Ellicott's commentary: "The meaning of the parable in its direct application lies very near the surface. The "garment" is that which is outward, the life and conversation of the man, which show his character. The old garment is the common life of sinful men; the new garment is the religious life in it's completness; fasting, as one element of that life, is the patch of new cloth which agrees not with the old, and leads to a greater evil, a "worse rent" in the life than before. The more excellent way, which our Lord pursued, and which it is our wisdom to pursue, is to take the old garment, and to transform it, as by a renewing power from within, thread by thread, till old things are passed away, and all things are become new"