rein an implied abrogation of
purely ceremonial observances comprized in the code of rabbinical rules
and the numerous traditions associated with the law. But to make the
subject clearer to their biased minds, Jesus gave them illustrations,
which may be classed as parabolic. "No man also," said He, "seweth a
piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it
up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. And no man
putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the
bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but
new wine must be put into new bottles."[425]

In such wise did our Lord proclaim the newness and completeness of His
gospel. It was in no sense a patching up of Judaism. He had not come to
mend old and torn garments; the cloth He provided was new, and to sew it
on the old would be but to tear afresh the threadbare fabric and leave a
more unsightly rent than at first. Or to change the figure, new wine
could not safely be entrusted to old bottles. The bottles here referred
to were really bags, made of the skins of animals, and of course they
deteriorated with age. Just as old leather splits or tears under even
slight strain, so the old bottle-skins would burst from the pressure of
fermenting juice, and the good wine would be lost. The gospel taught by
Christ was a new revelation, superseding the past, and marking the
fulfilment of the law; it was no mere addendum, nor was it a reenactment
of past requirements; it embodied a new and an everlasting covenant.
Attempts to patch the Judaistic robe of traditionalism with the new
fabric of the covenant could result in nothing more sightly than a
rending of the fabric. The new wine of the gospel could not be held in
the old time-worn containers of Mosaic libations. Judaism would be
belittled and Christianity perverted by any such incongruous
association.[426]

FISHERS OF MEN.

It is improbable that the disciples who followed Jesus in the early
months of His ministry had remained with Him continuously down to the
time now under consideration. We find that some of those who were later
called to the apostleship were following their vocation as fishermen
even while Jesus was actively engaged as a Teacher in their own
neighborhood. One day, as the Lord stood by the lake or sea of Galilee,
the people pressed about Him in great numbers, eager to hear more of the
wondrous words He was wont to speak.[427] N