Why don’t your disciples be like them? Why do they act differently? The disciples of John fast, and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Jesus doesn’t. Why?
Jesus responded that he Himself is the bridegroom and that at the wedding feast, no one fasts while the bridegroom is present.
Jesus reveals that He is doing something completely new. Hence, the old covenant practices of ritual sacrifice and fasting need to be viewed in a new light. What is this new light?
The new order is about the replace or fulfilling the old order. The old practices of Judaism, such as ritual fasting, are about to give way to a new of doing things.
Jesus did not come to patch up and prolong an old, worn-out way of worship, a whole system of worship that was ready to be discarded. Rather, the worship that Jesus is encouraging is not one that conforms to the Judaism of the day with its traditions of men.
We will worship God in spirit and in truth. We will see God not in Jerusalem nor on the mountain but everywhere, in spirit and in truth. Jesus’s ministry is not to put a new patch on an old garment or new wine into a stiff, old wine skin.
The transition from old to new, from Judaism to Christianity, would be a source of tension for the infant Church after the ascension of Christ.
In the first three centuries, the young Christian community will be confronted with these challenges as they enter into new territories.
One of these pastoral problems led to the First Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-31), which describes a significant practical issue regarding the integration of Gentile Christians into what had been a primarily Jewish body of believers.
The church, over the centuries, has tried to keep its eyes on the ball though sometimes with great sacrifice and weakness.
May you and I keep on our eyes on Christ and not on ourselves.
Have a wonderful Week
