Question About Fasting
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Question About Fasting
Question About Fasting
This is the third of five controversy stories Mark presents during Jesus’ early Galilean Ministry. While the first two concerned Jesus’ claim to forgive sins (2:1-12) and his association with sinners (2:13-17), this one concerns fasting. The Pharisees and the disciples of John fasted regularly as a sign of devotion and piety. Some people wonder why Jesus and his disciples do not.
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast.
20 But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.
21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear is made.
22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”
When Jesus is asked why his disciples do not fast like the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees, he responds with a series of analogies that identify his presence as the arrival of God's eschatological salvation - a joyful celebration that is not just a reformation of Judaism, but is creating something radically new and transforming.
Jesus gives us three analogies from everyday life that He used to illustrate the nature of His ministry.
First being a wedding celebration, illustrates the reason Jesus and his disciples are not fasting:
the presence of Jesus is a time of celebration, not solemnity.
the second and third (a new patch on old clothing and new wine in old wineskin), explain the nature and significance pf this celebration.
The kingdom of God is inaugurating a new age of salvation that is fundamentally incompatible with the old.
Jesus is not here to put a patch on Judaism, but to inaugurate the new creation.
There was Established Fast’s In Scripture
There was Established Fast’s In Scripture
“This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you;
for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and just as they had established for themselves and for their descendants with instructions for their times of fasting and their lamentations.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.’
According to the Talmud the practice was to fast every Monday and/or Thursday
‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’
“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’
Transgressing and denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words.
1 Indeed, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save, and his ear is not too deaf to hear.
2 But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers, with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongues mutter injustice.
4 No one makes claims justly; no one pleads honestly. They trust in empty and worthless words; they conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity.
5 They hatch viper’s eggs and weave spider’s webs. Whoever eats their eggs will die; crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
6 Their webs cannot become clothing, and they cannot cover themselves with their works. Their works are sinful works, and violent acts are in their hands.
7 Their feet run after evil, and they rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and wretchedness are in their paths.
8 They have not known the path of peace, and there is no justice in their ways. They have made their roads crooked; no one who walks on them will know peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we live in the night.
10 We grope along a wall like the blind; we grope like those without eyes. We stumble at noon as though it were twilight; we are like the dead among those who are healthy.
11 We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions have multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us. For our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities:
13 transgression and deception against the Lord, turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lying words from the heart.
14 Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far off. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil is plundered. The Lord saw that there was no justice, and he was offended.
16 He saw that there was no man— he was amazed that there was no one interceding; so his own arm brought salvation, and his own righteousness supported him.
17 He put on righteousness as body armor, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and he wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18 So he will repay according to their deeds: fury to his enemies, retribution to his foes, and he will repay the coasts and islands.
19 They will fear the name of the Lord in the west and his glory in the east; for he will come like a rushing stream driven by the wind of the Lord.
20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children’s children, from now on and forever,” says the Lord.
1 “Cry out loudly, don’t hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Tell my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek me day after day and delight to know my ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not abandon the justice of their God. They ask me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”
3 “Why have we fasted, but you have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!” “Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and oppress all your workers.
4 You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high.
5 Will the fast I choose be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Isn’t this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.
9 At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,
10 and if you offer yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.
11 The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose water never runs dry.
12 Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the foundations laid long ago; you will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live.
13 “If you keep from desecrating the Sabbath, from doing whatever you want on my holy day; if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, seeking your own pleasure, or talking business;
14 then you will delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride over the heights of the land, and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
There's two parts of this pericope, the part on fasting and the parable of the wine skins. The topic of fasting, within the context of the scripture referenced is associated with the specific practice of fasting during joyous times. To both the Pharisees as well as the disciples of John the Immerser would not see the reason for this celebrations Jesus is referencing since they would have seen that particular Monday or Thursday as anything special. Furthermore, the feast at Levi's was already considered garish to either group who would be fasting and witnessing this Prophet not only feasting on a typical fasting day but eating with "sinners". Would it be fair to say this disciple of John he harboring criticism in a passive aggressive manner? Was this a accusation of not being as pious by this follower of John to Jesus? Could he also be thrown off that Jesus was John's cousin by was not mourning as they did over his imprisonment? The custom of public scrutiny of a public figure was not considered rude in these circles, so this calling out of a respected sage was well within custom. Jesus pulls the imagery of the Bridegroom and this time of his ministry being too joyous to warrant fasting at that time. This could not have been understood so clearly at the time of the incident but this text would resonate with Mark's readership that would be in this renewed time of fasting since the master had left.
The Celebration and Joy That Accompany the Coming of the Kingdom.
The Celebration and Joy That Accompany the Coming of the Kingdom.
Jesus does not reject fasting as a spiritual discipline
6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words.
8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
14 “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.
15 But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.
16 “Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.
17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
18 so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Rather, he is giving an object lesson about the kingdom of God.
A wedding celebration: happiest time for a town or area. Everyone anticipated the arrival of the bride and the groom with joy and excitement.
The same way the messiah - the bridegroom at the messianic banquet - was the most exciting and anticipated event in human history.
Since the fall of Adam and Eve there has been noting but sin, death and decay.
God is now stepping in to begin restoring creation to its intended destiny.
This is no time for gloom and doom: it’s a time to party!
Christians ought to be the most joyful people in the world!
We are now the recipients and messengers for the greatest news the world has ever heard.
At the same time acknowledging that the kingdom has been inaugurated but not yet consummated, and that “must go through the hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22
22 strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”
In the interim period we seek to :consider it our joy” when we face trials of many kinds, because the testing of our faith produces perseverance.
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
12 Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the church.
6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials
13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed.
16 But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.
Spiritual disciplines like prayer and fasting help believers persevere through the time of Jesus’ physical absence as we await his victorious return.
The Incompatibility of the New Age of Salvation with the Old Age of Promise
The Incompatibility of the New Age of Salvation with the Old Age of Promise
The second key to this passage is the incompatibility of the old and the new.
Just as new wine cannot be put into old wineskins, so the message of the kingdom of God cannot simply be poured into the present institutions of Judaism.
This statement must not be misconstrued.
Jesus did not come to establish a new religion or to reject the Jewish foundation of his message.
In Matt. 13:52
52 “Therefore,” he said to them, “every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old.”
he extols the virtues of a teacher of Torah who has been instructed in the kingdom of God and so can bring both the old and new treasures from the storeroom.
4 For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.
The NT is in continuity with the OT, and believers in Jesus the Messiah receive the spiritual blessings promised to Abraham and his descendants.
Jesus’ point is that he is not here to launch a renewal movement within Judaism or to put a “patch” on the old.
Unlike the OT prophets, he is not calling Israel to covenant renewal or to greater submission to the Torah.
Rather, he is here to fulfill the Torah and to bring it to its consummation in the kingdom of God.
The old covenant is giving way to the new (Jer 31)
1 “At that time”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”
2 This is what the Lord says: The people who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness. When Israel went to find rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.
4 Again I will build you so that you will be rebuilt, Virgin Israel. You will take up your tambourines again and go out in joyful dancing.
5 You will plant vineyards again on the mountains of Samaria; the planters will plant and will enjoy the fruit.
6 For there will be a day when watchmen will call out in the hill country of Ephraim, “Come, let’s go up to Zion, to the Lord our God!”
7 For this is what the Lord says: Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations! Proclaim, praise, and say, “Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel!”
8 Watch! I am going to bring them from the northern land. I will gather them from remote regions of the earth— the blind and the lame will be with them, along with those who are pregnant and those about to give birth. They will return here as a great assembly!
9 They will come weeping, but I will bring them back with consolation. I will lead them to wadis filled with water, by a smooth way where they will not stumble, for I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Nations, hear the word of the Lord, and tell it among the far off coasts and islands! Say, “The one who scattered Israel will gather him. He will watch over him as a shepherd guards his flock,
11 for the Lord has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the power of one stronger than he.”
12 They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant with joy because of the Lord’s goodness, because of the grain, the new wine, the fresh oil, and because of the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like an irrigated garden, and they will no longer grow weak from hunger.
13 Then the young women will rejoice with dancing, while young and old men rejoice together. I will turn their mourning into joy, give them consolation, and bring happiness out of grief.
14 I will refresh the priests with an abundance, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness. This is the Lord’s declaration.
15 This is what the Lord says: A voice was heard in Ramah, a lament with bitter weeping— Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children because they are no more.
16 This is what the Lord says: Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come— this is the Lord’s declaration— and your children will return from the enemy’s land.
17 There is hope for your future— this is the Lord’s declaration— and your children will return to their own territory.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim moaning, “You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined like an untrained calf. Take me back, so that I can return, for you, Lord, are my God.
19 After my return, I felt regret; After I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”
20 Isn’t Ephraim a precious son to me, a delightful child? Whenever I speak against him, I certainly still think about him. Therefore, my inner being yearns for him; I will truly have compassion on him. This is the Lord’s declaration.
21 Set up road markers for yourself; establish signposts! Keep the highway in mind, the way you have traveled. Return, Virgin Israel! Return to these cities of yours.
22 How long will you turn here and there, faithless daughter? For the Lord creates something new in the land— a female will shelter a man.
23 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore their fortunes, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: ‘May the Lord bless you, righteous settlement, holy mountain.’
24 Judah and all its cities will live in it together—also farmers and those who move with the flocks—
25 for I satisfy the thirsty person and feed all those who are weak.”
26 At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.
27 “Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of people and the seed of animals.
28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear them down, to demolish and to destroy, and to cause disaster, so will I watch over them to build and to plant them”—this is the Lord’s declaration.
29 “In those days, it will never again be said, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 Rather, each will die for his own iniquity. Anyone who eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge.
31 “Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
32 This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”—the Lord’s declaration.
33 “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.
35 “This is what the Lord says: The one who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar— the Lord of Armies is his name:
36 If this fixed order departs from before me— this is the Lord’s declaration— only then will Israel’s descendants cease to be a nation before me forever.
37 “This is what the Lord says: Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, will I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they have done— this is the Lord’s declaration.
38 “Look, the days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when the city from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate will be rebuilt for the Lord.
39 A measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah.
40 The whole valley—the corpses, the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east—will be holy to the Lord. It will never be uprooted or demolished again.”
and the age of promise to the age of fulfillment - the kingdom of God.