What is the significance of the unshrunk cloth on an old garment (Matthew 9:16)?

But the bridegroom was not merely introducing some corrections into the Jews' religion, as though patching an old garment with a new piece of cloth. What He introduced was a totally new garment, for the grace of Christianity completely transcends the system of Judaism. A mixture of the new with the old would make worse the rent in the old. Israel had thoroughly broken the law. To mix grace with that which was totally in ruins would actually only add to the tragedy of the ruin. Rather than being of any help, it would more glaringly expose their failure.

But the Lord goes beyond this to speak of the change of dispensation that was now at hand, and for which they must be prepared: a change which would be still more complete and radical; not a mere patch upon an old garment. The garment of legal righteousness was in fact wearing out, and man being exhibited as the prophet had declared him, "all his righteousnesses but as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6). What good in patching up what was so utterly gone? Between the new evangelical righteousness and the old legal one there can be only the strife of contradictory principles. There can be no fusion here: with all such attempts the rent is only made worse.

New cloth is what grace is bringing in now. It is not to be used to patch up the old. That is what men seek to do; it is an awful mistake. They mix up Judaism and Christianity. What the Lord was bringing in was not suitable to the old forms at all. Truth must have its own proper form. Then both are preserved.

Nor was the unbelief confined to these religionists of letter and form; for next (verse 14) the question comes from John's disciples: "Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?" Throughout it is the religious kind that are tested and found wanting. The Lord pleads the cause of the disciples. "Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?" Fasting, indeed, would follow when the Bridegroom was taken from them. Thus He points out the utter moral incongruity of fasting at that moment, and intimates that it was not merely the fact that He was going to be rejected, but that to conciliate His teaching and His will with the old thing was hopeless. What He was introducing could not mix with Judaism. Thus it was not merely that there was an evil heart of unbelief in the Jew particularly, but law and grace cannot be yoked together. "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." Nor was it only a difference in the forms the truth took; but the vital principle which Christ was diffusing could not be so maintained. "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." The spirit, as well as the form, was alien.

"Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn so long as the bridegroom is with them? But days will come when the bridegroom will have been taken away from them, and then they will fast." He Himself is the bridegroom and He had come and while He was with them, mourning could have no place; His rejection was to come and then they would fast. But our Lord not merely answers the question and shows Himself greater than John, who was but the friend of the bridegroom (John 3:29), while Jesus is the bridegroom. He adds something which is of great importance. He speaks of a complete change of the order of things. "But no one puts a patch of new cloth on an old garment, or its filling up takes from the garment and a worse rent takes place. Nor do men put new wine into old skins, otherwise the skins burst and the wine is poured out, and the skins will be destroyed; but they put new wine into new skins and both are preserved together." The old garment is Judaism with its legal righteousness. It is no good and had proven itself as such. No value in it at all, only to be cast aside, utterly put aside. A new garment, a better righteousness was about to be given. He whose name is "Jehovah our righteousness" had come and a change of dispensations was to take place. And now as it has come the old is gone, it is no longer in existence. Yet that which the Lord here but faintly indicates, the impossibility of patching up that which is hopeless and worthless, has been done in Christendom, nay, is the almost universal state of Christendom. It is mixing law and grace together. The rent has become worse. A Judaistic Christianity which, with a profession of Grace and the Gospel, attempts to keep the law and fosters legal righteousness, is a greater abomination in the eyes of God, than professing Israel in the past, worshipping idols.

The new wine is the Gospel of Grace. The old skins* are the law, the Levitical institutions and all connected with it, New wine belongs into new skins. (Bottles in the authorized version. Skins were used and are being used in the Orient for the preservation of wine. Hence skins is the correct translation.) If the new wine is put into old skins, the skins will burst and then there is no wine left and the skins are also made useless. The two belong no longer together. So Gospel and Judaism, Law and Grace do not belong together. The Gospel of Grace enclosed in ceremonial Judaism will result in the loss of the new wine, and ceremonial Judaism, the old skins, will be gone as well. And such is ritualistic Christendom; it is neither Christian nor Jewish. It has not Judaism and has lost the new wine. "They say, they are Jews and are not" (Rev. 3:9). If men hold only the form of godliness and deny the power thereof, it will always mean outward religiousness, legality, self-righteousness and turning away from Grace and the Lord Himself.

In Luke 5, the Lord Jesus speaks of a new garment, new bottles, and new wine. This new garment is to be distinguished from the new or unmilled cloth referred to in Matthew 9:16, and Mark 2:21. In these Scriptures the unmilled cloth, which has not been shrunk, would increase the rent in the old garment when shrinking took place. Here the Lord tells His hearers that no one would be foolish enough to tear a piece from a new garment to patch an old one. To do so would spoil the new garment; and the new patch would but expose the wretched nature of the old garment. Yet this is the very thing that men are seeking to do in spiritual things. Isaiah had said All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6), but men are unwilling to accept this divine verdict through the prophet. They know that their own garment will not do for God's presence, but think that if it could only be some-what improved they could stand before God in it. They think that a little of God's righteousness added to their own self-righteousness will make them suitable for the holiness of God's eye. But God's righteousness is presented to us in a beautiful garment; it is the best robe that he had in reserve for the Prodigal (Luke 15); the wedding garment provided for the marriage feast of the king's son (Matt. 22). And it is this garment that men would spoil, supposing that a bit of it would fit them, along with their own righteousness for the presence of God. The believer is graced in Christ before God, and the lovely features of Christ would but bring out the vile character of man's fancied righteousness if the two were brought together.

Such principles of truth as the above must be kept clearly distinct from one another, and the Lord speaks a parable to show this important distinction. No one is so ignorant as to cut off piece of cloth from a new garment to repair an old one (v.36). It would not take long to cause a tear when they are joined, and also the two will not match. The new garment of the grace of Christianity is not intended merely to patch up the old garment of a broken law, that is, to improve man in the flesh. This is a misuse of grace and will be of no help to the law. The two principles are distinct. What people need is the new garment, which means discarding the old one altogether. The four cases in this chapter, Peter, the leprous man, the paralyzed man and Levi all illustrate the receiving of the totally new garment.

Also, new wine, the Lord says, is not put into old wineskins (v.37). Glass bottles were unknown at that time, and containers were made of skins of small animals. Their life was short because of the fermentation of the wine, causing the skins to stretch so as to be useful only once. This is a picture of the vessels (individuals) receiving the new ministry of the grace of God. The vessels too must be new, that is, if they are not born again by the power of the Spirit of God, they are unable to contain the vital reality of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Old vessels (those not born anew) will have no proper appreciation of grace: it will prove too much for their capacity and "burst" them: they will perish. But the new vessel is capable of preserving the new wine. Further, the vessel itself (because it is new) is also preserved. The pure grace of God is perfectly suited to one who has been born of God.

But He furnishes more light than this. He points out the impossibility of making the principles of grace coalesce with the old system. This He sets forth by two similes.134 The first is the garment: "No one puts a piece of a new garment upon an old; otherwise, he will both rend† the new, and the piece which is from the new will not match‡ the old." There can be no harmony between the old thing and the new: law and grace will never mix. But next, He sets it forth under the figure of the new wine. "No one puts new wine into old skins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be poured out, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine is to be put into new skins, and both are preserved."§ He shows that there is an energy in the new thing which is destructive to the old. Just as the new wine would burst the old skins, and thus the liquor would be lost and the bottles perish, so would fare that which Christ in the Gospel introduces. Where there is the attempt to connect grace with anything of the law, the old no longer retains its true use, and the new completely evaporates. "New wine is to be put into new skins." Christianity has not only an inner principle peculiar to itself, as flowing from the revelation of God in Christ, but also it claims and creates forms adapted to its own nature. It is not a mere system of ordinances and prescriptions. It has living power, and that power makes new vehicles for itself. But man does not like it. "No one puts a piece," etc.: so AC, later uncials, most cursives, Old Lat., and some other versions. Edd. adopt "No one cuts a piece out of a new garment and puts it upon an old one; else he will both rend the new and the piece," etc., after ℵBDLΞ, 1, 33, Syrr. "Will rend," so Edd. with ℵBCDLΞ, 33. †T.R. "rends" is found in AE, etc., Amiat., Syrr., Memph. ‡"Will not match": so Edd. after ℵABCDL, 33, etc. "Doth not match" is in E, etc., Amiat., Syrr., Memph. §"And both are preserved": so ACD and later uncials, most cursives (69), Old Latin, Syrr., etc. Edd. omit, following ℵBL, 1, 33, Memph. (from Matthew).

As the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast, this is the next scene, raising the question of the character of those whom Jesus was sent to call. The narrative presents all this in a very orderly manner, but still adhering simply to the facts. Then comes the question of mingling the new principles with the old. This the Lord pronounces quite impossible. He shows that it was inconsistent to expect fasting when the Bridegroom was there. It would argue an entire unbelief in His glory, a total want of right feeling in those who owned His glory. It was all very well for people who did not believe in Him; but if the disciples recognised Him as the Bridegroom, it were utterly incongruous to fast in His presence.

Hence, our Lord takes the opportunity of pursuing the subject more deeply in the observation that "no man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment, else the new piece that filleth it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse." The forms, the outward manifestation of that which Christ was introducing, will not suit, and cannot mingle with the old elements of Judaism, still less will their inner principles consent. This He enters on next: "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." Christianity demands an outward expression, agreeable to its own intrinsic and distinctive life.*

Then, further, He was introducing that which was new. In Him the grace of God was beginning to shine out, and like a piece of new cloth it could not be treated as a patch to be put on the old garment of the law. The new will impose such a strain upon the old fabric that it will tear, and also there will be no suitability between the new and the old. They will prove to be wholly incongruous.