THE STORY OF JESUS: Mark 2:18-22
“How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?” (Mark 2:19)
There are many kinds of religious practices: fasting, almsgiving, pilgrimage, kneeling, tithing.
Jesus is challenged because He does not follow these practices like ‘good religious people’ do.
Jesus’s answer is both shocking, and intriguing.
Like the preparatory actions of bridesmaids at a Jewish wedding, they finish when the bridegroom arrives.
Their whole point, what they are working towards, is realized in Jesus.
All of these religious practices are designed to strengthen our relationship with God.
In the case of fasting, it aims to remove barriers or obstacles between God and us.
According to Jesus, now that He is here, we no longer need to remove those barriers.
Because He is the ultimate barrier remover, the ultimate relationship restorer.
When He died, the disciples would fast again (v.20), but only briefly.
Through He resurrection, Jesus ultimately defeats Satan and the curse of sin and death.
By grace, we are with God, and God is with us, and religious practices are no longer required.
All we need is Jesus, and He is with us, to the very end of the age.
Knowing, trusting and following Jesus is the best way to strengthen our relationship with God.
When a person knows Jesus this way, life can be like a feast, satisfying our deepest soul.
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, You are here. In You I have everything I need for life and godliness. Help me not to starve at Your table, but to take the time to savour the flavour of Your goodness and mercy.
Patches on Clothes, and wine in wineskins. I am trying to sort out in my mind what this all means. We are now in a throw away society. When I was young, we patched holes in our clothes, and sewed buttons on my clothes when needed. Today, I buy a new shirt or pair of pants when these situations arise. And my wine comes in bottles, or comes from my kids (But I want to go to McDonalds, Pleeeeease) I am not sure if this paragraph is a clarification of the fasting section above, or if it is an entirerly new section.
What I do get out of this is don’t spend time on things that are no longer relevant. If the clothes or wineskins have seen better days, start over with new. If you are going to keep the old clothes or wineskins, be smart about repair and usage. Repair with a preshrunk patch, and don’t put liquid into the wineskins that will explode them due to the fermenting process. All in all, none of this sounds very spiritual.