Scripture Reference: Mark 2:1-3:6

What Does He Think He Is Doing? – Continued

Please read Mark 2:13-22 for the background to this section.

From Last Lesson: So here is the Messiah, hosting a party not for the elite, but for all comers, the sign that God is breaking in, that His Kingdom is coming to earth, and we have just a foretaste of the golden age which is still to come.

The Pharisees don’t see that; they don’t see that they themselves are just as much sinners as the people they despise; they simply see a list of rules which Jesus is shredding. But Jesus has come to make strangers into friends, to build bridges instead of barriers as people join His Kingdom.

The story which immediately follows simply hammers that message home. Verse 18 gives us the challenge. The rules about fasting are a good example of what the Pharisees have done to the law God gave in the first place. The law lays down only one day a year for fasting, the Day of Atonement. But by the time of Jesus, pious Jews are fasting two full days every week, Mondays and Thursdays. In their minds, therefore, Jesus should take the lead and do the same.

Jesus’ answer is interesting. He doesn’t say, “Wait! You have gone a bit too far. I think you should tone it down a bit.” We find His answer in Mark 2:19-20. Fasting in the Bible is generally connected with mourning, or deliberately humbling yourself before God, or else it is a response to disaster. Jesus is saying, “Why should my friends fast at all while I am here? That would be like starving at a wedding!” At the same time, by using this illustration of Himself as the Bridegroom, Jesus is dropping another hint about His true identity. Yes, the time will come when Jesus is taken away, first when He dies; then when He ascends to the Father, and that will be a time for sadness. Fast then, by all means. The kingdom of God is breaking in, but the time for the real party, the never-ending party, still lies in the future. Until then, there will still be times of sadness and pain, time for struggle, time when fasting is absolutely right, not because it’s Thursday, but because sometimes it’s a helpful thing to do. “But for now,” says Jesus, “My friends have Me here. It’s all about Me at this time! Don’t you understand, this is not about keeping your beloved rules, as if God were more impressed with you when you’re hungry?”

Jesus makes the point even clearer with the little parables about patching clothes and storing wine. In those days, people might own two sets of clothes at most; if one of them developed holes it was a calamity. Knowing how to patch those holes was vital. You didn’t take your worn old coat and patch it with a brand-new piece of cloth that hadn’t been shrunk. If you did, you would end up with a bigger hole than you had before. It was the same with the leather bags that wine was kept in, again, not a luxury item, but something you needed in a situation where drinkable water was often hard to find. Suppose you get some new wine, still fermenting, with the gas bubbling out of it. What do you keep it in? Not the stiff, unyielding old wineskins that are on the point of cracking. All you’ll end up with if you patch that is a flood on the floor.

Obviously, Jesus is not giving us His top ten household tips here! He is saying you can’t fit Him into your religious box.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved