The Lord is Doing a New Thing

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:19

This was the Lord’s promise to the Israelites exiled in Babylon—a message of hope, renewal, and salvation when life seemed hopeless, dire, and final.

As I reflect on this passage, I am captivated by the word NEW. That single word stirs something deep within me. I believe God is the originator of new. He brings something new out of nothing—creation. He also makes something new out of the old—transformation. We, His children, are both created and transformed.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Psalm 139:13

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
2 Corinthians 5:17

For some, new is exciting—something to anticipate with joy. For others, new can be frightening because it feels unfamiliar, unpredictable, and uncontrollable. Perhaps that’s how the Pharisees and teachers of the law felt when they encountered Jesus—the new Rabbi—doing new things.

In Luke chapters 5 and 6, they were disturbed by Jesus healing a paralytic and forgiving his sins, dining with tax collectors and sinners, allowing His disciples to eat and drink instead of fasting, and healing on the Sabbath.

Jesus was doing things outside their norms—He was challenging their laws and traditions. How dare He? Luke 6:11 tells us, “But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.”

To the Pharisees, Jesus’ actions were bad news. They held power and authority, and people were bound by their religious practices and rituals. Anyone who defied them risked excommunication from the synagogue—and therefore from their community. To them, Jesus’ ministry and message were offensive, nontraditional, and defiant.

In Eastern cultures like that of Israel, community is central. Unlike Western culture, which values individualism, Jewish life revolved around family, faith, and community. To be excommunicated meant being cut off—socially, economically, and spiritually.

During my study, the Lord led me to Luke 5:36–38, where Jesus told this parable:
“No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one… And no one pours new wine into old wineskins…”

As I connected this passage with the surrounding verses—and with insights from The Moody Bible Commentary and Bible Hub Commentary—I began to see what Jesus was teaching. He was doing something new, something that could not be understood or embraced without a complete transformation of the mind and heart.

The parable itself was preposterous. Why would anyone ruin a new garment just to patch an old, worn-out one? And why would anyone pour fresh, unfermented wine into brittle old wineskins that could no longer expand? New wine ferments—it grows, it stretches—and old wineskins would burst under that pressure.

Jesus’ point was clear: we don’t destroy the new to preserve the old. New wine must be poured into new wineskins, preserving both. The new wine represents God’s new covenant—His blessings and transformation—that can only be received by a renewed and transformed heart.

That’s why John the Baptist came before Jesus—to prepare the way for the Messiah and to prepare the hearts of the people. Unless a person gets rid of the old way of thinking and the sin that so easily entangles, they cannot receive God’s redemptive grace. The Pharisees refused to let go of their traditions and, instead of embracing the new, they sought to eliminate Jesus.

Let us not miss the new thing Jesus is doing in our lives today. This is His promise. Do you recognize it?

We’d love to hear what new things the Lord is doing in your life. Please share by leaving a comment below.

You are blessed, and you are set apart!