Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 5:39
No man also having drunk old [wine] straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.
39. having drunk old ] This verse is peculiar to St Luke, and is a characteristic of his fondness for all that is most tender and gracious. It is an expression of considerateness towards the inveterate prejudices engendered by custom and system: a kind allowance for the reluctance of the Pharisees and the disciples of John to abandon the old systems to which they had been accustomed. The spirit for which our Lord here (as it were) offers an apology is the deep-rooted human tendency to prefer old habits to new lights, and stereotyped formulae to fresh truths. It is the unprogressive spirit which relies simply on authority, precedent, and tradition, and says, ‘It was good enough for my father, it is good enough for me;’ ‘It will last my time,’ &c. The expression itself seems to have been a Jewish proverb ( Nedarim, f. 66. 1).
The old is better ] Rather, The old is excellent ( chrestos , B, L, &c.). The reading of the E. V., chrestoteros, is inferior, since the man, having declined to taste the new, can institute no comparison between it and the old. The wine which at the beginning has been set forth to him is good (Joh 2:10), and he assumes that only ‘that which is worse’ can follow.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 39. The old is better.] – Is more agreeable to the taste or palate. Herodotus, the scholiast on Aristophanes, and Homer, use the word in this sense. See Raphelius. The old wine, among the rabbins, was the wine of three leaves; that is, wine three years old; because, from the time that the vine had produced that wine, it had put forth its leaves three times. See Lightfoot.
1. THE miraculous draught of fishes – the cleansing of the leper-the healing of the paralytic person – the calling of Levi – and the parable of the old and new bottles, and the old and new wine – all related in this chapter, make it not only very entertaining, but highly instructive. There are few chapters in the New Testament from which a preacher of the Gospel can derive more lessons of instruction; and the reader would naturally expect a more particular explanation of its several parts, had not this been anticipated in the notes and observations on Matt. 9, Mt 9:1ff to which chapter it will be well to refer.
2. The conduct as well as the preaching of our Lord is highly edifying. His manner of teaching made every thing he spoke interesting and impressive. He had many prejudices to remove, and he used admirable address in order to meet and take them out of the way. There is as much to be observed in the manner of speaking the truth, as in the truth itself, in order to make it effectual to the salvation of them who hear it. A harsh, unfeeling method of preaching the promises of the Gospel, and a smiling manner of producing the terrors of the Lord, are equally reprehensible. Some preachers are always severe and magisterial: others are always mild and insinuating: neither of these can do God’s work; and it would take two such to make one PREACHER.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
No man also having drunk old wine,…. “Wine”, though not in the text, is rightly supplied by our translators, as it is by the Syriac and Persic versions:
straightway desireth new; new wine: for he saith, the old is better; old wine is more grateful, more generous, and more reviving to the spirits, than new wine is. This is a proverbial expression, and which Luke only records; which may be applied to natural men, who having drunk the old wine of their carnal lusts and pleasures, do not desire the new wine of the Gospel, and of the grace of God, and of spiritual things, but prefer their old sins and lusts unto them: carnal lusts may be signified by old wine, both for the antiquity of them, being as old as men themselves, and therefore called the old man, and for the gratefulness of them to them; and who may be said to drink of them, as they do drink iniquity like water; which is expressive of their great desire and thirst after it, and delight in it: now whilst they are such, they cannot desire the new wine of the Gospel, which is insipid and ungrateful to them; nor the grace of God, to which their carnal minds are enmity; nor any thing that is evangelical and spiritual, at least, not straightway, or immediately; not until they are regenerated by the Spirit of God, and their taste is changed, but will prefer their old lusts and former course of life unto them: or it may be accommodated to legalists, and men of a “pharisaical spirit”, to whom spiritual and evangelical things are very disagreeable: Scribes and Pharisees, who have drank of the old wine of the law, and the traditions of the elders, do not desire the new wine of the Gospel, but prefer the former to it: the ceremonial law may be expressed by old wine, being originally instituted of God, and acceptable to him; and one part of which lay in libations of wine, and was of long standing, but now waxen old, and ready to vanish away; and likewise the traditions of the elders, which were highly pleasing to the Pharisees, and which pretended to great antiquity: and of these they might be said to drink, being inured to them from their youth, and therefore could not like the new dispensation of the Gospel, neither its doctrines, nor its ordinances; but preferred their old laws and traditions to them: or rather this proverb, as used by Christ here, may be considered as intimating the reason why the disciples did not give into the practices of the Pharisees, because they had drank of the old wine of the Gospel; which, as upon some account it may be called new, because of the new dispensation, fresh discovery and clearer revelation of it; in other respects it may be said to be old, being what was prepared and ordained before the world began; and what Adam drank of, in the first hint and promise of the Messiah; and after him Noah, the preacher of righteousness; and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the Gospel was preached before; and even Moses, who wrote and testified of Christ; and David, and Solomon, and Isaiah, and all the prophets of the former dispensation: and now the disciples having more largely drank of it, under the ministry of Christ, could not easily desire the new wine of the fastings and prayers of the Pharisees, and John’s disciples; for the old wine of the Gospel was much better in their esteem, more grateful to the taste, more refreshing to their spirits, and more salutary and healthful, being the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Old wine, with the Jews h was wine of three years old, and was always by them preferred to new: so they descant on those words in
De 15:16 “because he is well with thee i, (i.e. the servant,)”
“with thee in food, with thee in drink; for thou shalt not eat bread of fine flour, and he eat bread of bran; or thou drink, , “old wine”, and he drink, , “new wine”.”
And sometimes they use this distinction of old and new wine proverbially and parabolically, as here k.
“Rabbi Jose bar Juda, a man of a village in Babylon, used to say, he that learns of young men, to what is he like? to him that eateth unripe grapes, and drinks wine out of the fat: but he; that learns of old men, to what is he like? to him that eats ripe grapes, and drinks, , “old wine””
signifying, that the knowledge of old men is more solid, and mature, and unmixed, and free from dregs of ignorance, than that of young men: though it follows, that
“Ribbi had used to say, do not look upon the tankard, but on what is in it; for sometimes there is a new tankard full of old wine, and an old one in which there is not so much as new in it:”
signifying, that sometimes young men are full of wisdom and knowledge, when old men are entirely devoid of them.
h T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 51. 1. & Gloss. in ib. & Bava Bathra, fol. 98. 1. & Maimon. Hilch. Mecira, c. 17. sect. 6. i T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 22. 1. k Pirke Abot, c. 4. sect. 20.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The old is good (H ). So the best MSS. rather that , comparative (better). Westcott and Hort wrongly bracket the whole verse, though occurring in Aleph, B C L and most of the old documents. It is absent in D and some of the old Latin MSS. It is the philosophy of the obscurantist, that is here pictured by Christ. “The prejudiced person will not even try the new, or admit that it has any merits. He knows that the old is pleasant, and suits him; and that is enough; he is not going to change” (Plummer). This is Christ’s picture of the reactionary Pharisees.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Better [] . The best texts read crhstov, good. See on Mt 11:30. ===Luk6
CHAPTER VI
1 – 5. Compare Mt 12:1 – 8; Mr 2:23 – 28.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “No man also having drunk old wine,” (kai oudeis pion palaion) “And no one who has drunk old wine,” which was good, served a good purpose, as the law had done for Israel while pointing to Christ, Gal 3:19-25.
2) “Straightway desireth new:” (thelei neon) “Has a first or priority will or desire for new,” because of his traditional attachment and accustomed taste for the old, as to the old law of Moses; yet that is what Jesus came and called men to do, to follow Him and His new covenant fellowship of service and worship, as admonished by John, Joh 3:28-31.
3) “For he saith, The old is better.” (legei gar ho palaios chrestos estin) “For he says the old is better or more ideal.” And you old law-keepers are hooked the same way, in trying to acquire or retain salvation by it, Rom 10:1-4; Heb 3:1-7.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Luk 5:39
. And no person who has drunk old wine. This statement is given by Luke alone, and is undoubtedly connected with the preceding discourse. Though commentators have tortured it in a variety of ways, I take it simply as a warning to the Pharisees not to attach undue importance to a received custom. For how comes it that wine, the taste of which remains unaltered, is not equally agreeable to every palate, but because custom and habit form the taste? Hence it follows, that Christ’s manner of acting towards his disciples is not less worthy of approbation, because it has less show and splendor: as old wine, though it does not foam with the sharpness of n ew wine, is not less agreeable on that account, or less fitted for the nourishment of the body.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(39) No man also having drunk old wine.This addition is peculiar to St. Luke, and calls accordingly for distinct notice. The interpretation of the imagery is not far to seek. The old wine is the principlein spiritual things, the religionthat animated the mans former life. In relation to those immediately addressed, it represented the motive-power of the Law in its rigid and Pharisaic form. The new wine, as in the Notes on the previous parables, is the freer, nobler, life-power of the gospel. It was not to be wondered at that men accustomed to the older system should be unwilling to embrace the new, as thinking it stronger and more potent than they could bear. The words are spoken in a tone of something like a tolerant pity for the prejudices of age and custom.
The old is better.The better MSS. give simply the old is good, the adjective partly implying the sense of mild. It is not the same as the good wine of the miracle at Cana (Joh. 2:10). It is doubtful, indeed, whether the Jews attached the same value that we do to the mellowed flavour given to wine by age. New or sweet wine, drunk within a year or so of fermentation, would seem to have been the favourite delicacy (Neh. 10:39; Pro. 3:10; Hos. 4:11; Hag. 1:11, et al.), though men of weak constitutions might shrink from its effects, as the Pharisees were shrinking from the freedom of which our Lord set the example. Not altogether without significance, as bearing on this passage, is the fact recorded by St. Luke (Act. 2:13), that the first workings of the Pentecostal gift led men to speak of the disciples as full of new wine.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“And no man having drunk old wine desires new, for he says, “The old is good.”
But there will always be those who cling to the old wine and prefer it to the new, saying the old is better. That is what both the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees are doing. Let all therefore be warned. There is no longer any place for the old.
These illustrations reach far beyond just the question of fasting. They emphasise that there is a real sense in which Christianity is new. Through His death Jesus has fulfilled the old, and now we can look from it to the new way of living taught by Him. This claim to total newness is another example of the uniqueness of Jesus.
Chapter 6 Further Incidents and Teaching.
In this sixth chapter we have the incident of the grainfields where Jesus again describes Himself as the Son of Man, and as Lord of the Sabbath; the healing of the man with the withered hand, which again revels Him as the Great Restorer and Lord of the Sabbath; the appointment of the twelve Apostles; and the first extended example of His teaching.
Jesus is the Son of Man and the Lord of the Sabbath (Luk 6:1-5).
In this incident Jesus as the Son of Man puts Himself on at least the same level as David, and as such calls Himself ‘the Son of Man’. We are reminded again of Dan 7:13-14 where the Son of Man, as the representative leader of Israel, claims His dominion and power. Jesus is claiming that He is this representative leader. He is the Greater David (compare the ‘Anointed One’ (Messiah) in Dan 9:26). As such He then claims to be Lord of the Sabbath, that is, able to make binding decisions concerning the Sabbath.
This incident also represents a hardening of the position of the Pharisees with regard to Him. They give to Jesus and His disciples an official warning (‘it is not lawful’). So to authorities are seen to be in conflict, on the one hand the heaven appointed Son of Man and on the other the earthly authority of the Pharisees. To disobey the latter was to run the risk of being beaten at the command of the synagogue elders.
It is difficult to overemphasise the importance of the Sabbath to religious Jews. It was to them the sign that they were God’s holy nation, God’s own people. But it had become overlaid with the traditions of the Elders who were so eager to prevent it being dishonoured that they had made strict rules about it, which had gone beyond what was reasonable, while at the same time allowing a certain amount of sophistry with regard to it. Thus there was a limit as to how far you could walk on the Sabbath (a Sabbath day’s journey), but this was then allowed to be doubled by leaving food a Sabbath days journey from home, and treating that as ‘home’ for the day. Then you could walk to it and after that go a Sabbath days journey beyond it. It might have been humerous if it had not been treated so seriously. They could do it without even the trace of a smile, and see no incongruity in it.
We should note that Jesus’ claim to be Lord of the Sabbath was not a claim to be able to use it as He wished, but to be able to determine what the requirements of the Sabbath really were. Thus here He will counteract a pedantic interpretation of it, and in the next incident an uncompassionate one.
The passage can be analysed as follows:
a On a sabbath He was going through the grainfields, and his disciples plucked the ears, and ate, rubbing them in their hands (Luk 5:1).
b Certain of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful to do on the sabbath day?” (Luk 5:2).
c Jesus replied “Have you not read even this, what David did, when he was hungry, he, and those who were with him?” (Luk 5:3).
b “How he entered into the house of God, and took and ate the showbread, and gave also to those who were with him, that which it is not lawful to eat save for the priests alone?” (Luk 5:4).
a And he said to them, “The Son of man is lord of the sabbath” (Luk 5:5).
Note that in ‘a’ we have the behaviour of the Jesus (the Son of Man) and His disciples in the grainfield, and in the parallel that as Son of man He has the right to determine whether it is right or not. In ‘b’ we have the Pharisees declaring what is not lawful, and in the parallel we have Jesus’ declaration of what was also not lawful, but which history demonstrates that the Pharisees do no criticise. Central to the incident is that what David does is considered to be right, and the same courtesy must therefore be extended to the Greater David.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 5:39. No man also, having drunk old wine That is, “As people who have been accustomed to drink wine made mellow with age, do not willingly drink new wine, which for the most part is harsh and unpleasant; so Christ’s disciples, having been accustomed for some time to live without practising any kind of severities for which the Pharisees were remarkable, could not relish that new wayof life which they had been recommending; they were not yet so fully acquainted with and established in his doctrine, as to submit cheerfully to any extraordinary hardships.” This is Le Clerc’s interpretation of the passage; but Wolfius and others apply it to the Pharisees, who were much better pleased, with the traditions of the elders, than with the doctrines of Christ; because the latter prescribed duties more difficult and disagreeable to the corrupt natures of men than the former. See on Joe 1:5. We may just remark how applicable these proverbial parables were to the time and occasion. See Luk 5:29.
Inferences drawn from the calling of Simon, &c.As the sun in its first rising draws all eyes to it, so did the Sun of Righteousness, when he first shone forth in the world. His miraculous cures drew patients; his divine doctrines drew auditors; both together drew the admiring multitude by troops after him, Luk 5:1.
And why do we not still follow thee, O Saviour, through desarts and mountains, over land and seas, that we may be both healed and taught?It was thy promise, O Saviour, that when thou wert lifted up, thou wouldst draw all men after thee; behold, thou hast been lifted up since, both to the tree of shame, and to the throne of heavenly glory: O draw us, then, blessed Lord, and we will run after thee. Thy word is still the same, though proclaimed by men; thy virtue is still the same, though exercised upon the spirits of men; give us to hunger after both, that by both our souls may be satisfied.
The people, in the present instance, not only follow Christ, but press upon him: even indecorum here finds both excuse and acceptance. They did not keep their distance in awe of the majesty of the Speaker, while their ears were ravished with the power of the speech; yet did not the Saviour check their unceremonious thronging, but rather he encourages their forwardness: we cannot offend thee, O God, with the importunity of our desires; nay, thou art well pleased that the kingdom of heaven should suffer violence: ever art thou displeased with our slackness; our vehemence never can displease.
The throng of his audience forced Christ to leave the shore, and make Peter’s vessel his pulpit. Never were there such nets cast out of that fishing-boat before. While he was upon the land, he healed the sick bodies by his touch; now that he was upon the sea, he cured the sick souls by his doctrines; and is purposely severed from the multitude, that he may unite them to himself. He that made both sea and land, causeth both sea and land to conspire to the opportunities of doing good.
Simon and his partners were busy washing their nets, little thinking so soon to leave them, though they now so carefully employed their attention; when, behold, Christ interrupts them with the favour and blessing of his gracious presence. The honest Simon, when he saw the people flock after Christ, and heard him speak with such power, could not but conceive a confused apprehension of some excellent worth in such a teacher, and therefore is glad to honour his vessel with such a guest, and to be first Christ’s host at sea, ere he is his disciple by land: a humble and serviceable entertainment of so great a prophet, was a good introduction to his future honour.
No sooner is this service done to Christ, than he is preparing the bounteous reward. When the sermon is ended, he saith unto Simon, Luk 5:4. Launch out into the deep, &c. It had been as easy for our Saviour to have brought the fish to Peter’s boat, close to the shore: but in all his miracles we may observe, he ever loves to meet Nature in all her boundaries; and when she has done her best, to supply the rest by his over-ruling power.
Rather from a desire to gratify and obey his guest, than to please himself, will Simon bestow one cast of his net: (Had Christ enjoined him a harder task, he had not refused;) yet not without a modest allegation of the unlikelihood of success. Master, we have toiled all night, (Luk 5:5.) and caught nothing; yet at thy word I will let down the net. The night was the fittest time, humanly speaking, for the hopes of their trade; so that not unjustly might Simon doubt his success through the day, when he had worn out the whole night in unprofitable labour: and thus it is that God sometimes crosses the fairest of our expectations, and gives a blessing to those times and means, whereof our prudence utterly despairs; those pains cannot be cast away, which we resolve to employ for Christ.
O God, how many do we see daily casting out their nets in the great lake of this world, and, in the whole night of their lives, have caught nothing in recompense of their toil! They conceive mischief, and they bring forth iniquity: They hatch cockatrice eggs, and weave the spider’s web; he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is trodden upon breaketh out into a serpent. Their webs shall form no garment, neither shall they cover themselves with their labours.
O ye sons of men! how long will ye love vanity, and follow after lies?And yet, if we have thus vainly mispent the time past, let us, at the command of Christ, cast out, with these fishermen, our newly-washen nets; and our humble and patient obedience shall come then home richly laden with blessings: (Luk 5:6.) never man threw out his net at the command of his Saviour, and drew it back empty. Who would not obey thee, O Christ, since thou so bountifully requitest our weak services!
It was not mere retribution that was intended in this event, but instruction also. This act was not without a mystery: they who were to be made fishers of men, were in this drought to foresee their success: The kingdom of heaven, we are assured, is like a drawn-net, cast into the sea, which, when it is full, men draw to land, &c. Mat 13:47-48. Thus the very first draught which Peter made after the commencement of the gospel dispensation, inclosed no less than three thousand souls, Act 2:41. O powerful gospel! that can fetch sinful men from the depth of natural corruption! O happy souls, that, from the blind and polluted cells of our wicked nature, are thus drawn forth into the glorious liberty of the sons of God!
Simon’s net begins to break with the store; accordingly they beckon their partners in the other vessel for help, Luk 5:7. There cannot be a better improvement of society, than to afford mutual assistance, than to relieve each other in all profitable labours, for drawing up the spiritual draught into the vessel of Christ’s church. Gracious Saviour, if these apostolical vessels of thy first rigging were thus overladen, how do ours float and totter with an unballasted lightness! O do Thou, who art no less present in these our vessels, lade them with an equal freight of sanctified sentiments, or of converted souls, according to our station; and thus shall we too have equal cause to praise thee for thy exuberant bounty.
Simon was a skilful fisher, and well knew the depth of his trade; perceiving now therefore more than art, more than nature in this draught, He falls down at the knees of Jesus, and acknowledges his unworthiness, Luk 5:8. Himself is caught in this wonderful net. He does not greedily fall upon the unexpected and profitable booty; but turns his eyes from the draught to himself; from the act to the author; and in the utmost astonishment proclaims his own vileness, and his Saviour’s majesty: Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!
What pity had it been that the poor honest fisherman should have been taken at his word! O Simon, thy Saviour is come into thy own boat to call thee, and to call others by thee unto blessedness:and dost thou say, Lord, depart from me?as if the patient should say to the physician, “Depart from me, for I am sick.” But it was the voice of astonishment, not of dislike; the voice of humility, not of discontent: yea, Peter, because thou art a sinful man, therefore hath thy Saviour need to come to thee, to stay with thee; and because thou art humble in the acknowledgment of thy sinfulness, therefore does Christ delight to abide with thee, and will call thee to abide with him. No man ever fared the worse for abasing himself to his God: many a soul has Christ left for froward and unkind usage; never any for its disparagement of itself, and intreaties of humility.
O my soul, be not weary of complaining of thy own wretchedness; but be astonished at those mercies, which have shamed thy ill-deservings. Thy Saviour has no power to turn away from a prostrate heart; he that terribly resisteth the proud, delighteth to revive the spirits of the lowly: Fear not, &c. Luk 5:10. Behold, Simon’s humility is rewarded with an apostleship! He that bade Christ go from him, shall have the honour to go first on the happy errand of gospel salvation.
This was indeed a trade in which Simon had no skill; yet it could not but be enough to him, that Christ had said, Follow me,I will make thee.The miracle shewed him able to make good his word.
What then is this divine trade of ours, but a spiritual fishery? The world is a sea; souls, like fishes, swim at liberty in this great deep: the nets of wholesome doctrine draw some up to the shore of glory, who yield to be saved by grace. How much skill and care, how much toil and patience, are requisite for this art! Who is sufficient for these things? This sea,these nets,the fishers,the fish,the vessels,all are thine, O God; do in us, and by us, what thou wilt: give us ability and grace to follow thee, and to take men; and give unto men the will and grace to be taken; and take thou the eternal glory.
REFLECTIONS.1st, Vast was the concourse that attended the preaching of Jesus; and while the scribes and Pharisees, the wise doctors of the law, despised him, the common people were eager to hear him, and pressed through the crowd to get nearer. Hereupon,
1. Christ desired the use of a fisherman’s boat, for the greater convenience of being heard, and to be less incommoded with the throng; and there he sat down and taught the people who stood before him on the shore.
2. When he had done preaching, he desired Simon, in whose boat he was, to launch out farther into the lake, and let down his nets. Simon told him the ill success which they had met with; but, though they had wearied themselves all night, and washed their nets, if he bade them, they would cheerfully make another trial. Note; (1.) The most diligent and laborious sometimes meet with disappointments, and are apt to be discouraged by the little fruit they see of their labours; but they must persist in the way of duty, and leave the event to God. (2.) If our bread be easily earned, and our rest sweet unto us, we should remember charitably those who labour hard for little gain, and are awake at their toils, when we are sleeping.
3. Most amazing was the quantity of fishes they inclosed: their net began to give way with the weight; and, unable to draw them up themselves, they beckoned to their partners to come to their assistance, and loaded both their boats so deep, that they were in danger of sinking. Peter was now abundantly repaid for the loan of his boat; and in this display of his Master’s power in the sea, as well as on the land, might be confirmed in his faith of the doctrine which he had heard.
4. Peter, deeply affected with what he saw, and perceiving the danger they were in, fell down at Jesus’s knees, and, under the deepest sense of his own unworthiness, cried out, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Conscious of his guilt and sinfulness, he trembled, lest the Lord was come to punish instead of blessing him; and was afraid of his very mercies: for he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of fishes they had taken; though brought up to this business from their youth, they had never seen any thing at all to be compared with this in their whole lives. Note; Though we have grievously offended our Lord, we must not say, Depart from me, but, Stay with me, or, Return to me in mercy; for nothing but his presence and grace can keep us from sinking.
5. Jesus quiets their fears. He is not come to them in anger, but in mercy: and he has still greater kindness in store for them than this cargo of fishes; therefore he said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men, and be more successful in casting the gospel-net, and drawing greater multitudes out of the depths of sin and misery to life and salvation. Which was eminently fulfilled, Act 2:41.
6. No sooner were they come to land, than Simon and Andrew, and the sons of Zebedee their partners, obeying his call, immediately left their boats, and all they had, quitting their employment at the time when it appeared most successful; and commenced thenceforward constant attendants on the Lord Jesus. Note; They who know the blessedness of Christ’s service, will count nothing too much to part with for his sake.
2nd, We have,
1. The cleansing of the leper. This history both the former evangelists have recorded. It affords us,
(1.) A striking emblem of our true state. So corrupt is our nature; so spotted are our souls; so loathsome in the eyes of God, and by all natural means so utterly incurable, is the disease of sin.
(2.) It directs us where our only hope lies, even in Jesus, the great Physician. To him, with deep humiliation and confusion of face, in the sight of our own vileness, should we make application; crying earnestly for his healing grace; depending on his power to save to the uttermost; and casting ourselves wholly on his mercy.
(3.) Christ appears a gracious Saviour, ready to hear the prayer of the poor and destitute, and able to save to the uttermost all who come to him: both to pardon the sinner’s guilt, however aggravated; and to deliver him from the power of his corruptions, however inveterate.
(4.) Every cleansed sinner will obediently follow the commands of Jesus; will offer up himself a living sacrifice to God; and in the blessed, evident, and universal change wrought upon him, will leave those without excuse, who will not acknowledge the divine power and grace magnified in such a conversion.
2. Great multitudes resorted to him from every quarter to hear him, and to be healed. The more he sought to be hid, the more his fame spread. The gratitude and transport of joy this poor man felt on his cure, would not permit him to hold his tongue and conceal the glory of his great Benefactor. Modest worth, that wishes to be concealed, shines the brighter.
3. He withdrew, after the labours of the day, from the crowd, and, retiring into a solitary place, spent some time alone in prayer.To teach us this necessary duty, which nothing should intrench upon or interrupt.
3rdly, Christ ceased not his indefatigable labours.
1. He preached in a house on a week-day at Capernaum; for no day, no place, is unsuitable or unseasonable, when an opportunity offers to speak a word for God, and for the good of men’s souls. Among others of his audience, were a large number of scribes and Pharisees; who, with no good intention, were come from the distant places, not to hear and learn, but to sit by, to make remarks and cavil; and the power of the Lord was present to heal them, not the Pharisees, but many of the multitude who came to him with their several diseases; thus at least to leave without excuse those who refused the evidence of such incontestable miracles. Note; (1.) When persons come to hear the word of God, not to profit themselves, but to prejudice others against it, great is their guilt. (2.) Though we know the malice of those who watch for our halting, we must not be discouraged from persevering in the way of duty. (3.) The power of the Lord is present to heal wherever his gospel is preached; but they who reject the counsel of God against their own souls, have only themselves to blame for their destruction.
2. Just at that time a paralytic was brought to Jesus: unable to gain access by the door, because of the multitude, his friends carried him up to the top of the house, and let him down through the roof into the room where Jesus was. (See the Annotations.) Beholding their faith, he pronounces the pardon of His sins; and notwithstanding all the cavils of the Pharisees which he knew, Jesus confirms the divine authority that he assumed, by an immediate cure of the paralytic; proving thereby, that he who could thus by his own power remove the effects of sin, had an undoubted right to pardon it. The cure was instantaneous and perfect, and raised the amazement of all who were struck with sacred reverence and awe, when they saw him who the moment before lay stretched so helpless, now rise with full strength and vigour, take up his own bed, and go away glorifying God for the astonishing mercy; and the people in general acknowledged, that no such strange miracles were ever before seen or heard of. Note; (1.) All our diseases are the fruit of sin, and that should ever humble us under them before God. (2.) Jesus hath power to forgive sins, and they who by faith come to him, shall know it by blessed experience. (3.) If our sin be pardoned, the bitterness of sickness is passed away: a soul rejoicing in God, as its Saviour, has nothing to complain of. (4.) When we have received mercy at God’s hand, we are bound to ascribe to him the glory due unto his name, and to speak to his praise.
4thly, The conversion of the sinner’s heart to God is equally a matter of wonder, and as great an evidence of divine power, as cleansing the leper, or raising the dead. We have,
1. The calling of Matthew, or Levi the publican, and his ready obedience to the command of Jesus: instantly leaving all, he followed him. The vilest sinners who come to Jesus at his call, will hear him speak to their hearts, and be effectually wrought upon: nothing is above his almighty grace.
2. The gracious condescension of the Lord to those publicans whom Matthew invited to his house. Our Lord disdained not to sit down with them, and vindicates his conduct from the envious, malicious, and censorious suggestions of the Pharisees. He associated not with them as approving their ways, or countenancing them in evil, but as a physician visits the diseased: the whole, at least they who fancy themselves so, need not his care. The business of the Saviour in the world was not with the righteous, or those who were vainly puffed up with a conceit of their own excellence, as was the case of the Pharisees; he came to call poor sinners, as the publicans were, to repentance; and would kindly receive them, when sensible of their guilt and sinfulness they turned to him. And he is still the same gracious Lord; no miserable sinner need despair; let him look unto Jesus and be saved. Those only perish, who through wilful ignorance know not their need of him, or proudly fancy that they are righteous.
3. He vindicates his disciples from the censures of the Pharisees respecting fasting. It was not fit that they should fast, while their Master was with them; they were not yet prepared to endure this discipline. Such austerities might tempt them to draw back, as new fermenting wine would burst old leathern bottles; their exercises must be proportioned to their strength. At present they could not bear it; but hereafter the time would come, when losing their Master, and called out to labour in his cause, they would learn to fast, 1Co 4:11. Not that the Pharisees had a right to lay such a stress upon their own bodily services: though, like new fermenting wine that sparkles high, they made a fair show in the flesh, their form of godliness was not to be compared with the life and power of religion, the old wine, which the disciples possessed, and which every spiritual person who has a true relish for the things of God far prefers.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
Reader! think what privileges the men of that generation possessed, which had Christ himself for their preacher! He, who was himself the whole of the covenant, to be the messenger, and administrator of it also! Well might the people press upon him to hear the word of God! And, Reader! see how immediately after the sermon was finished, he kindly rewarded the attendance of his disciples with the supply of fishes. What a testimony at the same time of his being Lord and proprietor, both of earth and sea. Lord! let such a display of thy sovereignty have the same effect on my heart, as on that of Peter; not to say Lord! depart from me, but to impress my mind as his was, that I may say, Thou art my Lord and my God!
Oh! for grace, when I read of this leper, and hear of the mercy shewn to the paralytic, to have faith in my God! Yes! blessed Jesus, all power is thine to cleanse both the leprosy of soul and body; and to remove the crippled state of all thy redeemed, until the lame man shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing. Like Levi, Lord! I would take thee home to my house, to my heart, and invite other poor sinners to the banquet of my God. No Pharisaical fastings would I set up, by way of recommending myself to the Lord; but rejoice in this, Christ came not to call the self-righteous, but sinners to repentance. No patched up garments, no new wine of the Gospel to receive in the old skin of nature; but pray that He who sits upon the throne, making all things new, while He himself remains eternally and unchangeably the same, would make my heart new, and renew a right spirit within me. Lord Jesus! do thou all this, and more; and cause thou me to drink of the old wine of thine everlasting love, which goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
36 And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.
37 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.
38 But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.
39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.
Ver. 39. The old is better ] That is, milder, and so more pleasant. Vetustate enim vina mitescunt, quia velustas igneum calorem, acerbitatem, et faeces e vino tollit. (Piscator.) Age clarifies wine, and ripens it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
39. ] This peculiar and important addition at once stamps our report with the very highest character for accuracy. Its apparent difficulty has perhaps caused its omission from Cod. [52] and mss. of the old Latin version. It contains the conclusion of the discourse , and the final answer to the question in Luk 5:33 , which is not given in Matt. and Mark. The are the Jews , who had long been habituated to the old system; the is the new wine (see on Matt.) of the grace and freedom of the Gospel: and our Lord asserts that this new wine was not palatable to the Jews, who said . Observe (against De Wette, &c.) that even with the common reading there is no objective comparison whatever here between the old and new wine; the whole stress is on and , and the import of is subjective: in the view of him who utters it . And even if we were to assume such an objective comparison, it makes no difficulty. In time, the new wine will become older: the man will become habituated to its taste, and the wine itself mellowed: and the comparison between the wines is not then which is the older , but which is intrinsically the better .
[52] The CODEX CANTABRIGIENSIS, or BEZ, so called because it was presented by Beza in 1581 to the University Library at Cambridge; where it is now exposed to view in a glass case. He procured it in 1562, from the monastery of St. Irenus at Lyons. It is on parchment, and contains the Gospels and Acts, with a Latin version. Its lacun, which are many, will be perceived by the inner marginal letters in this edition. It once contained the Catholic Epistles: 3Jn 1:11-14 in Latin is all that now remains. It was edited with very accurate imitative types, at the expense of the University of Cambridge, by Dr. Kipling, in 1793. A new edition carefully revised and more generally accessible was published by Mr. Scrivener in 1864, and has been collated for this Edition. In the introduction some ten or twelve correctors are distinguished, whose readings are found in the notes at the end of the volume. The text of the Codex Bez is a very peculiar one, deviating more from the received readings and from the principal manuscript authorities than any other. It appears to have been written in France, and by a Latin transcriber ignorant of Greek, from many curious mistakes which occur in the text, and version attached. It is closely and singularly allied to the ancient Latin versions, so much so that some critics have supposed it to have been altered from the Latin: and certainly many of the phnomena of the MS. seem to bear out the idea. Where D differs in unimportant points from the other Greek MSS., the difference appears to be traceable to the influence of Latin forms and constructions. It has been observed, that in such cases it frequently agrees with the Latin codex e (see the list further on). Its peculiarities are so great, that in many passages, while the sense remains for the most part unaltered, hardly three words together are the same as in the commonly received text. And that these variations often arise from capricious alteration, is evident from the way in which the Gospels, in parallel passages, have been more than commonly interpolated from one another in this MS. The concurrence with the ancient Latin versions seems to point to a very early state of the text; and it is impossible to set aside the value of D as an index to its history; but in critical weight it ranks the lowest of the leading MSS. Its age has been very variously given: the general opinion now is that it was written in the latter end of the fifth or the sixth century .
Stier observes (i. 328), that the saying is a lesson for ardent and enthusiastic converts not to be disappointed, if they cannot at once instil their spirit into others about them.
As regards the readings , the sentence seems to have been tampered with by some who wished to make it more obvious, and to bring out the comparison more strongly: being inserted, better to correspond with the fact, and the matter in question, and the comparative substituted for the positive: but the sentence loses much of its point and vigour by the change: the old wine is not better than the new (which has not been tasted ), but merely good, i.e. good enough: therefore no new is desired.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 5:39 . The thought in this verse is peculiar to Lk. It seems to be a genial apology for conservatism in religion, with tacit reference to John and his disciples, whom Jesus would always treat with consideration. They loved the old wine of Jewish piety, and did not care for new ways. They found it good ( ), so good that they did not wish even to taste any other, and could therefore make no comparisons. (Hence preferable to in T. R.) This saying is every way worthy of Christ, and it was probably one of Lk.’s finds in his pious quest for traditions of the Personal Ministry.
With reference to the foregoing parabolic words, drawn from vesture and wine, Hahn truly remarks that they would be naturally suggested through association of ideas by the figure of a wedding feast going before. Bengel hints at the same thought: “parabolam a veste, a vino; inprimis opportunam convivio”.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
better = good. So all the texts.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
39.] This peculiar and important addition at once stamps our report with the very highest character for accuracy. Its apparent difficulty has perhaps caused its omission from Cod. [52] and mss. of the old Latin version. It contains the conclusion of the discourse, and the final answer to the question in Luk 5:33, which is not given in Matt. and Mark. The are the Jews, who had long been habituated to the old system;-the is the new wine (see on Matt.) of the grace and freedom of the Gospel: and our Lord asserts that this new wine was not palatable to the Jews, who said . Observe (against De Wette, &c.) that even with the common reading there is no objective comparison whatever here between the old and new wine; the whole stress is on and , and the import of is subjective:-in the view of him who utters it. And even if we were to assume such an objective comparison, it makes no difficulty. In time, the new wine will become older:-the man will become habituated to its taste, and the wine itself mellowed: and the comparison between the wines is not then which is the older, but which is intrinsically the better.
[52] The CODEX CANTABRIGIENSIS, or BEZ,-so called because it was presented by Beza in 1581 to the University Library at Cambridge; where it is now exposed to view in a glass case. He procured it in 1562, from the monastery of St. Irenus at Lyons. It is on parchment, and contains the Gospels and Acts, with a Latin version. Its lacun, which are many, will be perceived by the inner marginal letters in this edition. It once contained the Catholic Epistles: 3Jn 1:11-14 in Latin is all that now remains. It was edited with very accurate imitative types, at the expense of the University of Cambridge, by Dr. Kipling, in 1793. A new edition carefully revised and more generally accessible was published by Mr. Scrivener in 1864, and has been collated for this Edition. In the introduction some ten or twelve correctors are distinguished, whose readings are found in the notes at the end of the volume. The text of the Codex Bez is a very peculiar one, deviating more from the received readings and from the principal manuscript authorities than any other. It appears to have been written in France, and by a Latin transcriber ignorant of Greek, from many curious mistakes which occur in the text, and version attached. It is closely and singularly allied to the ancient Latin versions, so much so that some critics have supposed it to have been altered from the Latin: and certainly many of the phnomena of the MS. seem to bear out the idea. Where D differs in unimportant points from the other Greek MSS., the difference appears to be traceable to the influence of Latin forms and constructions. It has been observed, that in such cases it frequently agrees with the Latin codex e (see the list further on). Its peculiarities are so great, that in many passages, while the sense remains for the most part unaltered, hardly three words together are the same as in the commonly received text. And that these variations often arise from capricious alteration, is evident from the way in which the Gospels, in parallel passages, have been more than commonly interpolated from one another in this MS. The concurrence with the ancient Latin versions seems to point to a very early state of the text; and it is impossible to set aside the value of D as an index to its history;-but in critical weight it ranks the lowest of the leading MSS. Its age has been very variously given: the general opinion now is that it was written in the latter end of the fifth or the sixth century.
Stier observes (i. 328), that the saying is a lesson for ardent and enthusiastic converts not to be disappointed, if they cannot at once instil their spirit into others about them.
As regards the readings,-the sentence seems to have been tampered with by some who wished to make it more obvious, and to bring out the comparison more strongly: being inserted, better to correspond with the fact, and the matter in question, and the comparative substituted for the positive: but the sentence loses much of its point and vigour by the change: the old wine is not better than the new (which has not been tasted), but merely good, i.e. good enough: therefore no new is desired.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 5:39. , straightway) It is by degrees that the dispositions of minds are changed.- , the old) Their own old doctrine was more palatable to the Pharisees than the generous (excellent) doctrine of Christ, which they fancied to be new, whereas it was far more ancient than their own: Gal 3:17 [the covenant-the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul]; 1Jn 2:7-8 [no new commandment-but an old commandment-from the beginning]: as to the excellence of the new wine, see Zec 9:17 [New wine-shall make cheerful-the maids]: though new, it is at the same time mild and pleasant. Mat 11:30.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Jer 6:16, Mar 7:7-13, Rom 4:11, Rom 4:12, Heb 11:1, Heb 11:2, Heb 11:39
Reciprocal: Isa 25:6 – of wines
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE EXCELLENCE OF THE LITURGY
No man having drunk old wine desireth new; for he saith, The old is better.
Luk 5:39
The excellency of the Liturgy of the Church of England! This is proved by using it. No man having drunk of this wine desireth new; experience has taught him what argument might have failed in doing, that the old is better. Solvitur ambulando. The excellency of the Liturgy of the Church of England is assumed from:
I. The point of view of scripturalness and Scripture truth.Above two-thirds of the daily service of the Church consists of extracts from Scripture. You may find fault with the minister and object to his preaching, but no minister can rob you of a service in which the Bible takes the chief place. The Psalter is read through twelve times a year; the bulk of the Old Testament once; the New Testament (save for three chapters) twice. Each Sunday and holy-day has a special Epistle and Gospel. On Ash Wednesday we have an exhortation which is practically in the very words of Scripture. Not only so, but this normal arrangement is ruthlessly set aside when the fluctuations of the ecclesiastical year demand that our attention should be fixed on what Prebendary Sadler called the Scripture Gospel. Compare this form of worship with what obtains in many a Nonconformist chapel, where, both in reading and in preaching, the officiating minister follows his own will and fancy.
II. The point of view of what may be called balance.I thank God, said one who had just experienced a wonderful outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that I was brought up in the Church of England. We live in an age of revivals, of zeal and enthusiasm. Let us be grateful for it. But zeal and enthusiasm are apt to become one-sided and intolerant. It needed the well-balanced mind of an Erasmus to see the dangers which were hidden from the eyes of a Luther. There was a time for Luther and there was a time for Erasmus. There are men who have joined the Church of England because only in her could they find freedom, within reasonable limits, for that unfettered consideration of theological difficulties which is so necessary in these days of searching investigation, the result of that freedom being frequently (thank God!) a hearty acquiescence in those views which are looked upon as orthodox, instead of being driven by the extreme dogmas of a sect into heresy of opinion and misery of soul.
III. The point of view of fitness and good taste.We live in a critical age. We live in a religious age. The religious and critical spirit are continually at variance, and (to some extent) act and react on each other. Earnestness may compel our admiration, but good taste refuses to be outraged even for the sake of earnestness, be it ever so earnest. The fierce light of criticism, the almost unreasonable requirements of good taste, the innate conviction of what ought to constitute the fitness of things, is silent in the case of our Liturgy. Criticism may discuss the ritual which obtains; good taste may have its say with regard to the reading and the music which are customary; but the words themselves of the Prayer Book retain to the full to-day, as much as when John Keble in 1827 wrote his charming preface to The Christian Year, their soothing tendency. The Collect for the day will touch many a heart where extempore prayer would but cause a cavil; the Te Deum will be the song of praise to many who, like Charles Kingsley, are sorely exercised by most of our modern hymns; and the secret agnostic will stand reverently at the open grave and be comforted by the most touching of our occasional services.
IV. The point of view of spiritual growth.As we advance in the spiritual life, as we draw nearer to the presence of God, we have no need to borrow phrases which seem to stamp us as of some school of thought of yesterday; the third Collect at Morning Prayer (to take but one out of the full sum of Anglican devotion) will satisfy the aspirations of St. Paul when caught up to the third heaven; it will indicate a line of practical Christian perfectionism which can never be surpassed on this side of eternity.
We have in our possession a spiritual treasure. Do we use it, do we enjoy it?
(a) Unless our Liturgy is used it is but a poor possession. The fervent Dissenter whose heart follows the petitions uttered by his minister has a more valuable possession than those who hear the Liturgy but take no part therein. Learn, then, to appreciate the Prayer Book by using it. If we do not use our Prayer Books we shall starve in the midst of plenty; let us see to it that we show our appreciation of our treasury of devotion by our acquaintance with its many priceless gems.
(b) Lastly, let us nourish our spiritual life by the Liturgy of the Church of England. Where ought we to find more perfect Christians than in the members of the Anglican communion? They have all and abound, as regards prayer and praise and Scripture-reading. But the Prayer Book, like the Bible, needs a key with which to unlock its treasures. That key is Jesus Christ. Those who know Christ, those who are following Christ, those who have put on Christ, will learn more and more of Christ in the Liturgy as their spiritual life deepens and widens with experience and prayer.
Rev. E. J. Sturdee.
Illustration
In 1875 a Convention was held at Brighton to emphasise a comparatively new development of spiritual life in the direction of what was called sanctification by faith alone. Much interest was aroused in the movement. Much discussion took place all over the country in connection with it. Among those who visited the Convention was one whose books and teaching have long been cherished by thousands who only knew her by name, when they heard that Mrs. Rundle Charles was the authoress of The Schnberg Cotta Family. Mrs. Charles went to the Convention, and embodied her experiences in an article sent to a religious paper, and afterwards reproduced in one of her most charming books, The Bertram Family. And this was the gist of her remarks, that all she had heard at Brighton was virtually contained in the Liturgy, and though true was in no sense new.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
9
This verse has the same lesson that the preceding paragraph teaches, which is one of appropriateness. Incidentally, it also overthrows the theory referred to, that the illustration applied to the Old and New Testaments. According to that notion, Jesus teaches that every man would prefer the Old Testament as being the better.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.
[The old is better.] Is not the old better? The Gloss is, Old wine: that is, of three years old.
Wine of three leaves. The Gloss is, “Of three years: because from the time that the vine had produced that wine, it had put forth its leaves three times.”
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 5:39. And no man having drank old wine desireth new; for he saith, The old is good. Some authorities read better (as in E. V.); a reading due to an attempt to explain the sense. This verse gives completeness to our Lords discourse and contains the final answer to the objection raised in Luk 5:33. There is no comparison between the relative excellence of new and old wine, but simply a statement of the wish (desireth) of one accustomed to drinking old wine. The one accustomed to the old wine, says: the old is pleasant, good enough for me, I have no desire to try the new. This is precisely the attitude of a false conservatism. The original application to the objectors was intended by our Lord mainly for the instruction of His own disciples, to show how natural it was that disciples of John and of the Pharisees could not bring themselves to give up the old forms and ordinances, which had become dear to them, and to substitute the new life according to His principles (Meyer). The old throughout is what is Jewish; the new, what is distinctively Christian, the grace and freedom of the gospel.The first disciples, as Jews, were not ready at once to relish the new wine.The warning against bringing legalism into the gospel is contained in all the accounts; but here we have a much needed admonition to patience. Even if men oppose the new and the true, because they are content with the old, and will not take the trouble to examine what is new, much less to recognize any excellence in it, let us not grow weary. Romans 14 contains the best practical commentary on this word of the Lord.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Ver. 39. The Third Parable.
The thorough opposition which Jesus has just established between the legal system and the evangelical system (first parable), then between the representatives of the one and those of the other (second parable), must not lead the organs of the new principles to treat those of the ancient order with harshness. They must remember that it is not easy to pass from a system, with which one has been identified from childhood, to an entirely different principle of life. Such men must be allowed time to familiarize themselves with the new principle that is presented to them; and we must beware how we turn our backs upon them, if they do not answer, as Levi the publican did, to the first call. The conversion of a publican may be sudden as lightning, but that of a scrupulous observer of the law will, as a rule, be a work of prolonged effort. This figure, like that of the preceding parable, is taken from the actual circumstances. Conversation follows a meal; the wine in the bottles circulates amongst the guests. With the figure of the bottles, which contain the wine, is easily connected the idea of the individuals who drink it. The new wine, however superior may be its quality, owing to its sharper flavour, is always repugnant to the palate of a man accustomed to wine, the roughness of which has been softened by age. In the same way, it is natural that those who have long rested in the works of the law, should at first take alarm
Jesus can well understand itat the principle of pure spirituality. It is altogether an error in the Alex. that has erased here the word , immediately. The very idea of the parable is concentrated in this adverb. We must not judge such people by their first impression. The antipathy which they experience at the first moment will perhaps give place to a contrary feeling. We must give them time, as Jesus did Nicodemus.
There is a tone of kindly humour in these words: for he saith, Attempt to bring over to gospel views these old followers of legal routine, and immediately they tell you…
If, with the Alex., the positive is read: the old is mild, the repugnance for the new wine is more strongly marked than if we read, with the T. R., the comparative: , milder; for in the first case the antithesis implied is: The new is not mild at all. As the idea of comparison runs through the entire phrase, the copyists were induced to substitute the comparative for the positive. The Alex. reading is therefore preferable.
It was a great moment, as Gess truly says, when Jesus proclaimed in a single breath these three things: the absolute newness of His Spirit, His dignity as the Husband, and the nearness of His violent death.
If the first parable contains the germ of Paul’s doctrine, and the second foreshadows His work among the Gentiles, the third lays down the principle whence He derived His mode of acting towards His fellow-countrymen: making Himself all things to all by subjecting Himself to the law, in order to gain them that were under the law (1Co 9:19-20).
What gentleness, condescension, and charity breathe through this saying of Jesus! What sweetness, grace, and appropriateness characterize its form! Zeller would have us believe (Apostelgesch. p. 15) that Luke invented this touching saying, and added it on his own authority, in order to render the decided Paulinism of the two preceding parables acceptable to Jewish-Christian readers. But does he not see that in saying this he vanquishes himself by his own hand? If the two former parables are so Pauline, that Luke thought he must soften down their meaning by a corrective of his own invention, how comes it to pass that the two other Syn., the Gospels which are in the main Jewish-Christian, have transmitted them to the Church, without the slightest softening down? Criticism sometimes loses its clear-sightedness through excessive sharpness.
That the ultra-Pauline Marcion should have omitted this third parable is perfectly natural; it proves that he thoroughly understood it, for it carries with it the condemnation of his system. But no consequence unfavourable to its authenticity can be drawn from this. The omission of this verse in D., and some versions, is no less easily explained by its omission in the two other synoptics.
The independence of Luke’s text, and the originality of its sources, come out clearly from this last passage, which forms such an excellent close to this portion. The difference which we have pointed out in the purport of the first parable, a difference which is entirely in Luke’s favour, also attests the excellence of the document from which he has drawn. As to the others, they are no more under obligation to Luke than Luke is to them; would they, of their own accord, have made the teaching of Jesus more anti-legal than it was?
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Verse 39
The meaning which Jesus intended to convey by this remark is not understood.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Only Luke included this statement. Jesus’ point was that most people who have grown accustomed to the old order are content with it and do not prefer the new. They tend to assume that the old is better because it is old. This was particularly true of the Jewish religious leaders who regarded Jesus’ teaching as new and inferior to what was old.
Jesus contrasted four pairs of things that do not mix in this pericope. They are feasting and fasting, a new patch and an old garment, new wine and old wineskins, and new wine and old wine. His point was that His way and the way that the Jewish leaders followed and promoted were unmixable. The religious leaders even refused to try Jesus’ way believing that their old way was better.