Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Please open your Bibles to as we continue our studies in the Gospel of Mark.

The title of today’s message is “A Time to Rejoice and a Time to Mourn”.

The title is actually taken from the book of Ecclesiastes

Wise people know the right time for things and what to do in those times.

And understanding the times can literally change your life and eternity.

But unfortunately, many people are foolish and waste their time.

Many squander the time they have.

And many will be suffering eternally because they were not able to discern what to do with their time.

And in our story today, many people in Jesus time did not recognize the time of the Messiah’s coming.

And just like today, many people did not recognize the significance of who Jesus is.

And as a result of wasting their time concerning Jesus, many are lost because they did not understand what Jesus came to do.

A Time to Rejoice and a Time to Mourn

It was one of the happiest days in my life.

My closest family were there.

My closest friends were there.

And our church family was there.

It was a time of rejoicing.

It’s all smiles.

Weddings are

Contrast that with funerals.

Everyone is sad.

There are tears.

It is a time of grief.

Background

The tension between Jesus and the religious leaders is escalating.

This is the third controversy between Jesus and the religious leaders.

The first dealt with Jesus authority to forgive sins.

You remember what the religious leader said after healing the paralyzed man?

The second dealt with Jesus association with sinners.

You remember what they said when they saw Jesus feasting with the tax collectors and sharks?

And now this passage deals with Jesus and the question about fasting.

Jesus is breaking cultural and social expectations through his ministry.

And again, it seems that Jesus is breaking the religious expectations as this passage deals with another controversy, the issue of fasting.

So we will see that the religious leaders did not recognize the authority and presence of the Messiah in their midst.

And they were fasting and mourning at the wrong time because the king was in their midst.

I.

A Question about Fasting

II.

The Response from Jesus

III.

Two Parables or Illustrations from Jesus

Scripture Reading:

I.

The Question (v.

18)

The three main pillars of Judaism were prayer, almsgiving, and fasting.

Judaism required but one fast on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, Lev 16:29–30; m.

Yoma 8:1–2).

But the Mishnah tractate Ta‘anit, which is devoted to proper observances of fasting, specifies 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).

The Pharisees normally fasted on Mondays and Thursdays (Did.

8:1; b.

Ta‘an.

12a), although this was not required.

Fasting wan “an expression of mourning for the loss of someone or something (; ).

More often it was an expression of contrition anti penitence, a sign of repentance marked by the symbols of mourning ().”

Fasting wan “an expression of mourning for the loss of someone or something (; ).

More often it was an expression of contrition anti penitence, a sign of repentance marked by the symbols of mourning ().”

Guelich, Robert A.. , Volume 34A (Word Biblical Commentary) (pp.

108-109).

Zondervan.

Kindle Edition.

The discipline of physical privation in fasting was an aid to watchfulness, contrition, and strength and sensitivity in Christian life.

Fasting was a sign of godliness and piety.

The OT mandated fasting once a year on the Day of Atonement.

Levticus 16:

After the Exile, there were at least 4 national fasts.

And the Pharisees according to , fasted twice a week usually on Mondays and Thursdays.

The three main pillars of Judaism were prayer, almsgiving, and fasting.

Judaism required but one fast on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, Lev 16:29–30; m.

Yoma 8:1–2).

But the Mishnah tractate Ta‘anit, which is devoted to proper observances of fasting, specifies 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).

The Pharisees normally fasted on Mondays and Thursdays (Did.

8:1; b.

Ta‘an.

12a), although this was not required.

Two groups were there who were fasting: John’s Disciples and the Pharisees.

John’s Disciples followed John the Baptist who was an ascetic.

An ascetic is someone who denies themselves physical pleasures to attain greater spiritual fellowship or intimacy with a deity.

You remember John came “neither eating or drinking” as the forerunner of the Lord.

They may have also fasted because John was imprisoned or executed under Herod.

The Pharisees were separatist.

Jesus would have much in common with them.

They were orthodox in their belief in the Scriptures.

They believed in a future resurrection.

They believed in One God.

Their worship centralized in the temple.

And there is Jesus just coming from a feast of sinners.

What separated Jesus from the Pharisees was their tradition or what is referred to the “tradition of the elders.”

After the exile of the Jews in 586 b.c., Rabbis and scribes became the prominent religious leaders of the day.

And the main job of the scribes and rabbis were to interpret the law.

And they not only studied the Torah, or the Law, but they studied the oral tradition of those who have gone before them.

Again, Jesus has much in common with them, but when it came to man-made religion and tradition, he rebuked them for placing tradition over Scriptures.

Commentators tell us:

And many times these traditions went against the Scripture themselves.

Commentators tell us:

Guelich, Robert A.. , Volume 34A (Word Biblical Commentary) (pp.

108-109).

Zondervan.

Kindle Edition.

The Pharisees were regarded as the authorized successors of Torah, who sat on “Moses’ seat” (Matt 23:2).