Sermon Tone Analysis

*Intro* – On August 14, 2010, a local pastor wrote in the Greeley Tribune, “My faith is such that while I am certain that in Christ I have been given the gift of life, I can’t know God’s mind when it comes to the way God will handle people who believe something different.

Is what I believe the truth?

I believe it is.

Is it the only truth?

That’s God’s call, not mine, but I’m guessing there are other truths out there in addition to the one that works for me.”

I am happy to say that this man is no longer a pastor.

The truth is we can and must know God’s mind regarding those who reject the gospel of Christ.

Listen, God doesn’t have multiples “truths”!

Life is not a multiple-choice exam where the right answer is “all the above”!

Make no mistake, the gospel is exclusive.

Peter says in Acts 4:12 that there is no other name under heaven among men by which we must be saved.

That name is Jesus.

But people hate exclusivity.

People hate exclusivity because since the time of Hegel, relativism has dominated philosophy.

It has cursed our culture with the pervasive idea that there is no absolute truth.

According to James Davidson Hunter in Evangelicalism: The Coming Generation, almost 60% of students at Christian colleges and seminaries question whether faith in Jesus is necessary for salvation.

We are losing our nerve under the fire of relentless pluralism – the idea that all religions are equally valid as roads to God.

To disagree these days is political suicide.

But, what would Jesus say?

Our text answers.

But to understand Jesus’ answer, we need a little background about OT law.

It consists of 2 parts.

There is the moral law – summarized in the Ten Commandments and consisting of God’s definition of right and wrong.

These are absolute truths (such as don’t steal and don’t murder) which are always valid and are, in fact, according to Rom 2:15 written into the heart of every person, not just on paper.

These are based on the character of God and as He doesn’t change, neither do they.

That’s moral law.

Then ceremonial law – the precisely defined and richly symbolic OT sacrifices that taught how great God is, how onerous sin is, and that sin must be paid for.

It all points forward to Jesus who fulfilled it all once for all time.

Symbols of ceremony have been replaced by reality of a person.

Moral law is always in force, but ceremonial law is gone because it was fulfilled, completed in Christ.

In Luke 5:33-39 some people, including disciples of John the Baptist per Matt, question why Jesus and His disciples don’t fast like John’s disciples and the Pharisees.

Jesus’ response has broad implications for any approach to God other than the gospel of Jesus.

We will see that there is a question, a specific answer and then a general answer that addresses the issue.

*I.

The Question*

V. 33, “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.”

It seems strange to find John’s disciples linked to the Pharisees, but remember that according to John 3 they were a bit jealous when the crowds shifted from John to Jesus.

It also appears they thought their spiritual disciplines superior prompting this question.

Are Jesus’s disciples violating OT law?

The OT law prescribed no fasts except on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:29, 31).

While people did fast at other times, only one time is mandated.

But the Pharisees had added to this law, their own tradition which was to them more important than Scripture.

They had turned God’s grace into a religion.

The Pharisee in Luke 18:12 boasted in his self-righteous prayer, “I fast twice a week.”

That was the Pharisees tradition – fasting on Monday and Thursday.

But they only did it for show.

Jesus saw right through them.

He comments in Matt 6:16, “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others.”

These guys were all outward.

They had no heart for God at all.

They just wanted to be thought holy by the people – and it worked.

They were admired.

But rest assured they ate hearty in the evening of those days which officially ended at 6:00!

They were hypocrites who even powdered their faces to look pale.

What phonies!

John’s disciples no doubt had far more integrity in their fasting, but both groups wondered why Jesus and his disciples didn’t fast.

They also asked about praying.

Of course, Jesus prayed far more than they.

But for them, it was all a matter of show.

They ostentatiously appeared in the temple to pray 2 or 3 times a day – morning, evening, and sometimes noon.

What they’re really saying is, “Hey, Jesus, you claim religious leadership, but your followers don’t even fast or pray.

What’s up with that?

How can you be lead and not obey the law?” It’s part question, and part accusation.

*II.

The Specific Answer*

Jesus doesn’t even address the issue of prayer which was too demeaning to deserve an answer.

He prayed far more than anyone – just not as a public spectacle.

He wasn’t interested in ritual; He was interested a relationship with the Father.

But He addresses the fasting question in 2 ways.

Using vivid illustrations, He first, answers the specific question; then He gives a general principle.

The specific answer is v. 34, “And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” Simple but profound.

In a Jewish marriage ceremony, the young couple did not go away for a honeymoon.

They stayed home and kept open house for a week.

They dressed in their best; sometimes even wore crowns and were for that week king and queen of their surroundings.

Life was hard in general and most knew they would never again have such a week.

Jesus’s point was that during that special time, fasting would be unthinkable, out of place.

Of course, the bridegroom is Jesus.

But think what that implies.

Why fast in the first place?

To get close to God, right?

To discern His will or ask His help.

The whole point of fasting is an appeal to God.

And in saying that fasting is unnecessary while He is here, Jesus is making a not so veiled claim to be God.

Most commentators miss this.

But His answer makes no sense taken any other way.

If He is merely a great prophet, like John, fasting would be in order.

And even if He were a Messiah who was not God, fasting would still be in order.

But if He is God, fasting is unnecessary.

That’s the only thing that could make fasting unnecessary, and that is what He claims.

God is here in the person of Messiah who is none other than Jesus of Nazareth – and with His presence, fasting is out – joy is in!

Messiah is prophesied often in the OT, tho never as a bridegroom.

But numerous passages speak of Israel as the bride of the Lord.

Hos 2:16, “I will betroth you to me in faithfulness.

And you shall know the LORD.”

Jesus didn’t pick the bridegroom analogy randomly.

And later it is picked up in the NT as the church is described as the bride of Christ.

Jesus whole point is, “Fellows, in me you are seeing not just a prophet, not even just Messiah.

In me you are seeing God in the flesh.

You are looking God straight in the face.

Imagine – eyeball to eyeball with God! Fasting would be ridiculous under these circumstances.