Matthew 9:16 No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunk cloth, because the patch tears away from the coat and leaves a worse hole.
Mark 2:21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old coat; if he does, the new patch tears away from the old cloth and leaves a worse hole.
Luke 5:36 Then he gave them an illustration: “No one tears a piece from a new coat and puts it on an old one; if he does, not only will the new one continue to rip, but the piece from the new will not match the old.
This statement was given in response to John the Baptist’s disciples when they asked why Yeshua’s disciples do not fast like them and the Pharisees.
To understand why this matters, we need to know why these people were fasting to begin with.
Overall, biblical fasting is a way to draw closer to God, deepen one's relationship with Him, and seek His guidance and direction in life.
To us, God may seem distant, and our relationship with Him is inconsistent at best. We want His guidance and then guess at the direction He has set before us.
But here He was. Standing right in front of them. Instead of man trying to draw near to God, God had drawn near to man -- and walked among them. So while He’s here, there is no need to fast in order to grow closer.
A new coat was here. The trouble was that people would try to take part of that new coat and stitch it into their old ways. Initially, this may work but over time they will be in a worse condition than when they started. Sounds like everyday of our own lives.
The Messiah knew this to be true and offered them this warning: “No one tears a piece from a new coat and puts it on an old one”
Put down your old ways and receive the truth that is looking you in the eyes.
A coat is designed to offer protection from the elements. All of those things out there that can damage what is beneath. A hole in our garment would expose you and even though it is just one spot, you would feel the pain throughout your entire body.
In this example of the coat, there are a few things to note:
You likely have developed a belief structure based on the first thing you heard. That doesn’t mean you received no truth, it just means the truth you received may not be fully anchored in actual truth.
The “breaking story from the newsroom” is designed to hook you into the narrative the newsroom owners are prepared to deliver. Even the culture understands how critical it is to get the word out first. This happens with absolutely everything. Proverbs even tells us,
Train a child in the way they [should] go; and, even when old, they will not depart from it.
This fact can be both good and bad. Teach a child truth and it will be with them all the days of their life. Feed a child lies and, well…
The point here is that our brains get mapped with an idea and we fight to no end to hold that in our minds. Something that challenges what we “know” to be absolutely true becomes an act of war.
Let this go on long enough and you have now established a foothold for a familiar spirit. You know, that spirit that brings you a strange comfort in the midst of knowing things aren’t right.
Breaking this spirit is probably one of the most difficult things to do.
No matter what familiar spirit you entertain, when the holes begin to show we want to use our new beliefs to patch it. But there is little to no chance we get rid of the old coat.
We know what we should do but for some reason we don’t do it.
Why is that?
Typical excuses are something like: “Well, I’m only human” or “I’m trying but boy is it hard.”
The first reason here is an out you are giving yourself. Yes, you are human. But you are a new creation.
The truth is that you need an excuse to hold onto that old coat. You can’t break that familiar spirit so you give it lipstick and generate the best excuse you can think of: “Well, I’m only human.”
As for the other excuse, is it really all that hard?
His yoke is easy and His burden is light. How is it possible we have taken that truth and bent it into a “yeah, but…” situation?
The truth is that we want what we want so badly, we will destroy anything that stands in the way.
Today is as good a day as any to throw away that filthy rag you call your covering. Embrace the unfamiliar so you can break the familiar.
If you think you’ve fooled us, you are quite wrong. We all see that patch clearly.