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?” 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. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 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. 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.”—Mark 2:18–22

Introduction 

I once heard about a person living in the basement of a couple while he was going to graduate school. This person was told in no uncertain terms to be very diligent in making his bed. One fateful day, this person woke up late for church and rushed off without making his bed. When he got back to the house, he was in trouble because the bed was not made and … this person had to move out. This was a family that believed strongly in the phrase “cleanliness is next to godliness,” which they thought was in the Bible.

There are many problems with that story, but the biggest is that the phrase is not found in the Bible. The phrase “cleanliness is next to godliness” comes from a John Wesley sermon in 1778: “Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness.”

Why do I tell you that story? Not because I want to cause any problems for parents trying to convince their kids to clean their rooms and make their beds. Yes, kids—listen to your parents. I believe in making your bed. Parents, I am not trying to make trouble for you.

I am talking about the danger of adding things to the Bible. More is at stake than getting kicked out of someone’s home. It could be that you will not go to God’s eternal heavenly home. One of my most painful moments was hearing a pastor/priest say at a funeral that the deceased person and God had reached some kind of agreement—that he had made peace with God in his own way. “Own way”? There is only one way—Jesus—the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6).

I looked up a survey and it turns out that the #1 thing people think is in the Bible that is not is the phrase “God helps those who help themselves.” There are many examples on Google of searches for “where in the Bible does it say God helps those who help themselves?”

One obvious problem with this phrase then is that it is not in the Bible! One of the earliest forms of this saying goes back to Aesop’s fable, Hercules and the Waggoner, where the moral of the story is “the gods help them that help themselves.” The modern variant, “God helps those who help themselves,” was popularized by Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard’s Almanac of 1757. 

But an even bigger problem is this: It is the opposite of what is in the Bible. The message of amazing grace is that God helps those who can’t help themselves. Romans 5:6 says, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Salvation is the giving of life those who are dead in their transgressions and sins. They are dead—they can’t help themselves at all.

These examples of adding to God’s word take us to the issue in our text today. We are in a controversy section. Jesus or his disciples will do (or not do) something surprising, they will be challenged, and then Jesus will answer in a way that silences the challenger.

The challenge comes in Mark 2:18 and Jesus’ response comes in verses 19–22. We will work our way through the text and then see the main point together at the end.

1. Challenge (v. 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?”

People came to Jesus because they could see the disciples of John and the Pharisees fasting, but they did not see Jesus’ disciples fasting. One immediate problem with this is that Jesus would teach that people should not fast in order to be seen by others; they should fast in secret so that only the Father knows (Matthew 6).

But another problem in this text is that these prescribed fasts were added to the Bible. The only prescribed fast in the Old Testament was fasting on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29, 31). Later fasts became traditional during the time of the prophets (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19). The Jews of Jesus’ day fasted to commemorate and mourn the great disasters of old like the breaking of the tables of the Law on the fourth month (Exodus 22:19), and the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians.

During the time of Jesus, the Pharisees fasted every Monday and Thursday: “I fast twice a week” (Luke 18:12). Fasting was supposed to be an expression of mourning and sorrow for sin. It had become part of religious performance, a badge that the religious wear if they are really serious about their religious practices. How did Jesus respond? He could have shown that these fasts were being added to the Bible and were not originally mandated for everyone, but he chooses to go to something much bigger.

2. Silencing Response (vv. 19–22)

Jesus gives three pictures: a wedding, patching a garment, and wine/wineskins.

1. The wedding (vv. 19–20)

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. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

Jesus essentially asks the questioner to imagine the context of a wedding, which is a time of joyous celebration and feasting. Imagine the groomsmen sitting down at the wedding meal at the head table and refusing to eat because of sorrow and mourning. It would cause a scene. Fasting is inappropriate at a wedding. The joy of a wedding is a fitting time for feasting.

But Jesus also says that a time is coming that will be appropriate for fasting because it will be a time of great sorrow. The bridegroom will be taken away—a loud hint about what is going to happen at the end of Mark’s Gospel. The day is probably a reference to Good Friday and the crucifixion. We already have a veiled reference to the cross and we are only in chapter 2. Let’s look at the other two pictures before stating the point.

2. Patching a garment (v. 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.

We are familiar with a piece of cloth that is liable to shrink when washed, and thus it tears away from the old garment and causes a greater tear. The new patch and the old garment will not go together. Don’t mix the old and the new or disaster will follow.

3. Wine and Wineskins (v. 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.”

Verse 22 uses an example with wineskins and wine. A wineskin was made of leather. A new leather wine skin would be soft and pliable at the start, but then would become stiff and brittle. The pressure of new wine fermenting and expanding would burst the old skin.

The point of these two parables about the old and the new is quite clear. The forms of the Pharisees and scribes represent the old traditions. They have been added to the Bible and thus will pass away like everything else that is perishable. Man-made rules and traditions will not last. The religious traditions of the Jews have become stiff and brittle. They are listening to Jesus and trying to somehow combine the old with the new. The result will be disastrous.

If you cannot relate to wine and wineskins, maybe a more modern day example would be making root beer. Most people make them in plastic bottles, because glass bottles can become a bottle bomb. Root beer gets carbed at a higher pressure than most glass bottles can handle. It just explodes the bottle. What a picture of the explosive grace that Jesus brings in his preaching of the gospel!

The new wine and the new cloth of Jesus teaching is so explosive that the old traditions will not be able to contain it. The new wine and the new patch represent the fresh teaching of Jesus—everything must be recalibrated now that the times of fulfillment have come. The old structures of religious tradition cannot contain the new wine. There is a powerful literary point here that will carry much of the narrative to come. If Jesus’ teaching does not conform (but bursts through) the current religious structures, then one will have to be rejected and the other accepted. Which one will people choose—the traditions of the Pharisees or the new teaching of Jesus?

The kingdom has drawn near. God has come in the flesh. A new dawning has arrived, and Jesus will not fit into a religious straightjacket. His followers must be prepared to follow him and break free from the shackles of man-made tradition. But there is something else happening here. Jesus is saying that the people have the question all wrong. There entire orientation is off. They are asking how Jesus relates to fasting when they should be asking how fasting relates to Jesus. How do we answer the question of the sermon title? When does fasting dishonor God? Fasting dishonors God when it is disconnected from Jesus.

Jesus defines fasting. While he is with his disciples, they cannot fast. When he is taken away, then they will fast. We will see the same point next week. The Sabbath does not define Jesus; Jesus defines the Sabbath.

There is something explosive about Jesus using the analogy of the bridegroom. The ancient teaching from the Old Testament was that God’s people were pictured as God’s bride. The book of Hosea pictured God’s rebellious people as unfaithful, always wandering away from God. But Isaiah announces a new work God will do in Isaiah 54:5–8.

For your Maker is your husband,
     the LORD of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
     the God of the whole earth he is called. 
For the LORD has called you
     like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off, 
     says your God. 
For a brief moment I deserted you,
     but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing anger for a moment
     I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
     says the LORD, your Redeemer.

Jesus uses an analogy that should call to mind the ancient hope that God would show up on the scene and draw back his disobedient bride with everlasting love and great compassion. Jesus has been preaching the kingdom of God. This time of fulfillment is now upon them. How can they mourn and look sad?! This is a time for feasting, not fasting (like Jesus feasting with forgiven tax collectors and sinners in 2:15–17).

Application: Christian Hedonism

The way to God is not through the prescribed practices of religion, but through a personal relationship with Jesus. Fasting, like everything else, is defined by Jesus. It is all about him. Religious performance does not lead to joy, but to pride and gloating as though it were personal triumph. Salvation by grace leads to joy in what Christ has done, not what we have done. 

The example of the bridegroom reminds us that the coming of Jesus means that Christians should be characterized by joy (not mourning, not sour and dour). This note of joy is precious to us as a church. We believe that joy is not just icing on the cake of Christianity, but it is an essential, non-negotiable ingredient of Christianity. Many people treat joy like an accessory you use to dress up Christianity. Joy is not an earing or a necklace you put on the person of Christianity, it is the person.

At Bethlehem, we have historically had a name for this teaching called Christian Hedonism. The catch-phrase has been something that many could quote because it was the tagline at the end of every sermon from John Piper. The recording at the end of the sermons said, “We want to help you make God your treasure, because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”

There are many, many new people here. I meet people all the time who don’t even know who John Piper is. It is time to strike this note again. I can still remember reading John Piper’s book, Desiring God, for the first time. For whatever reason, I thought that pursuing my own happiness was selfish and did not fit with Christianity, which was more about duty—finding what is right to do and then just power through it and do it. How liberating to have John Piper show me again and again and again that God commands our joy: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice (Philippians 3:1; 4:4). “Delight yourself in the Lord” (Psalm 37:4).

I will never forget the example he shared about ringing the doorbell of his home on his anniversary and giving his wife 25 roses. She says, “Oh they are beautiful, why did you do it?”

“Don’t mention it—it is my duty as your husband.”

Roses given out of duty don’t honor anyone, they actually belittle them—like a smokescreen hiding the fact that the person doesn’t cause enough spontaneous joy welling up to do it because it is what you most want to do.

If you replay the scenario and you bring the roses, and your wife says, “Why did you do it?” And you say, “I couldn’t help myself. There is nothing I would rather do than spend the rest of the day with you!” … No wife will ever say: “Nothing you would rather do? Nothing you would rather do? All you do is think about yourself.” No. The desire to be with her honors her.

What honors the Lord? What brings the Lord Jesus glory? It is when the church of Jesus Christ as the bride of Christ says, “There is nothing I would rather do than spend eternity with you.” We are more than the friend of the bridegroom. The New Testament clearly shows that we are the bride (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23; Revelation 19:7–9).

The message of the Bible again and again is that God is a treasure, not a counter of our religious deeds. He alone can satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart. The Bible shows that we are thirsty; he is water (Psalm 42:1; Psalm 63). We are orphans; He is Father. We are hungry; He is food (John 4). We are tired; He is our rest (Matthew 11:28). He is our greatest desire. “Whom have I in heaven but you? Earth has nothing that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25).

When does fasting dishonor God, and when does it not? There are two categories that are important to keep in view here: union with Christ and communion with Christ. Union with Christ happens only by faith. We are united to him and are saved only because of what he has done. No amount of fasting, praying, or obeying can make us acceptable to God or earn his favor. When we try, that is big-time dishonoring to God. We bring only a mountain of moral debts into the marriage with Christ and he brings the riches of his perfect righteousness. He gets our debts and pays them with his death on the cross. We get his perfect righteousness so that we are acceptable in God’s sight.

If union with Christ is the marriage, then communion with Christ is the rest of the relationship. It has its ups and downs because our love for him goes up and down. Our experience of his love fluctuates. When we feel far away from him, it is not because he has stepped away from us, but we have wandered from him. Fasting becomes a mighty weapon in the fight for communion with Christ. We will fast from anything that gets in the way of our relationship with him—anything that distracts us or causes us to grow cold so that he is not our bright, burning first love.

Conclusion
Jesus, the bridegroom, was taken away. They led him to the cross. He suffered, bled, and died. He was taken to a tomb. But in dying, he has taken away death. He swallowed up death forever. Do you really think that you can fast enough times to defeat death? Fasting is not a way to defeat death—it is a way to better know the One who defeated death. We fast in these days because we are longing for the return of our bridegroom. Through his death and resurrection and second coming, he will take away fasting and tears forever. And replace it with eternal feasting.

O LORD, you are my God;
     I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
     plans formed of old, faithful and sure. ...
For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
     a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
     a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
     like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
     as heat by the shade of a cloud,
    so the song of the ruthless is put down. 

On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
     a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
     of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
And he will swallow up on this mountain
     the covering that is cast over all peoples,
     the veil that is spread over all nations.
     He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,
     and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
     for the LORD has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
     “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
     This is the LORD; we have waited for him;
     let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”—Isaiah 25:1, 4–9

Sermon Discussion Questions

Outline

1. The Challenge (v. 18)
2. The Response (vv. 19–22)

Main Point: Fasting dishonors God when it is disconnected from the coming of Christ.

Discussion Questions

• Why was it inappropriate for the disciples of Jesus to fast? Use Jesus’ example of the wedding in your answer.
• Why did Jesus give the examples of patching a garment and putting wine in a wineskin? What did those pictures represent in terms of the religious tradition of the Jews and the coming of Christ?
• Why was it an explosive metaphor for Jesus to speak of himself as the bridegroom? When would the bridegroom be taken away?

Application Questions 

• Are there traditions or practices that we add to the Bible that are disconnected from Christ? What are some examples you have heard about—or even practiced?
• In your everyday life, what difference does it make to see Jesus as the bridegroom and you as the bride?
• What is “Christian hedonism”? Does it describe the way that you picture your relationship with Christ?
• In this message, what truths landed upon you that you need to share with others in your life? How can you share these truths? Devote it to prayer!

Prayer Focus

Pray for a grace to rejoice in the Lord as you wait with steadfast hope for the wedding feast to come and the removal of all the reasons for fasting.