Religious practice tends towards blueprints. Do this and that and the other thing, and you will be okay. Or to put it into religious terms, you’ll be pious. In the next two sections of Mark, Jesus resets the blueprint.
“Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.” (Mark 2:18–22, CSB)
Fasting is a spiritual discipline practiced by many religions and for various purposes. Without giving details, Mark references the fasting practices of two groups—the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees. While we don’t know the motive, purpose, and rules of their fasting, it was a part of each group’s spiritual practice. But not so with Jesus’ disciples.
That difference upset some folks. How come you’re not following the blueprint, Jesus? He answers in parables and metaphors. How can they fast when there is a celebration like a wedding going on? In His explanation, Jesus didn’t take fasting off the table forever, but changed it from an established ritual to a discipline for growth.
The following verses about sewing a patch or using wineskins are about the new blueprint. The old forms can’t contain the explosive growth of our new life in Christ. Even though many still try. Yet, followers of Christ still apply the spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting today. Some do so out of religion or ritual, but most come from a desire for a deeper relationship with Jesus.
That desire for a deeper relationship is the big difference between Christian fasting and all the other religions that also fast. This is also why Christian fasting has few rules and does not have a set time or duration. How is the Holy Spirit moving your heart? That’s what matters. Sometimes, our fast is to abstain from a habit or practice and bring it into submission to Christ. This could be anything that pulls our desires away from him. That fast may last for a lifetime or just a season. There are times of deep seeking when we fast to hear Christ’s direction for our steps more clearly.
So, fast. Remove something from your life for a time. But avoid being ritualistic about it. Avoid letting others know in a “look at me, I’m so spiritual” way. Do so out of a desire to know Jesus deeply and submit your life more fully. Pour new wine into the new wineskin of freedom in Christ.
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