Out With The Old In With The New

Mark 2:18–22 ESV

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

Feasting Instead of Fasting

Mark 2:18–20 ESV

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

God’s word only commanded fasting on one day of the year. The day of atonement. But the religious leaders in Jesus day fasted twice a week on Monday and Thursday. The pharisees took extra care to show off the fact that they were fasting. They would mess up their clothes and put ashes on their head. They would even wear makeup to whiten their faces to look sickly.

When Jesus was asked about fasting he answered with a question and parable to explain his point. The picture of the wedding feast. There is no fasting at a wedding celebration.There is no mourning or somber expressions. People do not mourn at a wedding celebration.

So instead of fasting, we see Jesus and his disciples feasting instead. There is a joy to be found in the presence of the Savior that is worth celebrating.

So today it is appropriate to fast and pray because the Bridegroom has gone away from us and we await His return. This is all in expectation of the feast that will be prepared for us in the presence of Jesus one day.

Revelation 19:6–9 ESV

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

The New Versus The Old

Mark 2:21–22 ESV

No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

Jesus gives us two illustrations of the dangers of mixing something old with something that is new. He is illustrating the danger of mixing the old way of the pharisaic religious dogmatic practice and the new way of the Kingdom that He was ushering in.

There should be no mixing of the two. We cannot be close to Jesus by strict religious observance. We can’t be close to him by legalism. We can’t be close to Jesus by our works of the flesh. That would be like putting his new wine of grace in our old wineskins of works.

There can be no part of the old mixed with the new and destruction is promised for any who try to blend the two. Bursting of wineskins is a symbol of destruction and judgment from God from the old testament.

Through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus we have been provided with new wineskins and new wine. They are all of grace, obtained through faith in Jesus Christ. \

Application

We must look with hope to the day when we will be reunited with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The day where we will have no need of fasting, but will be feasting instead at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

We must not trust in our good works and strict morals to earn us favor in God’s eyes. There is judgement and destruction promised to those who trust in works. We must only rely on the Grace of Jesus Christ. He is our hope and our salvation. He is our perfect righteousness.