Mark 2:18-22

Read Psalm 7

Review from previous Saturday on Mark

Mark 2:18-22
18 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?” 19 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. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 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. 22 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.”

Verse 18
A question is given as to why the disciples of Jesus do not fast. Fasting “from food was highly valued among Jews as an expression of religious devotion. Individuals fasted in order to demonstrate repentance for specific sins and thus to win God’s favor” (Douglas R.A. Hare, Mark, p.40).

Verse 19
Jesus responds in a way that shocks his questioners.
“He justifies the non-fasting of his disciples by means of a parable: Would it be proper to fast at a wedding? The celebration must continue as long as the bridegroom is present! Those who heard Jesus proclaim the good news concerning the arrival of God’s rule would get the point. This is not a time to lament God’s absence but to celebrate God’s presence [with them]!” (Douglas R.A. Hare, Mark, p.40)

Verse 20
This verse contains Jesus’ first mention of His death. His disciples need not mourn while He is still with them proclaiming the Kingdom of God. The time for mourning will come quickly enough. The disciples have not yet understood the cost that the Son of God must pay in order for the Kingdom of God to be able to come upon the world. Soon enough, the disciples will be awakened to this reality by watching their leader die an agonizing death as an innocent man. For now, while the time for Jesus to die has not yet come, the disciples need to be focused on staying in the present moment where God is at work.

Verse 21-22
Jesus gives two more parables regarding the reason as to why his disciples do not fast. “Both parables stress the incompatibility of the new with the old and the irresistible power of the new…The good news about God’s active presence is incompatible with the gloomy stance of those who are [still] waiting for God to do something” (Douglas R.A. Hare, Mark, p.41).

Overall Message
The time of waiting for the Messiah to some is over; there is no more need to try to beckon the Messiah’s coming with empty rituals done for the purpose of earning God’s favor. The Messiah has come, He has arrived. It is not that people should not mourn their sin; it is that there is great hope to be found in Jesus because He would be the one to bear the full weight of their sin. In Jesus they have hope because He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. He is there is the midst of Israel beckoning people to leave behind their self-reliance and activity done for the purpose of trying to earn God’s favor. Jesus is telling people to leave the old things behind and for them to embrace Him and what God is doing through Him in the world.

Questions for Mark 2:18-22
1. In what ways has Jesus relieved us from trying to earn God’s favor?
2. Do Christians experience sorrow in the same way as unbelievers do?
3. 2 Corinthians 7:10 tells us “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” How does this verse relate to Mark 2:20?
4. In His answer regarding why His disciples do not fast, why does Jesus stress that the old is incompatible with the new?
5. What are some of the implications of Jesus’ stressing that the old is incompatible with the new?
6. What are some practical things to take from this passage? What has stood out to you in this passage?