No man putteth a piece of new cloth, &c. Our Lord, having assigned one reason why he did not enjoin his disciples to fast, namely, because it was not a proper time for it, now proceeds to give another. They were not ripe, or prepared for it, nor could have borne such severe injunctions. As if he had said, Nor do I now think it fit to lay such rigorous commands upon them, but rather to accommodate their trials to their strength; even as when a man is repairing clothes, he will not sew a piece of new cloth on an old garment, but rather chooses what is a little worn, for otherwise it will be found that the new, which is put in, being stronger than the other, taketh from the garment, and the rent is increased. The original words, ρακος αγναφον, properly signify, “ cloth that has not passed through the fuller's hands, and which is consequently much harsher than what has been washed and worn; and therefore, yielding less than that, will tear away the edges to which it is sewed.”
Neither do men put new wine into old bottles Namely, bottles made of leather, then commonly used, as they are still in some countries. Else the bottles break Such bottles, chiefly made of goats' skins, when old, were not easily distended, and consequently would burst by the fermentation of new wine. But they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved Thus our Lord would suit the doctrine he inculcated on his disciples, and the duties which he enjoined them, to their circumstances, and kindly proportion their work to their strength, with a tender regard to their weakness, till, by degrees, they should be fitted for more difficult and humbling services. “And from his example,” says Dr. Doddridge, “and the whole genius of his gospel, let us learn to make all proper allowances to those about us, that we may teach them, and train them up as they are able to bear it; not crushing them under any unnecessary load, nor denying them any indulgence which true friendship will permit us to grant them; lest the good ways of God should be misrepresented, disgraced, and abandoned, through our imprudent, though well-meaning severity: a caution to be peculiarly observed in our conduct toward young persons.”