Outline

«　WEEK 8　DAY 4　»

　　Matt. 9:16-17 No one puts a patch of unfulled cloth on an old garment, for that which fills it up pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.

　　Christ first was the unfulled cloth for making a new garment, and then through His death and resurrection He was made a new garment to cover us as our righteousness before God that we might be justified by God and acceptable to Him…To sew a patch of unfulled cloth on an old garment means to [only] imitate what Christ did in His human life on earth.

　　The old garment in Matthew 9:16 signifies man’s good behavior, good deeds, and religious practices produced by man’s old, natural life…The Lord Jesus indicated to the disciples of John that…their garments had holes and that by fasting they were trying to patch the holes. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 319-320)

　　The Lord Jesus likened Himself to a piece of unfulled cloth. This points to what He was between His incarnation and His crucifixion. During this period of time He was unfulled cloth, new cloth that had never been fulled or dealt with. Through His death and resurrection this “new cloth” was dealt with and was made a “new garment.” The Lord’s intention was to give Himself to us not as a piece of unfulled cloth but as a complete, finished garment that we might put on as our righteousness to be justified before God. After His death and resurrection He was made the finished garment for us to put on so that we may attend His wedding. Thus, He is not only the Bridegroom but also our wedding garment that qualifies us to attend His wedding feast. When we are baptized into Him, we put Him on. Immediately, He as the Spirit becomes our clothing, our covering, and we are qualified. Therefore, the new garment that we must put on is Christ Himself as the all-inclusive Spirit.

　　The new wine [Matt. 9:17] signifies Christ as the new life, full of vigor, stirring people to excitement. The new wine is Christ’s cheering life…This new wine strengthens us, energizes us, and makes us very happy. The kingly Savior is not only the Bridegroom to the kingdom people for their enjoyment but also their new garment for them to be equipped outwardly that they may be qualified to attend the wedding. Furthermore, He is their new life to stir them up inwardly to enjoy Him as their Bridegroom. He, as their heavenly King, is the Bridegroom for the kingdom people’s enjoyment, and His heavenly kingdom is His wedding feast (22:2), at which they will enjoy Him. To enjoy Him as the Bridegroom in the kingdom feast, they need Him as their new garment outwardly and their new wine inwardly.

　　In Matthew 9:17 the Lord said that we should not put new wine into old wineskins. The old wineskins signify religious practices, such as the fasting maintained by the Pharisees, who were of the old religion, and by the disciples of John, who were of the new religion. All religions are old wineskins…To put new wine into old wineskins is to put Christ as the exciting life into any kind of religion.

　　The fresh wineskins [in verse 17] signify the church life in the local churches as the container of the new wine, which is Christ Himself as the exciting life. The kingdom people are built into the church (16:18), and the church is expressed through the local churches in which the kingdom people live (18:15-20). They are regenerated persons who constitute the Body of Christ and become the church (Rom. 12:5; Eph. 1:22-23). The Body of Christ as His fullness is also called “the Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12), referring to the corporate Christ. The individual Christ is the new wine, the inward exciting life, and the corporate Christ is the fresh wineskin, the outward container that holds the new wine. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 320-326)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msg. 28