What’s The Point Of This Parable?

Q

I have always wondered what is the point of this parable in Luke 5:36-39. Would you please explain?

A

Let’s read it first;

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. And no one pours new wine into old wine skins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wine skins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wine skins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better’” (Luke 5:36-39).

Jesus was speaking to some Pharisees, drawing a comparison between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant based on their questions about fasting. He used new and old garments and pouring new wine into old wine skins to show the two covenants are incompatible. It was a hint that the New Covenant would primarily take hold among new (Gentile) believers. When He said no one wants new wine after drinking old wine He was confirming that by and large Israel would not accept the New Covenant, preferring to stay with the Old.