Feasting and Fasting

He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."  Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.  The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins." - Mark 2:13‭-‬22 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Jesus is teaching in the area around Galilee. He encountered Levi, a tax collector. He invites Levi to follow him. But this is absolutely scandalous to people of this time. Jesus was clearly a great teacher, but even more, He was going around doing miracles. This meant Jesus was likely a great prophet, maybe even the Messiah. Levi was not like an employee of the IRS. He was considered scum. He basically extorted money from the people. He was excommunicated from the synagogue and the shamefulness of this job extended even to his family. 

Jesus invited this man, who completely disregarded the law and guidelines of the Pharisees, to follow Jesus. Sinners, in this passage, are those who rejected the authority of the Pharisees. The Pharisees objected to Jesus hanging around these kinds of people. Jesus replied that sinners needed a doctor. The Pharisees knew this because this was a well known proverb. They agreed in principle, but they refused to associate with these sinners. They agreed in principle, but by their actions they enforced the status quo. 

Are we Christians so different? Do we hang out with people which would raise eyebrows? Or do we only hang out with other Christians and those who look and act like us? Jesus went out to those who were lost. Are we doing the same as Him?

The irony here is that the Pharisees are in need of the great physician. They were just as sick. They knew the law of God and they codified it into rules for living. They lived by these rules the best... and looked down on others who did not lived similarly. So it is for those in the church. We have respectable sins and scandalous ones. We ignore the sins like pride, discontent, irritability, and materialism. We make a fuss over sins like sexual immorality, the use of profanity... Are we living by this codified way of living to be saved? We also need the great physician once we've been saved. 

Jesus was the bridegroom of the church. So while he was with the disciples, it did not make sense to fast. Who would fast during a wedding? It would be inappropriate. Then Jesus speaks about patching an old wineskin with new leather or putting new wine into old wineskins. It is damaging to not examine our ways and habits in light of Jesus. Why we do things needs to be reevaluated in light of Jesus... We cannot slap Jesus on top of our lifestyles and motivations and not cause damage. Jesus should change our lifestyles and motivations. Jesus isn't about just making a refreshing of you. He is remaking us entirely. We want a remodel, but Jesus wants to make us humble cottages into divine palaces where He will dwell.