New Testament Studies

The Gospel of St. Mark

By Robert C. Crowder

Lesson Thirteen 

  Mark 2:18-22 And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber 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 shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.  And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles. 

 Early in our studies in Mark, we found that John the Baptist was in his ministry, baptizing his followers.  But little else is found on John’s disciples, until now.  But it also appears that, as the old saying goes, “misery loves company” in this case the disciples of the Pharisees are accompanying the disciples of John.  They came to Jesus with a question.    Their question was simply “hey, we fast as we have been shown, but your disciples don’t.  What gives?”

"And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?"

I think we can learn a couple of important lessons here.  First, men may have a common faith and not have the same practices, religious observances and customs and yet agree in the foundational truths of the Bible.  Here we see that John the Baptist’s disciples fasted often and Christ’s did not fast.  Second, “since the disciples of the Pharisees used to fast as well as John's disciples, we learn, that hypocrites and wicked men may be, and sometimes are, as strict and forward in the outward duties of religion, as the holiest and best of Christians; they pray, they fast, they hear the word, they receive the sacraments: they do, yea, it may be, they outdo and go beyond, the sincere Christian in external duties and outward performances.”[1]

These disciples must have come with a humble and contrite heart for Jesus’ response to them was very humble.

“And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride chamberfast, 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 shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.”

Jesus, the greatest teacher of all time, takes a few minutes to teach these followers of John and the Pharisees an important lesson.

Notice that first of all Jesus spent some time explaining why His followers were not fasting, but even more important, why Jesus did not expect them to fast at this time.  Jesus saw a need and fulfilled that need.

Second, Jesus spoke to both the disciples of John and the Pharisees with the same degree of love and concern.

The lesson Jesus taught was that it is hurtful and dangerous for young converts and or weak Christians to go through rigorous religious activities or to be urged to perform such duties that are beyond their “Christian age and strength.” We Christians, both lay and full time should approach new followers with caution and compassion.  We should treat our people according to their strength, and easing them into responsibilities according to their time and standing.

Jesus gave a great “positional” lesson between Jesus and His followers.  He used the terms of a Bridegroom and his Bride.  Jesus introduces His teaching using a parable.  A parable is an earthly lesson with a heavenly meaning.   These Jews understood the Jewish wedding and all that led up to the marriage.  The Bridegroom, adorned in his best attire would go to the house of the Bride with his friends, accompanied by musicians and singers and if it was dark, they would be accompanied by others carrying torches.  He then receives his veiled bride from her parents with their blessing and good wishes.  The Bridegroom then leads his Bride and the bridal party back to his house.  There is great merriment with song, music and dancing as they journey back to his house.  Upon arrival at his house, there is a huge feast that lasts for seven to fourteen days.

Jesus uses the knowledge that they already have and draws a lesson that they will understand.  I once heard an evangelist use the term; “Jesus puts the cookies on the lower shelf so that the kids (new Christians) could get their hands on them.  Jesus simply drew their attention to the similarity of the marriage feast and His (Bridegroom) relationship with His followers (Bride) that they would not fast during the marriage feast.

Jesus then uses two other examples to tell John’s and the Pharisees’ disciples that His followers were not prepared to follow some of the more “strict” teachings, in this case fasting.

“No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.”

If you have an old garment that is in need of patching, everyone knew that you would take a material that had been washed and therefore would shrink with the rest of the garment.  But if you patched the old garment with new cloth (not fulled[2]) after the first washing the new cloth would shrink and tear the old cloth that it was attached to, making the tear that much worse.

“And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.”

Jesus follows that up with the teaching about new wine in old bottles.  “New bottles” refer to vessels that were made of skins.  New bottles are consequently elastic, yielding to the expansion of the contents as it ferments and is not easily torn.   Putting wine in animal skins is still practiced today.  Once the wine fermented in the skin, the skin was stretched to its max.  If new wine was put into that old skin, all the elasticity is gone and the bottle would burst as the new wine ferments.

“The new dispensation could have rites and forms of its own, but could not conform to the rites of the Pharisees. If the conduct of his disciples made a rent in the rabbinical traditions with regard to fasting, Jesus could not so modify the conduct of his disciples as to patch the rent without injuring the moral sense of his disciples, and without making Phariseeism a more meaningless hypocrisy than ever.”[3]

This short passage could easily been read and passed over without getting the full truth in which Jesus was teaching.  That is why it is imperative that when we study the Bible, we really study it.  There are so many riches, that we must dig for the “treasure of the scriptures.”  Although many “nuggets and gems” are found while simply reading the Bible, not all of the treasures are found laying around on the surface.

ã 2002 bobsbiblestudies