Jesus tells an interesting parable at the end of Luke 5. He has just called Levi (Matthew) to be His disciple. Levi was one of the most despised people in Israel. He was a tax collector for Rome. He was seen as a traitor and a crook. He would collect the taxes and then collect extra for his own. When Jesus called him, he left all of that to serve. That night, Jesus and His disciples enjoyed the party Levi threw in their honor. The Pharisees were furious, because Jesus—the man people were beginning to believe was the Messiah—was hanging out with sinners! His was something that was strictly forbidden in their eyes. It was a dictate of the old ways. They called Him out on it, and Jesus said the following:

“No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment. For then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old garment. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New win must be stored in new wineskins. But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. “The old is just fine,†they say.

This seems like an odd thing to say, but Jesus is making a very powerful statement. He is revealing a part of God’s nature. God does not change, but He does change how He does things. God is constantly creating and imparting fresh vision to His people. He understands the human mindset; He knows that if there is nothing fresh, the people perish. The Kingdom of God advances on fresh vision and dies on stagnant tradition.

People will too often cling to the old when the new is presented. The old is comfortable and safe. The new is frightening and requires sacrifice. The wine skins were created from goat skins. Goats were killed so the new wine could be stored. New vision requires a step of faith and trust in God. He does not want us clinging to the old; He does not want us attempting to combine the new with the old. If we try to mix the two, the old is destroyed—which we do not want to do—and the new is unable to fulfill its full potential. God puts the old away and brings forth the new.