The Parables of fasting at the Wedding feast, the old cloth, and the Wineskins

1. The Parables of fasting at the Wedding feast, the old cloth, and the wineskins – 8th September
2016
Jesus answered, “How can the guests ofthe bridegroomfastwhile he is withthem? They cannot,so
longas they have him withthem”( Mark 2:19).
These are three parables,foundin Mark 2:18-22. We can see thatit beginwithastatementthatthe
Phariseesandthe disciplesof Johnthe Baptistwere fasting butJesus’discipleswere not fasting.The
twice-weeklyfastwasatraditionadoptedbythe legalisticPhariseesatthe time,eventhoughthe
Mosaic Law prescribedonlyone fastonthe Day of Atonement aswe readfrom Leviticus16:29, “Thisis
to be a lastingordinancefor you: On the tenth day of the seventh monthyou must deny yourselves
and notdo any work—whethernative-bornor a foreigner residingamongyou”.
The incidentbeganwhensome people came toJesusandaskedHimwhyHis disciplesdidnotfastlike
the Phariseesandthose of John’sdiscipleswhohadremainedloyal tothe Pharisaictraditions. We can
readthis fromMark 2:18,“Now John’sdisciplesandthe Phariseeswere fasting.Some peoplecame and
asked Jesus,“How is it that John’sdisciplesandthe disciplesofthe Pharisees are fasting,but yoursare
not?” Jesus’response isgiveninthree shortparables.
The firstone is a parable of a bridegroomwithhisgroomsmenata weddingfeast.Jesus’pointis that
fastingduringthe weddingfeastispointless.InthisstoryJesusisthe Bridegroom, andwhileHe is
presentinthisworld,itisa time of celebrationbecause He isthe fulfillmentof theirMessianic
prophecies. We canlearnfrom Mark 2:19,“Jesus answered, “How canthe guestsof the bridegroom
fast whilehe is with them? They cannot,so longas they have him withthem.
JesusHimself saidthatHe came to fulfill the law –whichisreferringtothe MessianicLaw.We can learn
fromwhat JesussaidinMatthew 5:17, “Do not thinkthat I havecome to abolishtheLaw or the
Prophets; I have not come to abolishthembut to fulfill them”.Therefore Jesusaskedthem “Howcan
the guests of the bridegroomfast whilehe is with them? He toldthemthat to continue fastingwhen
Jesusispresent.Because itwouldbe akintofastingandbeingmournful duringaweddingcelebrationin
whichthe bridegroomispresent. ButHe alsotellsthemthat a day will come whenHe istakenawayand
that day wouldbe appropriate tofastas theyquarriedfromHim.We can readfrom “
But the time will
come when the bridegroomwill be taken fromthem, and on that daythey will fast” (Mark2:20).
The other twoparables,whichare similar,make the same point. Inthatparable of the Oldcloth, Jesus
saysthat one will not put a newpatch onan oldgarment because the oldgarmentwill tear because the
newpiece will pullawayfromthe old.Because if youputa new patchon an oldgarment,whenthe new
patch shrinksdue towashing,itwill tearawayfromthe oldergarment,makingthe tearworse. We can
learnthis fromMark 2:21, “Noone sews a patch ofunshrunkcloth on anold garment. Otherwise,the
new piece will pull away from the old,makingthe tear worse”.
Similarlyinthe parable of the Wineskins,Jesussaysyoudon’tputnew wine intoanoldwineskin. New
wine needsanewwineskinbecauseasthe new wine expandsduringthe fermentationprocess,it

2. stretchesthe wineskin.Anoldwineskinwill burstunderthe pressure of new wine. We canlearnthis
fromMark 2:22, “Andno one poursnew wine into oldwineskins.Otherwise,the wine will burst the
skins,and boththe wineand the wineskinswill be ruined. No,they pournew wine into new
wineskins.”
These twoparablesillustratethe factthat youcan’t mix oldreligiousritualswithnew faithinJesus. His
discipleswerenotfastingalongwiththe PhariseesandJohn’sdisciplesbecausetheywere now under
the newcovenantof grace and faithinChrist.Asmentionedearlier,Jesusfulfilledthe law;therefore,
there isno longeranyneedtocontinue withthe oldrituals.Jesuscannotbe addedtoa works-based
religion.Inthe case of the Pharisees,theywere consumedwiththeirownself-righteousness,andfaith
inJesuscannot be combinedwithself-righteousrituals.