Mark 2:18-22 Notes
fasting. See note on Matt. 6:16–18.
2:19–20 Jesus refers to himself as the bridegroom, who in the OT was the Lord (cf. Isa. 62:5; Hos. 2:19–20). While Jesus is present with his disciples, they are to rejoice; when he is taken away from them … then they will fast. They will then return to the practice of fasting to seek the presence of God, but they need not do that when Jesus, the Son of God (see Mark 1:1; 15:39), is with them. “Taken away” is an indirect prediction of Jesus’ death (see Isa. 53:8).
2:21–22 Just as new, unshrunk cloth cannot coexist with an old garment, the kingdom of God cannot be regarded merely as a patch over the regulations of the Mosaic law and extrabiblical traditions. New wine vs. old wineskins illustrates the same truth—that Jesus brings a new era with new ways.
