Mark chapter 2 verses 18 through 22 if you have a Bible with you you can follow along if not the text is on the back of your order of worship. So I say to you hear the word of God.
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? In Jesus said to them, can the wedding feast 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 shows a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does the patched hair is away from it the new from the old worst hair is made. And no one puts new wine into old wine skins. 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 wine skins. Let us pray. Father I pray that you adapt. You would come at work through my weakness. You would come and teach us the gospel of Jesus. Open the eyes that are blind to ears that are deaf. I pray that you be in my head and in my thinking and in my heart and in my understanding and in my mouth and in my speaking. In Christ name we pray these things. Amen. Amen. Well up to this point since January we have been looking at the book of Mark. The reason we have been looking at the book of Mark is because up until Easter I am following the church calendar this year. The church calendar basically goes from Advent the birth of Jesus to the appearance of Jesus in the beginning of his ministry. Up through his conflict with religious leaders his crucifixion and ultimately on Easter his resurrection. So as we looked at the first chapter of Mark you remember exactly that happens. Jesus appears on the scene and he begins preaching the kingdom of God. And by the end of chapter 1 he begins people realize that there is something about him among other things. He can exercise demons and he can heal the sick and people come to him from everywhere to be healed or to have demons cast out. And at the end of chapter 1 Jesus begins to pick a fight really. Because at the end of chapter 1 Jesus heals a leper and he tells the leper after he is healed him, made him physically clean. Go show yourself to the priest and basically have him to proclaim you ceremonially clean. And that is going to put the priest in a tight spot because if they proclaim the leper clean then they will have affirmed who Jesus is. And if they don't proclaim the leper clean then everyone will think they are crazy because he is obviously in front of them and he is clean. And starting in chapter 2 you have five conflicts in a row that Jesus has with the religious leaders particularly known as the Pharisees. The first conflict we looked at was a couple weeks ago when they were upset with Jesus because he is somehow thought he had the authority to forgive sins. Remember the story of the paralytic who is lowered through the roof by his four friends and Jesus surprises everybody and says my son your sins are forgiven. And they say what anyone would say who do you think you are that you can forgive sins. Only God can do that. And Jesus remember he replies which is easier to forgive sins or to say rise up and walk but so that you know I have the authority to do the one. I am going to tell you to do the other rise up and walk and the paralytic walks out and everyone is amazed at him. So the first conflict has to do with Jesus' authority. The second conflict really has to do with Jesus' audacity because it is one thing to stand up of far and say that I forgive you. It is another thing not only to forgive sinners but to actually pursue them and accept them and to eat with them. And so we saw last week that Jesus after he goes and he pursues the very worst of sinners, Matthew, Levi, the tax collector, Levi would have been an outcast by anyone's measurement although he is probably fairly wealthy. And Jesus not only calls him to be a disciple but he basically hosts a party at Levi's house for all of his tax collector and sinner friends. And so Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners and the Pharisees think that that is quite audacious because they avoided those kind of people in order to maintain their own cleanness. And today today's conflict has to do on one hand about fasting but really it is more about the whole the Pharisees whole lifestyle. You see the last Sunday evening I preached the summer was not the feast of grace and we looked at not just what the importance of Jesus eating with sinners is but what is the importance of eating with sinners. In other words, why a feast? Why would Jesus have a big party for sinners? What is the importance of the feast and what does that play in Christianity? So it only makes sense that after the Pharisees have seen Jesus feasting with sinners they are going to come and ask him why don't you fast. And so today the question that starts off this whole conflict has to do with fasting and just so you know yesterday Judy asked me what I would be preaching today this morning and tonight and I said in the morning I am going to preach why you shouldn't fast and in the evening I am going to preach why you should fast. From the same text so if you want to know why you should fast you need to be here tonight but this morning I am going to tell you why it is not important at least in this context. We are going to look at three things that all forms of questions are the first two are the first is a question of motivation when you talk about the fasting that they talked about. The second is a question of culmination when they say why don't you fast Jesus talks to them about the culmination of all that God is doing. And the third thing we are going to look at is two points of application and so maybe for you the women who are in the theology class we are going to look at motivation. Most of you weren't there I guess. Come on work with me I am sick so at any rate let's look first is the motivation this the motivation behind their question. Verse 18 I am just going to read the first sentence it says now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. It is interesting it is the only passage that I can think of where you are going to see John's disciples and the Pharisees mentioned in the same breath and both confronting Jesus. It is about something but it is a John's Pharisees John's disciples that's John the Baptists disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And the question is why were they fasting. Both of them were fasting but both of them probably were fasting for drastically different reasons. Why did John the Baptist, why did his disciples fast? And the answer is that they were probably fasting for one and keeping with John's ministry of repentance. He came preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins and in the Old Testament it was appropriate for you to fast in order to show your mourning over sin. And so they may have been mourning their own sin or they may have been mourning the sin of the nation but at any rate they were fasting because of that or they were fasting because at this point John had been killed. Remember we don't read about it until chapter 8 of the book of Mark but John the Baptist is beheaded by Herod so maybe they're fasting because of John's death. But there's another reason they fasted as well that we actually know of. They fasted because they believed that their fasting would help to usher in the kingdom of God and it would help to usher in the day of redemption. In other words they would go hungry in order to show God here's how hungry we are for the coming of your kingdom. Now the question is what did they get Jesus and the answer is apparently no. Just because they were disciples of John and just because John said that's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world all of John's disciples just didn't uproot and follow Jesus. Some of them stayed with John and they still follow John and they still thought that the Messiah was going to come. They didn't buy it. But nonetheless they fasted either out of mourning for sin or something like that or they fasted to hasten in the coming of God's kingdom. That's what they did. The Pharisees on the other hand also fasted and if the Pharisees fasted only according to what the Old Testament commanded them to fast they would fast one day a year. The Old Testament only gives one command with regard to fasting and that is on the day of atonement Israel was to fast in order to prepare for forgiveness of sin. So one day a year it was proclaimed in the Old Testament that you should fast. Now you know for those of you who are sick right if one aspirin is good then a whole bottle is better right. So the Pharisees had over a course of time sort of evolved from fasting one time a year and of course there were national fasts that were proclaimed at different times of the year. Maybe a prophet would come and proclaim it fast. They fasted during those times but the typical Pharisee fasted twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays. You actually see that. The question is why did they fast twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays? Well the answer was put manifold on one hand they fasted in order to gain God's merit right the more that we do this and the more righteous we are the more God is going to love us and the more he's going to receive us not those tax collectors and sinners so they fasted on the other hand they did it because it was to show themselves as being righteous. But negatively it was a sign of their self righteousness. Remember Jesus said when you fast he says don't cut out your face like the Pharisees and don't stand on the street quarter. It was a sign of their self righteousness in fact one of the most famous stories in the New Testament. The Pharisee says remember the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector let me read you the first line says two men went up to the temple to pray one a Pharisee and the other tax collector this is in Luke 18 by the way. The Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus God I thank you that I'm not like other men extortioners unjust adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week I give tithes of all that I get that's the case he's making before God he would when the tech when the Pharisee wants to show how good he is the first thing that comes out of his mouth is I'm not like all these other people I fast twice a week. So what's the motivation for the fast of the Pharisees it's pure and simple self righteousness and to be able to say to other people look at look at how Godly we are look at how how religious we are and anyone who didn't keep the tradition of the Pharisees was considered sort of out of the loop but they would be considered unsaved if you will which is interesting is I was thinking about this text it struck me again the arrogance of the Pharisees. And Pharisees in general because Pharisees were only one sect of Judaism there are there are many others or Sadducees and the results and there are all these others but the Pharisees actually had the goal to say unless you believe the exact same thing that we believe you're not part of what God's doing in the world we'll get to that later but so John's disciples fasted out of hope and trying to usher in the day of redemption and the Pharisees fasted out of their own. It's their own sense of self righteousness and their own sense of needing to gain God's favor and so then the next line says and some people came to Jesus and the language here is almost more of a criticism or an attack you know it's like I love it when people come up and say time I have a comment that a criticism that I hope you take as a compliment you know that it's that kind of thing where they come up and we don't know if they were from the Pharisees or from John's disciples or if they were just a third party who was watching all the craziness go on and just didn't get it. Like they're watching John's disciples they fast are watching Pharisees they fast and they're watching this new guy Jesus and his disciples don't pass and so they go to Jesus and say the disciples of John fast and the Pharisees fast but why don't your disciples fast? Let me read that too. They say why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast but your disciples do not fast. So we know their motivation and what they're asking is what is what is that what is the motivation of Jesus disciples to not fast or to avoid fasting or to abstain to fast from fasting if you will. In Jesus answers them with a question of that has to do with consummation. Let me read you the answer to his question how he answers them. Jesus says 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. Jesus here is on one hand he's asking a question and really it's a stupid question. On the other hand it's a bold statement and that's really what he's trying to do here. Why is this a stupid question to them? Think about it. What is the purpose of a bridal wedding especially in the ancient Near East which the wedding could have gone days or weeks or even months long and it would be nothing but rejoicing and feasting. In Jesus says do you fast during a wedding? Can the guests and not just can guests at any old wedding fast but can the guests of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is among them. In other words in the middle of the wedding with the people who are standing up before the bridegroom put on a sad face and put oil on their foreheads and say we're not going to partake of this feast. That would be crazy but that's Jesus' point isn't it. You see the bigger point he's making he asks them a question can they fast while they're with the bridegroom but the bigger statement here is that I'm the bridegroom. You see throughout the whole Old Testament one of the main metaphors of God's restoring his relationship to Israel was that of a wedding. There's a young man rejoices over a bride so I will rejoice over you and you read through and God sees himself as Israel's husband and he sees Israel as his bride to be and Jesus comes and says I am the bridegroom. In other words since the bridegroom is here and this is an implicit answer to both the John's disciples and the Pharisees. In other words John's disciples were fasting because they hoped to usher in the coming day of redemption and what Jesus is basically saying to them is the coming day of redemption is here. Everything you've fasted for actually has come to fruition. It worked. I'm here now and because I'm here now you don't need to fast because now is the time of joy and the time of feasting not the time of fasting so for all of you who long to see the kingdom of God. Here it is. Some people in here I'm guessing. Maybe you're not a Christian you spent your whole life kind of figure out what am I supposed to be doing to pursue a relationship with God? Maybe you tried different religions you tried different paths in your life and Jesus basically says you're looking is over. You're longing is over your hope is over because I am here now the bridegroom is here and when the bridegroom is here you don't fast you feast. Now to the Pharisees. What's he saying to them? You see the Pharisees fasted in order to gain God's approval or they fasted to show other people how righteous they are and Jesus is saying basically to the Pharisees. The reason for your fasting is bogus because you're fasting in order to gain merit from God you're fasting in order for him to get it to accept you. Guess what boys the only way that God will accept you is for you to trust in me and they'd say something right in the book of John where we believe in Moses and Jesus would say well if you believe to Moses you would believe in me because Moses wrote about me. In other words they're trying to get the merit of God and the merit of God is standing right in front of them. They're trying to work for God's grace and the grace of God is standing right in front of them and he says you can't work for it it's no good. In your own self-righteousness come on guys you do everything right all the time even look up to your own low standards of morality of course not. You need something bigger you not you not only need to stop fasting but you need to put your trust in the one who is fasted on your behalf. Right you want to you want to talk about fasting remember how Jesus started its ministry you don't read about it marks gospel you read about it math is Jesus started its ministry with a 40 day fast. God told the israel send you out into the wilderness and you'll be hungry Jesus went with so 40 day fast in order to identify with his people but he would stood a different and a bigger and a more grand fast at the end of his life. You see what's fasting fasting is to give up something that you enjoy correct in order to pursue God's will God's purposes. When you look at the cross of Jesus what you see is this great big example of the perfect fast because at the cross of Jesus what he did was he gave up that which was most precious to him he gave up that which was most glorious to him his fellowship with his father. Perfect relationship and Jesus goes on a fast from God's delight in order that you and I might have a feast on God's delight. Jesus gives up his glory he gives up his honor he gives up everything in order that we might receive it and we receive it through the work he did on the cross and the question is will you trust him. Will you put your faith in him and that question by the way is not just for people who are not Christians right those of you who have been Christians for a long time tend to tune out sometimes I think when that is said but the question for the Pharisee is will you trust him. Will you trust him or you can spend your whole life trying to earn God's favor when it was standing in front of you the whole time your whole life miserable when you could have had joy your whole life fasting when you could have been feasting on God's grace what are you going to do. You see Jesus says the culmination is here in me and then he moves on to two points of application and what are those points of application it's where he goes next. Verse twenty twenty one he says no one says a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment if he does the patch tears away from it the new wine from the old worst hair is made and no one puts new wine into old wine skins 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. So what are those points of application here first thing he says is no one says a piece of new unshrunk cloth onto a piece of old cloth because when you wash it I guess and put it in the dryer whatever the version of the dryer would be it'll shrink and it will tear the cloth apart and it will ruin both of them. So what's Jesus point here I think it's pretty simple you see many people looked at Jesus this new rabbi and they thought here he comes to add his two cents to Judaism you see the job of a rabbi would be to comment on what he thought the Bible meant. And here's this new rabbi and he's going to bring a patch maybe maybe we're missing some areas maybe we're lacking in Jesus comes to patch up our old system and what they didn't get was Jesus didn't come to add a patch to the old system of Judaism. He didn't come to sort of patch up where it was lacking or to fix up the traditions by the way the ritual tradition are not bad it's the motivation behind them but Jesus they can come to just add a layer on to the bureaucracy if you will. What Jesus came to do was bring something completely new that was to renew the nation of Israel to renew the whole of creation. So you can't just patch up the old thing but in fact Jesus says I came to bring a newness and a newness to all of creation are you going to buy that the problem it may have been some of the schools that I've talked before and I know I've said it in sermons and this is some free note takers to write down and this may be some free people who don't take notes are right down Jesus plus anything equals nothing Jesus plus anything equals nothing. Jesus plus nothing equals everything if you read the old test or the new testament most of the new testament letters have to do with the apostle Paul or someone else confronting people who say well okay yeah it's good to trust Jesus I trusted him but now we also need to do ABC and D in order to be accepted by God and what the gospel says is that the only way you have acceptance by God is through Jesus it's not through your works it's not through your rituals it's not through your fastings it's not through your Bible reading. It's through the person and work of Jesus and to just try and patch Jesus on that's why some of you are so miserable because your whole life Jesus has just been a patch to all of the things that you've been trying to use to hold your life together. Right whether you're in business and it's constant the influx of time management systems or whatever or whether it's at home this constant trying to keep control of your life and you keep trying to put Jesus on there as a patch in the places where you're lacking the problem is it keeps getting ripped off and you know you never experienced the joy of the feast but you never experience really the wholeness that you think you're going to get by using Jesus as a patch he takes things up and empty in the next thing he says. Notice he says no one puts a new wine into old wine skins his aside note this whole metaphor is built around the fact that the wine that they used was alcoholic right I know people argue that you that you know the wine in the New Testament was just really grape juice it wasn't because if that was the fact then Jesus this parable would be worthless. And remember Jesus was accused and the other passage that's actually a parallel to this when they ask him this question he says you know I don't get you guys. You called John the Baptist you got upset at John the Baptist because he's a T totaler and then the son of man comes and you call him a wine biver and a gotten which is it you guys are never happy. Here's why he says you can't put new wine into old wine skins otherwise it will burst the wine skins destroying both the skin and the wine. In other words what apparently when you got a new wine skin and you put new wine in the wine skin and put the the cap on that wine the juice would begin to ferment into to real wine as it fermented it would have gases and things that would stretch the wine skin. But once the wine skin have been stretched it was now a bigger it's at that level and if you put new wine in there that you expected to ferment well the wine skin wouldn't have anywhere to go. In other words when that started to expand it would burst and Jesus says that trying to use me like that is the same as trying to put new wine in old wine skins. You put it in there and you're not just going to ruin the wine skin but you're going to ruin the wine. What's the point here? Maybe let's use a metaphor that we all are maybe more familiar with. How many of you have spent the good bit of your lives trying to shove Jesus into a box? You try and put Jesus in a box. Jesus is in on your Sunday morning box or Jesus is in the box that you go to when you when things go badly poorly for you and the problem with putting Jesus in a box is he will not stay there. He keeps breaking out of it. In some people are miserable I think because their whole lives are geared around trying to put Jesus in a box or Jesus has disappointed me. You know if you're going to be a Christian you better be prepared for Jesus to surprise you. If you're not a Christian that's something for you to keep in mind as you make your decision because just when you think that you've got Jesus under control he pulls the rug out. Just when you think you prayed for someone to get well they get worse just when everything seems to be going right it goes wrong and Jesus' concert refrain is you're going to trust me. This is new wine. This isn't jumping through the hoops in order to gain God's approval. This is a relationship and the question is are you going to trust me? Are you going to put your faith in me? Are you going to believe in me? You know there's a word here I think for every church. I mean I know Presbyterians would never think this but there's some churches that think the way they do things is the only way that God intends things ever get done. We would never do that. Maybe the Baptist or the Methodist but the good Presbyterians the Presbyterians who are decently in order to the Presbyterians with a book of order and Robert's rules of order we would never try and control things. I know what I think Jesus is warning us here as well is new wine needs new wine skins that don't be surprised when God does something you're not expecting. Don't be a Pharisee. Don't be the ones who say we're the only ones who know what's going on here because in fact we're not. The question is are we going to live that way? Think about that. Let's pray. Father I pray that you would help us to be a new wine skins that you would help us to constantly be able to receive that what you were doing that is new. Not throwing away the old but in fact utilizing that which is old to take us forward. So I pray that you would just open our eyes to this. We pray. Amen. Amen.