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Speaker 1 00:00:35 Well, yeah. You know, um, what's interesting to me is that, that every religious system on the globe, whether it's Hindu or Buddhist, or Muslim, or, or traditional Christian or Mormon or whatever it might be, has a list of prescribed religious practices or activities. And a lot of 'em look the same cuz almost every group prays that Muslims pray, Christians pray. Um, and, and so down the list. So what, what differentiates us, and it's a great question for us to ask ourselves. Like, like why do we pray? Um, why do we do the things we do? Like what going to church or reading our Bible or whatever the list is, the sort of approved list for, you know, Christians in our culture today. Um, you know, what does it mean to us and and what are our motives? What's going on with those things? And those are, that's a question that gets raised, uh, with Jesus in, um, here in Mark chapter two. And it's get, it's raised by people who are really asking him why he doesn't do a religious activity that they want to do.

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Speaker 0 00:02:32 And, and some people believe that the list is clear in the Bible Yeah. Um, about how we're supposed to worship God. And there are certainly a lot of things in there, a lot of disciplines, a lot of commands and calls to be obedient and things that God has said to do in the old and both the New Testament. But yet, if we look at it a little bit deeper, we need to understand that not all of those things, um, mean what they mean at first glance. Mm-hmm. and they're pointing towards other things. And, and, you know, when Jesus steps on the scene, he's trying to get to our hearts and not just our outward actions and motives, um, but people really come up against Jesus. That's what we've been talking about in this series, is challenging religion. Well, it's because Jesus is being challenged by the religious leaders of his day. Right. Right. Um, and so in Mark chapter two, we're calling the Pharisees the religion police because they don't like the way Jesus is doing things. He steps on the scene and he's, uh, not really doing it the way that they feel like he should be doing it. Mm-hmm. If he calls himself the Messiah, the son of God, they have a list of things that he ought to be doing. He shouldn't be hanging out with sinners, Texas.

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Speaker 0 00:04:19 Yeah. So, in Mark chapter two, verse 18, we're gonna get right to this interaction. It says, once when John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and asked, why don't your disciples fast like John's disciples and the Pharisees do. So these Pharisees see, uh, uh, Jesus and his disciples, and they're questioning, how come your guys are different from our guys? Right. How come you, if, if you say that you've, you're you're of the same faith you've come to, you know, save and, and be the Messiah, then how come you're not acting the way that we feel like you should be acting?

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Speaker 1 00:05:48 Now it became an important practice, and it has important reasons for doing it, but I couldn't find a place that actually commands that makes it a non-negotiable for, um, the people who are the followers of God in the Old Testament period. Now, it's important again, it reflects that, you know, it's my, it's my sense that something's wrong. And so I need to rec, it needs to be rectified. It's something wrong in me or something wrong in the nation. So people would fast, um, as a, as a way of expressing their sorrow over a situation. Maybe the nation was facing, uh, a great enemy or the nation had become sinful. And, and so fasting as a sign of grief and mourning and dependence and longing and hope and need, um, and all of that is valid. Um, but by the first century, you know, had kind of like, like many things in faire religion, it had become kind of more about keeping outward checklists. Right?

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Speaker 0 00:07:37 And so in this passage, the, the Pharisees who are the religious leaders at the time, the people who studied the loss group and wanted to follow all of its commands and rules, because they, they believed that that's how they got right with God, and they were blessed by God and they were closer to God. Well, they found their pride in doing this. And so they've narrowed in this conversation. It seems like the topic, like you said is, is fasting, but we could probably spread that out to all kinds of different things if we broadened this for a moment. Yeah. For, for people listening to this talking about religious police or the religion, police in our own lives, there's like you opened up with, there are so many different religions out there that have their own practices and customs, and there are those certain people who take pride in trying to follow those things.

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Speaker 1 00:09:35 Yeah. Or, or you maybe a church that you attended at some point in the past, um, ha was, was structured like that where certain things were expected about how you dressed or, or what you did or didn't do. And there's a long list of dos and don'ts and, um, and, and you know what the, the side effect of that is that everybody's kind of measuring themselves against everybody else. And, and the people who can pull it off or who can look like they pull it off, you know, their stature rises and then they become judgmental of people who, who don't look like they can pull it off or who actually don't. And so, really the outward, the outward appearances or the outward practices might look really the same because whether it's empty religion of some kind, or whether it's true faith in Jesus, you're probably gonna fast. You're probably gonna attend worship. You're probably gonna, you know, serve and give and stuff like that. But, but, um, in, in this toxic religion mindset, the, the religion police are using those kind of lists to, to define who's in and who's out or who's better, who's worse or, or really to prop themselves up in their own pride.

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Speaker 1 00:11:54 Out, no, understands it all. Mm-hmm. . So here's the flow of the passage that we're looking at. The person comes up to Jesus with this question or complaint, and then Jesus gives two responses. The first response I is a, is a illustration from the common Jewish practice of a wedding festival. And then the second response is drawn from other aspects of ordinary life. So, uh, the first response, uh, let me read that in verses 19 through 20, Jesus replied again, they're thinking about fasting. That's the original question, even though it has broader implications. So he's responding right now to the original question about fasting in verse 19. Jesus replied, do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. They can't fast while the groom is with them, but someday the groom will be taken away from them and then they'll fast. So first he says, look, here's a common experience, a wedding celebration. That's my first explanation to you about why my disciples don't fast, because I'm here with them. They should be celebrating.

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Speaker 0 00:13:41 Because Yeah. Because usually there's some pretty good food at weddings. Mm-hmm. and, and a wedding feast is supposed to be a joyous time, a great occasion to, to, to celebrate, um, two people being joined together. And Jesus uses this, this analogy to talk about, um, you know, I'm here. And and there's such deeper meaning to it as well, though, if we think about Jesus, he's the, the bible, the the bride groom. Yeah. And the church is the, the bride of Christ. And, and Jesus is here, the bride is here, or the, the bride groom is here. And, and so it's, it's the inauguration of the start of, of this new thing that Jesus is doing. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Coming to, to get his bride. Yeah. And, and that's what ultimately, you know, the book of Mark is leading to is it's called a gospel, the gospel of mark.

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Speaker 1 00:15:22 Elated. Because one, you know, one day like he pointed, he's gonna be gone. And this is a foreshadowing of his crucifixion, it seems like mm-hmm. at the end of Mark's gospel. Um, but in the meantime, while he's there, you know, um, yeah, there's gonna be a time when his followers would fast, there'll be in dependence on, on God. And, and, and, um, they'll, so their practices will look like the Pharisees. But at the moment, and so what's happening is Jesus is really drawing our attention to why he's asking his critics to consider the meaning of fasting, not just the outward practice of fasting, but the meaning of it. And so, so he's saying, like, fasting is not just checking off a box mm-hmm. , it's not just doing a religious ritual because it's what you're supposed to do, but there's a context in life that says, oh, you know, um, fasting is more than that.

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Speaker 0 00:16:47 And that's, that's what Jesus is always getting to do, getting to is the heart of the matter. Yeah. Um, you know, in his famous sermon on the mound, he handles a lot of that. Um, and really it reveals the heart of the religion, police, the Pharisees. Yeah. Yeah. A great point. Even even people around us today that hold to outward rules and conformity, but don't have that joy of, of resting in and, and celebrating in the fact that, you know, even though we mess up and we don't follow all the things on the list, that, that Jesus Christ, the bride groom came and he, he died for us to set us free from the burden. Yeah. The burden of having, having to measure up it shows and, and, and in, in this context specifically, I think that the Pharisees, um, are jealous because they want to be followed. They want to be the ones that people are, are looking to for wisdom and Yep. And following after as teachers Yeah. And rabbis. And so they're a little bit jealous. And it reminds me of imagine, you know, being that guy at a wedding who's in love with the bride to be, but yet he's, but she's, she's getting married to some other guy's,

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Speaker 0 00:18:14 Yeah. And it's, and the Pharisees like that guy in the crowd when, when the, when the preacher says, does anybody have anything against this wedding? Say it now or forever hold your peace. Yeah. You know, and Yeah.

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Speaker 0 00:18:35 Yeah. Imagine saying, no, he's not the right one for her. I am . Right? Yeah. Uh, because I tick all the boxes. Right. And, and let's just ca cast love out the window. They love each other, but this guy thinks he's the right one for them. And so, in a sense, it seems like the religious people are jealous because they want to be looked at as the authorities.

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Speaker 0 00:19:45 Yeah. And that's a really good point that you bring up that Jesus said that because he says, when you fast. Yeah. And so, you know, as we continue to talk about this, Jesus is saying, fasting isn't, isn't over. Right. He hasn't come to like completely get rid of all of the history and all of the customs of, of Judaism altogether. He's really fulfilling it. And, and there's a moment of time here where Jesus is on earth. That's really, I mean, the clear explanation of this text is that mm-hmm. Jesus is on earth, so they don't need to fast, but, but when he's gone they will fast. They

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Speaker 0 00:21:23 Yeah. Let's explore that just a little bit. I, I think we've talked about spiritual disciplines recently, but, but again, here, fasting is one of those spiritual disciplines, um, can, that can be done in a religious way or it can be done in a, in a heartfelt way to mm-hmm. to to honor God, to get closer to him. Fasting in particular, uh, as we've already talked about, can be, uh, over a mourning, uh, of our own sin. Right. Or, or a, a waiting on the Lord. Yeah. You know, waiting on him and saying, I don't, I don't need anything but you to sustain me. Yep. It's something that strengthens our faith a little bit when we're a little bit too over focused or over overstimulated with things mm-hmm. . Um, but the wrong way then to use fasting, especially in, in our day and age, probably would be to try to get something from God. Yeah. Right. To, to, I'm doing this because it's a command and if I follow his command, then he's going to bless me. And I know that there's this, maybe even this culture even inside of, you know, Christianity, but I know it is in, in other religions that if I fast and pray, he'll actually answer my prayers. So it's like, it's a transactional thing. Right. Okay. God, all fast, but then you gotta do this. Yeah.

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Speaker 0 00:23:05 Yeah. And then even if we think about like re daily devotions, you know, reading, reading the Bible, I, I know me, um, in particular myself, I, there were times where I've had seasons of why did I read the Bible? You know, sometimes it is, I just know that I, I know that it's good for me. Yeah. Even if I don't want to, I make myself do it. That's why it's a, a discipline. Uh, early on though, there, there were motivations. Maybe it wasn't like, you know, to get blessing from God, but sometimes it was, I wanna see how much I can knowledge I can gain so that I can impress people with my knowledge. Right. Um, there were seasons of that in my life and there were seasons of, well I need to read this so that I can share it with other people. Right.

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Speaker 1 00:25:05 Yeah. It's really good point.

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Speaker 1 00:25:50 That's right. We're looking forward to that day mm-hmm. . Yeah. Amen.

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Speaker 1 00:27:16 This is a little bit of a stretch cuz we don't really practice, uh, either of these things necessarily in our culture. We, we understand like, okay, so in that culture, their clothes were primarily probably made of wool because it was a sh a sheep herding culture. And so I don't know if you've ever had a wool sweater and you threw it in the, in the wash and hot and it's shrunk. Mm-hmm. , you know, and you come out with like a mini sweater. Um, so he is saying that he's, when he talks about new cloth, he's talking about cloth that's recently been woven, but it hasn't been washed yet. Or, or rinsed or cleansed. They had a process for doing that. And so you don't take that and, and use it for a patch, cuz as soon as it gets washed, it's gonna shrink and it'll rip away from the, from the old cloth. The same thing with the wines gets saying the same thing. And again, we don't use wine skins anymore in our culture.

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Speaker 0 00:28:55 Yeah. Thi is this maybe meant to be a, a dig at the Pharisees, you know, maybe saying old dogs can't learn new tricks,

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Speaker 0 00:29:08 So, so what, what's, what's the heart at at what he's getting at be So, so is he saying you guys are following the Old Testament but the the, the New Testament is here. I mean I think a lot of people would, might make that conclusion right? That there's the Old Testament in the Bible and then there's the New Testament. Right.

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Speaker 1 00:30:19 So exactly what is the, the old and new incompatibility. And it seems to me that it's more pointing to the idea of that we've been touching on before about how those things are practiced, about the motive, the purpose, the approach, um, the, the mindset in which those things are practiced. There's a whole new way of approaching certain religious activities that are legitimate in and of themselves, but they've been abused or they've been misunderstood. So let's approach them in a whole different way. And the old approach and the new approach that Jesus, that Jesus is bringing are totally incompatible.

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Speaker 1 00:31:49 We don't, we don't live in a theocracy mm-hmm. and, and we don't live in the land that God promised to give his people Israel. That was a unique national covenant. We don't live under that government form of government anymore. So those, those things have to be taken into account. The ceremonial laws fulfilled by Jesus when he went to the cross mm-hmm. , he became the high priest and the, and the sacrifice. But there are other elements of, there's a moral law mm-hmm. and there, so there are other elements we have to think about how do they apply if they do.

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Speaker 1 00:32:31 Mm-hmm.

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Speaker 1 00:33:22 And we, so there's, and we should serve our neighbor and mm-hmm. some other things that were in the community of Israel that are reiterated in the New Testament, like you said, but underlying question is why, why do we do those? Sometimes people have talked about that in terms of law versus grace. You know, um, do we do it because we're checking off these boxes to be worthy before God? Or do we do it as a loving response to the goodness of God that, that he's bestowed on us in Christ.

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Speaker 1 00:34:32 Yeah. It's easy to do,

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Speaker 1 00:34:53 Teach you. Yeah. He's trying to say. And so I, I wanna apply that just as we kinda wrap up here a little bit to two audiences. So yeah, we've applied it to the religious police, to the people who are trying to compare themselves to others. I wanna apply it to, first of all, to people who are coming out of a religious system of some kind. Maybe they're raised in it or whatever, where there's a lot of these kind of external ex uh, uh, expectations. Cuz I wanna say to that person, Hey, don't give up on, um, some of the religious practices they have, meaning they just have a different meaning than what you've been used to. And so sometimes a person coming out of a legalistic religious background will feel like, oh, now I could do whatever I want. Mm-hmm. , you know, I don't have to do, you know, give or attend church anymore or whatever.

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Speaker 0 00:36:49 Yeah. Because ultimately our gratitude and the things that we do for God, um, out of love should, should come from understanding the gospel, understanding who Jesus is, understanding that he is the one who came and laid down his life for us. The church we're called his bride. He is the groom. And, and one day he will come back to get us. I I think it's beautiful that it says that, you know, he was gonna be taken away, um, and then they will fast again. Well, there is a time for all of us believers that we actually do long for the day that we get to be with him again. You know, the Bible says that when, when Jesus left and, and, and John and the book of John, he says, I, I go, but I have to go. And when I go, I'm gonna prepare a place for you.

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Speaker 0 00:38:46 Yeah. Where, where we have on the, the wedding garment, uh, and there won't be any holes in it and we won't need to be. So anything, so anything new, there will be wine there that represents joy. There will be feasting because we are celebrating with him. And I think that's what the Pharisees are missing and have missed. And, uh, maybe you're listening to that and you've missed this all along, been a part of religion, but haven't had the relationship. Uh, we implore you today to start a relationship with God by, by trusting in Jesus. And, and if you've messed up and haven't measured up, that's okay. Jesus has come to set you free and save you and, and take your place so that you could have a relationship with God. So that's our third lesson in, in Mark chapter two, as we see Jesus challenging the religious leaders of his day. Uh, don't miss our final session in, in chapter two and it'll bleed into chapter three a little bit as he has one more interaction, uh, in this section. Uh, God bless you guys, and we'll see you next time.