The patch from the new will not match the old – M K Babu

M K Babu

“No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.” Luke 5:36

No sensible man would buy a shirt to tear out a piece from it in order to repair his old outfit. This is because he knows he will lose both his garments. Usually, an old torn cloth will be disposed of and no one will spoil the new one by tearing a piece out of it. We know the old is of no use and the new one brings lot of excitement and happiness. We don’t need any means of persuasion to regard our belongings highly. That is why Jesus used parables to enlighten us. The irony is people are keener to preserve things than their life. “What good is it if someone gains the whole world but loses his soul? Or what can anyone trade for his soul?”

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to lavish a new life upon us. This new life is not to be poured into the old one. We need to die to the old self and put on the new one. It is not like adding another room to an old, existing structure but like tearing down the old one entirely to erect a building in a new design. Paul says to the Ephesians: “in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Eph iv.22-24).

The infallible Word that God gave cannot be applied to patch up the indoctrination derived from old myths and beliefs. The men and women whom God raised in His character are no match to fictitious heroes of stories. ‘Defective systems’ developed for the well-being of society cannot repaired by an add-on from the Kingdom of God. The salvation that Jesus Christ brought to mankind out of His love for them is not like other ongoing attempts to gain moksha (liberation from material world). God’s offer to mankind and man’s attempt to reach Him are altogether different. God and His Word stand; it has its own values, ethics, power and life.

Jesus said, “If we tear a patch from the new one the patch from the new will not match the old. Resultantly, we will lose both.” God has provided a new life for mankind through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus became a human being on behalf of us. He is the manifest Word of God in flesh. He obeyed the Father on our behalf. He died on the cross on our behalf and resurrected from the dead on our behalf. Through His mission He lavished a new life to all those who believe in the Lord’s death, resurrection and consequent exaltation. There is no partiality; people from all ethnic groups are eligible to receive this new life from God.

The new life in Christ is a transformation of our lives into an absolute new one. Paul comments on this new life while writing to Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Gal 2:20.

While exposing the fallacy of Pharisaical religion and its practices Jesus said, “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one”. Let us get rid of the old one and put on the new one.

God bless you.

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