Focus

Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.

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Read

Matthew 9:14-17 (NRSV)

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

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Reflect

Jesus and John the Baptist were kinsmen, and both men had disciples, some of whom were the same. We are not surprised, then, that John’s disciples went to Jesus with a question about fasting (going without food). They did not ask if they should fast, for they already practiced that discipline. Rather they wanted to know why Jesus’ disciples did not join them in refusing to eat.

Jesus reminded them that fasting was never expected at a wedding celebration, suggesting that no one needed to fast in the new kingdom that was appearing among them. He further illustrated the importance of his new teaching by citing the foolishness of cutting up new cloth to patch an old garment or pouring new wine into old wineskins. Just so, the new rule he was bringing would supersede much of ancient lore.

After a brief ministry, the man Jesus was crucified. But he remains with his followers forever through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Fast, if you will, as a Christian disciple. Fast for health reasons. Fast in the knowledge that Jesus is with us always, urging us onward in the pursuit of God’s will—whether we fast or not.

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Pray

Ever-present God, teach us your way anew with every passing day. Guide us into the disciplines that will make us aware of your love and your will. Through Jesus our Lord, Amen.

Go with God.