New Cloth On An Old Garment
And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. Luke 5:36-37
John the Baptist's disciples and the Pharisees came to Jesus about why he and his disciples were not fasting as they did. For one, Jesus had taught his disciples not to make fasting a public thing, but the Pharisees had made it a habit to fast two days a week, and John's disciples followed suit. However, Jesus's disciples were still new and learning new ways, and Jesus reminded them that as long as the bridegroom was with them, they would feast, but when he was gone, they would mourn and fast. Jesus gave them grace because they were still new and didn't want to put too many religious exercises on them, out of concern that it might cause them to fall away. For this same reason, we don't go into full detail about what a person will face as a new Christ-follower; it is enough that they have learned to trust him, but the rest of the information about trials will come as they begin to grow and can tolerate the pressure. They will learn more as they begin to read the scriptures, and even then, the Holy Spirit will only open their eyes to what is important for them at that time. That is why it's called the living word; we get it in small doses until we can handle it fully as we grow in our faith, and why you can read it one time without noticing it in its full context, and the next time you read the same verse you learn something totally new and have a greater understanding.
Jesus's disciples = a new patch for the garment and new wine.
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