Dwell in the Word Mark 2:18-22

Consider these questions as you dwell in Mark 2:18-22.

1. How does Jesus use the analogy of a wedding feast and new cloth on an old garment to illustrate the significance of his arrival and ministry?

2. What does it mean for believers to be "new creations in Christ" according to 2 Corinthians 5:17, and how does this concept relate to the teaching Jesus gives in this passage?

3. How can Christians actively live out their new life in Christ and avoid trying to blend their old way of living with the new way that Jesus calls them to?

Transcript:

As we arrive here in verse 18 of chapter two, we're seeing a theme continue to develop this idea that Jesus has come and something new is happening. Now Mark, as he is writing us this gospel, as he is telling this story, he's putting a story, the previous story that we read on Monday about Jesus eating. He's tying this story in with that story in a sense this idea that they've just been reclining at the table and eating. And now there's a question about fasting. Well, John's disciples.

The pharisees were fasting. This was a big deal in the Old Testament. This had become a major part of the piety of the people fasting. Now the Pharisees were big about it and obviously John's disciples were doing it too. And so people are asking and notice it doesn't say here that the Pharisees are asking this.

So often the Pharisees ask these questions, it says and people came to him and asked why his disciples do not fast. This is just a general question. It's an observation by the people who are following Jesus and seeing what he is doing and what he's teaching. So what does Jesus say? And I've highlighted it here.

If you're watching on video, can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? In other words, Jesus is saying I have come, why would the people who are following me, why would my disciples fast while they are here with me? Something new is happening. It is the time of the feast, it is time to eat. Again these stories that Mark is telling to help us to understand what's going on are following in succession here.

It is important that we know that this is a new thing that God is doing and it is in Christ that this story of redemption is coming. And so Jesus says, hey, if there's a party, if you're with the bridegroom, if you are with them then hey, you're going to have the celebration but there's going to be a time where the bridegroom isn't with them and then they can fast. But then Jesus also adds something new in about this idea of something new that is happening with his arrival. No one sews a piece of unshucked cloth on an old garment. We know this.

You know what would happen if you had the new patch you put on your clothes, shrink on the hole, right? Also we don't necessarily know this because we don't know about wine skins, but we get the idea if the wine as it's fermented has worn out the wine skins, if you try to use those again it's going to wear out the skins more than they are prepared to do and so you don't do that. So what Jesus is saying is something new has come in him and so we are going to do what is involved with his ministry. He is going to heal, he is going to preach, he is going to advance the cause of the gospel. Now, there will come a time, as he says, where his disciples will fast, but while he is there, they are going to work.

And so for us, as we think about this, what does this mean for us? Well, one way that we can look at this is what about our life? Let's remember what Paul says about us in two Corinthians 517. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come.

If we are new creations, why would our lives not be different? Now, we're always going to struggle with sin. We're always going to struggle with things from our sinfulness, from that inherent sinful nature that's in us. We're going to struggle with that. But we have to have this mentality.

If we are new creations in Christ, why would we go back to the old? Why would we try to blend our old life with our new life? And like I said, we do this. But we need to remember that. We need to repent, we need to turn from those things.

We need to be focusing on the holiness and the call that God has put on our life as believers in the Lord Jesus. So may we remember that truth, that we are the new. We are new creations in Christ. Why will we go back to the old? It's not going to work.

The new patch doesn't fit on the old garment. The old wine skins can't hold the new wine. So may we be constantly moving towards holiness. May we be desiring to live a new life in Christ because we are new creations. Why?

Because he has come and he has given us this new life.