No man puts a piece of new cloth onto an old garment, for that which is put on to fill it up takes from the garment, and the tear is made worse.
All Commentaries on Matthew 9:16 Go To Matthew 9
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Once again Jesus constructs his argument with illustrations from common life. And what he says is something like this: “The disciples have not yet become strong. They still need a lot of help at a level they can understand. They have not yet been regenerated by the Spirit. At this time there is no need to dump on them a load of commandments while they are still in this learning period.” He therefore proceeded gradually to set maxims and precepts for his disciples within the times of their stepbystep maturing, as they were better prepared to receive them. This was to teach them later to deal very gently with others, when the time would come that they would be taking this message to the whole world and receiving as disciples all sorts of persons. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
