feasting

The Lord of Rest

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23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” – Mark 2:23-28 ESV

John’s disciples came to Jesus asking why He and His disciples didn’t follow their lead and keep the fast days appointed by the Pharisees. Their question has a certain sense of superiority about it because the brand of Judaism under which they were raised placed a heavy emphasis on religious performance. In a sense, the practice of one’s faith had become competitive rather than contemplative. It had become more about outward appearances than the inner disposition of the heart.

That is why Jesus dedicated much of His Sermon on the Mount to addressing the hypocrisy of a performance-based religion.

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity!” – Matthew 6:1-2 NLT

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them.” – Matthew 6:5 NLT

“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting.” – Matthew 6:16 NLT

Jesus had come to provide freedom from this dead-end existence of religious ritualism and rule-keeping. Not long after delivering His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus issued what has become known as His Great Invitation: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 ESV).

Jesus offered rest to those worn out by the constant pressure to measure up and keep up with all the rules, regulations, rituals, and rites of their religion. It was a non-stop and never-ending treadmill of existence based on effort and earning. But Jesus had come to offer something far better: rest for their souls (Matthew 11:29).

Which brings us to today’s passage. The scene is a wheat field somewhere in Galilee.  Mark describes Jesus and His disciples taking a shortcut through the field, and as they did, the disciples casually plucked off the heads of grain and ate them as a snack. They were not doing anything illegal because the Mosaic Law allowed such behavior.

“When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not carry any away in a basket. And when you enter your neighbor’s field of grain, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not harvest it with a sickle.” – Deuteronomy 23:24-25 NLT

But as Mark reveals, the problem wasn’t what they were doing; it was when they were doing it. It was the Sabbath, and many rules were tied to that day of the week. God had originally established the Sabbath as a day of rest and had included its observance as part of the Ten Commandments.

“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work.” – Exodus 20:8-10 NLT

God provided the people of Israel with the rationale for setting apart this one day above all the other days of the week.

“For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.” – Exodus 20:11 NLT

It was a day of commemoration, when the people were to set aside their normal daily activities so they could recall what God had done on their behalf. He was the Creator-God, who made the universe and all that it contained, including them. Observing the Sabbath was intended to remind them of their complete dependence upon God. Their human effort was of no real value. Their very existence depended on God, and by resting on the seventh day, they placed all their hope in Him; He would meet their needs. God had illustrated this principle to the people of Israel long before He set apart the seventh day as holy.

As the Israelites made their way from Egypt to the land of Canaan, God graciously provided them with “bread from heaven.”

“Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” – Exodus 16:4-5 ESV

This bread from heaven (manna) was to be collected daily, but on the sixth day, they were to collect enough to meet their needs for two days. On the seventh day, they were to “rest” from gathering manna because God had provided all they needed the previous day.

The Sabbath was meant to remind them of God’s provision for all their needs. But over time, Israel’s religious leaders turned the Sabbath into a rule-laden, performance-driven day where everything was measured by human effort. They had transformed the God-ordained mandate to rest into a form of work. The religious leaders created a litany of man-made laws to measure the people’s observance of this day of rest. It became all about their ability to keep every law associated with this one day.

According to the Mishnah (the oral law of Israel), 39 different categories of laws were associated with keeping the Sabbath. They included laws concerning carrying, burning, cooking, washing, harvesting, and threshing. According to this oral law, a Jew was forbidden to light a candle on the Sabbath but could hire a Gentile to do it for him. It was also considered Sabbath-breaking to gaze at one’s image in a mirror. So this day of rest had become a day of wearisome, burdensome rule-keeping.

So, when the Pharisees observed Jesus’ disciples plucking wheat, they condemned them for “reaping” on the Sabbath, and they confronted Jesus for allowing His disciples to violate their oral laws.

“Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” – Mark 2:24 NLT

Jesus knew these men prided themselves on their knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures and used a story contained in the writings of Samuel to justify the actions of His disciples (1 Samuel 21:1-6). Jesus recounts how David, who was on the run from King Saul, had arrived at the town of Nob and asked the high priest to provide food for him and his soldiers. The only bread available was “the holy bread—the Bread of the Presence that was placed before the Lord in the Tabernacle” (1 Samuel 21:6 ESV).

According to the Mosaic Law, this bread was reserved for the priests alone. Yet, Jesus points out that when David “was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him…entered the house of God…and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him” (Mark 2:25-26 ESV). In doing so, David violated the law, but in this case, it was acceptable because David was the Lord’s anointed. The prophet Samuel had anointed David as the next king of Israel. He was to be the God-ordained replacement for the disobedient and disappointing King Saul.

By recounting this story, Jesus pointed out a major flaw in their understanding of the Sabbath.

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” – Mark 2:27 ESV

God had set apart the Sabbath as a reminder to the people of Israel that He was their provider; He would care for them. The Sabbath was the day they rested from all their vain efforts at self-provision and relied completely on the One who made the universe and all it contains. God allowed David and his men to eat the Bread of the Presence because David was the Lord’s anointed. David’s physical needs took precedence over the laws concerning the holy bread.

Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees that, as the Son of Man, He was “lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28 ESV). As God’s anointed, Jesus had full authority to permit his disciples’ behavior. He was placing their well-being above the oral law of the Pharisees. God made the Sabbath, and as the Son of God, Jesus had every right to do what He deemed holy and acceptable on the Sabbath. 

Jesus came to bring rest to the weary and remove the burden of performance and religious rule-keeping. For the average Jew, the Sabbath had become a burdensome and tiring 24 hours marked by constant vigilance and fear of violating the rules. There was no rest, but Jesus had come to change all that. When He offered His Great Invitation, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 NLT), He was speaking to those exhausted from trying to keep all the religious rules and burdened by the weight of trying to earn favor with God. He came to offer them “the bread of life” (John 6:35) and “living water” (John 7:37). He boldly claimed, “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:36 NLT). 

When Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well, He offered her this living water, stating, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life” (John 4:13-14 NLT). The Samaritan woman was enticed by the idea of never having to draw water from the well again, but Jesus was offering her release from the burden of her sin. Her thirst went far beyond the physical; she longed for love, acceptance, forgiveness, and hope. As a Samaritan, she was despised by the Jews. As a woman with a checkered past, she was rejected by her own people. But Jesus offered her love, acceptance, hope, and a future free from the burden of sin. 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The New Has Come

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18 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?” 19 And Jesus said 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. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one 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.” – Mark 2:18-22 ESV

Matthew, Mark, and Luke each reported this scene as having taken place immediately after Jesus shared a meal with “many tax collectors and sinners” (Mark 2:15 ESV). The timing matters because it sets the context for what happened next. Jesus’ decision to accept an invitation to dine at Levi’s (Matthew’s) house left the Jewish religious leaders disgusted. Their view of Him hit an all-time low because He chose to consort with known sinners. In addition to being a blasphemer and troublemaker, this radical Rabbi from Nazareth was a poor judge of character.

So, immediately after His dinner at Levi’s house, Jesus was questioned about His behavior, but the query came from an unexpected source. While Mark simply says that some “people” asked Jesus a question, Matthew reveals the actual source.

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” – Matthew 9:14 ESV

These men were confused by the behavior of Jesus and His disciples. They may have been just as alarmed by Jesus’ choice of dining companions, but instead of bringing up what Jesus had just done, they chose to question what He and His disciples failed to do: fast.

As good Jews, John’s disciples would have faithfully kept the various written and oral traditions of their people, and that would have included requirements regarding fasting. But under the Mosaic Law, God set apart only one day for fasting: the Day of Atonement.

It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. This is a permanent law for you. – Leviticus 16:31 NLT

But over time, the Jews had prescribed additional fast days that were intended to demonstrate one’s dedication to God. By the time Jesus appeared, the Pharisees had instituted a twice-weekly fast, which is likely what the disciples of John referred. These additional fast days were visible acts of righteousness that let others know you took your religious commitments seriously. But Jesus warned about just such outward displays in His Sermon on the Mount.

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 6:1 NLT

Jesus purposefully focused on fasting and pointed out how this practice of self-denial had become a means of self-promotion.

“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” – Matthew 6:16-18 NLT

Yet the disciples of John asked why Jesus and His disciples failed to honor the twice-weekly fast as they did. By admitting that they were fasting, these men violated the warning Jesus had issued: “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious.” But for them, fasting had become a sign of righteousness and a mark of one’s spiritual commitment.

But they failed to realize that Jesus had come to bring something new. Their attempts at self-righteousness were insufficient, and their outward displays of self-denial could do nothing to elevate their standing in God’s eyes. Their attempts to earn God’s favor through self-effort and adherence to religious rituals were meaningless because their hearts remained unrepentant. Centuries earlier, God had rebuked His people for their vain attempts to replace repentance with rule-keeping.

Bring no more vain offerings;
    incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
    I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts
    my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands,
    I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
    I will not listen;
    your hands are full of blood. – Isaiah 1:13-15 ESV

The apostle Paul discussed this same subject in some of his letters because he wanted his readers to know that God’s laws were never intended to produce righteousness.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Romans 8:3 NLT

If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. – Galatians 3:21 NLT

So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. – Colossians 2:16-17 NLT

Paul offers much-needed insight into what is happening in Mark 2:18-22. With the coming of Jesus, all of the rules associated with Judaism were changing. The temple, the Sabbath, the feasts, and the festivals were all intended to point toward the coming of the Messiah. They were, as Paul put it, “shadows of the reality yet to come” (Colossians 2:17). And as Paul makes clear, “Christ himself is that reality.”

The author of Hebrews reinforces Paul’s understanding about the purpose behind rules and regulations associated with the law.

The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. – Hebrews 10:1 NLT

Jesus’ arrival had ushered in a new era; the old was giving way to the new. Jesus came to do what the law was never intended to do: Restore sinful men and women to a right relationship with God.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Romans 8:3 NLT

Jesus drives home the point that His presence with them ruled out the need for fasting and rule-keeping. Their self-empowered efforts to earn God’s favor were no longer necessary. Just as a sick person cannot make themselves well, sinners cannot make themselves spiritually whole and acceptable to a holy God. They must admit they are sick and seek a physician.

So Jesus tells John’s disciples that their fasting was in vain. Rather than deny themselves food, they needed to recognize the Messiah’s presence and feast alongside Him. The tax collectors and sinners had dined with Jesus in Levi’s house, so Jesus invited John’s disciples to celebrate with Him, using the metaphor of a wedding feast to illustrate His point.

“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.” – Mark 2:19 ESV

The thought of guests fasting and mourning while attending a wedding feast should have been ludicrous. Celebrating someone’s marriage was the wrong occasion to go without food; it was a time for joy and enjoyment. Jesus wanted these men to know that His presence among them was intended to be cause for celebration. Their long-awaited Messiah had finally come, and He was bringing “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10 ESV). The angels told the shepherds in the field on the night of Jesus’ birth: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11 ESV).

The Messiah (the bridegroom) had come, and that was cause for celebration. But Jesus indicates that a time of mourning would come soon enough.

“The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.” – Mark 2:20 ESV

This somewhat cryptic statement referred to His pending death. While this foreshadowing of His future escaped His audience, it was meant to reinforce His call to celebrate. The Messiah was with them, and His presence should have brought joy and feasting. However, the Jewish religious leaders grumbled, doubted, and disbelieved, while John’s disciples fasted and mourned.

Jesus reinforced the radical new nature of the days in which they lived. He was disrupting the status quo, turning everything on its head, and introducing a whole new means for sinful mankind to be restored to God. His arrival wasn’t meant to be an add-on to the old way of doing things; it wasn’t going to be the law + Jesus. In fact, He had discussed this in His Sermon on the Mount.

“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.” – Matthew 5:17-18 NLT

He came to fulfill all that the law required and, in doing so, eliminated any requirement that men keep the law to assuage the anger of a just and righteous God. Jesus would satisfy God with the sacrifice of His own life.

To drive home His point, Jesus used the analogy of sewing a patch of new, unshrunk cloth onto an old garment. These two pieces of fabric would prove to be incompatible.  It would also make no sense to store new wine in an old wineskin because the fermentation of the new wine would cause the old wineskin to burst. Jesus had not come to add something new to the old; He had come to offer something completely different.

Jesus had come to do a new thing, and while the way He lived His life seemed to be inconsistent and incompatible with what the Jews had come to know, He was introducing “new cloth” and “new wine” – a new way that was meant to bring new hope to a lost and dying world. The apostle Paul would have us rejoice that the old has been replaced with the new, all because of Jesus.

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! – 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Time For Everything

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14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” – Matthew 9:14-17 ESV

One of the things I appreciate about the Word of God is that it provides an honest look into the lives of the characters contained within its pages.

They are not sanitized or canonized, making them unrelatable or, better yet, unbelievable. The people presented to us in the Bible are flawed and prone to failure, just as we are. They wrestle with doubts and fears. Their minds constantly struggle with questions about everything, from fairness to God’s faithfulness.

Even the ones who displayed a heart for the things of God found themselves wondering out loud about the seeming incongruities of life. The world in which they lived was not a kind and gentle place, but could be harsh and unforgiving. Even the Jews, the chosen people of God, found their religion, with all its rules and requirements, to be a difficult lifestyle to maintain. This is what prompted Jesus to say, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 ESV).

Theirs was a religion based on works. Yes, their was faith involved, but essentially, they were required to keep all of God’s commands if they wanted to enjoy His blessing and approval. Rule-keeping was intended to be God-pleasing. So, when some of John the Baptist’s disciples noticed that the men who followed Jesus failed to fast, they were confused and probably a bit shocked.

Both Mark and Luke record this scene a bit differently than Matthew. They indicate that the question regarding fasting came from some anonymous person in the crowd, who asked Jesus:

“John the Baptist’s disciples fast and pray regularly, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why are your disciples always eating and drinking?” – Luke 5:33 ESV

Mark adds the important detail, “Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting” (Mark 2:18 ESV), which leaves the impression that the fasting was taking place at that very moment. If that is so, it is likely that the disciples of John, who were having to go without food, were a bit put out that the disciples of Jesus were free to eat and drink. So, they sent someone to get an answer from Jesus. But their intent was not to seek clarification but to offer a bit of condemnation. This whole scene smells of competition and comparison. As disciples of John, they had viewed the arrival of Jesus and His chosen followers as a kind of turf war. Before Jesus had shown up on the scene, their leader had been the primary show in town. Even Matthew describes the popularity of John.

Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him. – Matthew 3:5 ESV

Yet, with the arrival of Jesus, the popularity of John had faded. His 15-minutes of fame had ended abruptly and now Jesus and His disciples had taken center stage. This probably left John’s followers a bit jealous and feeling as if their decision to follow John had all been in vain. And when they saw that the disciples of Jesus were little more than rule-breakers, that inflamed their sense of fairness and propriety. The wanted answers. They demanded an explanation. And Jesus gave them one.

But notice how Jesus responded to their request. He picked up on a theme their very own leader had used to describe his relationship with Jesus. John had clearly understood his role and the part he had been called by God to play.

“The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” – John 3:29-30 ESV

John understood himself to be little more than a friend of the bridegroom. He was inconsequential when compared to the groom. In fact, he fully realized that he was destined to play a diminishing part in the story surrounding Jesus’ life and ministry.

Using John’s own metaphor of the groom and the wedding, Jesus responds to their request by stating:

“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” – Matthew 9:15 ESV

Mark and Luke provide a slightly different take on Jesus’ words.

“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.” – Mark 2:19 ESV

“Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” – Luke 5:34-35 ESV

Notice that they both put the emphasis on fasting. But Matthew stresses the idea of mourning. The Greek word Matthew used carries the idea of wailing or an outward expression of grief. Fasting was often linked to an individual’s repentance over sin in their lives. It was a physical way of expressing their sorrow by denying themselves such necessities as food and water.

In this case, Jesus reminds the disciples of John that it made no sense for the friends of the groom to mourn while he was still with them. There would be a proper time for them to grieve over the loss of their friend, but right in the middle of his wedding celebration would not be appropriate.

The Book of Ecclesiastes illustrates the need to recognize that there are a proper time and place for everything.

For everything there is a season,
    a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
    A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
    A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance. – Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 ESV

What the disciples of John failed to understand was that denying themselves food or water, while beneficial when done at the proper time and for the right reason, was inappropriate when the Messiah was in their midst.

The Messiah’s arrival should have been a time for feasting and celebration, not fasting and self-denial. By fasting, a man was attempting to restore himself to a right relationship with God. But Jesus had come to take care of that problem by offering Himself on their behalf. And that should have been a cause for joy, not for mourning and asceticism.

Jesus was trying to let them know that a new day had dawned. They were living in a new era when the old ways were being replaced with something far grander and significant. That is why He uses the imagery of a piece of new, unwashed cloth being sewn as a patch onto an old garment. After washing, the new cloth would shrink, causing the old garment to tear and rendering it of no value. The new way of the Kingdom was not compatible with the old way of law-keeping. Gone were the days of trying to earn your way into God’s good graces. Jesus had come to make possible a new means of justification and salvation.

The disciples of John were living under the old system of law-keeping and self-produced righteousness. They were still attempting to keep God happy by doing things that proved their spiritual superiority. It seems that the disciples of John viewed themselves as somehow more godly that the disciples of John, by virtue of their commitment to fasting. But Jesus is accentuating the radical nature of the new covenant He came to bring. He even compares it to new wine. This carries the idea of freshness and future fermentation. As wine aged, it would expand, placing great strain on the vessel in which it was contained. Old wineskins were brittle from age and incapable of accommodating the rapidly fermenting nature of new wine. The pressure would cause them to burst.

Once again, Jesus is accentuating the newness and freshness of what He had come to do. It was not that He had come to abolish or replace the law. He had actually come to fulfill it. But it was going to require something altogether new and different. The apostle Paul describes the radically new and regenerative nature of Christ’s work on the cross.

But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. – Romans 7:6 NLT

Paul goes on to describe the law as “spiritual and good” (Romans 7:14 NLT). Jesus even said He had not come to abolish the law but in order to fulfill it. So, rather than fasting, the disciples of John should have been feasting. They should have been celebrating rather than abstaining. There had always been a time and a place for fasting, but Jesus was letting them know that it was now a time for feasting.  The Messiah was in their midst. The bridegroom was with them. So, let the party begin.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson