Verse 17 says, “Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are destroyed; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” The Greek word translated “new” in this verse is neos, which means new in time, recent, young. The new wine here signifies Christ as the new life, full of vigor, stirring people to excitement. The new wine is Christ’s cheering life. The divine life is likened to wine that has cheering strength. When we receive His life, it works within us all day long to stir us up and to excite us. This new wine strengthens us, energizes us, and makes us very happy. The kingly Savior is not only the Bridegroom to the kingdom people for their enjoyment, but also their new garment to equip and qualify them outwardly for attending the wedding. Furthermore, He is also their new life to excite them inwardly for the enjoyment of Him as their Bridegroom. He, as their heavenly King, is the Bridegroom for the kingdom people’s enjoyment, and His heavenly kingdom is the wedding feast (22:2) that they may enjoy Him. To enjoy Him as the Bridegroom in the kingdom feast, they need Him as their new garment outwardly and their new wine inwardly.
Consider again the example of the prodigal son. After putting on the best robe the prodigal son could still say, “O father, the best robe satisfies you, but it doesn’t satisfy me. I am still hungry and need to be satisfied.” Immediately the father told the servant to kill the fatted calf and said, “Let us eat, and be merry.” Thus, the father’s provision is not just for something outward, but also for something within. Therefore, after the Lord spoke about the new garment, He directly proceeded to speak of the new wine. The new wine is not a provision for the outward need, but for the inward need. We need something to cover us, and we also need something to fill us. We are so poor outwardly, and we are so empty inwardly. We need the robe upon us for the Father’s sake, and we need the new wine within us for our own sakes. We need both the new garment and the new wine. The Lord is the new garment to us, and He is also the new wine. He is our covering and also our content. He not only qualifies us, but He satisfies us as well. Hence, He is our qualification and our satisfaction, the provision for our outward need and the provision for all our inward hunger and thirst.
In verse 17 the Lord said that we should not put new wine into old wineskins. Old wineskins signify religious practices, such as the fasting held by the Pharisees in the old religion and the disciples of John in the new religion. All religions are old wineskins. New wine put into old wineskins bursts the wineskins by its fermenting power. To put new wine into old wineskins is to put Christ as the exciting life into any kind of religion. This is what the so-called fundamentalists and Pentecostals are practicing today. They attempt to squeeze Christ into their different modes of religious ritual and formality. The kingdom people should never do this. They must put the new wine into fresh wineskins.
The new wine needs a wineskin, a container. Because the new wine is filled with fermenting power, if you put it into an old wineskin, the fermenting power of the new wine will burst the old wineskin. Any religious practice is an old wineskin. In this verse Christ seemed to be saying to the Pharisees and the disciples of John, “Fasting is an old wineskin. Do not try to put the new wine of My life into the wineskin of your old religious practices. The wine will burst your religious practices. The new wine of My life requires a new wineskin.”
Some indeed have received the new wine, but they have attempted to take the new wine back and pour it into an old wineskin. I have been observing this kind of folly for more than forty years. Many people have come to the local church and tasted the new wine. They have said, “This is really wonderful. This is just what ‘my church’ needs.” Then they tried to bring this new wine back to that old wineskin. Do you know what happened? The old wineskins burst, and the new wine was spilled. However, if you put the new wine into a new wineskin, both will be preserved.
We have seen that the new wine belongs in the new wineskins. But today the so-called charismatic movement has been brought into the old Catholic wineskin. Even some Catholic churches have charismatic masses. The charismatic things are being mixed with the mass and with the worship of Mary. What confusion! This is the leaven mixed with the fine flour (13:33). In other words, it is the new wine put into the old wineskin. I am concerned that this wine is no longer the new wine, for it seems to have no fermenting power. If it did, the old wineskin would burst. If the charismatic movement were the genuine new wine filled with the fermenting power, it would burst that old Catholic wineskin.