Freedom from Pharisaical Fasting
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Bible Reading:
Bible Reading:
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”
19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them.
20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.
22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”
Introduction
Introduction
Pastor and Author JD Greear writes in his book “Gospel” the following words:
How does God feel about you, right now? And how do you determine that? Do you base your answer on what kind of week you’ve had? How consistent your quiet times have been? Whether you’ve been nice to your children? For many years qualifications like these drove my response.
If I’d had a good week - a real “Christian” week - I felt close to God. When Sunday came around, I would feel like lifting my head and hands in worship, almost as if to say, “God, here I am … I know You’re excited about seeing me this week.” If I’d had a stellar week, I loved being in God’s presence and was sure God was pretty stoked about having me there too.
But the opposite is also true.
If I hadn’t done a good job at being a real Christian, I felt pretty distant from God. if I’d fallen to some temptations, been a jerk to my wife, dodged some easy opportunities to share Christ, was stingy with my money, forgotten to recycle, kicked the dog, etc…well, on those weeks I felt like God wanted nothing to do with me. When I came to church, I had no desire to lift my soul up to God. I was pretty sure He didn’t want to see me either. I could feel His displeasure - His lack of approval.
That’s because I didn’t really understand the gospel. Or, at least I had forgotten it.
As we come to our text this morning, and as we look to the passages coming up in Mark’s Gospel, we are going to see just something of what JD Greear says in that portion of his book which was alive and well in the days of Christ.
As I’ve mentioned in previous weeks, the pharisees in particular had become a powerful group of people who were zealous for doing “works of righteousness” in order to win the favour of God.
They took the basic laws of God as given through Moses, and they created all sorts of additional laws, rules and regulations that they said needed to be abided by if they were to win favour with God, and to keep the favour of God.
But sadly, that idea of pharisaism, doing certain good works in order to keep in step with God and in order to please Him, is still very much alive and well today. It is alive and well in many religions (in fact all religions, apart from Christianity) but it is even alive and well in certain churches that place burdens of works on people.
But I want to ask you, as I read that portion from JD Greear’s book, if you didn’t perhaps see yourself in that description. Perhaps you also struggle with trying to keep yourself right with God, so that you will be seen as acceptable in God’s sight!? Perhaps when you fail to live up to God’s standards, you have that nagging sense that God has displeasure with you, and perhaps you are at risk of losing your salvation.
The passage that we come to today is another one of those where Jesus Christ really speaks out against the religiosity of many of the Jews of that day, and begins to demonstrate to them the significance of the newness of the new covenant that Christ came to establish with His people.
As we go through these next few conflicts / confrontations that Christ faces with the religious leaders and people of that day, we are going to get a picture through Christ that what is being brought in here through His coming into the world is something radically new.
And so this is really the focus that I’d like us to have this morning. We need to consider from this text the newness and the significant differences that exist between what was established in the Old Covenant, over against what was now being established in the New Covenant, as the Messiah has now come to dwell amongst His people.
This idea on the differences between Old and New is not insignificant. We need to understand this fully in order to fully appreciate just how great the work is that has been done for us in Jesus Christ.
I would in fact encourage all of you to be in prayer as we consider these texts together, that God may give us much wisdom and understanding through these difficult questions that are raised relating to the law (this week perhaps less so, but certainly in weeks to come, extensively more so as we look together at the contentious matter of the Sabbath!)
1. The Question
1. The Question
As we come to this passage then this morning, we will consider firstly the question posed to Jesus.
Scriptures to support fasting today...
16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
In verse 18, we read...
23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
Acts 13:
There are a few points to notice concerning this question that is posed to Jesus.
Firstly, we see that the Pharisees, as well as the disciples of John, were at that time either going through a fast, or were known to repeatedly fast. These were two completely different groups of people, but they were notable religious groups at the time of Christ.
Before we consider each of those groups and the fasting that they were doing, I’d like us to just consider what the law of God (i.e. Scripture / law of Moses) said concerning fasting.
If we go back to the Old Testament, and the law that God gave to Israel, we find that there was only 1 fast that was required or commanded by God to the nation of Israel. The fast that they were commanded to observe took place on 1 specific day, which was the Day of Atonement.
Day of atonement was the day of the fast. There was only one fast that was practiced by the Israelites.
deals with the Day of Atonement in detail, and outlines all that was required of the priest in order to make atonement for the people, the nation of Israel.
But when you get to verse 29-31 we read these words...
“This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or an alien living among you— because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance.
Now the word that is used in that text from the Hebrew really meant “to afflict” themselves, or to humble themselves, or (as used in the NIV) to deny themselves. The term used in the original usage was not the typical word for “Fasting” in the Hebrew.
But nonetheless, it was a requirements, and part of their observances that on the day of atonement, they were to fast as a part of denying themselves.
But that was the only fast that was actually commanded or required by God.
Over the years that followed, there were various other fasts that were instituted and observed, but these were not requirements of God. There were various reasons why these additional fasts were established, and they had various purposes that they served:
It was practised as a preparation for converse with God
28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
It was practised by the individual, when oppressed by great cares
10 When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn;
27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.
Practised as a nation in imminent danger of war and destruction
26 Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the Lord. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord.
Judgesw 20 26
These fasts were varied however, and arose as different needs arose in the course of everyday life.
But we also see other more specific days of fasting beginning to be established.
In the book of Zechariah for example, we read about four fast-days that were established after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587BC. These fast-days were laid down as days of remembrance.
“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?
Zac
Later on again in , we read these words...
Later on again in , we read these words...
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.”
Z
What is evident from this statement from the Lord that these fast days were particular days of mourning, which God says will eventually become glad occasions!!
So certainly there were additional fasts being held, but again, these were not commanded fasts by God.
But what I’d like us to notice further from the Old Testament was how God so often was not pleased with the fasting that was taking place, because it was done out of wrong motive. The hearts of the people missed the entire point of the fasts, and what they were to try to do...
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Fasting and Feasting (2:18–22)
at least three other types of fasts. One type was fasts that lamented national tragedies, such as the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar (Zech 7:3–4; 8:19); another was fasts in times of crises, such as war, plague, drought, and famine; and a third type was self-imposed fasts for any number of personal reasons (2 Sam 12:16; Ps 35:13).
But what I’d like us to notice further from the Old Testament was how God so often was not pleased with the fasting that was taking place, because it was done out of wrong motive. The hearts of the people missed the entire point of the fasts, and what they were to try to do...
But what I’d like us to notice further from the Old Testament was how God so often was not pleased with the fasting that was taking place, because it was done out of wrong motive. The hearts of the people missed the entire point of the fasts, and what they were to try to do...
But what I’d like us to notice further from the Old Testament was how God so often was not pleased with the fasting that was taking place, because it was done out of wrong motive. The hearts of the people missed the entire point of the fasts, and the motivation that should have driven the fasts.
We’ve already seen something of that in , where God asks the people of Israel if the fast they were doing was really for Him…!?
But look with me at …These verses really give something further concerning what should have been the motivation behind the fasts that they did...
Discuss and elaborate as reading through...
1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
In this text from Isaiah, it becomes very clear that the nation of Israel was observing the fast that God had commanded, but that they were missing the point of the fast because their lives and actions failed to demonstrate what God truly required from them as a people.
With all of that background in mind, let us then come back to our text and consider what was taking place with these two groups of religious people that are mentioned.
Firstly, there were the Pharisees; those so-called “great” religious leaders who took the laws above and beyond. By this time, the Pharisees had gotten to the point where they would fast twice a week, every week. Mondays and Thursdays were their fasting days.
The problem, as as evident with the Israelites from the texts we’ve read, was that they missed the point of the fasts, and used them as means of elevating themselves and their self-righteousness.
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus spoke out against those who, while fasting, would put on a big show...
16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
With many of those fasting, they were merely doing it in order to win the approval of men (which by the way they would never have acknowledged)!!
That was the fast of the Pharisees. They were known to be those who were very religious. And these very religious people would naturally do that which showed just how religious they were, and so they fasted!
But what about the second group of people - the disciples of John?
Well to be honest, not much is known concerning them and why it was that they would fast. It has been suggested that this may have taken place at the time that John the Baptist was put in prison. And so the disciples of John were fasting at that time.
But very probably they were also holding more regular fasts. You will recall that John the Baptist lived a very minimalistic life, out in the wilderness, with clothing made from animal skin, a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and honey.
His life was really marked by a kind of self-denial, and it’s not a far stretch of the imagination that he too would have times of fasting, with his disciples then learning from him.
What we have in common between these two groups - the Pharisees and John’s disciples - was that they were known to be those who fasted.
And so Jesus is approached with this question...
These two religious groups of people - these people who are extremely religious and pious and who are greatly looked up to - they practice fasting, but your disciples don’t!! Why is that??!!
Now it may have been that there was some measure of sincerity in the question. It could have been that they were asking this question because they genuinely wanted to know why it was that Jesus’ disciples didn’t need to engage in fasting.
But in all likelihood, this was not a sincere question, it really was again, a confrontation to Jesus - trying to show Jesus up as being irreligious…trying to discredit Him as a religious leader.
2. The Answer
2. The Answer
Having considered this question posed to Jesus, and the background context for those as Jews living in that day, we turn our attention now to the response that Jesus gives to them.
And as Jesus gives this answer, he does so by means of a question back at them, which was a typical way of Jewish Rabbi’s responding, but He also does so by drawing a wonderful picture of a wedding feast taking place, a great celebration wherein it would be entirely unfitting for fasting to be taking place!
19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them.
In that day and culture, a wedding celebration was not simply done for a couple of hours in the day. The wedding celebration was a celebration that lasted (usually) for seven days. It was an extended time of great celebration.
The friends and guests of the wedding festivities would have no responsibility other than to enjoy the festivities, and to celebrate along with the bridegroom. Even rabbis were expected to desist from Torah instruction and join the celebration with their students.
One commentator notes that....
The Gospel of Mark The Joyous Company (Mark 2:18–20)
There was actually a Rabbinic ruling which said, ‘All in attendance on the bridegroom are relieved of all religious observances which would lessen their joy.’ The wedding guests were actually exempt from all fasting.
And so the picture that Jesus gives is one of the guests of the bridegroom, having all gathered in joy in the great celebration and festivities of this wedding that is about to take place.
And so the picture that Jesus gives is one of the guests of the bridegroom, having all gathered in joy in the great celebration and festivities of this wedding that is about to take place.
There is feasting to be delighted in and in which they are to partake and celebrate, and so the question must be asked, how on earth would it be appropriate for these guests to be fasting, withholding food from themselves. It would be irrational and completely inappropriate!!
The picture that Christ draws is clear. He is the bridegroom that has come, and His very presence with them is the cause for celebration!! This is no time for there to be mourning.
The guests in this picture are very obviously his own disciples, who cannot be expected to be fasting when there is a time of such great celebration taking place!!
Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them,
As we consider this response that Christ gave, there is a point that we should not miss here. The words of Christ in this instance would have been provocative for those Jews who would have heard the response.
You see, nowhere in the OT scriptures was the coming Messiah pictured as a bridegroom to God’s people. And the imagery of a bridegroom naturally points towards there being a marriage union.
One commentator notes that...
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Fasting and Feasting (2:18–22)
in the OT Israel’s husband and lover is not the Messiah but God (Isa 5:1; 54:5–6; 62:4–5; Ezek 16:6–8; Hos 2:19).
We need to keep in mind that throughout his Gospel record, Mark focuses chiefly as Christ being the Son of God!!! This designation of Christ as the Son of God conveys not simply messianic service of God but shared nature and essential union with God.
And so this picture of Christ uses of Himself, and that Mark records for us here speaks of that essential union with God that Jesus Christ had as the second person of the Trinity.
Continuing in our text this morning, Jesus goes on in his response to say these words...
But Jesus goes on in his response to say these words...
20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
The words that Christ uses here for “take away” is the word “ἀπαίρω” (apairo) which means to snatch away or take away suddenly.
This was most certainly a reference that Christ used to point towards His own crucifixion, where His life would be taken. It was a veiled reference to what He knew would be His end.
And, as He states, in that day, it would be appropriate for them to fast!!!
But the question then arises out of this statement of Christ: “But does that still apply for us today, or was that limited to the time that Christ was dead and in the grave, and when He arose again there was no longer further need for a fast?”
Well I’ll come to answering that question in just a moment, or at least what I believe is a Scriptural answer to that question, as best I can answer.
3. The Illustrations
3. The Illustrations
3. The Illustrations
3. The Illustrations
But before we get there, we need to give consideration to two illustrations that Christ gives as He continues His answer to those who were questioning Him.
Both illustrations really serve to convey the same spiritual truths.
3.1 Unshrunk Cloth to Patch
3.1 Unshrunk Cloth to Patch
The first illustration is outlined in verse 21:
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.
I think the picture is quite obvious!!
In our house, there is a very strict policy that no clothes, apart from underwear and socks are allowed to be put in the tumble dryer, because they will probably end up shrinking!!
When particular things are done to garments, they have the potential to shrink, and they most likely will shrink.
In that day, it was typical of garments to shrink after having been washed and come into contact with water. And the older the garment was the more shrunk it would be.
So here, Christ says that if an old garment which has a hole in it is patched by a new piece of cloth that has not been shrunk, that unshrunk patch will eventually shrink down in size, and the old garment will be pulled and ripped and torn to a state that is worse than it was before it was patched, effectively making a bigger problem than before!
3.2 New Wine into Old Wineskins
3.2 New Wine into Old Wineskins
Similarly, Christ uses the picture of old wineskins not being able to carry new wine in verse 22...
22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”
As wine was poured into wineskins, it would ferment in the bag, and as it was doing that it would let off gases, which would then expand the wineskin. That was not a problem for new wineskins, because they were able to stretch to accommodate this expansion.
But old wineskins, that had already been stretched, could stretch no more and any new wine in those skins would cause the skins to burst open, and the wine would be spoiled.
3.3 Implications
3.3 Implications
The implications from this are significant!!!
What Jesus is essentially saying is that by Him coming as the Messiah, the old ways, and the old forms of traditional Judaism are not suitable and compatible with what is now being introduced.
One commentator writes this:
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Fasting and Feasting (2:18–22)
“Both parables are about the relation of Jesus, of Christianity indeed, to traditional Judaism.” The parables illustrate the radical posture and presumption of Jesus. Jesus is the new patch and the new wine. He is not an attachment, addition, or appendage to the status quo. He cannot be integrated into or contained by preexisting structures, even Judaism, Torah, and the synagogue. He is, of course, neither ascetic nor anarchist, and thus he participates as a human being in human structures.
The vital point that I wish to drive home from this is the fact that Jesus Christ, and the New Covenant era is that which is decisively and distinctively NEW!!
As we continue on in our study in the Gospel of Mark, we’re going to see further examples of where Christ demonstrates that He is far superior to the Old Covenant and the LAW which guided the people of Israel.
So far above and beyond is Christ, that the laws of the Old Covenant are seen to be truly what they were, merely pictures pointing forward to the Saviour, so that ultimately He comes as the fulfilment of those laws.
There’s a lot to explore in that statement, and we won’t deal with it now…but suffice to say, Christ enters into this religiosity of the Pharisees and even disciples of John, and He effectively states to them that He is far above and beyond, that he is far better than, and greater than the Old covenant and ways of doing things.
If the Pharisees thought that they were on track towards the heart of God through their external obedience of God’s law, then they were in for a big surprise...
Application
Application
Having considered this text together, I’d like to spend just a few moments considering the application for us in our own lives.
As I do that, I’m going to return firstly to the question that I posed a little earlier, regarding the statement by Christ that the bridegroom will be taken away, and on that day they will fast...
Does that mean that we are to be those who are fasting today?
I’m going to begin by answering that question with the statement: We as Christians are not required (commanded) to fast.
In other words there is no obligation according to the law of God for us to fast today!
If the nation of Israel was only commanded to fast on one particular day, and even they to a large extent had freedom, how much more so do we not as Christians have freedom from any law to fast.
So that’s the starting point. We’re not commanded to fast!
But having said that, let us consider further some passages from Scripture that can assist in hopefully guiding us through what Christ has said here.
I will begin by saying that when Christ made the remark that “when the bridegroom will be taken from them and on that day they will fast” - his focus and emphasis was on His death.
He was making what to us is a very clear statement demonstrating that He knew that His death was approaching… He knew that His life would be taken. So that was the emphasis.
He was emphasizing that there would be a day which would be a day of mourning!!
Many believe that when Christ said this, he wasn’t merely referring to the time that He would be in the grave, but that He was referring to the entire time from His death until His Second Coming one day - which is still to be realized.
I’m not entirely convinced of that view.
Series Icon Series: A Hunger for God Share Twitter Share on Twitter Facebook Share on Facebook Email (Filled) Share with Email https://www.desiringgod.org/assets/2/drawer-spinner-7a6f859719a6b1b6a77034a6f85d9f77600e299faf3e547dbee77b34372fface.gif When the Bridegroom Is Taken Away, They Will Fast—With New Wineskins 00:0000:00-33:3500:00 | 33:35Download Download Audio (MP3)January 8, 1995
When the Bridegroom Is Taken Away, They Will Fast—With New Wineskins
When the Bridegroom Is Taken Away, They Will Fast—With New Wineskins
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John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including Reading the Bible Supernaturally.
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If you go to , you will find the words of Christ to His disciples, where He speaks to them about the fact that He will be taken away from them. I’m going to read a few verses from there...
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John Piper Jun 6, 2017 More by this author Arrow Scripture: Matthew 9:14–17 Topic: Fasting
Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. Nor do men put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
Last week I called you as a church to join me in fasting one day a week through the month of January. In doing this we join the leaders of Promise Keepers and Bill Bright and Campus Crusade and thousands of others around the world in the biblical discipline of fasting. For you it may be new. But for the Christian church throughout history it is not new.
Fasting in the History of the Church Link
Fasting in the History of the Church Link
16 “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”
17 Some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”
18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’?
20 I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.
22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
The Didache, a manual of church instruction from near the end of the first century says,
Let not your fasts be with the hypocrites, for they fast on Mondays and Thursdays, but do your fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. (7:1)
John 16:
In other words the early church sought to distance itself of the emptiness of fasting without losing the value of the practice.
Epiphanius, a bishop in Italy in the fifth century, said,
Who does not know that the fast of the fourth and sixth days of the week are observed by Christians throughout the world?
That phrase in verse 22 really sums up the fact that as the church, the very knowledge that Jesus Christ was risen, we cannot be in a time of mourning that was envisaged by Christ as He made that comment about Him being snatched away.
John Calvin, in the 16th century, said,
Just following this verse, Christ said that when he leaves, they will receive what they ask for in His name, and really the reference, if you look further in and 17, is to the Spirit that would come, and this fact of the Spirit coming to them would make their joy complete!!
Friends, as Christians, we are to be those whose lives are marked with joy. We are to rejoice always!!! It is precisely because we serve a risen Saviour that we do rejoice continuously.
Let us say something about fasting, because many, for want of knowing its usefulness, undervalue its necessity, and some reject it as almost superfluous; while, on the other hand where the use of it is not well understood, it easily degenerates into superstition. Holy and legitimate fasting is directed to three ends; for we practice it either as a restraint on the flesh, to preserve it from licentiousness, or as a preparation for prayers and pious meditations, or as a testimony of our humiliation in the presence of God when we are desirous of confessing our guilt before him. (Institutes, IV.12, 14, 15)
And so I don’t personally see that this statement of Christ that they will fast in the day when the bridegroom is taken away refers to us today. I do believe that this was referring to a limited time (at least Christ was speaking of a specific time).
Does that mean, however, that fasting never takes place in the New Testament days, and that it is inappropriate for us to fast at all today? Not at all.
Martin Luther wrote,
Does that mean, however, that fasting never takes place in the New Testament days, and that it is inappropriate for us to fast at all today? Not at all.
Of fasting I say this: It is right to fast frequently in order to subdue and control the body. For when the stomach is full, the body does not serve for preaching, for praying, or studying, or for doing anything else that is good. Under such circumstances God's Word cannot remain. But one should not fast with a view to meriting something by it as by a good work.
If we consider some further texts in the New Testament, we find that there were times when fasting took place, even after Christ had ascended into glory.
But further than that, let’s consider some other Scriptures.
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
In , we read...
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
1 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
In Acts
In Acts
Later on in the book of Acts, as Barnabas and Saul had been going around and evangelizing and establishing churches, we read these words in :23...
Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
So the Apostle Paul, who only became a disciple of Jesus Christ after Christ had ascended into heaven, fasted on at least 2 occasions which are recorded for us in the Scriptures.
But apart from that, there are no further references in the Epistles, or instructions through them that the people of God should fast.
I do believe that it is perfectly acceptable for disciples of Christ to fast. I believe that there may be times where it is prudent for disciples of Christ to fast. If seeking the face of God through a particular trial; if you’re making significant decisions in life; when there is a desperate need in life, and you wish to commit yourself to God.
But always, the purpose in the fast is to focus more on Christ, and the sufficiency of His grace towards you as a believer, rather than to try and win favour in the sight of God!
But I would also like to suggest something further to you from this passage, and also drawing from the passage that we looked at earlier from Isaiah.
From our present text, it is very clear that the point that Jesus Christ is driving home here is the supreme difference that there is with His presence, and His ushering in of the New Covenant. This New Covenant is vastly different from the Old Covenant under the law of Moses. And to a far greater extent, it is vastly different from the myriad of laws laid down by the Pharisees.
But one of the wonderful things about the New Covenant is the fact that this New Covenant brings in an era wherein God writes His laws on the hearts of His people, and through the grace that He provides in a very special way to each and every believer in Him, that covenant people, the church, are able to and they delight to live out a life of love and compassion in relation to the world around them!!
Consider again, just briefly with me, some of the words from ...
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
Is this not a description of the Christian life that God enables us to live through the power of His grace towards us?
So the Apostle Paul, who only became a disciple of Jesus Christ after Christ had ascended into heaven, fasted at various times.
Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them,
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is expected
Paul wrote to the Galatians:
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
The fast that God required was brought in by Christ’s work on the cross, and we share in that fast, or the spirit thereof as we take the Gospel message to those who are yet under the burden of the yoke of sin, those who are still slaves to sin.
When Christ preached the parable on the sheep and the goats, He demonstrated that the sheep were those who were marked by a care and a concern for those who are destitute and in need.
Matthew 25:31-
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Is this not truly the fast that Jesus requires?
Friends, let us rejoice that we know what it is to have this yoke of slavery to sin broken from us. But let us partake in the fast that pleases God, the wonderful privilege of taking out that message of the Gospel to the world that needs it, and as we do that, through serving the world that is in desperate need with acts of kindness and love.
Certainly, this is the kind of fast that the Lord desires from us, but further than that, this is the kind of fast that God enables us to delight in and engage in for His glory!
All praise to Him!!