King Jesus Christ The Lord Of The Sabbath Series

We’re cautious about that. We don’t put ourselves in dangerous or compromising situations. We guard against falling into sin ourselves. But Jesus called people who were broken, burned out, and lost in sin. He found them where they were. He changed them and they followed Him.

We do the same. And we see people’s lives change as a result, as we tell them about Jesus, bring them to church, read the Bible with them, and help them along in their journey with Christ.

If they aren’t ready yet. We make the offer. Maybe they go the other direction. That’s ok. We did our part. We keep spreading the message to new people. Maybe they will come around later when they’re ready. Maybe not. We will see.

So you have Jesus Christ traveling around with his disciples, eating and drinking with sinners and tax collectors. You also have John the Baptist in the wilderness, calling people to repentance from their sins. Then you have the Pharisees and the Sadducees, enforcing the old testament law of Moses, trying to make sure Israel honors God through the law.

Fasting was a common spiritual practice. Many practiced it. John's disciples fasted. The Pharisees and Sadducees fasted. So Jesus encounters a question from the Pharisees. It says in verse 18-20:

“Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.”

Again, Jesus says, now is the time. A new day has come.

I believe, in 2020, a change took place in the world. I believe the world is beginning to slowly come apart, as we move toward the end times, but I believe that this collapse will coincide with a great awakening, a great revival, where millions and millions will turn to Christ.

Now is the time. Not later, now. It's the same with Jesus in this situation. Can his disciples fast, not eat, cover themselves in ashes, while Jesus is still with them? Certainly not. They are celebrating, they are excited, they are at work. But Jesus says later, after he departs, then they will fast. Which is why we fast today, in the body of Christ. Jesus is not physically with us. The Holy Spirit is with us. But Jesus will come again. Until that time, we fast, we pray, we work.

Now is the time to evangelize. If you feel the Holy Spirit convicting you to go tell someone Jesus loves you, then go do it now. Now, not later. And if we know the good we’re supposed to do and we refuse to do it, that is sin to us. Fear God, take a deep breath, and go share the gospel with love with that person. Now is the time.

Mark includes one of Jesus’ gospels next, it says: (verses 21-22)

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”