Daily Devotional for Saturday, January 10

Jesus Used a Sewing as an Illustration

“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,” Luke 5:36.

Jesus often used parables to convey His teachings. Oxford defines a parable as “a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.” Jesus used objects and people that were easy for listeners to understand. When asked by the disciples why He spoke in parables, Jesus said, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand” (Matthew 13:11, 13). Parables are intentionally designed so they are easy to understand. For instance, even a small child can understand the parable of the Good Samaritan. The same can be said for many of the other parables recorded in Scripture.

When reading a parable, it is always important for us to consider to whom Jesus was speaking and what the lesson was for the hearers. Sometimes, even the disciples struggled to determine what the lesson was that Jesus was teaching (Mark 4:10). It is important that we study the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15) and rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth (John 16:13).

Jesus was not sent to patch up the law, nor was the gospel of Jesus a modification of the Law. He fulfilled the Law (Colossians 2:14). The law points us to Jesus (Galatians 3:24). Likewise, you cannot take a piece of new garment and patch it onto an old garment, because the new piece “taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse” (Mark 2:21).

CONSIDERATION

There is only one way to Heaven, and that is through Jesus Christ.

Chris Floyd