Three Controversies 1: Fasting? (Luke 5:33-39)
Why did Jesus’s followers not fast? That is the first of three controversies with the religious elite that Luke highlights next in his narrative. Fasting was a big deal in those days. The religious elite fasted, but so did John’s disciples. The Old Testament as well as Jewish tradition prescribed and defined all sorts of fasting. It served to demonstrate sorrow, to elicit favor, and to make oneself seem more pious as well. It was seen as a religious virtue. Really serious people fasted twice a week.
The simple answer Jesus gives is that it is because He is with them. Why would they fast when the situation called for feasting? Fasts were frowned upon during Sabbaths or festival days. Fasting itself is not wrong, and indeed Jesus’s followers will fast when the time is right.
While He is with them, though, is not that time. He then goes on to make a point through three illustrations: You don’t repair an old cloth by sewing a patch of new material on it. That will only ruin both materials.
You don’t put new wine in an old container that has no give. The container will simply burst.
People don’t tend to change their ways once they are set in them.
The point of these teachings is to highlight that the message and movement that Jesus is bringing is completely new. It is a new covenant. It fulfills the old, but in ways that people did not see coming. Their interpretation, teachings, and tradition missed much of the message.
The simple answer Jesus gives is that it is because He is with them. Why would they fast when the situation called for feasting? Fasts were frowned upon during Sabbaths or festival days. Fasting itself is not wrong, and indeed Jesus’s followers will fast when the time is right.
While He is with them, though, is not that time. He then goes on to make a point through three illustrations: You don’t repair an old cloth by sewing a patch of new material on it. That will only ruin both materials.
You don’t put new wine in an old container that has no give. The container will simply burst.
People don’t tend to change their ways once they are set in them.
The point of these teachings is to highlight that the message and movement that Jesus is bringing is completely new. It is a new covenant. It fulfills the old, but in ways that people did not see coming. Their interpretation, teachings, and tradition missed much of the message.
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