Read Mark 2:18-22
This year, our family had the pleasure of attending the wedding of our good friends Josh and Latrice. The wedding was a party, filled with good food and fellowship among friends and family. The celebration brought joy to the attendees as they witnessed our two friends exchange their vows and become one in the Lord. We wouldn’t expect anything less from a wedding. This is because weddings are a time of celebration, not mourning; that’s exactly the illustration Jesus uses when discussing fasting.
The Pharisees were known to fast twice a week, though the Old Testament prescribed one fast on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29). During Jesus’ time, fasting was often associated with self-affliction, mourning, weeping, and repentance (Joel 2:12). Yet again, the people who questioned Jesus failed to see that the bridegroom was in front of them. The bridegroom is Jesus, the incarnate Son of God.
For Jesus’ disciples, the bridegroom has arrived to grant forgiveness of sins to sinners (Mark 2:17). They are not in mourning; they are rejoicing and celebrating. But a time will come when the bridegroom is crucified on the cross, pouring His blood for us and establishing the new covenant (Luke 22:20). Therefore, Jesus’ arrival brings a new reality that is higher from the existing religious practices of the Pharisees. A new reality illustrated in the examples of new wine in old wineskins.
A joyful reality of good news: that Jesus, our bridegroom, came to save sinners like us by receiving the punishment our sins deserved. That if we trust in His finished work on the cross, we may join him in the wedding festivities of His return (Revelation 19:7-9).
