Bible Illustrating and Journaling : Matthew 9:16-17

Annie’s Ink-Lings

This Week's Scripture Focus:  Matthew 9:16-17

16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.

17 Nor do they put new wine into old wine skins or else the wine skins break, the wine is spilled and the wine skins are ruined. But they put new into new wine skins, and both are preserved.”

We all understand about patching – new cloth to new cloth and old cloth to old cloth or it won’t work.  The parable in these verses is that Jesus is saying that the Pharisees and their old system is the old wine skin and that what Jesus teaches is the new wine skin.

Jesus is saying that there is no way that what He teaches can fit into the system of the Pharisees, because the message He is giving is of an internal holiness, of a real repentance, of a heart attitude that can never fit in the ritualistic system, because the Pharisaical system couldn’t contain it or hold the truth.

The Pharasees’ Judaistic, traditional, legalistic, formal, self-righteous externalism was in no way able to either mesh with the ministry of Christ nor was that system able to contain the ministry of Christ.

Based on a sermon by John MacArthur.

Isn't it wonderful that just by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, we become like a new wine skin!  And that is the only way we can be filled with His new wine.

Blessings,

Annie