Peculiar Parable

[coldwar]

Luke 5:39- "No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better"
I can understand the parable just before this, that old garments cannot be mixed with new cloth, and new wine cannot be put in old bottles... (new must go with new). But after saying these things, why did Jesus add to the parable that "the old is better"?

Dave

[LS]

Hi coldwar - I don't think Jesus is saying that the old is better ... only that by human nature, we tend to fall back into old patterns.

Just before this passage we see the pharisees and their scribes complaining to the disciples because they ate and drank with "tax collectors and sinners."

This was something new; they believed (and practiced) that there was supposed to be a separation between the holy men and riff-raff everyday sinners.  

But "Jesus said to them in reply, Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners."

His new message didn't sit well with the old ways, and I think He was saying that He knew many would say the old ways were better.  He knew His way would be resisted; and like the Israelites in the desert, there would be a lot of going back & forth as some people tried to embrace the new and others tried to hold on to the old.

:2c:  In my opinion  :)

[Beloved Servant]

It's easier to save a sinner than to break traditions.
And, the NEW WINE is served FIRST!

[thinktank]

It's easier to save a sinner than to break traditions.
And, the NEW WINE is served FIRST!

And also the best is served last. :)

"I will pour my spirit upon all flesh in the last days"

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: Amen. Because it's the nature of man to want to cling to the flesh and not the Spirit, because the Spirit COSTS something, ie. you have to give up the "old" things that are getting ready to pass away. Blessings...

[coldwar]

 :bgdance:Thanks everyone- great replies and very helpful!

Dave