the old could not stretch to contain the power of the new.
New Covenant Cannot Fit Into Old Religion
Jesus didn’t come to patch up the Law, He came to fulfill it and establish a better covenant. As Paul later writes,
“We are ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6)
The Law revealed sin, but it could not save. Jesus brought salvation through grace and truth. To try to force the new covenant into old forms would only tear both apart.
Hebrews affirms this truth:
“In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” (Hebrews 8:13)
The Danger of Clinging to Old Forms
Jesus warned that the religious system could not contain what He came to bring. If they tried to keep the old structure but pour in new life, it would result in a catastrophic spiritual rupture. He wasn’t attacking the Law of God; He was warning against man-made traditions that could not handle the gospel.
Even today, this truth applies. When we try to fit new life in Christ into old systems of self-effort, legalism, or performance, the result is brokenness and confusion. Grace cannot be earned. Life in the Spirit cannot be contained by rules and rituals.
God Requires New Wineskins
Jesus said,
“New wine must be put into new wineskins.” (Luke 5:38)
This means hearts made new. The Spirit fills those who are born again, not those clinging to old religious pride. As Ezekiel 36:26 says,
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.”
The new wineskin is the new creation. Paul declares,
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
My Final Thoughts
The image of wineskins is a call to transformation. Jesus didn’t come to reform the old; He came to bring something entirely new. We cannot live in the Spirit while clinging to the flesh. We cannot walk in grace while clinging to law. The gospel is not an add-on to religion, it is the death of religion and the birth of relationship with God.
New wine belongs in new wineskins. The question is not how much we know, but whether our hearts have been made new. May we cast off the brittle containers of tradition and receive the fullness of the Spirit with hearts prepared for His life.
