Thursday, September 12, 2024
“No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved” (Matthew 9:16,17 KJV).
What is our Lord Jesus Christ teaching here?
Observe the parallel, Mark 2:21,22: “[21] No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. [22] And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.”
Now, look at the other parallel, Luke 5:36-39: “[36] And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. [37] And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. [38] But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. [39] No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.” (Note how verse 39 is unique to Luke’s Gospel Record. We will comment on this later.)
While the practices of attaching “new cloth” to an “old garment” and putting “new wine” in “new bottles” means practically nothing to us in our 21st-century, non-Jewish culture, Jesus’ audience clearly understood what He meant. In order to fully appreciate His words, we have to do some research, some study, some thinking, some acknowledgement of the context, and it will become quite obvious as to why He said what He did….
333 Words of Grace 