PATCHING CLOTHES

No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Matthew 9:16 ,KJV

Now that we are a few days into 2025, I was looking through the Bible for the word, “new” as in “Happy New Year!” My King James concordance listed 27 verses using the word “new” – but what drew me to the verse above was the fact that a similar version of that verse is also found in Mark and Luke. It is the second example in a parable which Jesus used to respond to being questioned by some of John the Baptist’s disciples about why his disciples did not fast like other Jews. 

My mother was an excellent seamstress. She made many items of clothing for me until I got a job after college. My mother also did a lot of mending, fixing tears in my father’s clothes as well as hers and mine. In our basement near the wringer washing machine sat a cabinet with a rag bin.  When clothing was no longer useable, it was cut into rags and put in the bin. When something still useable needed a tear patched, she did not use new cloth left over from something she had made, but instead took something from the rag bin that would match. She followed the instructions of the parable, not so much for Biblical compliance but because she knew that a new patch on old fabric would shrink. 

I expect that Mary, Jesus’ mother, also did mending and so that was how He came up with the analogy in his parable. Jesus was trying to convey that his coming was a new thing for the Jews. The adherence to the old ways of hundreds of Jewish laws could not be sewn together with the coming of the Messiah. Jesus offers God’s grace to all who come to The Father only through faith in him.  So, too, can we receive grace as we go about His work in the world – whether it be giving winter coats to the unsheltered in Center City, Christmas toys and sports equipment to children being served by Diakon Ministries in Bucks County or money to build schools in Liberia.  In this new year of 2025, let us continue to go about His work in the world.

Lord Jesus, now that we have finished yet another Christmas rejoicing in Your birth, may the new year continue Your work by loving  and serving the needs of our neighbors. Amen.

Carol Rice