Jesus Questioned About Fasting
18Now 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?"
19Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20But 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. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."
The Pharisees had questions for Jesus...The scriptures talked about fasting...The Pharisees had not seen the Twelve disciples fast and wondered why they were not fasting...Jesus could not escape criticism, slander, and sarcasm from different groups, even though He spoke the Truth...But He knows the Bible, because He fulfills Scripture...
Fasting was to be done at a time of prayer, often during a sad or grieving time...Fasting was to help our spiritual development...Fasting also helps us concentrate in prayer and focus on God...Fasting helps show our fragility and weakness and our dependence on the LORD...
Jesus compares His time with the Twelve to a wedding feast...He is the groom...While He is with them, their should be a celebration...There was no need to fast, during this feast...The groom was with them...When He is taken from them and gone, then that would be the time to fast...
Jesus also tells the Pharisees that it is not wise to patch a torn garment with a new piece of cloth...New cloth would shrink faster than the old garment it was sewed into...This would make the garment look twisted and could easily pull away and would make the garment look worse...The old garment was a comparison of the Pharisees and others their beliefs (such as those on fasting) and traditions...The patch is Jesus new (if we can call them new) teachings...The old garment instead of being improved and better after the new patch...The old traditions and Jesus teachings do not mix well...
Also, no one puts new wine into old leather...The old leather is dried and shrunk and hard to stretch...New wine in old wineskins would make the old wineskins stretch and burst and ruin wineskins, and one would lose his wine...In this case the new wine is Jesus teachings...The old wineskins are the beliefs of the Pharisees...The teachings of Jesus and the old traditions do not mix well...
Jesus was a present figure for the Pharisees, the religious leaders, and all others...His living faith and their old faith we not compatible, as He explains...
Jesus tells us that fasting, just to fast is not what His disciples needed...The disciples will fast when it is proper...Jesus' new teachings did not mix well with the old traditions and religious ways...God's plan, sending the Son of Man, to die for us did not merge into the old belief system and ways...God puts something new in our lives, when Jesus comes into it (our lives)...