New Cloth On Old Garment Parable; New And Old Wineskins: The deeper meaning

In this blog post, I’m going to talk about the parable of the New cloth on Old Garment. This also includes the parable of the New and Old Wineskins. What is the true meaning? Why did Jesus use these examples to illustrate the deeper meaning? We are going to discuss all these things in the blog post. Stay tuned, and let’s jump right into it!

So what is the parable of the New cloth on the Old Garment really about? Well, let’s look at what part of scripture it is recorded in Matthew 9:16-17: “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

What do these verses mean? Let’s take a look! First off, it’s pretty logical, right? Jesus gives real-life examples that the Jews would understand, to illustrate a bigger and more complicated meaning. He did this, as we’ve discussed, because only those who really wanted to know, would take the time to listen, and delve into the true meaning behind this parable. So when he spoke this parable, he did this by using examples the Jews would be able to understand, but if they really wanted to know what these examples illustrated, they would come to Him. What is the deeper hidden meaning behind this parable then? Let’s break down the verses, shall we?

The verses are talking about new cloth, and new wine, being put onto, or into, old clothing/old wineskins. It tells us why this wouldn’t work. Putting new cloth and sewing it into old cloth, the new cloth would tear away, because it hasn’t been worn or shrunk yet. Then with the old wineskins, and new wineskins, putting new wines in old wineskins would burst the old wineskins, which would ruin both the old wineskins and the new wine. The Jews understood these examples because they were used every day in this time period. The Jews understood the logic of this, and when Jesus simplified it to their terms, they were able to understand it easier. He did this so not only would they understand the examples, but through the parable, he would liken what they understood, to things that were harder to grasp, such as the meaning of this parable.

What is the deeper meaning of this parable then? Well, he wanted people to know that once they became Christians, they couldn’t just meld their old faith with the new, they had to realize that the old laws were no longer and that Jesus came to fulfill them. Just like new cloth when you sew it into old cloth, it will tear away, because it isn’t shrunken and worn like the old cloth. Just like this, our new faith will fall away if we try to follow both the old laws and traditions of the Pharisees and have just faith and belief in Jesus. Of course, we are still to obey the Ten commandments, but the sacrifices, circumcision, washing of hands, and other Jewish traditions were not needed in this new faith. We can’t have faith, plus works, that doesn’t give us salvation, and that’s what a lot of the Jews didn’t understand. That is why Jesus told this parable. That is also why he used the old and new wineskins illustration as well. You can’t put the new, into the old, because the old will ruin the new, and the new will be useless. This is what Jesus was trying to tell us.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope this helped explain this parable a little better and put it into simpler terms. I hope that you all enjoyed reading my blog post, and I can’t wait to write another! – Sadie