A Change Has Come: Mark 2:18-22

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Introduction

Burger King had a slogan that stated, “Have it your way.” What was meant is that customer could build their meal in any way they wanted. Their slogan currently is, “Be your way.” The new slogan means that a person should live however they want always. In my time in food service, I was always told the customer is always right. This didn’t always jive with my personality or convictions. Sometimes the customer is wrong. Sometimes having it your way or be your way is not right thing at all. In matters of faith, people, maybe even some of you have tried to have it your way or be your way. You have created a God or a Jesus that is in your image and likeness. He says and desires things that are in accord with your own preconceived notions. However, as we will learn from the pharisees Jesus and Christianity is not a, “Have it your way,” or, “be your way,” type of person or faith. The pharisees wanted the Messiah to fit in their preconceived box and to accommodate to the traditions of men they had added onto the Old Testament Law. They wanted and Old Covenant volume two with the visible and outward religiosity. In this text, Mark shows us that Jesus changes everything. This concept is the big idea of the sermon: Jesus changes everything. Jesus explains how He changes everything in two different ways. Please consider the first with me now.

Body

Jesus changes everything

To begin with, consider how Jesus changes everything by brining joy (18-20).

Mark begins our text with some background information. He writes in verse 18, “Now John’s disciples and the pharisees were fasting.” Fasting was ordered once a year in the Old Covenant during the Day of Atonement. It was abstaining from food for religious purposes. It was also common in the Old Testament too fast to express grief or repentance. John’s baptism and preaching was one of repentance and humble expectation for the one who was greater that would come after him. His disciples fasted in repentance and expectation. The pharisees fasted two days a week as an expression of their personal devotion to God. We can see that the influence of the pharisees had penetrated the common people. Mark continues in verse 18, “And people came to him, ‘Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’” Visible and regular fasting was one of the pillars of spirituality. Jesus and his disciples didn’t fast. Therefore, they were not spiritual. This seems to be the insinuation of the question, “Why aren’t you as spiritual as the Pharisees or the disciples of John?”

Jesus wasn’t against fasting. He fasted in the wilderness. He instructed His disciples on the proper practice of fasting in privacy and humility. Yet Jesus give an answer that we might not expect. He makes an analogy of the bridegroom and the wedding guest. Look at verse 19, “Jesus said to them, ‘Can the wedding guest fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.’” Weddings in Jesus day, as in ours, were joyous occasions. Fasting as a sign of mourning and grief would be inappropriate at a wedding. In this analogy, Jesus is the bridegroom and His disciples are the wedding guest. Jesus as the fulfillment of Yahweh promise to save is Yahweh in the flesh. He is the divine husband of the people of God. As such, His presence with His disciples make fasting unnecessary. The disciples were present with the savior. Therefore, why would they need to fast. Jesus brings joy to those who are sorrowful, peace to those who are in turmoil, and forgiveness to those who are sinful. Though the disicples were not perfect, they had embraced Jesus in a way that the pharisees and disciples of John had not. He was the long expected Messiah who brings salvation to His people. Fasting for grief or expectation make little sense, when what is expected and brings joy is present.

A time would come, however, that would bring sorrow to His disciples. Look at verse 20, “The day will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in that day.” This is the first allusion to the death of Christ in the gospel of Mark. It shows Jesus is aware that in His mission He will be “taken away.” In a normal wedding, guest leave at the end. Jesus portrays that the bridegroom will forcibly be taken away from the guest. The promised redeemer in the book of Isaiah was to be “cut off from the land of the living” (). Jesus new He came to save His people by giving Himself as ransom for them. Furthermore, Jesus wouldn’t only die, but would depart from them. The taking away here covers His death, resurrection, and ascension. When Christ is no longer bodily present, his disciples will fast in the way that He instructs them. When Jesus seems far His followers will fast.

Consider your sins that put the Lord Jesus on the cross. Jesus died as a sacrifice for sins. In order to redeem His people, He had to die. He had to pay for their sins. Christian, your sins put Jesus on the cross. It is appropriate too fast and mourn when you consider the cost of your sins. Your sins a despicable and you deserve everlasting judgement. Yet Jesus died for you and paid for your sins.

Rejoice in His glorious resurrection that confirms sufficiency of His sacrifice. Jesus not only died, but He also rose again. His resurrection is a stamp of God’s acceptance of His sacrifice. Thus, we have hope in the Lord Jesus have ample reason to rejoice. Our sins have been paid for and our salvation secured. We have joy that can’t be lost because it is anchored in the Savior who didn’t and won’t fail. So you can even rejoice presently in your sufferings because you know that one day they will give way to eternal glory.

Long for His return. Not only did Jesus die and rise from the dead, but He also ascended to God’s right hand where He presently reigns over His people through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus no longer dwells with us who are His disciples in bodily form. The bridegroom has been taken away. Yes, we may commune with Him in the ordinary means of grace by the power of the Holy Spirit, but the wedding celebration has not yet been completed. Jesus will one day return. He will on that day raise His people from the grave and dine with them. He will wipe away every tear and rid His creation of the those who rejected Him. He will make all things new. When He returns we will see Him, as the disciples saw Him. We shall dine with Him as the disciples did. However, when He returns He will never be taken away again. The joy we experience in part now, will be experienced in full then.

We may presently fast when Jesus seems far from us like when we are struggling against sin, suffering, or persecution. Our fasting will give us a deep longing for heaven and draw our attention to sure hope we have in the return of our Lord.

If you are not a Christian, then you should consider becoming one. Jesus died for sinners like you. He willing took on their punishment and paid for their sins. He rose from the grave showing that He had made sufficient payment and that all who believe in Him may have the hope of eternal life. He will return to rescue His people and judge His enemies. My prayer and hope is that you will be numbered among His people and not His enemies. Trust in the Lord Jesus.

In the first portion of our text, you learned how Jesus changes everything by bringing Joy.

Next, consider how Jesus changes everything by being new (21-22)

When Jesus used the wedding feast analogy, He dealt directly with the question posed. His disciples didn’t fast at that time because He was with them. The next two analogies or parables are broader in their intention and application. Jesus didn’t come to solidify the traditions of the pharisees or to renovate the Jewish faith. He came as the promised fulfillment of the types, shadows, and promises of the Old Testament. The traditions of men would and the temporary shadows of the ceremonial and political systems of the Old Covenant would give way to Jesus as their fulfillment.

Follow along with me in verse 21, “No one sews a piece of unshrunk clot on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.” A patch made new cloth sewed onto an old garment would lead to more destruction than the original tear. For a new patch when washed would shrink and pull at the old garment, causing a bigger tear.

Look at the next parable in verse 22, “And no 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.” In Jesus day, folks mostly used animal skins as containers for liquids. Wine expands as it ferments. Thus, it would expand expand the container its into its limits. Old wineskins would be stiff and brittle. To put new unexpanded wine in an old, brittle, and expanded wineskin would lead to the loss of both. The new wine would expand and burst the old wineskins.

Jesus is the new patch of cloth and the new wine. The pharisees, their traditions, and the Old Covenant ceremonies are the old cloth and the old wineskins. Jesus cannot be reconciled with the pharisees and the Judaism they represent. Jesus is didn’t come as an attachment, addition, or appendage to Judaism. He came to fulfill it. The shadows were to give way to the substance. Only those who come to Jesus on His terms will receive Him without breaking and rejoice without ceasing. Mixing Christ with something else will render Him useless.

Paul had a group of opponents called Judaizers. This group claimed to be Christian. However, they required that gentiles observe the ceremonies of Moses, particularly circumcision, before they could accept the gospel and be saved. Paul told the Galatian church that those who attempt to be justified by a mixture of Christ with the ceremony of circumcision will find Christ to be of no benefit to them (5:2). Indeed the mixture of Law and Gospel in the beliefs and practices of the Judaizers lead Paul to say they preached another gospel and are damned for doing such.

We unlike the orthodox Jews, Muslims, Mormons, Catholics, and the Orthodox Church confess that it is by faith in Christ alone that sinners like us are declared righteous in God’s sight. We are not declared righteous by a mixture of works and faith in Jesus or by works alone. We are not declared righteous by faithfulness to Christ. We are declared righteous in and through the active and passive obedience of Christ that we have recieved by faith. To place requirements on top of Jesus for justification is to preach a different gospel, a gospel that cannot save.

Jesus

The invitation of this text is straightforward. Will you receive Christ by faith as the promised Messiah and all sufficient savior? The Pharisees in hardness of heart said no. Will you do the same? Jesus demands to be the fundamental and guiding principle of your life. He doesn’t want to be part of your system of belief or your spirituality. He desires to be the scope and center of it.

Unbeliever, receive Christ and the salvation He brings. Quit toiling for self-salvation. Quit looking for family, government, possessions, money, or medicine to save you. Death will come for you. Only Christ can bring you back to life. Judgement awaits you. Only Christ has made sufficient payment for sins. So trust in Him.

Believer, in this time of social distancing, don’t forget Christ and your need for Him. Don’t forget the salvation that He has accomplished on your behalf. Don’t forget your church who He also gave Himself for and the mission He has given you. Tell others about the Lord Jesus. Tell them to believe on Him for salvation. Make sure your social media accounts and all interactions evidence your understanding that your are sinner redeemed by the blood of our precious savior. May your hope amid this panic cause others to think about what makes you different. May the answer be Jesus. Jesus makes us different. Jesus gives us hope. Live with the hope and joy that you have in Christ. Live for Him and His glory.

Conclusion

Jesus is not a have it, “have it your way,” type of savior and Christianity is not a, “be your way,” kind of faith. Jesus as we have learned in previous passages was the bringer of God’s Kingdom. He is the true Israel, who accomplishes the will of God on earth. We also have seen that He is God the Son incarnate in His power to forgive sins and heal disease. Jesus, in the text we have studied in this sermon, has stated that He is the Bridegroom of Israel, which means that He is Yahweh in the flesh. We have learned that Jesus changes everything by bringing joy and by being new.

Jesus is the promised Messiah who brings the New Covenant and accomplishes the eternal salvation of His people. His disciples didn’t need to fast at that time or follow the man made traditions of the Pharisees because the Lord God dwelt in bodily form in their midst. He spoke with them, dined with them, and prayed with them. He would one day depart from them for a time, He died, rose, and ascended to the right hand of God. His death paid for their sins and the sins of all who trust in Him. Jesus couldn’t be patched on to the ways of the pharisees nor added to the the ceremonial law of Moses. He couldn’t be combined with them either. Jesus was the promised new way. Through a new covenant and a new heart and by a new exodus, He would save and make a new people.

Your way is not the way. Jesus is the way. He is the way to true and everlasting salvation and joy. These difficult times may have you down or even afraid. You may be wondering what hope is their if I cannot do things as I normally do them. Don’t waste this time. Reflect on your mortality. Reflect on your needs. Reflect on your sin. Medical practitioners are servants who employ the common grace of God for our temporal benefit. However, they cannot save you from death or your sins. They aren’t prophets or messiahs. You also cannot save yourself. Jesus is your hope in life and in death.

Therefore, Unbeliever, come to Jesus in faith for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Your way in life will only lead to death and destruction. You cannot appease God through white knuckled obedience, nor will God simply let your sins off the hook. He is a God of perfect justice and holiness. He is an all consuming fire. To have it your way or to be your way is death. God’s way of salvation is your only hope. God’s way of salvation is Christ and Him alone. He is God the Son incarnate who has lived in perfect righteousness and died making perfect payment for the sins of His people. He has risen showing that His life and death satisfied God’s demand for justice. He ascended to God’s right hand where He presently reigns of the minds and hearts of His people. He will return to rescue His people from final judgement and judge His enemies. Will you embrace Jesus now? Will you believe on Him for salvation? Will you forsake business as usual and join the wedding feast to which you have been invited?

Unbeliever, come to Jesus in faith for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Your way in life will only lead to death and destruction. You cannot appease God through white knuckled obedience, nor will God simply let your sins off the hook. He is a God of perfect justice and holiness. He is an all consuming fire. To have it your way or to be your way is death. God’s way of salvation is your only hope. God’s way of salvation is Christ and Him alone. He is God the Son incarnate who has lived in perfect righteousness and died making perfect payment for the sins of His people. He has risen showing that His life and death satisfied God’s demand for justice. He ascended to God’s right hand where He presently reigns of the minds and hearts of His people. He will return to rescue His people from final judgement and judge His enemies. There is only three things that are certain in this life death, judgement, and salvation. Death is gurenteed to all. We will all die. Judgement which follows death is also a gureentee. Salvation is a garunteed to all who trust in God’s Son. Those who trust in the Lord Jesus have a certain and everlasting salvation that to them is every bit as certain as death and judgement. In the last day, they will be resuced from final judgement because their sins have been paid for and Jesus’ righteousness has been given to them.

Christian, continue to trust in the Lord Jesus. Rejoice in the salvation that you have in Him. Tell others about Him. Obey His commands by loving God, your brothers and sisters in Christ, and your neighbors. Remember your local church who you have covenanted with and pray for their welfare in this time of absence. Point your neighbors to the hope and joy that can only come through Jesus.

We all know that change is needed. We have learned that Jesus changes everything for the better. Let us cleave to Him tightly in these strange and confusing days. Let’s pray.

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