Cloths and wineskins

³⁶ And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth 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. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’” (Luke 5:36-39)

I believe this parable is Jesus explaining to the Pharisees and others why they were not asked to be disciples, and why He chose the ones He did. Both parables describe something that was once useful but due to natural effects of time they have deteriorated. If you were to do either of the two things He said, such as give it a new cloth or new wine, it would result in either the new cloth pulling away or the old wineskin to burst. So whether you are repairing or filling afresh, new wine into fresh wineskins, and the old says ‘the old is good enough.’

References

Luke 5:36-39