The New Wine of Redemption; Luke 5:36-39

Delivered during the Sunday morning worship service, 01/02/2022. Luke brings his two-chapter-long discussion of the Good News to a climax with three familiar parables illustrating the uniqueness of the Gospel and why Christianity could not be built upon the foundation of the traditions of Judaism. Underlying the specifics of this confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders of His day, lies the epic and eternal question of the nature of religion. From whence does redemption come? Is it through Divine Accomplishment? Or is it the result of human achievement? We will clearly define both of these terms and discuss how they impact the church both in Luke's day and in ours. Ultimately we will find that Luke has gone out of his way to emphasize that the true religion of Scripture, and therefore Orthodox Christianity, without question is a religion of Divine Accomplishment-- and the old, lifeless wineskins of human achievement cannot possibly hold the New Wine of Redemption!