“Fast or Feast”
Matthew 9:14-17 (Mark 2:18-22, Luke 5:33-39)
To eat or not to eat; that is the question that is asked of Jesus. Matthew 9:14: “Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
The question that is posed by John’s disciples to Jesus is: "How is it that we and the Pharisees FAST, but your disciples do not FAST?" Luke notes that the Pharisees asked this question about fasting; Mark says the disciples of John AND the Pharisees ask the question, but the question in Matthew is ASKED by John’s disciples, but includes the Pharisees in the question. It is interesting that the root word for “FAST” is used in Matthew 9:11 from last week, is used in all three in the question from the Pharisees: "Why does your teacher “EAT” with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" (The word for “Eat” is the root word for “fast”; to “fast” is the negative of “eating”, in other words, “to NOT eat”.)
FEASTING with Sinners
We answered the question last week as to “Why would Jesus EAT or FEAST with sinners?” The answer is: He comes with mercy to those who recognize their own UTTER sinfulness and inadequacy to save themselves, and He sups with them. He comes as the “Bread of Life” to those who will receive Him. Jesus in essence says: “To those who think they are righteous, I will have no appeal whatsoever. Only people who know they are sick, go to the doctor for help. I came to die for self sinners.”
Although Jesus, Himself, was NOT SINFUL, He associated WITH those whom He would save, and He became SIN for THEM. The bottom line is that The King of Heaven came to sup with, to serve and save sinners. Those who realize their need will seek Him.
Elements of FASTING
Today Jesus answers the question, “Why don’t your disciples FAST (or NOT EAT) like the Pharisees or John’s disciples? We have looked at the topic of “fasting” two times in Matthew already. The first time was in Matthew 4:2 when Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness and He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, and then the devil came to tempt Him.
The second time was in Matthew 6: 16-18. Jesus said: "Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 "But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face 18 so that your fasting will NOT be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret ; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
We have to take a few minutes to look at some elements of fasting. Fasting is not to be noticed by men. It’s between you and God, and between your heart and God’s Holiness. In Isaiah 58:3-4, people complained that they had fasted and that God had not responded to their fast. Isaiah declared that it was because their external show was useless to God.
Fasting includes mourning because it is an expression of broken-heartedness and desperation for God. God prescribed only one fast per year in the Old Testament, on the Day of Atonement .(Lev. 16:29) On that day a sacrifice was slain and the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place and sprinkled blood on the Mercy Seat atop the ark of the Covenant. That was also the day that the scapegoat was released into the wilderness with the sins of the people. If you did not honor the day of Atonement, the penalty was death…YOUR DEATH for your sins, instead of your sins being atoned for!
Fasting is not about the stomach but your soul and your standing before God. Fasting doesn’t HAVE to do only with Food. If you are focusing on FOOD you’re missing the focal point. FOOD is not the only element that you can withhold from yourself. You could fast from watching television one night and instead pour over God’s Word and pray fervently for a few hours. I wonder what would happen in the Church if everyone would do THAT one evening a week instead of doing whatever most do every night.
The Bible refers to “fasting” with spiritual goals in mind. Joel 2:12-13: 12 "Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.”
Fasting is realizing that you have a void which the physical will not fill. Fasting reveals food as a necessity for your stomach and that God alone is what you need for your soul as well as for your stomach.
Fasting is not YOUR work: that’s what Judaism turned it into. It is waiting on God to FORGIVE and satisfy with the Living Bread of God. For the Pharisees, they had turned fasting into another work, fasting twice a week. They had a daily and weekly routine of prayer and fasts. Remember their prayer: Lord, thank you that I am not like one of these publicans and sinners…I fast twice a week…look at all of my righteousness!”
In Matthew 9:9-13 we saw that Israel thought that the more sacrifices they gave, the more they could sin. They must have thought the same about fasting: I can do what I want as long as I fast more often. If one fast per year was what God required, I’ll fast 100 times a year and I should be 100 times holier. Nonsense. You can’t make yourself holier by doing more tainted works.
So Jesus gives three parable pictures in order to answer the question of fasting, beginning with this in Matthew 9:15, 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.
The Picture of the Wedding Feast
First, He gives the picture of a wedding feast. In our text, Jesus answers THEIR question with HIS question: “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?”
“The Jewish marriage included a number of steps: first, betrothal (which involved the prospective groom’s traveling from his father’s house to the home of the prospective bride, paying the purchase price, and thus establishing the marriage covenant); second, the groom’s returning to his father’s house (which meant remaining separate from his bride for 12 months, during which time he prepared the living accommodations for his wife in his father’s house); third, the groom’s coming for his bride at a time not known exactly to her; fourth, his return with her to the groom’s father’s house to consummate the marriage and to celebrate the wedding feast for the next seven days (during which the bride remained closeted in her bridal chamber).” (Charles C. Ryrie, Come Quickly, Lord Jesus (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1996), p.67)
The wedding guests can’t possibly MOURN while the bridegroom is present. You DON’T fast when the Bridegroom has arrived, you fast if the Bridegroom isn’t present in your life. There were even rabbinical laws that forbade fasting at weddings. In the case of Jesus and His disciples, the King Jesus has come to unveil His Kingdom, and His coming is like the coming of a bridegroom to a wedding feast. The Husband of the Bride, God’s Chosen People, has arrived for the Feast. (the picture of The Messiah as the husband is in Isaiah 62:4f.; Jeremiah 2:2; 3:20; Ezekiel 16:8; Hosea 2:19f) How can you mix broken-hearted and desperate mourning with the arrival of the Groom, the Messiah?
The King of Heaven offers a FEAST for believers. He brings forgiveness, new life, peace with God, purpose for God, relationship with God. We waited for His arrival for so long (during our time of fasting), and now the Messiah has finally come.
There will be a time for fasting when the Bridegroom has gone because the very King of Heaven comes to die for those who hunger only for Him. Oh, the agony, of what appears to be defeat when Jesus, the King, would be crucified. But that time would be short-lived, because He would rise again. Then He would rise once more and return to His Heavenly Throne at His Ascension, and the disciples would again WAIT for His Spirit at Pentecost, and again His promise was fulfilled.
We should “fast” now, in anticipation of His return: We “fast” from the world and fervently pray for His Will to be done in us and work to bring the news of His Kingdom. Our “fast” is different than the Old Testament fast because we feast on Him now, and wait for His return, when we will be FULL-FILLED in Him.
A Patch of New on Top of the Old?
Matthew 9:16 gives the second example: "No one sews a patch of unshrunk (or new) cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.” Luke 5:36 reads: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.” You can’t cover the old with a patch of new: that won’t repair the old properly and it will detract and devalue the new. Jesus is saying that Judaism, the teachings of the Pharisees, any mere religion cannot cover the old. You can’t add a little bit of Jesus to whatever you had before.
The spiritual fact is that Your need is greater than simply a patch to cover a hole. Your covering is old and in need of the new. It needs more than repair; it needs replacement, and that is why I am here. Jesus says: “I have come to replace the old, not repair it. Repairing it won’t do. It didn’t work in the past, and it certainly won’t work in the future. Your old garment will not hold up nor cover your sin, and besides, the new is provided entirely in me (Christ). Take the robe or garment of My righteousness as your covering, because it will never wear out! My work of mercy and grace will cover you completely and entirely. Replace your old worn-out religion with the garments of MY RIGHTEOUSNESS.
New Wine and Old Wineskins
The final example is from Matthew 9:17: “Neither do men 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." You can’t pour new wine into old wineskins.
Typically a goat's skin was used; it was all sown up so you would have this big sack. As the wine fermented, the sack would expand. Then they would have to pour it into another skin. They actually poured it into several others until all the fermentation was completed and the wine was pure. But you couldn’t pour new wine into an old brittle wineskin or when the wine initially expanded, it would burst the sack and you would have lost the wine and ruined the older sack.
The new wine demonstrated that the Bridegroom HAS come and the Gospel is alive and fresh. You can’t pour it into Judaism or any other religion. It can’t be contained in the old ways of tradition nor can it be mixed with it. The gospel of grace through faith alone in Christ alone can't be put into the dry and brittle skin of works and self-righteousness. Judaism, or any religious system, practiced in its most devout state, is still totally out of sync with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“The wine is new. The blood is shed. The Lamb is slain. The punishment of or sins is executed. Death is defeated. The Bridegroom is risen. The Spirit is sent. The wine is new. And the old fasting mindset is simply not adequate.” (John Piper, message: “When the Bridegroom Is Taken Away, They Will Fast—With New Wineskins”)
Luke 5:39 says: “And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.’" J. MacArthur”, in his message, ”The Uniqueness of the Gospel” says this about this verse:
"People who have been in religions for a long time are very comfortable. They cultivate their taste for that tradition… for that experience. And Judaism had become mellowed and settled by centuries of experience and mounting, increasing tradition until it was so much a part of the fabric of their life they couldn't even see themselves in any other way…They had grown comfortable with their heresy, like old men who have been drinking a certain wine all their life and were not at all interested in a new one no matter what it may have promised by way of delight and pleasure. But that's where sinners are today as well. There's no mixing. And for those who aren't willing to come out of their false religions to the gospel, there is no hope...no hope. They aren't about to sell everything to buy the treasure in the field. They aren't about to sell everything to buy the pearl of great price. They certainly aren't going to take the cup of Luke 22:20, the cup of the New Covenant, and drink that when they're content with their damning system of false religion.”
"So what do we do? Do we tell them that's okay and put the gospel in as a patch? Do we tell them that's okay and dump some of the gospel in their old wineskin? No. Beloved, we have to preach that the gospel stands alone.”
We have to show them that If you have tasted of the Gospel of Grace, nothing else will do! The Gospel of God’s Grace stands exclusively because Jesus stands apart and above AS THE Good News. We should FEAST on Him, FAST from the world, and invite others to meet the Groom.
OUTLINE
“Fast or Feast”
Matthew 9:14-17, Mark 2:18-22, Luke 5:33-39
Introduction: The King of Heaven came to sup with and serve and save sinners.
I. Elements of Fasting
A. Fasting is not to be noticed by men.
B. Fasting includes mourning.
C. Fasting is not about the stomach but your soul and your standing before God.
D. Fasting is realizing that you have a void which the physical will not fill.
II. Jesus’ Examples pertaining to Fasting or Feasting
A. The Wedding Feast
1. The wedding guests can’t possibly MOURN while the bridegroom is present.
2. The King of Heaven offers a FEAST for believers.
3. There will be a time for fasting when the Bridegroom has gone.
B. You can’t cover the old with a patch of new.
1. Your need is greater than a patch to cover a hole.
2. “I have come to replace the old, not to repair it.”
3. The new garment is provided entirely “in Christ”.
C. You can’t pour new wine into old wineskins.
1. The new wine demonstrates that the Bridegroom HAS come.
2. The gospel of grace through faith alone in Christ alone can't be put into the dry and brittle skin of works and self- righteousness.
3. After you have tasted of the Gospel of Grace, nothing else will do!
We should feast on Him, fast from the world, and be inviting others to meet the Groom.
