Seeds for 07/24/2023 - Matthew 9:14-17
Scripture: 14 Then John’s disciples came and asked Him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”
15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Observation: This is a good reminder that reading the Bible well means remembering what else it says and thinking carefully about how that should be taken into account when reflecting on a given passage.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught about practicing our spiritual devotion for God and not to gain human approval. Jesus included fasting among His examples and even said, “When you fast…” Jesus assumed that fasting will be a part of his followers’ spiritual life. So He isn’t opposed to fasting overall; this must be a special circumstance.
To answer John’s disciples’ question, Jesus weaves together a couple of illustrations.
First, He speaks of wedding guests hanging out with the groom. The groom doesn’t expect his buddies to abstain, but to feast. That’s what the occasion calls for. The same is true for Jesus’ disciples. They do not fast right now (though He assumes they will in the future) because being in His presence is cause for celebration and feasting. That will change, but for the present time, feasting is their rule.
Second, Jesus provides two images that make the same point. Matching a new revelation with an old container doesn’t mesh well. The Messiah’s arrival means that celebration is the order of the day for His disciples. God’s kingdom has established a beachhead in this world. One day, all this territory will belong to Jesus our Messiah and the new thing God is doing will be fully consummated. The old wineskins will then be useless.
Today, Christian fasting can be for focused prayer, embodying repentance, building inward discipline for pursuing holiness, practicing solidarity with and developing empathy for the world’s hungry, and more.
Significantly, Christian fasting is most widely practiced during the season of Lent (the weeks leading up to Easter). This season connects with all the meanings listed above. It leads up to Jesus farewell to the disciples in the Upper Room over a meal. That meal—the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, or the Eucharist, depending on your denomination—both looks back in remembrance to Jesus’ sacrifice and forward in celebration to the heavenly banquet. We live in between, where we both fast and feast in the hope and promise that one day it will be all feasting all the time.
Application:
What is your practice of fasting?
How does Communion help you remember Jesus’ death and look forward to the fullness of His victory?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, in fasting and in feasting, may my heart be shaped by your joy, kingdom, and promise. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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FASTING: My practice of fasting is usually during Easter or Lent. What does it mean to me? It is sacrificing something, be it food, drink or activity to honor the sacrifice of Jesus. It is more ceremonial for us but should be something we will miss, maybe something we enjoy so we remember what sacrifice is. It dims by comparison but should remind us of the ultimate sacrifice made by Jesus.
HOLY COMMUNION is the most symbolic and sacred part of worship in our church. By taking the bread or “body” of Christ and drinking the wine or “blood” of Christ, we recognize His sacrifice and cleanse ourselves of sin. It is a beautiful and Holy part of our liturgy.