This article is a part of a series of articles focusing on the teachings of Jesus as presented throughout the Gospel of Luke. This article (as well as the subsequent and previous articles of the same topic) is available on the website on a dedicated webpage. Luke 5:36-39 And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better. Here we find Jesus telling a parable. He is discussing the absurdness of repairing an old garment with a new garment. Why rip the new one to repair an old one? Why not just wear the new one? He makes a similar point regarding wine. It is important to note that the word “bottles” here is not the same as we think of it now. They had wineskins in those times rather than bottles. These were essentially pouches of animal skin/leather that were made to hold wine. Then, wine was left in the wineskins to ferment and become wine rather than just grape juice. After the wine had fermented in a wineskin, the wineskin could not be used again as it would be brittle and stretched. If they were reused, the wineskin would likely burst and ruin both the container and the wine within it. Basically, Jesus was again using an absurd idea to convey a message. No one would risk losing the wine they were attempting to make by placing it in an improper container. Next, he states that no man desires new wine after having old wine. New wine is simply fresh grape juice without alcohol. New wine is wine that has just been squeezed from the grapes and not been fermented yet while old wine has undergone fermentation and contains alcohol. Basically, Jesus is saying that the old wine is better than the new. This is still typically true. Almost all quality alcohol is aged. What does all of this mean? What is the point of these seemingly simple parables? When viewed with an esoteric eye, the meaning becomes clear. These parables are relatable to the process of overcoming oneself to become a new person. You cannot overcome your old ways and your old self by simply patching in new ideas and new pieces. You have to become totally new lest the old perverts the new. You cannot place a new version of yourself in an old container or you risk losing both the new version and the old container and being left with nothing. The last parable can be seen as describing our resistant attitude towards change. The old wine is already fermented and ready while the new wine takes time. How much easier is it to settle for old wine instead of making new and being patient with the process involved? The same can be said of personal growth. It is easy just to keep doing the same thing instead of toiling and creating something new. These concepts are common among esoteric and occult philosophy. The concept of doing away with the old self and becoming a new person through Initiation, Illumination, Enlightenment, or whatever other term you choose is common among almost all spiritual thinkers and systems. This process is often painful and we resist it. We are so often satisfied with the old wine and do not want to make any new wine. We like our old garments so we choose to patch them up rather than replacing them and in the process we just give rise to further destruction of our old garment as well as the new. We even like to try and incorporate new ideas into old habits. We place new wine in old wineskins. We continue our same behaviors and dwell in the same states of mind while trying to incorporate new ideas and justify new information with our old ways. Jesus understood the necessity of a new garment, a new wineskin, and for making new wine altogether.
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March 2017
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