THE JOURNEY Lent Week 2 - Humbling our Souls Before the Father Purposeful Fasting The purpose of fasting is to afflict the soul or to humble one s soul before God (Lev. 23:26-32; Ps. 69:10). The humbling of our souls will most likely incur God s favor in times of need (Ezr 8:21-23, Isa 57:15; 66:1-2). Jesus Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6:16-18) Jesus said when, not if. Fasting is part of the spiritual discipline which includes giving, and prayer in Jesus sermon on the mount. Jesus said, when we fast we should not be like the hypocrites, but to fast before the Father in secret. When we fast before the Father with the right attitude and motive, Jesus said, your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Mark 2:18-22 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 destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins. 1
My Prayer for You In this Lent season, my prayer is that through the story of Jesus, in the gospel of Mark, you would learn to see and hear the heavenly vision, the heavenly voice of the Father speaking directly to you. My prayer is that the voice of the Father will change you, mould you, make you somebody new, the person He wants you to be. That you would also discover in Jesus story, by Mark, the normally hidden heavenly dimension of God s world for the purpose of transforming this world. Why was it necessary for Jesus to be baptist? That brings us to our second point, the temptation of Jesus. Introduction My prayer for this Lent Season we are in, is that we will hear the voice of the Father speaking directly to us, both as a Church and as disciples of Jesus Christ. My prayer also is that the voice of the Father will change you, mould you, make you somebody new, the person He wants you to be. That you would also discover in Jesus story, by Mark, the normally hidden heavenly dimension of God s world for the purpose of transforming this world. Last week, in Mark 1, we heard the Father speaking to us through Jesus; You are my wonderful son; you make me very glad. This week and until Easter will hear the Son speaking to us beginning with Mark 2:18-22. The question for us to consider for Mark 2:18-22 is what is the purpose of fasting? & Should I fast? Let s look at the Gospel of Mark and hear the Father speaking to us through the words and life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mark 2:18-22 In Mark 2:18-22, we encounter the people, questioning Jesus action and thinking regarding fasting. We see first, Jesus and His disciples were criticize by the people. The people said; Why do John s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? (2:18). Let s take a step back and ask why were John s disciples and the disciples of 2
the Pharisees fasting? Every nation have certain Major events that they commemorate like, in Australia and New Zealand, they commemorate ANZ in April 25 to remember their soldiers who thought and died in WWII. The most emotional one of lately, in the nation of the USA is September 11. Like ANZ and September 11, the Jewish people of Jesus day where commemorating major events that have happen to their nation for centuries. Often they fasted as a means of commemorating these events. These where horrific events that scared their nation for centuries. For example, the terrible event of when Babylon had come and destroyed Jerusalem in 587 BC, burnt the Temple to the ground, and taken the people into captivity in a land far away. This, and other events, were painful memories for the people of Israel. However, we know the cause behind these disastrous events. God had made a covenant with His people. If they worship and serve the true God, they were blessed by God, and they lived in peace among their enemies. However, if they worship and serve foreign gods, they were disciplined and often meant God using other nations to disciplined them. John s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees were fasting, commemorating events of which God used to discipline His people for their sins. Furthermore, commemorating these events were also used as a motivation for uprising, and a call for revenge against their enemies. This is what fasting meant for the Jewish people during Jesus time. Instead of draining themselves with sorrowful fasting, Jesus basically said to the people, No! We are not going to fast like the rest. We are not going to do uprising and call for arms against our enemies. Jesus was not an anti Jewish traditionalist. He was a devout Jew. However, Jesus was about to bring a time worth fasting for, something new. And because it s something new, the old had to die, because this something new the old cannot mix, like water and oil, one will spoilt the other. Jesus Response to the People Jesus response to the people s criticism by telling them about weddings, bridegroom, and celebration with new wine, food and dancing. Almost seem inappropriate and offensive. In a roundabout way, what Jesus is saying is that this fasting, that you are all doing, has nothing to do with the Kingdom of the Father. Instead, Jesus said to the people; Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? (Mark 2:19). What is Jesus trying to say here? At first, wedding often represents hope and forward looking. In contrast, funerals and/or a commemorating events of the past, are times when people focus their attentions on history. So Jesus is saying No! This is not a time for a funeral or focusing on the sad events of national history. Instead, Jesus was bringing the time of restoration, of new life, of the new start for which Israel had longed. 3
Secondly, weddings and bridegroom, means that time is fulfilled and God s kingdom is arriving. Jesus was not teaching a new kind of religion, or a different moral code. He was launching the project that was designed to fulfill all Israel s dreams, to undo the long years of shame and sorrow and replace them with a great celebration, a sort of wedding party. Jesus was bringing into being the reality for which the Temple had been one of the great advance signposts: God s sovereign and saving presence in the midst of His people. This was a time for looking forward to the great things God was beginning to do, not backwards to the times when Israel had been punished for her failures and infidelities. The Kingdom of God Purpose for Fasting The question remains for us, What is the purpose of fasting, and should be fast today? What then is the purpose of fasting? Firstly, Jesus is saying that the fasting the people are doing falls outside everything that God is trying to do among His people. Jesus, I think in reflecting on his response to the people, was annoyed with the reason why His Jewish fellow countrymen were fasting. The Jews of Jesus day, had changed a biblical spiritual discipline of fasting, into a custom that Jesus later points out in Mark 7; You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men (v. 8). The fasting that the people where doing, and Jesus was against, was a tradition made my men commemorating certain events. In the Old Testament (OT) there is one fasting commanded by the Law. That fasting is only during the event of the day of atonement. Leviticus 16 states; 29 And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict [or fast] yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict [or fast] yourselves; it is a statute forever (Leviticus 16:29-31). The way Moses use the word afflict in Leviticus 16:29, 31 refers to fasting which further means to refrain from doing something. In the case of fasting, it means to refrain from consuming food. While individuals fasted in the OT, the only national fast mentioned in the Law was during the day of atonement. The day that was set aside for the cleaning of the soul, where sins are clean before the Lord. In a way, Jesus is saying to the people, the day of atonement has arrived. This is the new thing in town. The Lamb of God is here for that atonement. A day set a side by God, to atone for the sins of His people, Israel, and for the world. That s the purpose why we should be fasting, for the cleansing of our souls from our sins. In fact, that s our journey right now, during Lent. A time to fast, or to afflict ourselves, or as David prayed in Psalms 69:10 to humble ourselves with fasting before the Lord. 4
Should I Fast? Our second question is; Should I fast? The answer is Yes! We know that Jesus fasted forty days in the wilderness. The purpose of Jesus fast in the wilderness was to take upon Himself the life of Israel, and to confront evil and its distortion of the truth of the Kingdom of God. Jesus also taught about fasting in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6. Jesus lays out three spiritual disciplines for His disciples to follow. The first is giving (Matthew 6:1-4). Jesus says, when you give, not if you give. When you give don t announce it to the world, but give in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you (v.3-4). The second spiritual life discipline, is prayer (Matthew 6:5-15). Again Jesus said here is the right attitude of how you should pray; when you pray, pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you (v.6). The third spiritual life discipline is fasting (Matthew 6:16-18). Again Jesus said, when not if, you fast do not announce it for the world, but do in secret before your Father, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Should I fast, the answer is yes! Giving, Prayer and Fasting are three key spiritual discipline strongly encouraged by our Lord. These discipline are there for us to enable our souls to trust in God with humility. This is the way of life for those who consider themselves a disciple of Jesus. Conclusion My encouragement to us as individuals and as a Church is to maximize this Lent Season and practice these three spiritual disciplines of giving, prayer and fasting. One of the most powerful combination is prayer and fasting. You can do this in a number of ways, aside the Lord leads you. My encouragement to us is to fast, a meal or two during the week, go to a quite place and just be with your Father either during breakfast, or lunch or dinner time. When you are with your Father, just pray this simple prayer; Here I am Father, have mercy on me. Or what I also do, during these moment is simply pray the Lord s prayer, and pause after every line, and be still and silence before the Father. This takes me 15-30 minutes. Every moment I fast and pray, I come out with a deep sense of humility, that I did not have going into my time with the Father. Then throughout the day, my soul becomes so sensitive to the things of God and to others around me. That is the purpose of fasting. A time to humble ourselves before the Father in order for our souls to seek for the forgiveness of our sins, and to prepare the soul to hear what the Spirit of the Father is saying to us. Would you join me during Lent, to humble our souls before the Father? 5