24. Mat_9:17, New Wine and Old Bottles

Matthew 9:17, New Wine and Old Bottles The first occasion, following the order of the Gospels, on which Christ speaks of wine, he says (Matthew 9:17): “Neither do men put new wine into old bottles,” etc. A similar statement is also made by Mark 2:22 and Luke 5:37. Our Lord here refers to a well-known custom, in his day, in relation to the keeping of wine. Notice the facts. They did not put (oinos neos) new wine—the juice fresh from the press—into old bottles, then made of the skins of goats, and the reason is given, “Else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish.” But it was the custom to put the new wine into new bottles, and the reason is given, “That both the wine and the bottles are thus preserved.” The explanation which the advocates of but one kind of wine give is that new bags were used in order to resist the expansive force of the carbonic acid gas generated by fermentation. This explanation necessarily admits that the new wine had not yet fermented; for, if it had been fermented, the old bottles would suit just as well as the new; but the new, it is pleaded, were required to resist the force of fermentation. They thus concede that the new wine had not yet fermented.

Chambers, in his Cyclopaedia, says: “The force of fermenting wine is very great, being able, if closely stopped up, to burst through the strongest cask.” What chance would a goat-skin have?

I have said, if the “new wine” had already fermented, the old bottles would suit just as well as the new; but, if not fermented, the old would not suit, not because they were weak, but because they would have portions of the albuminous matter or yeast adhering to the sides. This, having absorbed oxygen from the air, would become active fermenting matter, and would communicate it to the entire mass.

Liebig informs us that “fermentation depends upon the access of air to the grape-juice, the gluten of which absorbs oxygen and becomes ferment, communicating its own decomposition to the saccharine matter of the grapes”—Kitto, ii. 955. The new bottles or skins, being clean and perfectly free from all ferment, were essential for preserving the fresh unfermented juice, not that their strength might resist the force of fermentation, but, being clean and free from fermenting matter, and closely tied and sealed, so as to exclude the air, the wine would be preserved in the same state in which it was when put into those skins.

Columella, who lived in the days of the Apostles, in his recipe for keeping the wine “always sweet,” expressly directs that the newest must, be put in a “new amphora,” or jar.

Smith, in his Greek and Roman Antiquities, says: “When it was desired to preserve a quantity in the sweet state, an amphora was taken and coated with pitch withinand without; it was filled with the mustum lixivium, and corked, so as to be perfectly air-tight.” The facts stated by Christ are in perfect keeping with the practice prevailing in His day to prevent the pure juice of the grape from fermenting. The new amphora—the amphora coated with pitch within and without—and the new bottles, all have reference to the same custom. The people of Palestine must have been familiar with this custom, or Christ would not have used it as an illustration. This passage, properly viewed in connection with the usages of the day, goes a great way toward establishing the fact that Christ and the people of Palestine recognized the existence of two kinds of wine—the fermented and the unfermented. This passage also helps us to understand the character of the wine Christ used, which he made for the wedding at Cana, and which he selected as the symbol of his atoning blood.