Luke Chapter 5, Verse 39
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39: και ουδεις πιων παλαιον ευθεως θελει νεον λεγει γαρ ο παλαιος χρηστοτερος εστιν
39: No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new:
for he saith, The old is better.
39: And no man drinking old hath presently a mind to new: for he
saith: The old is better.
Having drunk old wine, &c. Wine increases its strength and flavour,
and its mildness and mellowness, by age, and the old is therefore
preferable. They who had tasted such mild and mellow wine would not
readily drink the comparatively sour and astringent juice of the grape as
it came from the press. The meaning of this proverb in this place seems
to be this: You Pharisees wish to draw my disciples to the austere
and rigid duties of the ceremonial law -- to fasting and painful
rites; but they have come under a milder system. They have tasted
the gentle and tender blessings of the gospel; they have no relish
for your stern and harsh requirements. To insist now on their observing
them would be like telling a man who had tasted of good, ripe, and mild
wine to partake of that which is sour and unpalatable. At the proper
time all the sterner duties of religion will be properly regarded; but
at present, to teach them to fast when they see no occasion for it --
when they are full of joy at the presence of their Master -- would be
like putting a piece of new cloth on an old garment, or new wine into
old bottles, or drinking unpleasant wine after one had tasted that which
was pleasanter. It would be ill-timed, inappropriate, and incongruous.
