March 25, 2026

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“He told them this parable: ‘No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.’”

(Luke 5.36)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

The nature of parables is that there will not be just one message conveyed by it. They contain nuances which will lead to similar declarations of truth but with a different focus. As an English teacher told the class, “Be sure you know where to put the EM-pha-sis so that you do not speak incoherently saying em-PHA-sis.” Within the parable concerning old and new garments, it is easy to overlook the patching of an old, and beloved, garment with a piece of material as what the emphasis of the parable was on. It says, however, that a piece of a new garment was used to patch a tear in an old garment. Makes you wonder how fond the person was of the new garment, doesn’t it. There had to be similarity between the two materials. I doubt it was a patchwork garment, but it could have been. The problem remains the same in that both garments are rendered useless from their original purposes. If it was just a piece of unused, unpurposed clothe, then it would have been worth the chance to save the old garment. However, we must keep the em-pha-sis on the correct syl-LA-ble!

Jesus the carpenter and stonemason son of Joseph was not a tailor. He probably watched His mother mend clothes from her husband’s work and her son’s play and vice-versa. She would have carefully stitched the tear to make it appear as new as possible or at least to make it serviceable. I doubt she would have destroyed a new garment for the sake of the old one. The old garment would probably have been repurposed much like we turn old shirts into polishing clothes, or something like that. Here is another example that is happening where I work. Repairs and renovations continue for the business complex where I work. Almost a year ago, a tornado came through this section of Louisville. Nearly 125 million dollars damage was done. The complex was built over thirty years ago. The brick is stained and faded. All but four store/business front were destroyed. That means all of the brick was being replaced on those destroyed fronts. However, that brick doesn’t match the old. So all the brick is being replaced. They are not using old brick to patch the new fronts. Nor are they using new brick to patch damaged areas on the surviving fronts. It is all being redone to match and look like new.

The same might be said for our lives. The emphasis for Jesus was really about the religious life of the nation of Israel in the parable. We all are guilty of taking bits and pieces of things we like and don’t like and trying to make something good. (Does the story of Frankenstein come to mind?) The hope of creating a new life with bits and pieces turns into a hodgepodge of “life.” We mix and match more to suit our purpose, agenda and vision. If it doesn’t work, we claim a new fad or fashion or we just discard it. The same seems to be happening with Christianity today. There are elements of the gospel being re-worded with modern understanding to fit a message inconsistent with the original gospel. We think we are making it contemporary to speak to the world as it is today. Too many times, I think it is down because the hard work of discipleship comes at too great a cost. In the pursuit of “new and improved,” what was original and perfect is discarded or dumbed down or just outright called wrong. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law wanted to do that with Jesus. They claimed His new cloth, a priestly robe, was too common for those of the elite and of the Temple. It had patches of sounding good but the exercise of it to include what should have been discarded (the lame, poor, sick and demonized, as well as women many instances) made it useless and uncomfortable. Jesus was pointing them to the fact that all things needed to be made new. They did not need to be patched. Nor were they being replaced. They were being made new, brought alive, authenticated with the original meaning and purpose and design of God. In other words, in the hands of God, they were restored. That was the hope of Israel. It is our hope as well…that return to “the good old day.” One day it will happen. Sadly, one day not everyone will enjoy it and the “old and the new” that was being fabricated will be cast into the fire and consumed forever.

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.