A New Way of Living
Notes
Transcript
Subtitle: Fasting, mending, and filling
Three things to avoid:
Fasting for the wrong reasons
Mending with the wrong material
Filling the wrong vessel
Last week we looked at the calling of Levi. Jesus loves saving sinners, and often the very worst sinners are the ones Jesus is delighted to save. We saw that after Jesus called him, Levi (Matthew) has a big party, and Jesus was there.
Let’s read the passage again:
After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”
And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.
And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.”
And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”
He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.
But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’ ”
Last week we went to verse 32, and we saw a complaint against Jesus, that he was eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. This was guilt by association. The Pharisees thought that by separating themselves from sinners, they would have some merit before God. They felt that if they avoided undesirable people, then God would notice and appreciate their physical separation from these types of people.
And Jesus pointed out that his mission was to call sinners to repentance, not righteous people, or perhaps we should say those who think they are righteous. After all, if they consider themselves righteous, they will never see their need for a redeemer, a savior, a sin-bearer, a substitute.
If you missed last week’s sermon, you can find it on the podcast or on the website. This morning, we see further complaints. You would think they would maybe quit while they were ahead, after Jesus easily answered their previous objection, but here they are with an additional one.
Three things to avoid:
Fasting for the wrong reasons
Mending with the wrong material
Filling the wrong vessel
And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.”
Let’s start with the disciples of John. Jesus never says that John’s disciples should not have been fasting. Let us be clear on that right away. Jesus in no way condemns fasting in general, or prohibits the practice of fasting.
However, it is important to understand when and why fasting was appropriate. In the Old Testament covenant, Fasting was only required once a year, on the Day of Atonement. This type of fasting was a sort of fasting of sorrow over sin, a fasting of repentance, an appeal to god to accept the sacrifice of Atonement. Other than the day of Atonement, no regular fasts were required.
People could fast, though, beyond the fasting on the Day of Atonement. They may fast in a time of repentance for their own personal sin. They may fast because it helps them to focus on the things of God, and they feel it draws them closer. Sometimes people fast when there is a death in the family, or some other tragedy.
Sadly, I have heard Christians say they are fasting, and they are hoping to lose weight as a result, and the focus seems less on some devotion or dedication to the Lord and more as a secondary reason to try to lose some weight. Now, if you are fasting as part of a weight-loss plan, I don’t see anything wrong with that necessarily. But don’t go around telling people you are fasting and praying if the real reason is weight loss. Don’t confuse what you are doing for yourself with worship.
Remember who John the Baptist was, and how he lived. He was what is called an ascetic. His living conditions were very frugal. You may think of his diet of locusts and honey and think perhaps you would rather fast than eat bugs, but John did live in the wilderness, wearing rough clothing, and eating meager food. This is what ascetics do. So it is no big surprise that his disciples also fasted.
Also, let us remember what John’s ministry of Baptism was all about. It was a baptism of repentance. And a sign of true repentance in some cases is fasting.
Again: the Old testament only demanded one fast per year, on the Day of Atonement, and people had the freedom to fast on their own if they wanted to do. There is law and there is freedom. Fasting is required on the Day of Atonement, and freedom is given to fast at other times, as a person saw fit and that was keeping in step with their own practice of faith and righteousness.
Fasting was not meritorious, not in the Old Testament nor in the Apostolic Age. The idea that if you fasted, you would somehow receive more forgiveness, or more love, or more mercy, is unfounded. You cannot find anywhere in scripture where the bible teaches that fasting grants any merit whatsoever to a person.
But the Pharisees had made fasting twice a week part of their religious exercise. As they did with many other aspects of the law, they added to it, and for many this was too great a burden to bear. Fasting twice a week, and added to this, they had specific prayer times that were to be observed. All of these things were extrabiblical. Extra biblical means something that comes from outside the Bible.
If I were to tell you that in order to be a good believer, you had to shake the hands of 15 people before you left the building this morning, that would be extra-biblical. Extra-biblical is also legalistic.
People throw around the word legalistic sometimes in the church as a pejorative, or an insult. Let me attempt to make clear to you what legalistic means. You may be using the word in the wrong way, as many people have been taught.
Let’s say that you have someone who is very concerned about living the right way according to scripture, and who also concerns themselves with how their fellow believers are living. So this person is always looking at the Bible and trying to see where they are missing the mark. Perhaps in that process they speak to other believers about things they have observed that they believe are wrong because scripture teaches this.
An example of this may be that this very concerned person sees a husband who is being disrespectful to his wife. In public, this husband makes rude comments and puts his wife down. So our concerned person pull aside the husband and shows him scripture, and asks him to treat his wife right. Is this legalistic? No.
People do not generally like being corrected, so this husband may very well scoff and say that the person addressing him is being legalistic. However, if he was speaking truthfully, and was humble enough to hear and receive correction, he would have to acknowledge that this person has rightly shown by scripture that he was in the wrong.
It is not legalistic to try to be biblical. However, it is legalistic to expect others to follow rules for righteousness or rules of the church that are not from the bible. There are many examples of this. I got chewed out once in the small town I was in because we had a visiting missionary and I hadn’t called the tiny local newspaper to tell them we were having a guest speaker.
In the mind of the complainer, I had broken a cardinal rule. An unwritten cardinal rule. That rule was that in that church, if you had a guest speaker, you called the local newspaper to tell them. That is legalism. Now, if you could point to a chapter and verse of scripture that told me I was supposed to do that, or even if the words were not in scripture, but there was some clear teaching to let me know this, that would be one thing. But this was simply a matter of opinion of how things should be done in that case. Pure legalism.
So we must always be asking ourselves, if we feel very strongly about how something ought to be done, even if it is a tradition, why do we feel so strongly about it? Is it because that is the was we always did it and I have grown comfortable with it, or is it because this is the way the Bible teaches us it should be done.
Some people bristle when a church leader says you really should attend church regularly, is this legalistic? No, because scripture teaches Christians to meet together regularly as a church family.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
As much as I am happy to have the technology to stream our service, and we understand this is helpful for people who are shut in for different reasons, it is a concern of me and many pastors that the live stream has replaced worshiping together for many people who are not shut-ins. We want to worship with you in person as much as possible. Is it legalistic for me to say this? No, it is biblical.
But if I were to say, you must wear tie and shiny black shoes to come in, well, you certainly won’t find a scripture telling you this, so we would know that is legalism.
I know I took a long time to discuss this, but it is important for us to understand what real legalism is and what being biblical is. being biblical is not legalism.
So the Pharisees had created many rules that went way above and beyond what God himself required. And when others did not obey these rules, it made them angry. So they asked the disciples of Jesus why they did not honor this practice.
It is interesting to note that the Pharisees hated John and his followers, but in this case, they were not too proud to use them to draw a contrast between the followers of John and the followers of Jesus.
So Jesus answers by showing categories. The two categories are John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees in one category and Jesus’ disciples in the other. Luk5.34-35
And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”
Weddings then, as today, were big events. They were often a week long celebration. Instead of a couple going off on a honeymoon to some exotic destination, the couple would stay home, and be served by their friends, treated nearly like royalty, for their first week together. The special friends of theirs had the honor of serving them during the week of celebration. Kent Hughes writes:
Luke, Vol. 1—That You May Know the Truth The Presence
Jesus answered those who criticized the eating, drinking, and joyous demeanor of his disciples by asking, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?” (v. 34). The explanation was divinely bold and packed with meaning for his Jewish listeners. A newly married Jewish couple did not honeymoon but stayed home for a week-long open house during which there was continual feasting and celebrating. The bride and groom were treated like king and queen that week (sometimes they even wore crowns). They were attended by chosen friends known as “guests of the bridegroom,” which means literally, “sons of the bridal chamber.” These wedding guests were exempted from all fasting through a rabbinical ruling that said, “All in attendance on the bridegroom are relieved of all religious observances which would lessen their joy.”4
Jesus asserted that his presence justified a feast, and that his followers had the joyous privilege of a perpetual wedding party. In such exalted circumstances it is wrong, if not downright impossible, to mourn. Jesus’ disciples experienced temporary unhappiness when they saw their own sin or failed him. But being in the presence of Jesus brought them relentless joy.
Jesus always brought joy to whatever place he went to, at least for those who received him. But Jesus notes that the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away, and then they will fast. So Jesus is the bridegroom in his illustration. His followers are the wedding guests. He cannot expect his followers to be fasting, which represents sorrow over sin, or repentance, or an appeal to God for mercy, but rather He knows that for them, this is the time of joy.
However, he clearly alludes to a time when he is going to be leaving. Certainly while He was on the cross, and in the tomb, these were times of sorrow. These were times appropriate for fasting. But while he was present both physically and spiritually, it was not the time to fast.
What does this mean about fasting for believers here and now? Well, let us summarize what the Bible teaches us about fasting in the Apostolic age and in the church today. First, there is no scripture that says a Christian must fast. Second, nothing in scripture tells us that fasting helps us to secure our salvation, or that fasting is a sign of Christian maturity, or some badge of honor, or that you become part of an elite club when you fast.
If another believer demands that you fast, this is not warranted by scripture. However, Jesus does mention fasting in the sermon on the mount:
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
So if you do fast, don’t brag about it, don’t make a big deal about it, don’t even let others know you are fasting. Don’t do it perhaps when you know you are expected to have some meal with colleagues or friends, so that you can sit down in the restaurant or at the dinner table only so that you can say, “only water for me, thank you”
Don’t fast as though it is a competition, or a survival contest. Don’t try to fast as Jesus did in the desert with no food or water for 40 days. You aren’t Jesus.
So scripture contains warnings about fasting. You should have the right attitude and the right actions to go along with fasting if you are to do it.
Even though fasting is not required of believers, there may be a time for you to fast. Perhaps you really messed up, and in your sorrow over the sin you decide to fast so that you can get refocused on your relationship with God. In this case, perhaps you increase your intensity of bible study and prayer while you choose not to eat. This may be an appropriate time of fasting. 1John1.9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Confess your sins first, and then if you feel it will be helpful to you to refocus your life and actions, fasting can be done, but the fasting will not bring forgiveness, only pure confession will. You must always remember that the fasting is not so that you earn merit or points towards God’s mercy and grace. Those are freely given.
In church history, there have been times when the church fasted and prayed. Sometimes when great persecution was going on, they would do this. While brothers and sisters in the Lord were being brought into the Colosseum, or into other horrific forms of torture, the church would fast and pray intensely for them.
Fasting is neither required nor prohibited by scripture for the believer. It is a matter of freedom.
After making his point about why his disciples are not fasting during that time, Jesus now uses a few illustrations. Patching a new garment, putting wine into wineskins, and preference for the old over the new.
He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
This may be less obvious to us today. Many people have never even patched a garment, and some who have, because our materials are much better in consistency and quality, may not have had this happen.
But if you have used certain materials, such as cotton or wool, you know that if the cloth is new and has never been washed or processed before, that the material shrinks. In those days, if you had an older garment that you had worn for some time, it would have shrunk. But if you took a brand new piece of cloth to mend a tear, then as soon as you washed those clothes, the new cloth would shrink, while the old cloth would retain it’s already shrunken state, and the result of this would be a ripping effect that would make the mended spot look worse than before.
Not only that, but the new piece of cloth would never match the original material. They did not have the consistency of dyes and colors that our clothes have. So the patched spot would be very obvious, even drawing attention to it.
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.
But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
In those days, animal skins were used to hold wine. Wine ferments, so when it was new it was put into fresh skins which still had some elasticity, but eventually, animal skins get brittle and cannot stretch. So putting unfermented wine into an old wineskin would end in disaster as the wine and the wineskin would be destroyed.
These illustrations, the patching of garments and the filling of wine skins, are not specifically explained to us in scripture, so we are left to work out on our own exactly how to apply them.
Some have said the old cloth and the old wineskins represents the fact the the disciples of Jesus are weak, because of the system of the law they have structured their lives around, and so to receive the new covenant in Jesus, they have to be made new as well. So the Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers to make them new cloths that can be patched, or new wineskins that can accept the new wine.
Some have said the old refers more specifically to the Pharisaical laws. The freedom Christ offers cannot be maintained within their strict legalism. We may see sometimes in the modern church something similar. The church develops over time certain traditions, that those inside have grown quite comfortable with. But someone may be saved that did not grow up in that system, and now they know Christ, and the church hits them over the head with manmade traditions. The old wineskin then may be a church that has seen no innovation or change in decades being disrupted by new believers, who in their excitement over their new faith, disrupt the church with new ways to do things, new ideas for ministries, and sometimes rejection of the old ways of thinking.
Now, this is a problem is new believers insist on something that is not biblical. But usually, the clash is not over what is biblical, but what is traditional.
There are several ways you may interpret these illustrations Jesus is giving, but let us remember the context. Jesus is addressing the complaint about fasting. Jesus is not about to let the joy of His presence be interfered with by demanding his disciples fast. Fasting, especially the way the Pharisees did it, was the old wineskin, and the joy of Christ was bursting that old wineskin apart.
No, to receive the ministry of Christ and try to fit it into that old wineskin was just not going to work. So the hearts of those who would receive Christ must be re-made so that they can contain the blessings of His life.
I am thankful that for believers, God has given His Holy Spirit to regenerate us to make us fit for to contain what He provides to us. He does not leave us as old wineskins.
And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’ ”
Refusing to consier the new because we love the old so much. Illustration: You have a favorite meal at your favorite restaurant.
You cannot imagine how you will ever enjoy anything else, so you refuse to try anything new.....
Three things to avoid:
Fasting for the wrong reasons
Mending with the wrong material
Filling the wrong vessel