April 8

Mark 2:18-28 (Click to see scripture)

Bible in One Year Passages:

Journal Entry

Scripture

18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 19 And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but new wine is for fresh skins."
23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" 25 And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, when Abi'athar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?" 27 And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; 28 so the Son of man is lord even of the Sabbath."

Observation

NOTE: There is a lot of material here and I wanted to do some research from various commentaries. What is written for the Observation and Application was either directly taken or modified from rc.net/wcc/readings
(1) There's a time for fasting and a time for 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. But there also comes a time when the Lord's disciples must bear the cross of affliction and purification.
(2) 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 were hard.
(3) The Sabbath was meant to be a time to remember and celebrate God's goodness and the goodness of his work, both in creation and redemption. It was a day set apart for the praise of God, his work of creation, and his saving actions on our behalf. It was intended to bring everyday work to a halt and to provide needed rest and refreshment. In defending his disciples, Jesus argues from the scriptures that human need has precedence over ritual custom.

Application

(1) There is a time when one can rejoice in Jesus’ presence and then there is an equally appropriate time when we need to seek Him while fasting with humility, all the while turning away from our sin.
(2) We cannot hold to the past thinking it is the only way but must be flexible to receiving new work from Him. He desires that our lives be like new wine skins; always open and ready to receive new wine (direction) from the Holy Spirit.
(3) Withholding mercy and kindness in response to human need on the Sabbath was not part of God’s intention.

Prayer

Dear Father in Heaven,

Please keep me teachable, that I may distinguish the appropriate time to celebrate your goodness and presence, and when it is time to fast, discern, and repent. Please let me know when it is time to put away with the old way of doing things and when it is time to try new things that are edifying. Please continue to remind me to put away ritual and tradition in front of the needs of others.

Amen.

--Michael Hong