Jesus and Fasting
Notes
Transcript
33 They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.”
34 Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”
36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.
Introduction
Introduction
Further Pharisee fighting
Fasting Background
Fasting Background
The purpose of this text isn’t actually to teach us about fasting – like the rest of his ministry, the purpose is to teach us about Jesus
The Bible has mixed responses to fasting
The only time it is commanded is the Day of Atonement
Most often it is simply described
Types
Sign of sorrow
13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth
and humbled myself with fasting.
When my prayers returned to me unanswered,
14 I went about mourning
as though for my friend or brother.
I bowed my head in grief
as though weeping for my mother.
Sign of repentance
12 “Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
Along with prayer
3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
40 day fasts (Moses, Elijah, and Jesus)
Act of worship
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.”
Often it is rebuked
As ceremony without obedience
4 Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5 “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? 6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?
As public display
16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, 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 others 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.
Jesus uses fasting (like he has miracles) as a means of proclamation
Jesus Proclaims the Joy of His Coming
Jesus Proclaims the Joy of His Coming
33 They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.”
34 Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”
In the midst of these Pharisee conflicts we should be reading into their question – it’s not just for information. They are challenging him
This is consistent with the Pharisaical focus on external religious exercise instead of the heart
While the Pharisees are motivated by not falling into the same failures as OT Israel, they actually are. OT Israel also practiced the externals of religion with hearts far from God
Instead of the dead religion of the pharisees Jesus is focused on delight and joy in his presence
Consistent with OT
6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Even in this expression of Joy there is a foreshadowing of sorrow (v. 35)
Just like miracles aren’t the point of Jesus ministry, neither is feasting.
He is headed to the cross.
Application
Do you see the presence of Jesus as joyful?
Can you balance joy and mourning in this sin cursed world?
Jesus Proclaims the Newness of His Message
Jesus Proclaims the Newness of His Message
36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.
Jesus uses a parable to further develop his thought
Why is his coming so joyful?
Because it is something new and earthshaking
He is bringing the religious ceremonies of the OT to fulfillment
Not more of the same, but a transformation
Jesus isn’t detached from the OT
Jesus is a glorious fulfillment of the OT
He is the seed of the woman
He is the one God provides as a sacrifice (Gen 22)
He is the great "I AM" who existed before Abraham
He is the passover lamb (Ex 12)
He is the one who fulfills the Law
He is the mediator between God and man
He is the once for all sacrifice
He is the one who tears down the veil separating people from the Holy Place
He is the one who brings his people finally and fully into the Promised Land
He is the judge who does right
He is the kinsman redeemer
He is the king who rules eternally in righteousness
He is more than a prophet proclaiming the Word of the Lord – he is the Word of the Lord come to us
The Pharisees looked to the Law to answer the problems of Israel’s rebellion – Jesus is going to fulfill the Law and change hearts.
The Law looks forward while the Pharisees look backward
Conclusion
Conclusion
This is why His coming is so joyful – He doesn't demand that you fix yourself first. He comes to transform you completely. Don't settle for the empty rituals of religion. Don't try to earn what He freely offers. Receive Him today. Let the one who fulfilled all righteousness clothe you in His righteousness.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law's demands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
when mine eyes shall close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown,
see thee on thy judgment throne
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.
