Introduction

 

After Deb and I had been dating for a few months … we were talking on the phone 1 night … and I asked whether she could see us getting married down the track.  And she said ‘yes … IF I think you’re the kind of guy God wants me to marry’.  When I got off the phone I started to think ‘what if I’m NOT the kind of guy God wanted Deb to marry?’  It didn’t take long to conclude that I probably WASN’T the kind of guy God wanted Deb to marry … at that stage.  And so what I did was … I prayed and asked God to help MAKE me the kind of guy he wanted Deb to marry.  So … hot tip for young people.  If you WANT to get married … become the kind of person … that the kind of person you want to marry … would like to be married to.  But that’s not the point of my story.

Within about 2 days of praying that prayer … and I’m not exaggerating here … it was literally within days … I developed a deep desire to learn more about the Bible.  And so what I did … was every Sunday after church … I would pepper my minister with theological questions.  Now I wouldn’t hit him up straight after the service.  I gave him time to talk to at least 2 or 3 other parishioners … before I’d make a bee-line for him.  What I would do is I would follow him around at the end of the night … as he locked up the church … just asking him question after question.  I’m pretty sure he got SO sick of me … that he took another ministry job … JUST to get away from me.  I was quite annoying.

Now the POINT of this story … is that one of MY greatest joys now … is parishioners ask ME theological questions.  I LOVE talking about the Bible.  One of the reasons I became a minister was so I could get PAID to talk about the Bible.  And one of the questions I get asked the most … is about fasting.  In fact I’ve been asked twice about fasting … just in the last month.  And I was able to say to them … ‘I’m actually preaching on fasting in just a few weeks’ time.  So make sure you’re there’.

And HERE we are.  Today … we’re looking at one of the most asked about topics in the Christian church.  And that is ‘what is the place of fasting in the Christian faith?’  For example … should I be giving up things for Lent? … which we’re in right now.  If so … what should I give up … and for how long?  And most importantly … WHY am I doing it?  Why am I giving up chocolate … or meat … or watching MAFS?

Now … there are TWO main reasons why there are so many questions about fasting.  The first is that Jesus only mentions fasting twice … today’s passage being one of them.  Outside of the gospels … fasting is only mentioned another 2 times in the NT … in passing.  So the Bible NEVER stresses fasting … nor does it give us clear guidelines on how to do it.

The SECOND reason there are so many questions about fasting … is because certain pockets of the Christian church … in particular the Roman Catholic church and the Eastern Orthodox church … DO stress fasting … and DO have strict guidelines on how to do it.  So what do we do … if the Bible DOESN’T give strict guidelines on fasting … but certain pockets of the church do?  Well that’s what we’re looking at today.  What does Jesus have to say about fasting?

And I’m going to break it down into … you guessed it … 3 points … as your sermon outline shows.  We’re going to begin with a question Jesus is asked about fasting … which I’ve titled (i) The ‘why’ of fasting’ … v. 18.  We’ll then look at Jesus’ answer TO that question … which comes in 2 parts.  So Jesus begins by highlighting how it would be CRAZY for his disciples to fast WHILE he’s with them.  And I’ve titled this point (ii) The ‘when’ of fasting … v. 19-20.  Jesus then concludes by saying there will come a time when my disciples will fast … and he shows us (iii) The ‘how’ of fasting in v. 21-22.  So … please come with me … as we look at the ‘why’, the ‘when’ and the ‘how’ of Christians fasting.

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The ‘why’ of fasting (v. 18)

 

And our passage begins with these words:

Mark 2:18 (NIV) 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?”

Now remember … Jesus is just WEEKS into his ministry here.  Yet he’s started to DO some things that have raised a few eyebrows.  So 2 weeks ago we saw Jesus just declare someone’s sins forgiven.  Then last week we saw Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners.  And this has prompted some people to wonder what kind of a religious leader Jesus is.

Now the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were marked out by 3 things.  If you wanted to be a Rabbi worth following in Jesus’ day … you needed to be doing 3 things.  And those 3 things were (i) prayer, (ii) giving … like tithing, and (iii) fasting.  So in the Sermon on the Mount … in Matthew chapter 6 … Jesus mentions these 3 pillars; prayer, giving and fasting.

Now we’ve already seen that Jesus is a man of prayer.  He got up early … to go out into the desert to pray … for hours.  We’ve seen that Jesus is a very generous person.  He’s clearly not rich.  But what he HAS … namely time, teaching and treating the sick … he shares with others.  But there’s one thing Jesus DOESN’T do.  He doesn’t fast on Mondays and Thursdays like the OTHER religious leaders do.  And so this question is quite simple; what kind of a religious leader … what kind of a Rabbi … ARE you Jesus?

Now before we hear Jesus’ answer … we need to understand WHY fasting was one of the 3 marks of being a respected religious leader in ancient Israel.  Because fasting is only commanded ONCE in the OT.  In Leviticus chapter 16 … God says that on the Day of Atonement … now the Day of Atonement was the high point of the Jewish calendar.  It’s kind of like our Christmas.  It was the most important day on the Jewish calendar … when the High Priest would make atonement for the sins of the people.  And Lev 16 says on the Day of Atonement … the people were to ‘deny themselves’.  Now the literal translation is to ‘afflict themselves’ … which is generally understood as going without food for the day.  So on the Day of Atonement … Yom Kippor in Hebrew … the Israelites were commanded to fast.  Apart from that though … there is no other command to fast in the OT.

However, there ARE references in the OT to people fasting on particular occasions.  So for example:

• People fasted as a sign of mourning.  King David fasted when mourning the death of Saul … 2 Kings 1.

• People fasting to accompany repentance.  The people of Israel fasted when mourning over their sin in Nehemiah 9.

• And people fasted when bringing their concerns before the Lord.  So queen Esther fasted when she learnt that Haman had plotted to kill all the Jews in Esther chapter 4.

But here’s the thing.  Fasting is not commanded for ANY of those situations.  Yet the OT is quite positive about these people ‘afflicting themselves’ during times of mourning, repentance and distress.  What the OT is NOT positive about … is people fasting as an outward religious sign … WITHOUT true mourning or repentance.  God says so in Isaish 58.  The OT said fasting is pleasing to God … so long as it’s accompanied by a true desire to live for God.

And this is the problem with the religious leaders of Jesus’ day.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 that they had turned fasting into little more than an opportunity to show OTHERS their religious commitment.  They would put sombre faces on … and walk around hunched over … holding their stomachs … as a way of saying ‘look at me … I’m one of the religious elite’.  So fasting is not the issue.  John the Baptist’s disciples fasted.  The issue … was WHY you fasted.

Yet the people of Jesus’ day EXPECTED their religious leaders to fast.  Because that’s what they did.  So the question Jesus is being asked here in v. 18 is … IF you’re setting yourself up as a religious leader … a Rabbi … then why aren’t you fasting?  What kind of a religious leader are you?

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The ‘when’ of fasting (v. 19-20)

 

Well … Jesus’ answer comes in v. 19:

Mark 2:19-20 (NIV) 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. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

Now … we modern readers MISS this … but Jesus has made an outrageous claim there.  You see in the OT … God regularly described the nation of Israel as his bride … and HIM as the bridegroom.  Let me give you 3 quick examples:

Isaiah 62:5 (NIV) … as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

Jeremiah 3:20 (NIV) But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,”

Hosea 2:16 (NIV) “In that day,” declares the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’.

The bridegroom … or husband … is one of God’s favourite descriptions of himself in the OT.  So when Jesus refers to HIMSELF as the bridegroom in Mark 2:19 … he is once again declaring he is God.  One of the charges I often hear critics make against Christianity is that Jesus never claimed to be God.  Well … he may never have used the specific words ‘I am God’.  But when Jesus says things like …

‘Your sins are forgiven’ … Mark 2:5

Or ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them’ … Mark 2:19

… he is making a clear claim to divinity.  And this claim to divinity is why it would be deeply inappropriate for Jesus’ followers to fast WHILE he is with them.  How can you mourn when you have God the Son standing in your midst?

One of the few movies that can bring a tear to my eye EVERY TIME is the 2nd Narnia movie … Prince Capsian.  And it’s the end scene when the Pevensie children have to say goodbye to Aslan … who, unless you’ve been living under a rock … you’ll know is Jesus in Narnia.  Now the song they play no doubt messes with my emotions as well.  But imagine hanging out with Jesus … then having to say goodbye.  It makes me cry every time.

And that’s what Jesus is getting at here.  I’m with you for just a short time … 3 years.  Don’t treat that time like a funeral.  Treat it like a wedding.

If you WANT to mourn … if you WANT to be distressed … if you WANT to fast … then wait till I’m gone.  Now there’s debate over whether Jesus is referring to (i) his death here … which is certainly a time of crying and pain … OR (ii) his ascension.  And WHILE I’m not willing to die on his hill … I think Jesus is referring here … to the time between his ascension and his return at the end of time.  Like there’s no mention of the disciples fasting between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  But the EARLY CHURCH fasts … in Acts 13 and 14.

But what Jesus is getting at here … is that having God the Son walking among you … eating with you … teaching you … and healing all your infirmities … is just too spectacularly exhilarating a time to be fasting.  Jesus walking the earth in the 1st century is about as close to heaven as you can get on this planet.  So just like there will be no fasting or mourning or yearning or aching in heaven … so too is Jesus’ ministry to be a time for joy.

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The ‘how’ of fasting (v. 21-22)

 

However … Jesus is no longer on earth.  And what we learn from this passage and Matthew 6 … is that Jesus EXPECTS his followers to fast when he’s taken away.

Matthew 6:16 (NIV) ‘WHEN you fast’

Mark 2:20 (NIV) But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they WILL fast

So the FIRST question we need to ask today is … ‘do we fast as Christians?’  And this passage is a huge rebuke for me.  Because I never have.  In fact … since I was about 20 … I’ve PURPOSEFULLY eaten red meat every Good Friday … as a reaction against the religious guidelines to only eat fish on Good Friday.  Now I’m not saying THAT’S wrong.  But this passage has convicted me that Christians SHOULD fast.

The problem is … the way certain pockets of the Christian church fast today … is just like the Pharisees.  OK … the Pharisees fasted to (a) show that they were good religious people, who were (b) earning God’s favour with their religious practices.  Now friends I pray you understand … if you and I could EARN our salvation … through things like (i) going on pilgrimages, (ii) buying indulgences, (iii) helping old ladies across the street, (iv) going to mass, or (v) giving up chocolate for lent … then I guarantee you … God would NEVER have sacrificed his Son on the cross.  If there was any other way by which we could be saved … God would NEVER have sent his Son to the cross.  And so we are RIGHT to reject that type of fasting.  Do not EVER fast … thinking we’re somehow putting God in our debt.  That’s not how he works.

So what should Christian fasting look like?  Matthew 6 tells us what it’s NOT to look like.  Don’t fast like the Pharisees fasted.  So what SHOULD it look like?  Well v. 21-22 give us some guidance.

Mark 2:21-22 (NIV) “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. 22 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.”

This is the very first parable in Mark’s gospel.  And the point Jesus is making is … I’m not like the other religious leaders.  So don’t try and fit me into their old system.  I’m here to bring in a NEW system.  And this system is SO radically new … that if you TRY to contain my teaching in the old system … the old wineskins … it will ruin them both.’

Now WHEN Jesus talks about old wineskins … old religious structures … he’s talking about more than just fasting.  The reason being that the question in v. 18 is about more than just fasting.  As I said in point 1 … what they’re REALLY asking is ‘what kind of religious leader are you Jesus?’  But the specific context of this passage IS about fasting.  And so IF we are going to fast … as Jesus expects his disciples to do … then Jesus is suggesting it needs to be different to OT fasting.

And the way it’s different … is it must REST on the finished work of Christ.  Let me say that again.  Christian fasting is to rest on the finished work of Christ.  This is why we must REJECT the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox notion of fasting that it somehow makes up for our sins.  That’s old wineskins.  The cross has taken care of our sin.

When the early Christians fasted … they did so to (i) draw near to God, and (ii) call upon God to help them do something significant.  And that something significant was appointing missionaries in Acts 13 … and appointing elders in Acts 14.  So if we’re going to fast as Christians … we are to do so to (i) focus our heart and mind to grow closer to God, or (ii) call upon God to bless our ministry.

So here’s our application for today.  For the last 2 weeks … I’ve been fasting on Mondays and Wednesdays … to give it a go.  I eat nothing the whole day … until dinner time.  And WHEN my tummy starts grumbling by mid-afternoon … I turn my thoughts for FOOD into a prayer.  And that prayer asks God to help me resist sin … and therefore grow in godliness … AND asks God to bring about a revival in our church.  And can I say … it has been awesome.  Now I haven’t seen a revival break out yet.  But I HAVE found myself dealing better with certain recurring sins in my life.

So my challenge from today’s passage is … will you join me in this?  OK … the month of May is our outreach month this year.  And that’s 4 weeks away.  So will you join me in fasting every Monday and Wednesday in April?  Now if Mondays or Wednesdays are no good for you … then pick a different day.  OK … we’ve got Lyn’s funeral on tomorrow … and one of her dying wishes was to shout everyone lunch at the club.  So tomorrow’s no good.  But tomorrow is still March anyway.  OR … if going without food might be dangerous to your health … then pick something else to fast from … that will feel like affliction.  OK … maybe that’s coffee … or watching the news … or doomscrolling.

But here's what I’m proposing.  Every Monday and Wednesday in April … skip breakfast and lunch.  You can keep your fluids up if you want.  But don’t eat anything until dinner time.  And WHEN your tummy starts grumbling … pray a prayer like this:

‘Lord God.  I’m going without food today … to help me focus on you.  Please help me put to death that sin I’ve been wrestling with … and can’t seem to shake … and make me more godly.  And please bless our month of outreach in May with much fruit for your kingdom.  Amen.

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Conclusion

 

Brothers and sisters … will you join me in that?  OK … put a note in your phone for every Monday and Wednesday in April … to remind you to skip breakfast and lunch that day.  And when you start to feel afflicted … pray for Christian growth … and for Christian revival across May.  And let’s see what happens when Earlwood Anglican fasts … perhaps for the first time.  For as Jesus said:

Mark 2:20 (NIV) But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they WILL fast