Uncontainable Grace: Why the Old Religious System Won’t Work (Matthew 9:14-17)

📰 The KNGDOM Newsletter – October 19, 2024

Lesson Title: Uncontainable Grace: Why the Old Religious System Won’t Work

Passage: Matthew 9:14–17

Recording: Click here to watch to the full teaching

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for taking a moment to explore this week’s teaching together. The passage we unpacked in Matthew 9:14–17 may look short on the surface — but it carries one of the most powerful truths in all of Jesus’ ministry.

The disciples of John come to Jesus with a question about fasting. But instead of responding with a simple explanation or comparison, Jesus tells them three parables. And in doing so, He exposes the deeper problem:

They weren’t asking the right question — because they were still living in an old system.

Let’s explore what Jesus meant when He talked about patches, wineskins, and why He isn’t here to tweak our religion — but to transform it completely.

📖 Scripture Reading – Matthew 9:14–17 (ESV)

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying,

“Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

And Jesus said to them,

“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,

and then they will fast.

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment,

for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.

Neither is new wine put into old wineskins.

If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed.

But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

🧭 Context & Background

This moment happens just after Jesus has been reclining at the table with tax collectors and sinners — right after He’s called Matthew to follow Him. The Pharisees were already confused and offended, and now even John’s disciples — people who were sincere and devout — come with questions.

But they’re not confronting Jesus about His holiness or His teachings. They’re trying to understand why His disciples don’t fast. In other words:

Why don’t they act like us?

Why don’t they follow the rules we’ve come to associate with devotion?

Why don’t they fit in the mold?

Jesus doesn’t criticize fasting — He reveals the limitation of their frame.

He responds with three parables:

• A wedding metaphor,
  

• A patch on an old garment,
  

• And the image of new wine in old wineskins.
  

Each one points to the same truth:

This isn’t a new flavor of the old thing — it’s a completely new thing.

The Kingdom can’t be added onto what already exists.

It’s incompatible with the old system — and trying to mix the two won’t just fail… it will rupture everything.

What Were Wineskins — and Why Do They Matter?

In Jesus’ day, wine wasn’t stored in glass bottles or barrels — it was often poured into animal skins (typically goat), sewn tightly at the edges. These skins were flexible when fresh, able to stretch as the wine fermented and released gas.

But old wineskins — after exposure to time, sun, and repeated use — would grow brittle and rigid. If new, unfermented wine was poured into them, the gases produced would expand beyond the skin’s elasticity, causing it to burst, spilling the wine and ruining the skin.

So when Jesus uses this imagery, it’s not just poetic — it’s practical.

He’s warning that:

• The new wine of the Kingdom — His teaching, His way, His Spirit — is alive, expanding, and transformative.
  

• It requires a new container — a new mindset, a new spirit, and a new posture of the heart.
  

• The old religious systems — with their rigid rules, performance-based identity, and external righteousness — simply can’t hold it.
  

In short:

The old way of relating to God through rituals, comparisons, and status is too brittle to contain the new life Jesus brings.

He’s not here to patch your religion.

He’s here to pour something living and active into hearts ready to receive it.

✨ Key Lessons & Takeaways

1. Jesus Doesn’t Fit the Mold — He Breaks It

John’s disciples were sincere. They were trying to honor God through fasting, just like the Pharisees did. But their question — “Why don’t your disciples fast?” — revealed a deeper assumption:

If Jesus is really holy, shouldn’t He look more like the religious people we’ve always admired?

But Jesus doesn’t rebuke their question — He reframes the entire conversation.

He says:

“Can the wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is with them?” (Matthew 9:15)

In other words:

This isn’t a funeral — this is a wedding.

You’re not dealing with law — you’re standing in front of love in the flesh.

Takeaway:

Jesus didn’t come to tweak the old system — He came to replace it with something entirely new.

And often, what keeps us from receiving that new thing is our deep attachment to the old one.

So ask yourself:

What religious habits am I clinging to that may be crowding out real relationship?

Where am I mistaking form for fruit — or control for connection?

2. The Old Can’t Hold the New — And That’s Not a Bad Thing

Jesus doesn’t shame people for their devotion — but He does warn them:

“No one puts new wine into old wineskins.” (Matthew 9:17)

Because it doesn’t work.

The new wine of the Kingdom isn’t just fresh — it’s alive.

It expands. It stretches. It disrupts.

And the old religious containers — full of performance, hierarchy, and legalism — can’t handle it.

They’ll burst.

This isn’t just a parable about wine.

It’s a warning:

You can’t carry the new life Jesus offers in the same system that burned you out.

Takeaway:

You can’t cling to the control of the old way and experience the freedom of the new one.

Sometimes we ask God for new things while insisting on old containers.

So ask yourself:

What old wineskin am I trying to force the Kingdom into?

Where is God asking me to stretch… and I’m choosing structure instead?

3. The Kingdom Moves in Joy, Not Just Discipline

Jesus doesn’t just talk about wineskins — He talks about a wedding.

“The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away… and then they will fast.” (Matthew 9:15)

Fasting isn’t wrong — it just wasn’t right now.

Because Jesus was there.

And where Jesus is… there’s joy, closeness, and intimacy.

This was a celebration — not a performance.

Takeaway:

The Kingdom starts in joy — not in religious striving.

It’s not about trying harder to get to God… it’s about recognizing that He already came to us.

So ask yourself:

Have I lost my joy in the name of discipline?

Am I performing for God — or participating in the celebration of His presence?

Because when we make room for relationship, we’ll know when to fast… and when to feast.

 Final Word

This conversation started with a simple question about fasting — but Jesus saw the deeper issue.

It wasn’t about skipping meals.

It was about how we approach God.

It was about how we hold on to what’s familiar — even when God is doing something completely new.

The people questioning Jesus weren’t bad.

They were devout.

They were sincere.

But they were still trying to fit resurrection into a system built for restriction.

And we do the same thing.

We try to force the grace of Jesus into a container of performance.

We try to contain the freedom of the Spirit inside frameworks of control.

We try to bring the Kingdom into our lives without letting it touch the parts of us that are rigid, fearful, or brittle.

But Jesus says:

“You can’t patch the old garment with new cloth.”

“You can’t pour new wine into old skins.”

Not because the old is evil — but because the new is alive.

The Kingdom of God is fermenting.

It’s expanding.

It’s stretching us toward joy, vulnerability, trust, and love.

And it cannot be carried in a heart that’s more committed to structure than surrender.

So if you feel like things are stretching in your life — if you feel tension or disruption — don’t be afraid.

It might be that God is pouring something new.

Something freer.

Something deeper.

Something more intimate than anything religion ever gave you.

But to receive it…

You can’t just sip it.

You have to make room.

May we be people with flexible hearts — ready to hold the life He’s pouring out.

Because He’s not here to tweak the old system.

He’s here to make all things new.

Grace and joy to you this week,

— Michael