Now we need to look into these four new things that the Lord mentioned in these verses, realizing that He used these things to illustrate something of Himself. First of all, there is the new cloth for the new garment. The new cloth is for making the new garment, and the new garment is a covering that we put on outwardly. Therefore, the new garment is our outward expression. This signifies that Christ is our outward expression as the new garment.
What is fasting? That is an old garment. What is prayer? That may also be an old garment. In that case you may ask me whether or not I pray. Certainly I pray, but I do not pray in an old way, in a religious way. The religious prayer of the disciples of John was an old garment. Their fasting also was an old garment.
Now, however, Jesus is here. He is here first to be a piece of new cloth. The word used for “new” here means untreated, undressed, or, as one version says, unshrunk. This new cloth is a cloth that has never been dealt with or used. It is raw material. This refers to the Lord Jesus before He was crucified. While the Lord Jesus was on this earth, what He was and what He did was somewhat like an untreated, unfulled cloth. However, by His death and resurrection the new cloth became the new garment. Before His death and resurrection, He was a piece of new cloth, not treated, not dressed, not completed for wearing. However, when redemption was accomplished through His death and resurrection, He became the finished, completed new garment for us to put on as our covering.
We should not try to take a piece of the Lord Jesus as the new cloth to patch up our old garment. That will surely rend the old garment and cause the damage to increase. We could not damage Him, but our old garment would be damaged by our trying to use Him as the new cloth to patch it.
Matthew and Mark use the expression “new cloth,” but Luke uses “new garment.” The new cloth is the incarnated Christ before He was dealt with by death and resurrection. The new garment is the crucified and resurrected Christ. He was a piece of new cloth, but now He is no longer a piece of unfinished new cloth; He is a completed new garment that we can put on. He as the new garment is our righteousness. We are under His covering and we are in Him; therefore, eventually He is our expression.
We should not try to adjust or improve ourselves by taking something of Christ to patch up our holes. This is the wrong way. We need to forget about what we are and put on the whole Christ as our new garment. Then we can say, “Hallelujah! We are in Christ. He is our garment, He is our covering; therefore, He is our expression. We are not going to express our own humility, our love, our kindness, or our goodness. We are only going to express Christ. This is not the unfinished new cloth, but the completed, whole new garment.”
There are many people today who say that Jesus is a good example to follow and imitate. However, in so doing they are simply cutting out a piece of the Lord Jesus as the new cloth to put upon their old garment to patch up the holes. That will never work. The new cloth is for making the new garment. Praise the Lord, He is no more a piece of untreated cloth! He is now the finished, complete garment. Neither should we cut a piece of this complete garment to patch the holes of our old garment, for that will simply damage the old garment. Our old garment is too old. It is good for nothing but to be thrown away. We should put on the Lord Jesus as our new garment. If we take Him, we should take Him wholly. We should not try to take only pieces or parts of Him. If we are going to take Him, we need to take Him as a whole.
The Lord, in effect, was telling the disciples of John and the Pharisees: “Do not cut Me out and apply Me to your old religion. Your fasting and prayers are an old garment. Do you not realize that your old garment is already worn out and full of holes? Do not try to use Me to patch your old and tattered garment. The best way is simply to abandon it and take Me as your new garment. If you take Me, you need to take Me wholly. If you do not take Me, then forget about Me, but do not cut Me into pieces to patch your old garment.”
Today many people are doing what the disciples of John and the Pharisees did. They are trying to take the new things of the Lord to patch up their old ways. However, the holes in their old ways are made larger and larger. We should not cut out any piece of the Lord Jesus to patch up our old ways. Either we keep the old ways, or drop them completely. Either we forget about the Lord Jesus, or take Him wholly. We should not put the new together with the old. It simply does not work. The Lord said, “The patch from the new will not match the old” (Luke 5:36). If we take something new, we should take it wholly. Otherwise, we should forget about it. Either old or new, there is no compromise. We need to be in the realm of either black or white—there is no gray. We should take Christ as our whole, complete new garment.