Why don't they fast?
When the beauty of Jesus's presence is enough for us...
Inquiring minds wanted to know: why were the disciples of Jesus not fasting when everyone else was?
This month, my Muslim friends have been fasting for Ramadan, and my Catholic friends are fasting for Lent. Some years, I have fasted from some foods during the Lenten season. This year, I have not. Some years, I have written Lenten reflections. This year, I have not.
Instead, I have been studying the Gospel of Mark, and I found the people’s question kind of funny: “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Sounds like my kids asking why their brother is getting to eat ice cream.
The people noticed a difference between religious observance and relational discipleship. Jesus described His relationship with His disciples to them this way: “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” When we are in Christ, we are celebrating with Him no matter what time of year it is or what is happening.
A friend of mine was unjustly arrested this week for reporting drug traffic in his neighborhood. He had to spend 24 hours in a concrete cell, and when he was released, I said, “I’m so glad you’re free.” He said, “Oh, I was free on the inside because Jesus is with me.”
Jesus said that the new covenant He came to initiate wouldn’t just be a patch on an old religious system but would instead set people free to be made into new creations.
“He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.”
We live everyday, fasting or eating, weeping or rejoicing, in prison or free, working or resting, sleeping or awake, dying or living, for Him because He is with us. He dwells with us, and we abide with Him. Nothing separates us from Him. We are the guests at the wedding banquet in every season, and we partake with thanksgiving because He has invited us to be here.
Isaiah had written long before Jesus came that the fast He would choose would look different than the fasting of the world: “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”
In other words, the fast Jesus chooses for us is to deny ourselves daily, take up our cross, and follow Him. It doesn’t have to do with fish on Fridays or sunrise or sunset because we are guests at His banquet, and the more we pour ourselves out, the more He fills our cup to overflowing.
