Christ Jesus taught: "No man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved."Luke 5:37, 38 This teaching had often puzzled me. Is Jesus saying that some people are like old bottles, and you can't teach them anything new? Is he saying that some individuals are unable to grow spiritually, and the "new wine" of spiritual inspiration must be saved for those who can accept it?
Christian Science has shown me that man isn't what he appears to be—he's not a mortal, un-receptive to Truth, unable to move beyond old standpoints. He's God's immortal likeness. The Bible brings out two different concepts of man. On the one hand, there is the flawed, mortal view of man that includes sickness, sinful behavior, and death. On the other hand, there is a higher concept—the true concept of man as created in the image and likeness of God. This likeness is spiritual because, as the Bible tells us, God is Spirit. God's likeness is not subject to mortal limitations and death but expresses the perfection and unlimited nature of God.
We might think of the bottle in Jesus' teaching as our consciousness. Is it an old, cracked container, so to speak, unable to withstand the pressure of new, more advanced ideas? Or is it embracing spirituality and accepting joy, harmony, perfection, as reality—the "new wine" of Christian teachings?
