I thought it probably would be wise to offer a disclaimer at the beginning of this sermon tonight. And that disclaimer is that it is not my intention to bring a topical message on the subject of fasting. Any more than when we're dealing with a passage that speaks of Christ's healing and His miraculous power that we would stop and give a topical message on the sign gifts.
So that's not the purpose tonight of the message. The subject and the practice comes up here, fasting, in Mark chapter 2, but in a particular context that we do not want to lose sight of. There is a plot that's unfolding in the biblical narrative here of growing hostility and opposition to Christ and His ministry. The religious leaders, the scribes, the Pharisees, they are growing intolerant of Jesus. They're following Him in Galilee as He carries on His Galilean ministry as He's teaching and healing and performing miracles. They are growing more and more concerned.
They are a threat to Him. And it's a sad commentary, isn't it? That the greatest opposition the Lord Jesus faced when He was on this earth was from the established church, the religious organization.
You'd think it would just be the opposite, wouldn't you? But no, that's not the case. So let me just trace this plot that's developing because it's going to climax in chapter 3, or at least in terms of their intention. But we see this in chapter 2 and verse 16. Jesus calls Matthew, the tax collector, has a meal at his house. And we see these words in verse 16. When the scribes and the Pharisees saw Him, that is Jesus, eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?
Now that's not a question of wanting to be informed. That is a question designed to ridicule and bring criticism. Verse 18 of chapter 2, the disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?
Another question designed to bring criticism, call into question the ministry of the Lord Jesus. Chapter 2 and verse 24. And the Pharisees said to Him, Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath? The Sabbath controversy. So again, they are raising concerns about what they perceive to be an infraction of the followers of Christ. Chapter 3 and verse 1. And He entered the synagogue again, that is Jesus, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely whether He would heal Him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse Him. And you know Jesus performed the miracle and verse 6 then says, Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him how they might destroy Him.
Sad. Well, our passage for consideration this evening, Mark 2 verses 18 through 22, this occasion of fasting was yet another opportunity for the religious establishment to seek to confront and call into question the teaching ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice how the passage begins.
The passage begins with a simple statement of fact. The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. The disciples of John, that is John the Baptist, and of the Pharisees were fasting.
And rather than just note that fact, I think it's wise to stop and ask a question. I wasn't aware, you may say, that the Pharisees were in the habit of gathering a following, and you would be correct about that. They were not the teachers of the law, the scribes were. The scribes had disciples, the scribes had followers.
So what do we make of this statement? The disciples of John, John the Baptist, and of the Pharisees were fasting. Well, one commentator I think helped me clear up this confusion, that it is true that the Pharisees did not have a following, that there weren't men who followed them, they weren't instructed by the Pharisees, but the scribes did, and yet there were scribes who were also Pharisees. So I think we can draw this conclusion that these Pharisees that were fasting were scribes who were also Pharisees.
The disciples of John. We do not know what the occasion was that John's disciples were fasting, nor do we know why this other group were fasting. We do not know with 100% accuracy the chronology here. We have some sense of what's happened and what's going on here, but to put things in the exact chronological order is a little difficult. But I think it would be not a stretch to draw the conclusion that the disciples of John were in a state of mourning.
Why would that be? Well, again, we do not know exactly, but John was either imprisoned or John had been executed, one or the other. And it was caused for John's disciples to be in a state of mourning, which would be why they would be fasting.
But again, we do not know about this other group, the Pharisees. But all three of the synoptic gospels have recorded this occasion for us. You find it in Mark chapter 5, you find it in Matthew chapter 9, and I find it interesting that in Matthew chapter 9 we have these words. Matthew chapter 9, it's always good if you're studying in the gospels to take note whether the other gospel writers have recorded that in their gospel account. And for this reason, if it's significant enough, most often all three of the synoptic gospels will speak to it. Now it doesn't mean that if only one of them does, it's not important.
You understand what I'm saying. But here's what we find in Matthew chapter 9. It says, then the disciples of John came to him saying, no mention of the disciples of the Pharisees.
So it's interesting how the different gospel writers give their account. Again, Matthew 9 verse 14, then the disciples of John came to him saying, why do we and the Pharisees fast often, yet your disciples do not fast? So they were asking, the disciples of John were asking for themselves, and were also asking for the followers of the disciples of the Pharisees. That seems like a strange connection there. We would wonder, well, why would the disciples of John the Baptist have any affiliation with the disciples of the Pharisees? And again, we don't have an answer for that either, except to think about, okay, they have an affinity in some respects. John's disciples, and there were many of them, and they were far and wide. They weren't in a certain locale. So there were some of John's disciples who were not as familiar with the Lord Jesus Christ and his ministry as some others. So there could be some confusion going on here and also some, what should we say, rivalry going on.
But again, I don't want to spend too much time here because a lot of it is just speculation. But let's go back to Mark chapter 2. The simple fact, the disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to him, came and said to Jesus, what did they say? Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? The law of Moses commanded one fast, that being on the Day of Atonement.
You can find those instructions in Leviticus chapter 16, 29 to 34. But in the course of time, things began to happen. Two things. Number one, a proliferation of the practice of fasting. And then number two, with that proliferation, an abuse of fasting. A proliferation of the practice to the point where we have recorded in Luke chapter 18 where the self-righteous Pharisee could boast that he fasted two times a week. You say, well, how did we go from only one day of fasting, the Day of Atonement, prescribed by the law of Moses, to where the religious establishment, the Pharisees, were fasting a couple days a week? Adding to the law of God, a proliferation of the practice.
And with that proliferation, an abuse. Listen to these words in Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6 verses 16 to 18. Jesus is teaching. He says, Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.
Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. So this abuse of fasting became an outward show of false piety. Back to the passage there in Mark chapter 2 verse 18. Then they said to him, that is Jesus, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?
Well, what's interesting here is, did you notice there in Matthew chapter 6, there's three things going on there in that chapter. Jesus is saying, when you do your charitable gifts, when you pray, when you fast. What's the assumption? The assumption is that they will fast. They will pray. They will be generous in their giving. So it's not as though Jesus didn't do any teaching or instructing on the subject of fasting.
But we do not have a model. We do not have instructions where Jesus is instructing his disciples on how to fast. We just see Jesus touching on the subject here and there. I find it interesting that when we think about fasting, we think of that's a time where we deny ourself and give ourselves to a concentrated time over some crisis, over something that's urgent, over something that we're being exercised in the spirit about. And if that's true, wouldn't you think that when Jesus and his disciples were coming close to Passion Week, Jesus is going into the Garden of Gethsemane to agonize in prayer, that he would say something like this to the men, Men, fast and pray, lest you enter into temptation. That's not what he says.
What does he say? Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. No instructions about fasting there. You study your Bible, particularly the New Testament, we find some places where fasting is spoken of descriptively, but it is not spoken of prescriptively. What do I mean by that?
We don't have a prescription, like it's not prescribed to us. This is how we do it. This is what we should do in the area of fasting. Now, you remember that occasion, again all three of the Synoptic Gospels record this, when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on the Mount of Transfiguration, and when they came off the mountain, they encountered, let's stay in Mark's Gospel because we won't have to change over to Matthew or Luke, but in Mark chapter 9, verses 1 through 13 has that occasion of the Mount of Transfiguration. Verse 14 says, and when he came to the disciples, he saw a great multitude around them and scribes disputing with them. So, there was this boy who was possessed by an unclean spirit, and the disciples were unable to do anything about that. And Jesus has some pretty interesting words to say here. Verse 19, he answered him and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?
How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me, that is, this boy with the unclean spirit. Then they brought him to him, and when he saw him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So, he asked his father, that is Jesus, how long has this been happening to him?
And he said, from childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him, but if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Jesus said to him, if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more. Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly and came out of him, and he became as one dead, so that many said, He is dead.
But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could we not cast it out? So he said to them, This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting. So I'm drawing your attention to these few places where Jesus addressed this subject of fasting, but it wasn't a major emphasis. Again, we do not have instructions like we have a model prayer. When the disciples said, Lord, teach us to pray, Jesus gave them this model, how to pray. We don't have the disciples saying, Lord, teach us how to fast.
So we don't have any detailed instructions here. So back to our text, Mark chapter 2. As we move forward here, let's do so under three headings. Number one, a critical question.
Number two, a corrective answer. And number three, a clarifying parable. Those three points as we walk through this passage together. The critical question, again in verse 18. The disciples of John and of the Pharisees, they come and said to Jesus, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? That's the critical question.
They're finding fault. I find it quite instructive that Luke, as he gives this account, adds a few words that are very helpful. The same question in verse 33 of Luke 5, don't turn there, just listen. The question was, Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but yours, speaking to Jesus, yours, your disciples, eat and drink? Luke's the only one that adds that, yours eat and drink. Well, the point of the question was to suggest that Jesus' disciples do not evidence true religious piety by doing the customary practice of fasting. Why don't they do this?
We do this. And again, it's not as though Jesus has ignored the subject, and I won't revisit all of that. Jesus never taught that fasting was a test of spiritual and religious piety. That had been imposed on the people by the scribes and the Pharisees. That was an external, something that people could look at. And it's interesting that they're saying that this was evidence of religious piety, but when Jesus warns of the abuse of it, what are they doing? They're drawing attention to themselves. Wearing it on their countenance, look at me. That's hardly an example of religious piety.
That's how distorted they were in their thinking. But the critical question is responded to by Jesus with a corrective answer. Verse 19, and Jesus said to them, this is in response to the question, why the disciples do not fast, Jesus said to them, can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. Jesus is saying that fasting is not appropriate for the occasion of a wedding. Jesus likens himself as the bridegroom. When he says, can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?
Jesus is taking that upon himself. He is the bridegroom, and his disciples are his friends. And Jesus is saying, can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? What is the role of the friends of the bridegroom in that Jewish culture with a wedding? What is to engage in the planning, in the preparation, in the feasting that the occasion required? To mourn at a time of festive celebration and feasting would have been illogical and grossly inappropriate. Now, maybe you've been to some weddings where you thought maybe mourning was more appropriate than rejoicing. I don't know, but that was supposed to be a joke. You missed it.
No. By comparing himself to the bridegroom, he's telling the Pharisees that he is what people have been fasting for and longing for and waiting for all these centuries. And now that the bridegroom has come, this is not a time for fasting, for mourning.
This is a time for rejoicing, for feasting. Then Jesus adds in verse 20, But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. What is Jesus making reference to? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away.
Again, he is the bridegroom, and he is predicting that there is a time yet future where the bridegroom will be taken away. And I think it is a subtle reference to his crucifixion. He will be taken from his disciples. And in that time, you remember how sorrowful they were when Jesus told them that it was expedient for him to go away. And Jesus spent concentrated times trying to encourage them not to be sorrowful. John chapter 14, chapters 15 and 16.
In fact, I've got time. John 16. Again, Jesus is talking about his departure.
John chapter 16, verse 16. A little while, he says, and you will not see me. And again, a little while, and you will see me because I go to the Father. Then some of his disciples said among themselves, what is this that he says to us a little while?
And you will not see me. And again, a little while, and you will see me because I go to the Father. They said, therefore, what is this that he says a little while? We do not know what he's saying.
Now, Jesus knew that they desired to ask him, and he said to them, are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said? A little while, and you will not see me? And again, a little while, and you will see me? Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice and you will be sorrowful. But your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come.
But as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore, you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. And in that day, you will ask me nothing.
I'm sorry. And in that day, you will ask me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Until now, you've asked nothing in my name.
Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full. So, as long as Jesus is with them, there's cause for celebration and rejoicing and joy. But there is a time coming that Jesus will be taken from them. And then, Jesus said, as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. We don't have the time this evening, but it's instructive, I think, to turn to some of the Old Testament passages that speak of fasting. And we would think we would find pretty specific instructions about fasting. But it's not what you think. It's a hard attitude toward people and toward God.
It's more of a hard attitude as it is any kind of action that we would take. And again, we don't have the time tonight to go there. If you want to, take a look at Isaiah chapter 58. That's a good place that speaks of fasting.
Well, as I'm looking at the clock, I do have time. Let's turn to Isaiah 58. At the top of the chapter in my Bible, it says, fasting that pleases God. Now, if you didn't have that heading, and I read this to you, you'd be wondering, and I were to tell you this is about fasting, you would say, really? Fasting that pleases God. Cry aloud. Spare not.
Lift up your voice like a trumpet. Tell my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins, yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways. As a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God, they ask of me the ordinances of justice. They take delight in approaching God. Why have we fasted, they say, and you have not seen?
Why have we afflicted our souls and you take no notice? In fact, in the day of your fast, you find pleasure and exploit all your labors. Indeed, you fast for strife and debate and to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You will not fast as you do this day to make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?
Is this not the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out?
When you see the naked, then you cover him and not hide yourself from your own flesh. Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you. The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call and the Lord will answer. You shall cry and he will say, Here I am. If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness and your darkness shall be as the noon day. And it goes on. Again, fasting that pleases God.
And that's not what we would typically put in the category of fasting. It's doing good, extending mercy, showing kindness, alleviating needs of people. Interesting, isn't it? Well, the critical question, again, is responded to by Jesus' corrective answer. And then finally, we want to see what Jesus has to say about a clarifying parable.
A clarifying parable, verses 21 and 22. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the new piece pulls away from the old and the tear is made worse. And no one puts new wine into the old wineskin, or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins. A clarifying parable.
I think it helps to explain why Christ and the ministry that he has engaged in is so disruptive and cannot be contained within the walls of external religious Judaism. The new has come. The old cannot contain it or tolerate it. A new garment and new wine are symbols of the new age, the new messianic age that Christ's coming has brought forth. Now, there's these two parables. The first deals with cloth. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the new piece pulls away from the old and the tear is made worse.
I do not know how to turn on a sewing machine, let alone run one. So I'm not exactly sure about this, but I asked my wife about this, and Carly says, well, if you're making a quilt, you have to be sure that the pieces that you're sewing together have been washed thoroughly, because if you do not wash what you're sewing on to the back, after it is washed, it will all wrinkle up. That makes sense to me.
And that's what he's saying here. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth, that is, a piece of cloth that still has some give-and-go to it, it's new, you sew that on an old garment, the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. Makes sense. I think the second parable is a little easier to understand. No one puts new wine into old wine skins, old wine skins, vessels designed to hold wine, but they're old and they have lost their elasticity.
There's no give-and-go. But if you put new wine into old wine skins, the fermenting of that wine causes an expansion of wine skins, the old wine skins burst, and what does he say? The wine is spilled and the wine skins are ruined, but new wine must be put into new wine skins. Now, here's just a very brief summary of what is being communicated here, and I thought it might be helpful from a commentary that I've consulted.
It says, let's see, no, that's not what that is, sorry. There is a newness that has come with Jesus. The old wine skins represent the old guard, the old system that is controlled by the religious leaders. They are, what shall I say, they're the opposite of new. They've lost their elasticity and they cannot tolerate the newness of Jesus, the new wine, the new teaching that comes.
There is no way for them to receive it. They're intolerable toward it. The newness the coming of Jesus brings cannot be contained or confined to the old norms of Jewish religious traditions and norms. The kingdom of God that Jesus said came when he came.
He came to inaugurate the kingdom. The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking. It's not external, but it is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
That's what Paul says in Romans chapter 14 and in verse 17. It's joy, not mourning, that should be the norm for New Covenant believers. Think with me, if God with us, Immanuel, provokes us to joy, how much more should Christ within us, the hope of glory, awaken in every child of God joy unspeakable and full of glory. Do you remember the angelic message that greeted the shepherds on that night when they were caring for their flocks by night?
What was that message? The angel said, Behold, I bring you good tidings of what? Great joy which will be to all people. You follow Jesus around in his ministry and the religious leaders that were there, there's no joy with them.
No joy whatsoever. They're agitated, they're fuming, they're conniving, they're intolerant of Jesus because the newness has come. And their system of religious externalism has no capacity for what Jesus has to say.
And therefore, they must be rid of him. No one puts new wine into old wineskins or else the new wine bursts the wineskins. Jesus is going to bring a shaking of the old guard, the old foundation. And it all culminates at the cross, doesn't it? When the curtain is ran into and the old system is made obsolete, everything that the old was pointing to, Jesus is the fulfillment of. No one puts new wine into old wineskins or else the new bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.
But new wine must be put into new wineskins. The title of my message tonight is Joy in the Place of Mourning. As fasting is characterized by mourning and lamenting, when Jesus is on the scene, when Jesus comes and ushers in a new messianic age, mourning, there is a place for it, but it's not the centerpiece, joy is.
Let's be men and women of joy. It is the fruit of the Spirit. Let us pray. Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the Lord Jesus Christ and His teaching ministry. Thank You for the Spirit of God that illuminates our minds that we might understand the Scriptures.
Seal this Word to our hearts tonight. Help us to be men and women who are not committed to external religion, but are men and women who have received a new birth, who've been changed from the inside, and that is reflected in a transformed life. Father, we ask You to help us to be sensitive and to be discerning about the dangers of religion and how it is a damning substitute for the reality that's found in Christ. Father, thank You for the Lord's day, for the time we've spent in the Word of God, both morning and evening. Father, may our hearts be encouraged. May we be strengthened in the inner man. May we be helped to stand for You in this coming week, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.
