Today’s scripture: Luke 5:33-39 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (John Seksay):
Did you take chemistry in high school or beyond? I actually enjoyed it because it showed how things were put together and how nothing was actually destroyed or lost in chemical reactions, despite superficial appearances. The key understanding is the breadth of the transformations that can take place. Liquids can yield solids and gases; any substance can transform its nature under the right conditions! Today‘s scripture finds Jesus trying to explain the spiritual chemistry of his teachings to people who had apparently bypassed the class in their traditional training.
What do we know about wine beyond where to find it at the grocery store? To understand it, we must begin with the essential component, glucose, C6 H12 O6. It is one of the simplest carbohydrates in the family we call sugars. It’s the source of the grape’s sweet taste, and very abundant in this fruit. This bounty automatically attracts all varieties of yeast because this simple molecule is yeast’s preferred food source. This makes grapes the premier fruit that can literally ferment spontaneously! Archaeologists indicate that our ancestors exploited this process as far back as 6,000 years ago.
But let’s focus on what Jesus was saying. Jesus speaks of new wine, called vinum mustum in the Latin. When you take freshly picked grapes and crush them, the mash is still called “the must” in current wine-making. Breaking the skins and mashing the pulp both give the yeast better access to the sugar, and the juice can then be drawn off for fermentation. The storage process must allow for the chemistry of fermentation, which generates heat and releases carbon dioxide. Too much oxygen will also stun the yeast and abort the process, so a good outcome is not guaranteed unless the developing wine is properly contained and allowed to mature. It is an art of delicate balance that has been polished for ages and has as many variations as there are types of grape.
Jesus had two clear points he needed to make to the traditionalists who were critical of his followers:
The first was that their traditional practices were not bringing in all the harvest that God desired; too many ”grapes” were either left to rot or being lost to poor spiritual “fermentation.”
The second was that the process he needed to salvage these losses was not the same as the old ways, but would have a shared outcome: good wine. The old ways weren’t being discarded, exactly, but expanded to meet the particular needs of the fruit that would otherwise be lost! The result would be a more complete spiritual harvest!
To illustrate the point, I offer an example from the wine industry itself, a relatively rare offering called ice wine. The harvest of grapes continues all the way up to the first hard frost. At that point the last grapes of the season literally freeze on the vine and would normally be left behind as lost. But if they are harvested promptly before they are allowed to thaw, the process of freezing that shattered the cells of the grapes yields a juice that is far richer in glucose than the grapes harvested during the warmer season. The wine derived from these “lost” grapes is significantly more potent when the fermentation is over, yielding a very strong, sweet wine. The relative smallness of this urgent harvest yields a premier product that is more precious to those who know wines. So it was with Jesus, making the finest wine from “grapes” that were often frozen out of their society!
Thought for the day: How often have I felt “frozen out”? How have I used the Holy Spirit to help me distill that experience?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.