[18] 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?’
[19] 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.
[21] 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.
In Mark 2:18 disciples of John are fasting. We know that John was preaching a message of repentance (Matthew 3:1-6). He received a revelation that he would be a witness of God’s salvation through his messenger, Jesus (Isaiah 40:1-5; Malachi 3:1-4; Isaiah 42:1-4). It is likely that John’s disciples were fasting in mourning of their current situation and seeking God for his promised salvation.
The Pharisees in Mark 2:18 are also seen fasting. They are described in Matthew 23:1-7 as teachers of the law. They were strict followers of the laws of Moses. They used the law to understand the world around them. They are described as “tying up heavy, cumbersome burdens and putting them on other people’s shoulders” (Matthew 23:4). They would condemn people who were sick as being inflicted not by disease or disability but God’s wrath on sinners (John 9:13-34).
Theirs was a message of strict adherence to the law of Moses. But “everything they did was for people to see” (Matthew 23:5) to show that they understood the law and followed it. They fasted so that people would see them fasting and associate it with devotion.
Mark 2:18 says that ‘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?’ Meaning why are you and your disciples neither mourning the current situation and seeking God for salvation, nor following the traditional fasting calendar required by law?
Jesus responds to both reasons that people were fasting.
To John’s disciples
To John’s disciples and people who were awaiting deliverance and mourning their current condition, Jesus says, in Mark 2:19, ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them.’ Meaning, his disciples have no reason to mourn or to seek God for salvation because his arrival signaled that salvation had arrived and that it was a time of celebration, a time to rejoice.
Jesus was saying that he is the one who God promised to send to save his people from their sins and from the consequences of sin, as the bridegroom for the body of Christ, the church. Jesus is the one who has delivered and restored us back into relationship with God. We are no longer separated because of sin but reconciled as a part of his body.
This new covenant, described like a covenant of marriage, is a reason to rejoice. Jesus’ disciples, people who believe he is God’s gift of salvation, cannot mourn their current situation because God is with them. God the deliver and God the savior.
But Jesus also says in Mark 2:20 that he will make a sacrifice that will complete the work that he was sent to do when he says that “the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them (his disciples), and on that day they will fast” (Mark 2:20). Jesus was predicting his death, the sacrifice that he would make to ensure the covenant was established. His blood sacrifice is what would make righteousness before God attainable for everyone who believes. Salvation required his death as a sacrifice, so on the day he is buried, his disciples will mourn and seek God’s face. Although death was required, his resurrection promises believers the same life through the spirit of God that raised him from the dead.
To the Pharisees
To the Pharisees and people who were looking to the law for justification, purification, righteousness before God and salvation from sin, Jesus shares two examples to help people understand who he is and why his disciples are not fasting in accordance with the law.
Jesus says, “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 (Mark 2:21).
“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” (Mark 2:22).
New Cloth
Jesus was saying that he is a new covenant, a new law that has been given by God that does not do away with the old law but fulfills it (Hebrews 8:1-13). What the old law was powerless to do Jesus has done through his sacrifice (Romans 8:3-4). He is the new cloth that clothes us in righteousness so that his disciples do not have to cover themselves with the traditions of the past to attain righteousness.
His one act has done this for us (Romans 5:12-21). And this act that has established a new covenant is approved by God. Above all traditions, Jesus’ disciples follow this new covenant that is like new wine, meaning a new reason to celebrate, not fast or mourn.
God’s new covenant, that was prophesied in the Old Testament, under the old tradition and law, is fulfilled through Jesus. If the laws of Moses and its requirements could have brought complete righteousness before God then Jesus’ sacrifice would not have been necessary (Hebrews 8:7-13; Jeremiah 31:31-34). But they could not give complete righteousness or a reason to celebrate, they were actions of faith in hope that God would send his promised salvation that would completely deliver from condemnation, sin and the consequences of sin (Galatians 3:15 – Galatians 4:7).
New wine
The metaphor of the wine symbolizes celebration and the wineskins the law. The new reason to celebrate, Jesus’ work of salvation is not from the old law but establishes a new law that does what the old law could not. Salvation, righteousness, justification, purification and deliverance cannot come from the law of Moses. Paul writes as a former Pharisee in (Philippians 3:5; Acts 23:6) explaining the revelation he received that the law was a set of requirements that were given as actions to do by faith until the true sacrifice, that would no longer require acts of service. Salvation would be through faith in Jesus’ blameless sacrifice for all (Galatians 3:15 – Galatians 4:7).
Conversions
People who recognized that Jesus was from God and the fulfillment of God’s promise to send salvation, left their ideologies. Paul left the Pharisees to preach that salvation is through faith in Jesus (Galatians 1:11-24).
Andrew, Peter’s brother and disciple of Jesus, was a disciple of John the Baptist. Andrew heard John say that Jesus was the salvation they were fasting for (John 1:35-42). The moment he heard this he went to his brother Simon (Peter) telling him “We have found the Messiah” and brought Peter to Jesus (John 1:40-42).
John 1:35 testifies that John the Baptist even left what he was preaching when he saw Jesus (John 1:35). When he saw him, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” and became a disciple of Jesus (John 1:32-35; Isaiah 42:1-4).
Jesus the new wine
Just as Jesus said that when the bridegroom is taken then his disciples will mourn (Mark 2:20). After Jesus was crucified and buried, some of his disciples lost hope and went back to doing what they had done before. In John 21:2-3 Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, James and John (the apostle) are with each other (John 21:2-3).
Peter said that he would go back to fishing and the other disciples said, ‘we’ll go with you’ (John 21:3). So they all went but were not able to catch any fish (John 21:3). Meaning that they had no hope, no salvation and a forced fast. They had nothing to nourish them physically or spiritually.
But early in the morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus (John 21:4). Meaning even though Jesus did what he said he would do, die and then be resurrected and fulfill God’s will to be the sacrifice and the way of life for everyone who believes in him. They could not see what Jesus could do because he had left them.
John 21:5 says that Jesus called out to them from the shore and asked them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’ Literally he meant, did you catch anything? Metaphorically he was saying, did returning to what fed you before me, back to your traditions, back to the law, back to the old covenant, back to your old way of life, away from me, feed you at all? Have you any hope at all? And they all answered, ‘No’ (John 21:5).
So Jesus said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish (John 21:6). Literally, Jesus was saying cast your net on the side that I am telling you to, but symbolically he was saying, follow what I told you will bring you hope, salvation, and blessings, believing in me and following me. Believe that I am the bridegroom, the giver of the new covenant, the new wine and reason to celebrate. The one who nourishes you, so that you do not need to mourn or fast.
My Seed Faith 