Matthew 9:14-17
The Old Won’t Do
The text that we are looking at is actually three small parables. The
purpose of all three was to answer the question the disciples of John
had asked, "Why aren’t Your disciples fasting?" That question was
actually a small part of a bigger question that needed to be asked
and answered. The bigger question is, "Why aren’t your disciples
keeping the old traditions?"
Jesus answered that question with the three parables:
1. The departed Bridegroom
2. The patched garment
3. The bustled bottles
But all three of those parables point back to the same answer, "The
Old Won't Do."
The question was asked by the disciples of John, but notice how they
phrased it.
Matt 9:14 Then came to him the disciples of
John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast
oft, but thy disciples fast not?
The disciples of John are aligning themselves with the Pharisees, the
Old Testament keeper of the Law. That is actually a correct
alignment for Jesus made the same comparison.
Luke 16:16 The law and the prophets were until
John: since that time the kingdom of God is
preached, and every man presseth into it.
This alignment is what made this question bigger than just the issue
of fasting. While that was the item they were asking about, Jesus
was actually explaining why most of the Old Testament law was to be
set aside.
Let's look at the three parables in an order that is easier for me to
explain the text.
I. \\#16\\ The patched garment tells us that the old won't do. It
must be replaced.
Matt 9:16 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.
A. It is a sad reality but a true one. Some things just cannot
be fixed.
1. That is what the parable of the old rotted garment is
about. You can't sew a patch on rotted material because
when you pull the thread, the material just rips.
2. But Jesus is not teaching tailoring. This is a parable,
an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
3. What Jesus was really teaching is that your life before
Jesus can't be fixed.
B. If a thing cannot be fixed, what do you do?
1. You replace it.
2. You and I don't need a patched old life. We need a
completely new life.
C. A common Bible message is, "You need new life."
2Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new.
Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness.
Colossians 3:10 And have put on the new man,
which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him:
D. Unfortunately, many people believe the way to get a better
life is by patching up the old one.
1 That’s the picture of the old garment being sewed with a
new patch. That is will somehow please God.
2. Listen carefully.
a. No amount of new habits patched over your old habits
will make you pleasing to God.
b. No amount of new vocabulary patched over your old
vocabulary will make you pleasing to God.
c. No amount of new friends...
d. No amount of new works....
e. No amount of new religion....
3. None of those things will work because you are attaching
rotten things to a rotten base.
a. Most of us just don’t understand how rotten we are.
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and
all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and
we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities,
like the wind, have taken us away.
(1) The rags mentioned in this passage are the old
torn rags used for medical purposes.
(a) When someone was injured, they would take
old, clean rags and do their best to stop
the bleeding and keep the wound clean.
(b) I suspect that required a lot of rags.
(c) Suppose you had a small wound. Would you
you go get one of those dirty, blood
filled, puss filled, germ filled rags and
wrap it around your wound?
(d) No! You would not take something dirty,
nasty, and rotten and but it on your small
wound.
(2) But friend, our sin wound is not small. We are
covered with old, rotten, running sores of sin.
(a) Would you take a rotten bandage and wrap a
rotten wound?
(b) No! Rotten bandages won't cure a rotting
wound!
b. As long as the garment is rotten, nothing will fix it.
c. It must be replaced!
E. What we all need is a new garment!
1. Good news. Jesus came to live a sinless life.
2. As it were, Jesus had robes of pure righteousness.
3. If you will let Him, Jesus will cloth you in His robes of
righteousness.
4. What must you do?
a. Repent to remove the old.
b. Believe to put on the new.
II. \\#17\\ The busted bottles tell us that the old won't do. The
old can’t contain the new.
Matt 9:17 Neither do men put new wine into old
bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine
runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put
new wine into new bottles, and both are
preserved.
A. While the parable used the word bottles, in our terminology,
these containers would be better understood to be skin bags.
1. In those days, liquids were stored in skin bags.
2. While these bags served their purpose, most were not
reusable because as they aged, the skins hardened and
weakened.
3. I have been told that new wine, as it ages, gives off an
invisible gas that expands against the container in
which it is being held.
4. If that container will not expand with the gas, the
gas will cause the container to explode.
5. Fresh juice poured into an old skin would rupture the
skins causing both the bag and the juice to be lost.
B. If you are without Jesus Christ, you may not comprehend what I
am about to tell you, but it is true.
1. The new life that Christ will give you cannot be
contained in the old you.
2. When we get saved, God pours into us grace, salvation,
forgiveness, power, new opportunities, new joys, new
loves, the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, adoption,
justification, and on the list goes.
3. These gifts of love that Jesus gives us are too great to
be held in the old life.
4. The old won't do. It had to be replaced.
C. I know that is hard for some to believe considering the sour
pusses that some Christians wear.
1. I suppose that happens because no matter how sweet a thing
is, we become dulled to it after a while.
2. I hope and pray that never happens to you.
3. But it might also be due to the fact that a lot of people
who profess Jesus as their Savior really never possessed
Jesus at all.
D. However, if you will let Him, Christ will add more to your
life than you ever thought possible.
1. Christ gives you a new dimension, a spiritual dimension.
2. Christ gives you a new morality, a pure morality.
3. Christ gives you new activities. You will be able to
worship, pray, and understand the Bible.
4. Christ gives you a new mind. You will know right from
wrong.
5. Christ gives you a new heart. You will have love for the
new ways.
6. Christ gives you new friendships. You will be part of
Christ’s body.
7. Christ gives you a new outlook. You will have faith.
8. Christ gives you new goals. You will have purpose.
9. Christ gives you a new awareness. You will have
understanding.
10. Christ gives you a new education. You have the Holy Spirit
for a Teacher.
11 Christ gives you new qualities. You will have grace,
mercy, patience, and love.
E. If you tried to hide the new life or live like you used to
live, you’d bust!
1. What we all need to remember is that we are little more
than a shell of what God intended us to be.
2. Before the fall, Adam and Eve had abilities that were so
far beyond us that if we met someone in that state, we
would think they were aliens.
3. What Christ offers us is to be made better than Adam was
in the Garden.
4. We are not finished yet, but what God has offered is to
make us into the image of His Son, Jesus!
a. Most of us have not progress very far, but pick the
most spiritual person you can think of and imagine
yourself about 1,000 times more like Jesus than that
person.
b. Well, that is just the beginning of what God wants to
do with you!
III. \\#15\\ The departed bridegroom tells us of some difficult days.
A. I have saved this parable to last because it is different from
the other two.
1. This parable directly answers the question that was asked,
"Why aren't Your disciples fasting?"
2. The short answer is because things were too good for them
to fast right then.
Matt 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the
children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as
the bridegroom is with them? but the days will
come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from
them, and then shall they fast.
B. Grooms, brides, and bride chamber all speak of a wedding, the
joining of a man and a woman together. Few events in life
are so filled with joy and promise.
1. The disciples of John were wondering why Jesus’ disciples
were not fasting.
2. Jesus indirectly answered them by saying, "Groomsmen don’t
fast. They are too busy rejoicing and celebrating."
3. At that point in time, the disciples had everything.
a. They had Jesus.
(1) The Son of God was among them.
(2) They talked with Him, walked with Him, learned
from Him.
(3) I'm jealous. I always have been. Granted, all
of these disciples will pay a great price, but
they all had the greatest privilege.
b. Because they had Jesus, they got to see miracles, get
answers to questions, and see the mighty hand of God.
c. Friend, they had it all!
d. What did they need to fast for?
e. Like the bridegroom, everything was full of joy and
promise.
C. But at the same time, Jesus said when the bridegroom was gone,
referring to Himself, then My disciples will fast.
1. Jesus soon left. He was crucified.
2. While those disciples had a holy privilege, they also paid
a high price. They all paid to be Christians with their
lives. That was the time they would fast.
3. He’s still gone.
4. This is the time period when we fast.
5. Since Jesus left, we have had difficult days, and they
will continue.
a. No one, no one should believe the Christian life is
without problems, needs, heartaches, and tears.
b. One does not fast when things are good, and he has
plenty.
c. One fasts when things are dire, and he has need.
d. Jesus was telling the disciples that He still had to
go away and that while He was gone, His disciples
would pray and fast.
e. All of that has come to pass.
D. However, Jesus' departure reminds of His imminent return!
1. Jesus Himself talked about a return.
Matthew 25:19 After a long time the lord of
those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
Luke 19:12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman
went into a far country to receive for himself a
kingdom, and to return.
2. Other wrote of it.
3. It could be at any minute!
These are some difficult days and we are some sinful people. The old
will not do.
1. It cannot be repaired. It must be replaced.
2. It cannot old all that Christ has for us--even now. It must
be replaced.
3. And with the blessings of the new life, we must endure some
heartache and suffering.
But there is coming a brighter day! Are you ready?
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