No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.
I have had several pairs of jeans that at one point or another I would consider “my favorite.” One fateful day, While wearing a pair of my most favorite jeans, I did a high kick (long story) and ripped the pants about as terribly as you can imagine. After many failed attempts to patch and fix the jeans, I eventually had to give up on them. Though a patch is a good idea at times, and works for a season, sadly, you still end up losing the jeans.
There are things that we have always considered to be true. We build our lives on these beliefs, and they sustain us for a season… until they don’t. When Jesus stepped into time and moved into history, He wanted to make His purpose clear: Jesus did not come to fit in with the old way of doing things. Jesus did not come to fit into the ways considered to be true.
Jesus made it clear that if you attempt to fit Him into your old ways of thinking, or if you try to make Jesus fit into some framework that already exists, He will inevitably break free from it like a patch on a pair of jeans. If you want to preserve the beauty of your tradition, it’s best to allow Jesus to be Jesus and just step into what He is doing as eventually, He will tear away from it.
Jesus did not come to do away with the law or Scripture, but behold, He did come to do something new. Jesus fulfilled Scripture in a way that invites us to a higher standard of living that only His Spirit can enable us to do, and it doesn’t always fit with that we have always known.
Why is this important? We must realize that to follow Jesus, we must let go of some of what we thought was true. Some of what we thought was true equates to simple lies about God, ourselves, and others. Other things that we thought were true were partially true, or good for a season, but Jesus comes as the new standard for us to join ourselves to.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to release all that you thought you knew to embrace all of who He is. Perhaps God is asking you to stop trying to get Jesus to fit your pants. Maybe God is inviting you into a new thing. Perhaps you need to stop high-kicking in tight jeans… I know I do.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 225–227, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 9:15-17) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).