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NEW UPON THE OLD – NO MIXTURE!
THURSDAY, MAY 21
Luke 5:33-39

Memory verse: Luke 5:36

 

“…No man putteth a piece of

a new garment upon an old…”

 

NEW UPON THE OLD – NO MIXTURE!
 
The Lord could have stopped without giving them the parable, but His heart was for their salvation, even the salvation of His enemies. The parable taught the disciples, Pharisees, and scribes that Christ’s teaching and their teaching cannot coexist. In short, Christ was not trying to correct the teaching of the Pharisees and the scribes, or mix His teaching with theirs even though their teaching was based on the Old Testament, albeit a distortion. Their teaching was characterised by the rejection of Jesus as the Christ. Therefore, no matter how they tried to understand and teach the Old Testament, they taught like blind men. Their teaching would either be superficial, without any spiritual value, or entirely incorrect as they did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit illuminating their minds.
 
This parable of Jesus has two parts. The first concerns tailoring. If there is a tear in an old garment, a patch is required to fix it. The patch used will not be new (in terms of age i.e. a new piece of cloth). Otherwise, the unequal expansion and contraction of the old and new would cause the tear to become larger. The best patching material to use is an old piece with the old. Jesus deliberately used the new material because His teaching was new, but the teaching of the Pharisees was old. There was no compatibility between the two. If anyone were to try to join the two opposing teachings, i.e. accept and agree with the teachings of the Pharisees and Jesus, he would wound himself as the contradiction within him would rob him of peace. He would live a life of hypocrisy, pretending to be a child of God outwardly but remaining a child of the devil inwardly.
 
Doctrinal errors have been a dangerous but common experience in these last days. Marrying error with the truth of God’s Word is pervasive within Christendom. Thus, the prophecy of the falling away of Christianity before the return of Christ has been fulfilled (cf. 2 Thess 2:1-3). Make sure of your salvation by ensuring all the truths of God’s Word are understood correctly and obeyed heartily.
 
THOUGHT: Are you diligent enough to ensure your understanding of the Bible is rightly interpreted?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help me to love Thee by loving Thy truth always. For Christ’s sake, hear my cry. Amen.

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