The exclusive table fellowship of the righteous, the expression of piety in public, and the observance of Sabbath were the three pillars of Jewish Pharisaical-scribal religiosity. Jesus by his actions and words brought in revolutionary and dynamic new dimensions to these three elements.

1. The critics were asking why the disciples of Jesus were not fasting. According to the law of Moses, the people of God were to fast on the day of atonement. (Lev 16:29,31; 23:27-32; Num 29:7). After the Babylonian exile, the Jews developed four annual fasts (Zech 7:5;8:19). By the time of Jesus, the Pharisees started fasting twice a week (Luke 18:12). The Pharisees were prepared to observe the religious rites more than it was demanded in the law. The disciples of John the Baptist also fasted following the Pharisaical practices. In the context of the imprisonment of their master, their fasting was made more relevant. Jesus did not reject the efficacy of fasting and the church in later days sincerely observed fasting. What Jesus objected was the exhibitionism of fasting on the part of the Pharisees and scribes. (Math. 6:16-18). Jesus was exhorting that the fasting must be done in the most acceptable way, which will be pleasing to God. By putting oil on the head and washing the faces, the tiredness of fasting will not be visible to others but will be kept in secret. God who is invisible and sees the things in secret, will reward such fastings of inner purity. The early church took fasting on such lines and was well rewarded. (Acts. 13:2-3; 14:23)

2. Jesus said that the purpose of fasting is well realised in His disciples by their response to Jesus, the true bridegroom. The times of marriage feasts were not suitable for fasting. The guests of the bridegroom are participating in the joy of the groom. They shall not be involved in anything that desecrated the bridegroom. Jesus is the true bridegroom. The presence of Jesus provides absolute joy. In the Old Testament, we see a lot of references where Yahweh, the bridegroom will have the banquet with his redeemed people in the fulfilment of time. (Isaiah 61:10; 62:4-5; Hosea 2:14-20). When that was realised through Jesus, the Jews could not accept it and they rejected the bridegroom. That tragedy of the Jewish establishment is well defined in this text. The irony and contradiction of not accepting the bridegroom when He came and at the same time still waiting for Him is not at all honesty and integrity.

 3. The fallacy of taking the new message of Jesus Christ into the old model of religious structures is well expressed through two familiar allegories. The Pharisaical structures of religion cannot hold the message of Jesus. If a new piece of cloth is sewed to an old garment, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. If the new wine is poured into the old wineskins, the wine will burst the wineskin. The Jewish piety based on Pharisaical self-righteousness cannot hold the new divine acceptance which was based on repentance and inner sanctity. It is not the message of a renovation of the existing order, but the creation of a new order. (2 Cor. 5:17). Only the new social and religious order based on the non-violent law of love can accommodate the message of love, (Mark 14:24)


Point to ponder: Do we take fasting to be a means to experience the presence of God to transform us rather than to gain our vested interests?

Prayer: Pray for the churches to have a true picture of Christian fasting.