Parables are a big part of the Gospel. There are the famous ones, like the parable of the good Samaritan, the prodigal son returning, and the Parable of the lost sheep. These are written in all of the 4 gospels and even though they can be difficult to understand when you first read them, often Jesus explains the parable afterwards, so it is impossible to miss the point.
However, parables are not always nicely tied up in the Bible. One of them is the parable of new and old wineskins. This parable can be confusing to read, as it mentions things like wineskins and tearing up old garments. These are not terms we tend to use in our 21st-century lingo.
On top of that, Yeshua does not clarify this parable. So it leaves it open to interpretation. Many Christians cite this verse as Yeshua using the new and old wineskins as a parallel for the new and old covenants. Often concluding that the old covenant has been done away with. This is our 7th teaching on that subject, and if you don't know by now, no, this is not the case. Whilst a lot of Laws have been nullified due to the Temple being destroyed in 70AD by the Roman Empire, God has not changed, Yeshua has always taught to follow the Law, and all of the disciples followed the Law, even after Yeshua's departure. Misinterpretations and mistranslations have all combined into a misguided Christianity today.
So let's see if we can find out what this parable means.
The Context
Yeshua tells this Parable in response to the Pharisees questioning Him as to why he was feasting with Levi (Known as Matthew) and his tax collector colleagues:
Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
(Also in - Mat 9:9–13; Mar 2:13–17 )
Luk 5:27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him,
Luk 5:28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
Luk 5:29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.
Luk 5:30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Luk 5:31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
Luk 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus Questioned About Fasting
(Also in - Mat 9:14–17; Mar 2:18–22 )
Luk 5:33 They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.”
Luk 5:34 Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?
Luk 5:35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”
Luk 5:36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.
Luk 5:37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.
Luk 5:38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.
Luk 5:39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’ ”
In summary, Yeshua states He is with these 'sinners' to bring them to repentance. The Pharisees then go on too question the validity of Yeshua's choice of disciples - asking why His disciples do not fast and pray like the disciples of the Pharisees. Yeshua responds by saying that His disciples will do all of those things when He is taken away.
If you have read our teachings, you will know that the Pharisees were teachers of a Law, but not the Law of Moses in almost all cases. The Pharisees followed the Talmud or Oral Law. This is a set of rules and regulations that the Pharisees put above or equal to God's Law. These rules formed part of the Jewish religion and often contradicted the Law of Moses. This is why Yeshua often rebuked the Pharisees and said they put their 'human traditions' over the Law of God. The Jews today still follow the Talmud.
With this established, let's zoom in on the parable from above:
Luk 5:36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.
Luk 5:37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.
With this knowledge of the Pharisees, we can see the true meanings:
Old Garment / Old Wineskin / Old Wine → Disciples who have been trained in Pharisaic teachings—interpretations of God’s Word that mix divine law with human traditions.
Piece from a New Garment / New Wine / New Wineskin → The true and proper teaching of God’s Word and disciples who are open to receiving it, unshaped by human traditions
In these parables, "The Old Garment," "The Old Wineskin," and "Old Wine" all represent the same concept: a rigid adherence to Pharisaic teachings. Likewise, "The Piece from a New Garment," "New Wine," and "New Wineskin" symbolize the fresh, uncorrupted teaching of God’s Word and those who are receptive to it.
Re-writing the Parables:
So with that, we can re-write the parables:
Luk 5:36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of the true and proper teaching of God’s Word (new garment) to patch the Pharisaic teachings that mix divine law with human traditions (old garment). Otherwise, they will have torn the true and proper teaching of God’s Word (new garment), and the patch from the true and proper teaching of God’s Word (new garment) will not match the Pharisaic teachings that mix divine law with human traditions (old garment).”
Doing the same for part II:
Luk 5:37 “And no one pours the true and proper teaching of God’s Word (new wine) into disciples who have been trained in Pharisaic traditions (old wineskins). Otherwise, the true and proper teaching of God’s Word (new wine) will burst the Pharisaic-trained disciples (old wineskins); the wine will run out, and the wineskins will be ruined.”
Luk 5:38 “No, the true and proper teaching of God’s Word (new wine) must be poured into disciples who are open to receiving it and unshaped by Pharisaic traditions (new wineskins).”
Luk 5:37 “And no one after drinking Pharisaic teachings that mix divine law with human traditions (old wine) wants the true and proper teaching of God’s Word (new wine), for they say, ‘The Pharisaic traditions (old wine) are better.’”
Yeshua's Response makes sense in this context. The Pharisees were questioning His choice in disciples (sinners, tax collectors, etc.) because they did not seem as 'religious' as the Pharisees, who elevated their own traditions above God's Law.
Yeshua responds by saying it was better for Him to choose the sinners over the Pharisees because it was better for the true and proper teaching of God’s Word (New Wine) to be poured out into the new wineskins (His disciples, uncorrupted by Pharisaical teachings). He then contrasts that to the old wineskins (Pharisaic-trained disciples), who were never able to hold the true teachings of the Law.
Old vs New Covenant
Some Christians conclude that Old Wineskins = Old Covanant and New Wineskins = New Covanent. One is old and has incorrect teachings, whilst the new one has come to take it away.
After establishing the correct context, it becomes obvious that the symbols used here are referring to the Law of Moses vs The Oral Law. It has nothing to do with the Old and New covanents and so making that argument does not make much sense when everything is taken in context.
Conclusion
Yeshua’s parable of the new and old wineskins was a direct response to the Pharisees questioning His choice of disciples. Rather than selecting those trained in Pharisaic traditions, which mixed divine law with human regulations, He chose those who were open to receiving the true and proper teaching of God’s Word. The parable illustrates that trying to merge Yeshua’s teachings with the Pharisaic system would be ineffective—just as patching an old garment with new fabric or putting new wine into old wineskins would lead to failure.
This parable is often misinterpreted as a statement about the Old vs. New Covenant, with some claiming that Yeshua was doing away with the Old Covenant. However, when examined in context, it becomes clear that He was addressing the Law of Moses vs. the Oral Law, not the Old and New Covenants. His message was not about abolishing God’s Law but about rejecting the man-made traditions that distorted it.
By choosing sinners and those outside the religious elite, Yeshua was demonstrating that His teaching required new wineskins—disciples who were willing to receive the truth unaltered by human tradition. Those clinging to the traditions of the Pharisees, represented by old wineskins, were unwilling to accept this truth, insisting that their ways were better.
Be blessed!
