The Life of Christ

• After He leaves, then the church will fast, which the apostles began to do soon after the resurrection.

Lk. 5:36-39

And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’”

This new portion of teaching developed from the discussion over why the old regime still fasts, while the new order does not.

• Jesus uses two different examples to illustrate one simple point — you can't mix the old with the new.

• It’s like patching a piece of new material on an old garment.

• Or, it resembles putting new wine into an old wineskin; the new wine will burst the old wineskin.

• The Old Covenant resembles both the old material and the old wine; the New Covenant doesn’t fit with either.

The moving of the Spirit in the New Testament has been likened to “new wine” (Acts 2:13).

• Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine” (Acts 2:13).

• Whenever there is an outpouring of new wine there needs to be change of structure to accommodate the new thing that God is doing.

• “New wine” churches are committed to constantly adjusting their formats and service orders to make way for the moving of the Holy Spirit.

SECTION 57

Jn. 5:1 After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

This feast has become known as the “unknown feast” in Jerusalem.

• It was possibly the “Feast of Wood- offering,” when amidst demonstrations of joy, willing givers from all parts of the country brought the wood required for the service of the Altar.

• Or, it may have been the “Feast of Trumpets,” which marked the beginning of the new civil year.

• It appears that Jesus went to this Feast alone, unattended by His disciples.

• It is at this Feast that He will make His first public claim insinuating that He is the Messiah, which will be followed by the first active wave of persecution.

Before attending the feast, He will first visit a well-known locality in Jerusalem known as Bethesda.

82