Mar 2:18 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?"
• John was in prison, and his disciples were grieving and fasting.
• The Pharisees fasted often. Standard, twice a week.
• To me, it is comical how the Pharisees practiced their fasts.
• I am certain, if others observed my religious habits, they would be rather entertained.
• The Pharisees would wear wrinkled, disheveled clothing on the day of their fasts.
• They would put white on their faces like not eating was making them weak and unhealthy.
• They would walk about with long, sad faces.
• This was to remind others of their commitment, piety and dedication.
• They were not meant for God, but to impress men.
• Also, fasting of the Rabbis became almost a contest.
• The Mosaic Law required only one fast, before the Day of Atonement.
• They added special fasting in the spring and fall if it didn’t rain enough.
• According to John Gill’s Expository of the Bible, the rabbis would compete in the amount of fasting they did.
• "R. Jose "fasted fourscore fasts", and his eyes grew dim: --
• R. Simeon Ben Lakish "fasted three hundred fastings"
• Elsewhere it is said, that R. Ase fasted "thirty days" straight.
• "R. Jonathan fasted every eve of the new year, R. Abin fasted every eve of the feast of tabernacles, R. Zeura fasted "three hundred fasts",
• It is obvious by the question that the implication was, “Jesus, if you want your disciples to be taken seriously by others, they need to get with the fasting program.
Mar 2:19 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.
Mar 2:20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
• Jesus did not address the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.
• How did God view fasting? Obviously not as the Pharisees.
• Jesus, God in the flesh, associated fasting with grieving and sorrow.
• He said that it was improper to people at a wedding feast to grieve through fasting.
• A wedding feast is a time of celebration.
• Jesus was explaining that He, the groom, was with the wedding party and it was not a time for His disciples to be sad.
• He looked into the future and said, “that time is coming.”
• Hey, that time came and went. Jesus died, but, Halleluh, after 3 days, He rose to new life and victory.
• We are not just part of the wedding party anymore, but are part of the bride.
• Then Mark records that Jesus goes into two illustrations that are to show the Gentiles one strong point about why Jesus came.
Mar 2:21 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.
• Remember that the Gentiles that Mark was writing to knew about Judaism.
• They considered it a quirky monotheistic religion perpetuated by arrogant, self-righteous Jews who looked down upon Gentiles with contempt.
• But something happened in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas that sent more than a ripple across the world.
• This event was ripping people out of Judaism and into a new faith system.
• What refreshing news it must have been to Gentiles that this new, promising movement was not a revamp of the old Judaism.
• Jesus illustrates this by speaking about patching old garments.
• When I was a boy, my mom was a fastidious patcher.
• A wild boy, I wore out the knees of my blue jeans prematurely.
• Mom would buy these iron-on patches for our knees. I hated them.
• I felt like I was the only kid in my class that got new patches but not new pants.
• Those patches would start coming off and curl up. They looked worse than the holes.
• Patches I am familiar with. I can speak to this with confidence.
• The garments of the Bible days were made of wool.
• Wool would shrink quite a bit after it was washed. When you got a new garment, it was way large.
• But after a while it would shrink to fit and become more comfortable.
• It would become your favorite sloth cloth, like that old tee-shirt you love that everybody else in the family hates.
• When holes would be torn in the robes of those days, they would have to replace the garment or find another old garment to cut an old patch from.
• I am certain many attempted to patch the holes with new material and noticed that, as the garment was washed, the patch would shrink, but the rest of the garment was finished shrinking.
• It would stress the patching threads and break them, tearing the old garment as it pulled against it.
• It just didn’t work.
• This was Jesus way of saying He didn’t come to revamp an old religion, Judiasm.
• He was bring something new, fresh and clean.
• He makes the point again with something common in those days, but something that I am less familiar with.
• Or at least that is my story and I am sticking to it.
Mark 2:22 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.”
• Jesus was speaking of a common drink of those days, wine.
• The word means, fruit of the vine.
• The situation was, they didn’t have refrigerators or bottles for drinks in those days.
• Fruit juice would not keep long without fermentation.
• They would skin a goat, slightly tan the hide, sew it up into a bag and put new wine in it.
• At the beginning, the goat-skin bag was supple, pliable and would stretch.
• As the wine would ferment, it would produce gasses and the wine skin would expand to accommodate.
• Once the fermentation was completed, the wine skin would last a long while, but was no longer supple, pliable and stretchable.
• In other words, the wine skins were not reusable.
• Jesus used this analogy to again illustrate that he was not reusing an old religion.
• Jesus was bringing something new.
• Last week, we talked about a New, Brave Love.
• Today I want to talk directly about our position with God.
• Jesus brought us a….
I. A New Relationship (live it)
• Jesus illustrated this by describing a wedding feast.
• Since Jesus associated fasting with grief, he said His disciples were not in the time of grieving.
• He said they would have that time.
• To show why they should not have been grieving here, Jesus used the picture of the Jewish wedding feast.
• The Hebrew law said that during a wedding feast, attendees were exempt from all religious observances.
• This included fasts, Sabbath, atonement, the whole ball of wax.
• Remember, these disciples were in a different spiritual time period than we are.
• This was before the cross, before the grave, before the resurrection.
• We now stand after the cross, grave and resurrection.
• Through those events, Jesus purchased for us a new relationship with Him, one that heightens celebration.
• No one has a greater wedding celebration with a wedding than the bride.
• When the groom is the Lord of Lord and King of Kings, the bride has a constant celebration in everyday life.
• That is our relationship, as the Church of the Living God, with the creator of the universe.
• One writer said most Christians go about life like they just heard the reading of the will of their favorite rich aunt and she left all her possessions to her pet hamster.
• But God does not only call us Christ’s bride, but His children because of Christ Jesus.
• Eph 3:6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
• 1Jn 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
• The call today is to live more in your relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Bask in your childship to God the Father.
• He is your faithful protector, provider, and the one who enjoys delighting you.
II. A New Garment (grow into it).
• Jesus said, I am not going to just patch up your old religion that fits snuggly.
• I want to give you a new one, one you will grow into.
• It will be big for you, but I have plans for you to grow.
• Believe me, there is room for growth in your Christian life.
• That is what hardships and trials are for us to grow your faith.
• At first in your Christian life, it is hard to grasp the concept we won’t ever deserve good in life.
• You have heard it: people ask, “Why did this happen to me?”
• This is a sign of spiritual immaturity that all of life is supposed to be fun and easy.
• Immature Christians will even get mad at God or some Christian and drop out of Church entirely.
• As we grow, when trials come, we begin to ask, what can I do to change my world or change others in my world to make my way easier?
• This is an indication that some growth has taken place, but the perception that we deserve better, or can deserve better, is still alive.
• Then as we grow, when trials come, we ask, “What am I doing wrong?”
• This for the believer is a good time of self-reflection, but is still views trouble in our world as something that could or should be avoided.
• Next we ask when troubles come, How can I change myself?
• As we grow, we begin to ask, How can I get God to help me grow?
• If we continue to grow, we fit into our new garment as we ask, when trials come, How can I glorify God in this?”
• That is Christian growth, and it occurs through a process of having a growing relationship with God, loving others, and serving together for God’s glory.
• That points us to…
III. A New Drink (share it)
• Jesus uses the wine-skin illustration to show that He was introducing a new, refreshing life to those who drink of Him.
• This is not the only place Jesus used a refreshing drink to show a great promise from God.
• Joh 4:10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."
• Jesus also said we can be a refreshing drink to our world in this relationship.
• Joh 7:38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"
• There is something about a fountain that you must know.
• The bubbling water does not benefit the fountain.
• The water in a well does not benefit the well.
• It is only beneficial if it is shared with others, to give others to drink.
• How can you fit in to the description Jesus gives you in Christ, you know, the new garment?
• You can only keep what you give away.
• God is instructing us to share it.
• He said, “Go, tell, win and teach.
• “You shall be witness for me at home, next door, across the state and throughout the world.
• Your growth in the Christian life can actually be measured by how much you share Him with the world.
• Jesus said, Joh 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
• That is our plea today. If you are thirsty, come, drink.
• If you have enjoyed the water from the Living Well, it is now your responsibility to share it.
Many years ago in St. Louis, a lawyer visited a Christian to transact some business. Before the two parted, his client said to him, "I've often wanted to ask you a question, but I've been afraid to do so." "What do you want to know?" asked the lawyer. The man replied, "I've wondered why you're not a Christian." The man hung his head, "I know enough about the Bible to realize that it says no drunkard can enter the kingdom of God; and you know my weakness!" "You're avoiding my questions," continued the believer. "Well, truthfully, I can't recall anyone ever explaining how to become a Christian." Picking up a Bible, the client read some passages showing that all are under condemnation, but that Christ came to save the lost by dying on the cross for their sins. "By receiving Him as your Substitute and Redeemer," he said, "you can be forgiven. If you're willing to receive Jesus, let's pray together." The lawyer agreed, and when it was his turn he exclaimed, "O Jesus, I am a slave to drink. One of your servants has shown me how to be saved. O God, forgive my sins and help me overcome the power of this terrible habit in my life." Right there he was converted. That lawyer was C.I. Scofield, who later edited the reference Bible that bears his name.
