Message Notes

MANY RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

1. Israel had many religious practices

2. One of them was “fasting”

3. This subject came up and it had to be addressed

14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”
15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.
17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Matthew 9:14-17

THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN THE BAPTISER

1. Many listened to John and were baptised by him

2. They became known as “The disciples of John”

3. They raised a question to the Lord Jesus

a) They practised fasting

b) The Pharisees also practised fasting

c) Why did not the Disciples of the Lord Jesus practise fasting

THE ORIGINAL IDEA OF FASTING

1. It was associated with the Feast of Atonement Leviticus 23:26-32

2. Fasting was not specifically mentioned

3. The phrase “affliction of the soul” was taken to suggest “fasting”

4. It was a day of confessing of sins to God and being reconciled to Him

ADDING TO THE IDEA OF FASTING

1. Israel’s religious leaders added more days of fasting

2. But the fasting they practised was rejected by the LORD

3. This was false fasting Isaiah 58

a) Only giving up food

b) There was no change in behaviour in life

THE LORD’S ANSWER TO THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN

1. He answered with a Parable

a) Parable of a bridegroom

b) No one fasts in a wedding

c) The Lord’s Presence should bring about JOY

2. He went on to give 2 illustrations

a) You cannot patch an old garment with a nee piece of cloth

It will tear the old garment

b) You cannot put new wine in an old wineskin

The wineskin will burst

c) New wine must be put into new wineskin

WHAT DID THE LORD JESUS MEAN?

1. The Disciples of John must seek to increase their knowledge and understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ

a) John’s teaching by itself was not adequate

b) They did not know the Lord Jesus very well

c) They had not come to faith in the Lord yet

2. The teachings of the Lord Jesus

a) His teaching was compared to “new cloth”

i) You do not patch it on old garments

ii) The old garment will tear

b) His teaching was compared to “new wine”

i) The old wineskin cannot contain His new teaching

ii) They need to have a new wineskin to receive the new wine

CHALLENGES

1. Find faith in the Lord Jesus

2. Seek to understand His teachings better

3. Choose the truths taught by the Lord Jesus