GOSPEL READING:
Matthew 9:14-1714 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 And no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, 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."
Meditation: Which comes first, fasting or feasting? The
disciples of John the Baptist were upset with Jesus' disciples
because they did not fast. Fasting was one of the three most
important religious duties, along with prayer and almsgiving.
Jesus gave a simple explanation. There's a time for fasting and a
time for feasting (or celebrating). To walk as a disciple with
Jesus is to experience a whole new joy of relationship akin to the
joy of the wedding party in celebrating with the groom and bride
their wedding bliss.
A time to rejoice and a time to mourn
But there also comes a time when the Lord's disciples must bear
the cross of affliction and purification. For the disciple there
is both a time for rejoicing in the Lord's presence and
celebrating his goodness and a time for seeking the Lord with
humility and fasting and for mourning over sin. Do you take joy in
the Lord's presence with you and do you express sorrow and
contrition for your sins?
The closed mind that refuses to learn
Jesus goes on to warn his disciples about the problem of the
"closed mind" that refuses to learn new things. Jesus used an
image familiar to his audience - new and old wineskins. In Jesus'
times, wine was stored in wineskins, not bottles. New wine poured
into skins was still fermenting. The gases exerted gave pressure.
New wine skins were elastic enough to take the pressure, but old
wine skins easily burst because they had become hard and had lost
their ability to expand and stretch. What did Jesus mean by this
comparison? Are we to reject the old in place of the new?
Treasuring the old and new wine of the Holy Spirit
Just as there is a right place and a right time for fasting and
for feasting, so there is a right place for the old as well as the
new. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a householder
who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old
(Matthew 13:52). How impoverished we would be if we only had the
Old Testament or the New Testament books of the Bible, rather than
both. The Lord gives us wisdom so we can make the best use of both
the old and the new. He doesn't want us to hold rigidly to the
past and to be resistant to the new work of his Holy Spirit in our
lives. He wants our minds and hearts to be like new wine skins -
open and ready to receive the new wine of the Holy Spirit.
Are you eager to grow in the knowledge and understanding of God's
word and plan for your life?
Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may grow in the knowledge of your great love and truth. Help me to seek you earnestly in prayer and fasting that I may turn away from sin and willfulness and conform my life more fully to your will. May I always find joy in knowing, loving, and serving you.
Psalm 85:9,11-13
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him, and make his footsteps a way.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: No need to fast in the presence of the Bridegroom, by Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD)
"The Pharisees and John's disciples were fasting, and the
apostles were not. But Jesus answered them in a spiritual way and
indicated to John's disciples that he was a bridegroom. John
taught that all hope in life lay in Christ. While he was still
preaching, however, his disciples could not be received by the
Lord. Up until the time of John, the law and the prophets
prevailed, and unless the law came to an end, none of them would
subscribe to faith in the gospel. The fact that he said there was
no need for his disciples to fast as long as the bridegroom is
with them illustrates the joy of his presence and the sacrament of
the holy food, which no one need be without while he is present,
that is, bearing Christ in the light of the mind. But once he is
gone, Jesus says that they will fast, for all those who do not
believe that Christ has risen will not have the food of life. By
faith in the resurrection, the sacrament of the heavenly bread is
received. Whoever is without Christ will be forsaken, fasting from
the food of life." (excerpt from the commentary ON
MATTHEW 9.3)
