Consider fasting in the life of a believer. So you look to the reading of God’s word. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? We continue looking at discipleship in the gospel of Mark, and today we consider fasting in the life of a believer. So you look to the reading of God’s word, if you please join me in prayer. Blesser to you, Holy God, is in Jesus Christ, your son, that your light shines in the darkness, in the darkness has not overcome it. Bless are you, our God of light. We ask them that you would shine in our lives with the light of Christ, that we might give you praise through him who lives and reigns with you in the Holy spirit now and forever. Amen. Amen. Beginning in verse 18. Now, John’s disciples and the pharisees were fasting, and people came and said to him, Why did 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.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may have noticed that we have added a new adjective to fasting, intermittent. The purpose of intermittent fasting is weight loss. The purpose of weight loss is to look and feel better. Intermittent fasting falls under the larger category of health and beauty, and nothing religious about it,. Americans spend close to $17 billion a year on cosmetic procedures, close to $100 billion on beauty and personal care products. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve crossed into the areas of idolatry with our views of health and beauty. We’ll even take a picture of an attractive man or a woman and Photoshop them to remove any imperfection that they might have. Give Giving us an image that no one can actually live up to. That’s idolatry. But what do we do about good old fashioned religious fasting? Where does that fit into our conversation of discipleship? Which we’ve said repeatedly, discipleship is one who has heard the call of Jesus, responded by repenting, by believing the gospel and following after Jesus. Well, where is there in this room for fasting then as followers of Christ? Now, the answer is not as straightforward as you might think.
Of course, we hear that we have a natural aversion to these kinds of answers. We like simple answers with simple results. I did check there is a book Fast diets for dummies. Nothing to do with religion again. The problem is that when it comes to the human heart, there are rarely simple answers. Fasting or giving something up to earn a reward from the Lord, let that sink in, earn a reward is not good. Fasting or giving up something as a dedication or a focusing on the Lord, now that is something entirely different altogether. Because the Lord has given us bodily appetites, enjoying these appetites to his glory, surrendering these appetites to his glory, are a part of our life of faith. As followers, as disciples of Jesus, we look then to him to see what practices our faith should look like. In this area of food and fasting, we’re going to go back all the way to the beginning, back to God’s original design for us as we consider special times of fasting to help us focus on these very designs, understanding that we were made for food, but we were made for much more.
In Genesis 1, God said, I will give, speaking to the man, every plant, every tree with seed in its fruit, you shall have them for food. We were made to be hungry beings. Unlike God or the angels, we We need to eat, we need to sleep. We are animals in this way. We have bodily appetites. But we are also like the angels in that we are spiritual beings. We’re both. Adam’s first job was that of a gardener. Genesis 2, the Lord God took the man and he put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it. There we see, again, the Lord God commanded him, saying, ‘You shall eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die. We were made for food, but we were made for more. One writer puts it like this. He said, Man is a hungry being, but he’s hungry for God. We all the hunger of our life is God. All desire is finally a desire for him. The whole creation depends on food, but the unique position of man in the universe is that he alone is to bless God for the food, the life he receives from him.
He alone responds to God’s blessing with his blessing. Well, what happened to this after the fall? Having listened to the lie of the serpent, we read in Genesis 3, So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that was a delight to the eye, that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then both of their eyes were open, then they knew that they were naked. Then it goes on to say that they hid from God. Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, the only food in the garden that was off limits to God’s people. The issue was not what fruit it was. The issue was a love for God expressed in obedience. Our writer continues, and he says, For the first time, Adam and Eve ate food that was not blessed by God. They ate food apart from communion with God. They ate food for food’s sake, for their sake, apart from God’s blessing for the very first time. We broke our dependence on God, and now our horizon is just here.
No longer do we enjoy the world for God’s sake. Because we are made in the image and likeness of God, there’s a universal understanding that food is more than just a utilitarian experience. Think about it. Our animals don’t put on feasts. They don’t call the neighborhood dogs together and share kibbles and bits and enjoy a time around the food bowl together. No animal does that. But we love to celebrate. We love to share with others over a meal. Food’s communal because God made us communal beings. Just think all the feasts and the celebration that the Lord instituted for his people. The celebrations of God’s people revolve around the worship and the joy of the Lord. But food has become an end in itself to fallen humanity. And like all of God’s good gifts, we make them into idles. We even speak of comfort of food, not a thing bad in itself. But when food becomes a source of self-medicating, it easily crosses into something more sinister. Dealing with negative emotions through food is not good. We also see the terrible effects of eating disorders. Body image can easily be idolatry. For some, the pursuit of fine dining and gourmet eating is an end in itself.
An Epicurian lifestyle of pursuing appetites and pleasures. The hoarding of food or a production of food can be a means of self-protection against disaster. Again, not necessarily bad in itself. But hoarding never takes us to a good place in our heart. A selfish self-preservation of me and mine is far from the gospel. Food, glorious food, scrumptuous and delicious. So many things are tied to our eating. We need to know that in order to understand fasting, which is the voluntary giving up of eating for a purpose, fasting for a focus. We’re back now in the gospel of Mark. From the very start of Jesus’ ministry, there have been an ever-increasing conflict with the religious leaders. As we saw last week, Jesus ate and celebrated with sinners. He communed with them over a meal, the people that decent folk would not have done so with. Jesus was his own authority, and he’s interfering with the religious-minded people. As Jesus said, you cannot put new wine into old wine skin. All that Israel and her leaders have been doing so far is old, but Jesus is new. One area of this ongoing and increasing conflict is around fasting.
Verse 18, John’s disciples and the pharisees were fasting, and the people came and said to them, They’re fasting. Why aren’t your disciples fasting? It was a legitimate question because fasting was a part of the life of the devout Jew. I mentioned last time, the pharisees as a group made up about 1% of the population, but they were considered by the common people, the authorized interpreters of the Torah, the law of Moses. They have been actively present in the religious life of Israel for some 200 years. In the Torah, the only fasting day prescribed was the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16. But we do know of other days of fasting that were later observed by Jewish people. In fact, the prophet Isaiah goes so far as to tell the people what a true fast really was. In Isaiah 58, the people are complaining, Why have we fasted and you do not see it? Why have we humbled ourselves and you take no knowledge of it? And the Lord’s reply, Behold, in the day of your fast, you seek your own pleasure and oppressed all your workers. Is such the fast that I choose, the day of a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down the head like a reed and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, an acceptable day to the Lord? It’s not the fast that I chose to lose the of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless into your house when you see the naked to cover him? Not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall bring up speedily. Your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord your God as your rear guard. Then you shall call in the Lord will answer, you shall cry out, ‘ and he will say, ‘Here am I. ‘ They twisted this as a means of trying to get God to pay out like a slot machine. Just get in the right combination, and here to go. God’s saying, No, that’s not what my fast is. Well, the pharisees made a regular habit of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays from dawn to dusk.
Prayer, giving of alms, their fasting were the three main pillars of their Judaism. From a Gentile perspective, the keeping of the Sabbath and their fasting were the things that they noted about Jewish people. The question then comes, how did the people know they were fasting? Because they made a big deal out of it. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus expressly says in Matthew 6, Beware practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Then he goes on specifically about fasting. 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 you, when you fast, anoint your head with oil, 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. Why did they fast? For some was to show off their piety. Look at me, I’m a devout and religious person. They let everybody know they’re fasting.
Oh, my, that looks great, but I’m fasting. You know, fasting makes you hungry. Not for me today. Everybody knew they were fasting. They would actually show it on their face and their clothes and standing out and so the people could know. Jesus is saying they have already received their reward. Now, not everyone fasted for those reasons. Some fasted as a sign of lamenting, of mourning. The day of atonement, a 24-hour period of fasting for sins, repentance, humbling yourself before the Lord with its intent. There was also present an idea for many that it not only expressed your righteousness, but it’s also a way to earn God’s blessing, his favor. I’m fasting in order that God will see that he will do something for me. For good and bad reasons, fasting was seen as a regular part of the life of a devout Jew. But Jesus turns all this on his head. Rather than a service to God, Jesus is saying it’s a sign of a conversion to God. It’s not something I serve for God in this way, it’s because I had been converted to God. One writer, he says, Fasting before God, the Father of those who turn to him, is joy.
For those who turn to God, fasting is joy. How is that possible? We look a little further into how Jesus responded to their question. He answers them, Can the wedding guests at the feast fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. It’s self-evident. Weddings were a big deal. They celebrated for days, and No, you didn’t fast. It was in read to do so. Jesus coming disrupts their normal practice. He’s saying it’s a celebration. Now, generally speaking, the idea of the Messiah as the bridegroom is not something we see in the Old Testament scriptures, but what we do see as God as the bridegroom and Israel as the bride. Mark’s gospel emphasizes Jesus as the Son of God. While it’s not explicit here as it is in other places, Jesus is assuming a prerogative that is God’s alone. Like when he forgave sins. Who are you to forgive sins? Only God could do that. And he punctuated by healing a man. This simple parable may not have been initially understood in this way, but Jesus is making a claim about himself that’s extraordinary. He’s disrupting everything.
He’s saying, When I’m present, all your normal practices have to go to the back because I am here. That’s why he goes on to say, You can’t put a new patch on an old wine skin. You can’t put new wine into an old wine skin. New wine must go into a new wine skin, otherwise it bursts. Jesus is saying, I’m not just another man out here leading a reform movement within current Judaism. He’s not some new rabbi with a dedicated bunch of followers like the pharisees or even John the Baptist. He’s the new wine skin. The reason they can even ask this question shows they don’t really understand who he is. One writer said, Jesus is the new wine. He’s not an attachment, addition, or an appendage to the status quo. He cannot be integrated into or contained by pre-existing structures, even Judaism. See, Jesus didn’t come to bring better and updated rules. Like, Oh, you think the pharisees did a good job? Well, wait until you see 2. 0. I’m going to one up them. That’s not what he came to do. He’s not an appendage. Jesus didn’t come to be a better reform movement.
People didn’t need a reform movement. Religious people looked down on sinners. Jesus looked for sinners. Religious people avoided being around them, certainly not inviting them into their home. Jesus went to their homes and celebrated with them. He ate with them. Religious people tried earn God’s favor and show outwardly their devotion. Jesus came as the living expression of grace that cannot be earned and called on followers to practice their devotions so not to be seen and draw attention to it. Why? Because their father sees the heart. And he went on. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. Now, it’s like he’s speaking about good Friday. That day of morning, expressed in terms of fasting, is coming. He will be taken away from them in the short term, but certainly in the long term, brought back. Now, some have even wondered if fasting is just a holdover of Judaism. It’s mentioned in Acts done by the Apostle, but Paul and the author of Hebrews, they don’t even speak about it as a practice. The thought is that we are living now in the age of the bridegerm, and so there’s no need of fasting.
After the first century, Christians did start regularly fasting as a part of their expression of faith. Sadly, though, many of them often it was done for no better reasons than the Pharisees. But Jesus was not against fasting per se. His instruction on the servant of mount, that tells us as much. Here in Mark 2, he’s making a much greater point about his identity than about devotional practices. I’ll put this in your both end, but Dutch theologian, Klaus Schilder, he makes this comment, Food does not explain the soul, but the soul explains the food. Tell me the bread your soul feeds on, and I will tell you the food your body uses. Why fast? Because it tells you what food you eat. You hear very clearly the words of Jesus quoting from Deuteronomy, Man shall not eat by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. You hear Jesus saying, I am the manna from heaven that you must eat of my flesh. See, denying the appetite can be a means of focusing our attention on the heavenly manna of Christ Jesus. Paul, even speaking to married couples in 1 Corinthians 7, he said there, Do not deprive one another, meaning of your sexual relationship.
Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourself to prayer. Not speaking of fasting of food, but of a denial of the bodily appetites and sexual relationship for a time of prayer. Fastening of prayer have always been a part of the life of God’s people. You see, we have a tendency to want to scratch every itch. Fasting is a way of reminding us that we are to subjugate our desires for the purposes of God. A long-standing remedy for dealing particularly with lust, is fasting. To die our body in one area helps to strengthen our ability to die in another that we’re struggling with. Appetites, desires of body, they’re all connected. Some quick of tips for if you’re new to fasting, it doesn’t have to be just food. In fact, I would tell you, fasting from social media, from smartphones, from screenwatching, dedicating yourself during that time to prayer and scripture would be an enormous benefit for your soul. There are a lot of people who deal with so much anxiety for simply consuming and eating nonstop news. Cut yourself off. You will have less anxiety. Cut yourself off.
Take that time, devote that towards the Lord, towards prayer. Praise and thanksgiving for the God who has provided for you so abundantly, whose hand the worlds rest securely. That’s something that would be good for the soul. If you’re new to food fasting, drink water. That helps. Fasting may even give you a headache, especially if you forego caffeine. Start small. Give it a meal or two. Dawn till dust. The big things are that it is a denial of the flesh done in secret. A humble and repentant heart, yes, by all means. A joyful and dedicated heart, yes, by all means. We are indeed hungry beings. Denial of our appetite to remind us that we are also spiritual beings whose bodies were made to bring glory to God. We can use that time as a way of focusing on what is essential, as a way of, again, subduing our own flesh, that it does not control us, but that we are to live towards the Lord. We do so again. It’s a joyful expression of our conversion in Christ, that we would feed upon that heavenly manna, that we would know the type of food that our soul feeds on.
It’s given as a great means for us, as an expression of our life in Christ, that we, as God’s people, know and can come together and celebrate communially with one another to his goodness and his glory. And we, as God, people can deny bodily appetites, deny the things that we normally do on a normal basis for times and seasons that we can come together for prayer, for focus. To heighten our delight in him, to release the hole that the world so easily has on us in the areas of our life that we would long to relinquish to the cross. And Here then, given this opportunity from time to time, even as we enter into a lentend season where the church typically has taken a season of foregoing something, and often people think of and give up, not necessarily particularly of food, but maybe a practice or spending some time, and again, in a directed focus where I am going to give up my screen time. I’m going to give up something and I’m going to use that for continuing and furthering my joy in Jesus. The joy that we have in subduing maybe parts of our flesh that we’re struggling with.
That is the Lord’s desire that we would become more human How do you become more human? We’re body, soul, made by God in this way to express ourselves bodily for the inner desires of our heart, the soul that we have on display through the reality that’s given to us. That we would not be base animals just giving into one urge after the other. But we can say, God, thank you for these appetites, given to me that I can bring glory to you forever. In the same way we can say, God, thank you that you have enabled me to forego these appetites for a time in the season that I can bring glory to you in order to learn how to feast upon the manna from heaven that you give to me, your words ringing true in the mouth of my savior Jesus. Feed my soul this heavenly food this day. Let us pray. Father, as we come before you, the Lord is to say thank you. Thank you indeed that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by you for your purposes. And Lord, we pray that you would help us as we learn to navigate a world around us that has no desires for the things of your kingdom.
Father, help us to see beyond this horizon to what you’ve intended us to be. Father, we pray that we would be able to eat in communion with joyful Thanksgiving to you to bless that which you’ve given to us back to you. And Father, we would ask then, there are times and seasons that you would indeed cause us the hunger and the thirst for your righteousness. Lord, that you would make us hungry again for the life that you’ve given to us in your son, whose name we pray. Amen.
Discaimer: This sermon text was generated by an automated transcription service.