Feasting, Fasting and New Paradigms
| 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?" 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. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. "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. And 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." (Mark2:18-22) |
Fasting is a difficult practice.
On the positive side, it is a way of pausing from the rush, it's about taming our appetite(s), it is a way of putting God first and creating time to draw near to Him.
On the negative side, it can we seen as a way of "twisting God's arm" - as if God has to honour our "hunger-strike" (This is actually just an (illegitimate) attempt at manipulation.) The other dark side to fasting is that it was often done visibly with sackcloth, ashes and long faces so that others would see how dedicated and spiritual the one fasting was.
Some have suggested that John the Baptist's disciples were fasting because their teacher was in jail, but the Pharisees are also fasting and so it seems that it is actually one of the liturgical fasts. (We have no accurate way to discern which fast this is...)
Jesus does not condemn fasting, but He does put it in perspective. There's a time to fast and a time to feast. His presence in the world was a blessing, one didn't need to fast to hear or see God more clearly, He was in their midst! He alludes to the very joyful time of a wedding and how incomprehensible it would be to fast at that time.
He does point out a sombre moment - the bridegroom will be taken away - the cross was coming.
He then points out His coming is a new paradigm, a new way of thinking. The ground rules have changed. Law and religious observances are superseded by relationship with Jesus. The old ways won't work anymore. The new has come and it can't be "patched" onto the old ways and it can't be poured into old wineskins. His coming brings a new paradigm.
Fasting is a good servant, but a bad master. We should never be a slave to a liturgical calendar or an appointed fast because Christ has come and He is the Incarnate and Risen Lord who lives in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
