Parable of the new patches on the old dress
The parable of the new patches on the old garment is a parable of Jesus , which is handed down in the Gospels according to Matthew ( Mt 9,16 EU ), Mark ( Mk 2,21 EU ) and Luke ( Lk 5,36 EU ).
text
The parable in the form handed down by Mark reads in the Luther translation (revised version from 1984):
“Nobody mends a rag of new cloth on an old dress; otherwise the new rag will tear off the old one and the crack will get worse. "
Interpretation and context
The parable is handed down in all three synoptic Gospels together with the parable of the same meaning of the new wine in old bottles , which each time follows directly. The parables were preceded by the question of why Jesus' disciples, unlike the Pharisees or the disciples of John the Baptist, did not fast . To this Jesus replied, “How can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as the bridegroom is with them, they cannot fast ” ( Mk 2,19 LU ). The bridegroom is symbolic of God himself, who is present in Jesus person. As a result, some of the previously meaningful religious practices are now superfluous. The parable warns of the illusion that the old can simply be combined with the new. The presence of the Son of God or the kingdom of God that has come with him and the old ritual therefore fit as little meaningfully together as an old dress and a new cloth, which would ruin both the new cloth and the old dress. The entirely new teaching of Jesus cannot be forced into the old garb of legalism. Nonetheless, fasting is not permanently rejected ( "The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast on that day." Mk 2:20 LU ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Stuttgart Explanatory Bible. ISBN 3-438-01121-2 , 2nd edition 1992, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft Stuttgart , pp. 1182, 1127 and 1273f
- ↑ Handbook to the Bible. ISBN 3-417-24501-X , 8th edition 1995, R. Brockhaus Verlag, Wuppertal, p. 481