“On that day they will fast.”

“On that day they will fast.”

 

 

  

 

“They said to Jesus, ‘John’s disciples often fast and pray, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but your disciples keep on eating and drinking.’ Jesus answered, ‘Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; in those days, they will fast’” (Luke 5:33–35).

 

 

As I meditate on these words, I desire to receive instruction.

 

(1)    Today, I would like to meditate on our main text, Luke 5:33–35, in connection with Matthew 9:14–15 and Mark 2:18–20.

 

(a)    In Luke 5:33, “they” seems, from the context, to be “the Pharisees and their scribes” (v.30). Yet in Matthew 9:14 the Scripture says “John’s disciples,” while in Mark 2:18 it says “people.”

 

(i)                 Their question to Jesus was this: “John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees often fast and pray, but your disciples keep on eating and drinking—how is this so?” (Lk. 5:33)  Matthew 9:14 says: “Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘We and the Pharisees fast—why do your disciples not fast?’”  Mark 2:18 says: “One day when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, people came to Jesus and asked, ‘John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast—why do your disciples not fast?’”

·         The core of the question they posed to Jesus is this: “John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast and pray often—why do your disciples not fast but keep on eating and drinking?”  As I meditate on this central question, I am reminded of Jesus’ words to the Pharisees and their scribes: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Lk. 5:32).  This is because the “righteous” that Jesus refers to are the Pharisees—those who thought themselves righteous by keeping the Law.

 

-          Like “the healthy who do not need a physician” (v.31), these “righteous ones” (v.32) believed they had no need for Jesus and sought to be justified before God by works of the Law—even though Scripture clearly says, “By the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight…” (Rom. 3:20).  Thus, they practiced the fast commanded strictly in the Law—on the Day of Atonement (the 10th day of the seventh month), from morning until evening (Leviticus 16:29).  The Hebrew phrase for “fasting” here is ‘innah nephesh, meaning “to afflict the soul.”  Besides this, the Jews practiced fasting during national calamity (Judg. 20:26), during sickness (Ps. 35:13), in times of mourning (1 Sam. 31:13), in repentance (1 Kgs. 21:27), when danger was imminent (2 Chron. 20:3), and to commemorate disasters or during famine.  But over time, the meaning of fasting degenerated into a display of personal piety—an external show and hypocrisy—and thus became the target of Jesus’ rebuke (Mt. 6:16).  Jesus firmly rejected and forbade fasting practiced as forced ritual or as a means of religious self-display (Hochma).

 

(b)    Jesus answered their question (Lk. 5:33) as follows: “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and in that day they will fast” (Mk. 2:19–20).

 

(i)                 In those days, a Jewish wedding feast usually lasted for one week.  On the final day of the feast, the friends who served as attendants brought the bridegroom to the bridal chamber and then left the house.  Because the week-long feast was extremely joyful, noisy, and celebratory, the people could not observe fasting even if a fast day occurred during that week.  Only after bringing the bridegroom to the bridal chamber and returning home could they begin fasting (Hochma).

 

·         Therefore, Jesus said to them, “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” (v.34).  That is, Jesus was saying that at that time they could not fast.  Truly, fasting is not something done through forced or formalistic procedure (Hochma).

 

-          Jesus further said, “But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away; then my disciples will fast” (v.35).  This “taking away of the bridegroom” refers to the time when Jesus—the Bridegroom—would die on the cross for His Bride, the Church.  From that time on, Jesus’ disciples did fast.

 

n  “The time for spiritual struggle and awaiting persecution would come after [Jesus] departed, and so they needed to fast.  The phrase ‘on that day they will fast’ means the disciples fasted after Jesus’ departure and before Pentecost (Acts 1:12–14).  The apostle Paul also fasted and prayed for the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:9, 11, 17).  Later, Barnabas, Paul, and other preachers and teachers fasted and prayed as they waited for God” (Internet source).

 

(c)    Jesus’ teaching about fasting: “When you fast, do not look somber like the hypocrites.  They put on a gloomy appearance to show others they are fasting.  Truly I tell you, they have already received their reward.  But when you fast, wash your face and anoint your head, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father who is unseen.  Then your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (Mt. 6:16–18).

 

(i)                 Jesus never denied the necessity of fasting (9:14–15).  Rather, He emphasized that true fasting is done toward God, and therefore there is no need to put on a gloomy appearance to impress people (Hochma).

 

·         Fasting was practiced as a way to humble oneself while confessing sin before God, to become more contrite before the Lord (Neh. 9:1–2; Ps. 35:13; Isa. 58:3; Jonah 3:5), and as a way to cry out to God for deliverance in great distress, crisis, or despair from which one could not escape (Exod. 24:18; 2 Sam. 1:12; Jere. 4:16; Acts 14:23) (Hochma).

 

-          But perhaps we Christians today say that we humble ourselves and fast, while still doing whatever we please—and continually quarreling and fighting with one another.  If so, would not the Lord say: “Of what use is such fasting to me?  Do you think I will listen to your prayers because you fast this way?  Do you think I take pleasure in such fasting?” (See Isaiah 58:3–5)

 

n  Our God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love, and reluctant to bring punishment.  Therefore, even now we must tear our hearts, fast, weep, mourn, truly repent, and return to God (See Joel 2:11–13).

 

-          God’s word says: “The fasting I desire is to loose the chains of injustice, to break every yoke, and to set the oppressed free.  Share your food with the hungry, bring the homeless poor into your house, clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn away from your own flesh and blood who need help” (Isa. 58:6–7).