Luke 5:33-39 Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting
“Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?”
And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”
Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise, the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
The Mosaic Law only orders fasting once, during the Days of Awe (Leviticus 16:29-31.) But somehow by the time of Jesus, regular fasting and prayer has become a mark of outstanding religious observance. In Jesus’ story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple, the Pharisee boasts that he fasts twice a week. (Luke 18:12) We don’t know how many times a week John the Baptist’s disciples were fasting, but if John came out of the Essene sect, his disciples might have followed the strict diets and fasting prescribed by the Essenes. Disciples of the Pharisees are evidently following similar practices.
Now Jesus and his disciples show up, and while they might be praying, they certainly aren’t having regular fasts. Jesus and his disciples are feasting with tax collectors and money lenders and never turn down a meal when someone offers. The Pharisees are scandalized! Can it be that all these years they have been afflicting themselves needlessly? Certainly not! Jesus and his disciples must be ignorant unbelievers!
The Pharisees have conveniently forgotten the many times God has addressed His people, admonishing them to eschew ritual fasting and change their behavior instead. Isaiah 58:6-11 says, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”
Even in Jesus’ day, marriage ceremonies are marked by extravagant feasting with plenty of wine. Jesus’ first miracle is to change water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. Nobody is going to come into the marriage banquet and drive everyone out, ordering them to fast. Jesus is comparing himself to a bridegroom, telling those questioning him that his disciples will celebrate while he is with them and fast once he has left them.
First, Jesus compares his teaching to that of new material that has not yet shrunk to a permanent size. If new material is used to patch an old garment, the material will tear away when it shrinks in the wash. In the same fashion, the Good News of the Kingdom is so much greater than the Mosaic Law that it’s impossible to join the two together and expect it to work.
Jesus compares his teaching to that of new wine which must be stored in new wineskins that are still flexible and can stretch as the new wine ferments and expands. The old wineskins of the myriads of observances that have been developed since Moses cannot hold the Good News of the Kingdom of God, for that Good News will cause those old wineskins to burst. It is not the teachings of Moses and the prophets that are the problem. Some Christians want to ignore the Old Testament as if Jesus’ coming has made that unnecessary; however, Jesus will later tell his disciples that he has not come to do away with the Law but to fulfill it. Repeatedly, Jesus demonstrates his respect for the Law and the Prophets, reading in the synagogues when invited to do so.
The scribes and Pharisees have developed ritual fasting to a fine art, scorning all those whose lives cannot accommodate such practices. But in the process, the hearts of these men have become as rigid as those old wineskins that have no more stretch in them. Fascination with observances has caused many of these men to lose sight of God and His Mercy completely.
What about us? In Lent, Americans give up chocolate or potato chips or some other favorite food during the Lenten season; however, much of the time, they also complain bitterly about their “suffering.” Such practices make a mockery of denying oneself. Instead, why not give up anger, bitterness, conceit despair, estrangement, falseness, guilt, hatred, insincerity, and jealousy and take up happiness, joy, humility, hope, closeness, truth, grace, love, honesty, and trust?
Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Why not pray that God will help you to repudiate everything that is not of Him and that He will bring in the fruits of His Holy Spirit instead?
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, we confess that we are sinners and our hearts are hardened. Please break up the stoney places in our hearts and give us hearts that are tender toward You. Let our lives demonstrate all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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