Matthew 9:16

“And no man puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for then that which should fill it up takes from the garment, and a worse tear is made.”

By His illustrations here Jesus now declares that it is not a time for supplementing the old ideas and trying to repair them. The inference is that what is needed is new clothing and new wine. The old is not to be supplemented by the new, but the new must replace the old. It is a clear indication that in Jesus has come a new age. The prophets had prophesied until John (Matthew 11:13). But now a greater than John was here. We are reminded by this illustration of God's promises to reclothe His people (see the parallel idea in Matthew 22:11 and compare Zechariah 3:4 and the idea in Ezekiel 16:10 with 59-63). For giving them new wine to drink see Isaiah 25:6 and compare John 2:1.

But the new is to replace the old because the old is not what it should be. The new Israel that will replace the old (Matthew 21:43) will return to the truths of its founding fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Matthew 8:11). It is what is cast out that is the old (Matthew 8:12). We can compare how in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus has not produced a new Law, but has brought out the true meaning of the original. The Law that is rejected is not the true Law, but the misinterpreted Law. The true Law is enhanced and glorified.

The Old Testament prophets had looked forward to this new age. They had looked for God to establish His Kingly Rule. This idea had been part of Isaiah's inaugural call (Isaiah 6:1), and a central feature of his ministry (Isaiah 52:7). And He would do it through the Coming One (Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 11:1).

In context the application of these words is as a defence against fasting. It is saying that we should not take old ideas, (in context the ideas about fasting), and try to improve them by mixing them with the new. That would be like using unshrunk cloth with which to mend the old. That would be ridiculous. When the garment was laundered the unshrunk cloth would shrink and the old cloth would be even further torn. Instead of the new patch filling the hole, it would make the hole bigger. Thus to put together the ideas of the old ragged ways and the new unspoiled ways would be incompatible. They do not match. With Jesus everything has begun anew.

This suggests that He saw fasting as being mainly for the old dispensation, but not for the new. The old world fasted because they waited in penitence for God to act. But now God was acting and fasting was a thing of the past. Now was the time for rejoicing.

However, the words also contain within them the general idea that what Jesus Himself has come to bring is new. ‘The Kingly Rule of Heaven has drawn near'. So now is to be a time of rejoicing and everything must be looked at in its light. The old had past, and the new has come (compare 2 Corinthians 5:17). Two examples of this appear in the Old Testament. The first is in Ezekiel 16 where Israel, having been splendidly clothed by God was defiled because of her idolatrous practises. But God promised that in the end He would put all right. Their fortunes would be restored. The second is in Zechariah 4:3 where Joshua the High Priest, the representative of Israel, was clothed in new clothing as an illustration of acceptance by God. From these we may gather that Jesus had also come to reclothe His people with pure clothing (compare Matthew 22:11; Revelation 19:8).

The extraordinary significance of this statement must not be overlooked. Jesus is clearly declaring that in His coming as the Bridegroom at this time a whole new way of thinking and living has been introduced. He is the introducer of a new age that is even at this time bursting in on the world, for being a bridegroom indicates that a marriage is about to take place, introduced by the Messianic Banquet which the disciples are already enjoying. So all this is not far in the future, it is resulting because Jesus is here. That is why they are not fasting. The acceptable year of the Lord has arrived. And their repentance and forgiveness in the new age into which they have now entered will lead to lives of joy as they walk in company with first the earthly and then the heavenly (risen) Bridegroom. Thus fasting will be unnecessary except in exceptional circumstances, in the brief period before final victory. Everything is different and old ways must be forgotten.

And this is because Jesus is introducing new clothing. This gains new meaning in the light of Jesus' idea elsewhere, which He Himself may have had in mind, for the man who seeks to enter the heavenly wedding without having a proper wedding garment on will be cast out (Matthew 22:11 compare Revelation 19:8; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 3:18). Those who would enter His presence must be clothed with the righteousness that He provides. There must be no partially patched up clothes for them.

It will be noted that the illustration here is different from that in Luke 5:36, for Luke speaks there of taking the new cloth from a new garment, which heightens the folly, as it destroys the new garment as well. It is clear that Jesus used the same illustration a number of times, varying it slightly when He wanted to make a different point, and that Matthew and Mark have used one example, and Luke another. In Luke ‘and He spoke also a parable to them' may be seen as suggesting that it is Luke or his source who have brought the ideas together there. But the fact that these saying are connected in all three synoptics, while at the same time being slightly different from each other, might point to the tradition as a whole as having done the bringing together. Alternately it may be that the unshrunk cloth is simply a slight abbreviation of the slightly longer illustration which emphasises the major point, with Luke giving us Jesus' full words. Matthew and Mark may thus simply be giving an abbreviation of them. A piece from a new garment would in fact be unshrunk cloth.