In Matthew 9:14, when John’s disciples came and asked Jesus, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus used a couple of parables to explain this and one of those parables is found in Matthew 9:16, where Jesus said “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.”

Jesus mentions something that every person who fixed garments, knew at that time, which is not to use a new piece of cloth to repair a tear on an old garment. If a new piece of cloth is used to patch an old garment, because of the different levels of quality, when the cloth shrinks when washed and then dries the new piece of cloth would put more stress on the old piece of the garment and it will eventually make the original tear on the old garment even worse.

Jesus uses this real-life example to describe why the old traditions and beliefs of that time were not compatible with the new way of life that He was preaching about. Jesus Christ was talking about the dangers of following the old man-made rituals and religious practices and mixing them with His new way of life. The whole point of fasting was to come closer to God and seek a relationship with him, but fasting had become a ritual at that time and people were doing it more as a tradition than anything else.  Jesus was saying that his disciples did not need to fast since they were already in his presence having a relationship with the Son of God himself. He was not against fasting but He questioned the intent behind fasting. Was it being done as some ritual or traditional practice or with the sole purpose to have a relationship with God? The disciples were spending time with Jesus instead of fasting, which is much more important to Jesus than the actual act of fasting.

This parable holds true even to this day. Once we accept Jesus Christ into our life, how many of us try to fit Jesus into our old way of life Instead of living our new life in Jesus? Jesus is not compatible with our old way of life, just like a new piece of cloth is not compatible with an old garment. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Jesus Christ wants us to focus on having a real relationship with him and not follow some ritual or religious practice to replace that relationship. We can spend a lot of time in church and be involved in multiple bible studies and fasting prayers but if we do not focus on him and spend a lot of time on the ritual aspect of worship then we are not going to grow spiritually.  As Christians, we have to take the time to examine our lives in Christ to see if are still holding onto something from our old life and clinging on to old rituals and traditions instead of focusing on a real relationship with him. The only way to do this is by asking God to examine us just like David did in Psalm 26:2 “Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind”.