Sermon for Sunday, Aug 24th, 2025 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament Reading:
[Joe 1:13-15 ESV] 13 Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. 14 Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. 15 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.
New Testament Reading:
[Rev 19:6-10 ESV] 6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”– for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Gospel Reading:
[Mar 2:18-22 ESV] 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.”
Sermon Text:
[Mat 9:14-17 ESV] 14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is 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 tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
Introduction
When is the time of fasting?
I gave a sermon back in April (“Fast in Secret” from Matthew 6:16-18) where we learned some about fasting. We learned that Biblical fasting may be done in private (individually) or might be done in public (corporally) as when a king calls a nation to fast. And we learned about the reasons to fast (because of sin, because of God’s imminent judgment, because of special occasion, and ultimately for drawing us near to God in prayer.)
Now we look at the question “when is the time of fasting?”
There is a sense in which you can always fast, in our time at least. But what our passage shows today is that there are times when fasting is allowed and times when fasting is not necessary.
The timeline of fasting looks like this:
1. From Old Testament times until the coming of Christ it was fully legitimate to fast when done in a holy way.
2. But when Christ appeared on earth, He declared a break from fasting, as we’ll see in our passage.
3. Then, from Christ’s death until his return we may fast. This is the time that we are in.
4. And finally, in the end, in heaven we shall fast no more.
So the time of fasting is when Christ is NOT present.
When He IS present, it is a time not of fasting but of feasting.
The passage we have — just 4 verses — can be broken down to “the question” (verse 14) and “the answer” (verses 15-17)
I. The Question (v. 14)
The question comes not from the Pharisees or Scribes but from the disciples of John the Baptizer.
14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
While this is a question from the disciples of John the Baptizer, some think that it is a question that may have been pushed by the Jewish religious authorities.
Those disciples say “Why do WE AND THE PHARISEES fast.” It is doubtful that those disciples would have asked the question in that way unless it was something the Pharisees encouraged them to ask.
We had already seen the pharisees saying that Jesus eats with sinners. Now they are saying he doesn’t fast. The claim is that He is breaking the Old Testament law and being unholy; sinning with the sinners.
But much of the practice of fasting had been added by the Jewish religious leaders. There were fasts no doubt in the Old Testament upon special occasions, but what had developed in Jewish tradition was a twice-weekly required fast. So, watching Jesus for even a few days they would conclude “he is not fasting.”
Application: Some Warnings
A. A warning against being used for evil.
We ought to be warned that “Evil men will use good men for their cause.” The Pharisees sow seeds of doubt into the disciples of John. And it is evident that there are disciples of John who are not following Jesus. Even, later in Acts 19:1-3 Paul encountered some in Ephesus who know only of “John’s Baptism” and not the baptism of Jesus Christ.
So the Pharisees are evil men using good men for their cause. And what is their cause? It is twofold – legalism (salvation by works) and self-glory (drawing attention to self rather than to God).
We are to be warned against these attitudes because they still occur in our day.
B. A warning against legalism.
I had a hiker stop by just the other day who had a peculiar beard style — something like a reverse goatee — and he quoted from the Old Testament saying “do not trim the corners of your beard!” But with Christ we no longer are bound by that law.
C. A warning against self-glory.
And we are to be warned against the attempts to draw attention to ourselves. One of the worst things I see in our society — and I’ve seen this particular in beach towns — is drag racing, revving your engine, trying to get as much attention as possible along the main strip of the town. Such is not the behavior of Christians. I’ve always seen it as something akin animalistic mating ritual like the peacock who displays his feathers or the frilled-neck lizard that dances.
Consider, Pro 20:6 ESV] 6 Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?
Many draw attention to themselves. And brag both to Man and God(!) that they are righteous. But we ought to be humble, and give glory only to God.
D. A warning against being duped by false believers.
Then we have a warning against being duped by false believers. See the boasting of the men: “we and the Pharisees fast often.” But while they boast, Matthew Henry reminds us “false and formal professors often excel others in outwards acts of devotion, and even of mortification.”
Christians pray in private.
Christians fast in private.
Unbelievers do all things with the most possible visibility so others will think they are righteous.
So we had the question “Why do you not fast?” and now the answer from the Lord Jesus Christ.
II. The Answer (v. 15-17)
Jesus gives an answer providing three examples, three metaphors for understanding.
His answer clarifies that “NOW (that time in which Christ is on the earth) is NOT a time for fasting.”
A. Example 1 – wedding. (v. 15)
His first example in his answer is a wedding example.
15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
A wedding is a time for rejoicing, not mourning. A time for feasting, not fasting.
Who is the bridegroom? It is Jesus.
Who is the bride? It is the church as we learn in other places in Scripture.
And there is a time for everything as Ecclesiastes says, but now is the for rejoicing, not for the mourning. The messiah, the promised one of Israel, is here. Why would the disciples fast; they are not in a desperate state but an ecstatic joyful state. Immanuel – God is with us.
Jesus says “the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” The day will come when Christ dies on the cross. He will be taken. So there is just this brief break, this brief interval of time when Christ is on the earth that fasting is not needed. Before Christ and After Christ there is fasting. But in the presence of the Lord – on earth with Christ and in heaven with Christ FOREVER there is no need for fasting, as joy overcomes sorrow.
And we do see the apostles fast again after Christ ascended in heaven.
[Act 13:2-3 ESV] 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
[Act 14:23 ESV] 23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
So Christ’s answer is satisfying. It is not sinful for them not to fast; the time for fasting will come again. This isn’t to say that we MUST fast in our day, only that we CAN fast and have the benefit of that practice as it draws us to God in prayer. We fast now not for salvation or drawing attention to ourselves but to draw us closer to God. You ought to consider fasting if you are medically able to do so.
Now, this is the first of 3 examples in Jesus’ response. The wedding. Then there is the cloth, and the wineskins. I want to explain the meanings of each of these statements and then relate back to the main point of the answer.
B. Example 2 – cloth. (v. 16)
We have the cloth:
16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.
This is good wisdom for things of this world — don’t put new cloth on an old garment (it won’t work). But Jesus is actually pointing to a greater spiritual truth in this statement.
The connection with all of these three answers is that “there is something NEW.”
As Jesus’s presence bring something new: an end to fasting for a time,
So does his life bring in “a new cloth,” an “unshrunk” cloth.
It is apparently that the “new cloth” is Jesus and the New Covenant
while the old garment is the Old Covenant. (or if not the Old Covenant itself, the additions/change of the Pharisees)
And they don’t mix!
Jesus isn’t just “patching” a problem,
he is solving all problems with the New Covenant.
John MacArthur says in his commentary: “Jesus’ new and internal gospel of forgiveness and cleansing cannot be attached to the old and external traditions of self-righteousness and ritual.”
So it is that Jesus came not to patch up the Old Covenant but to clothe His people in the New Covenant.
C. Example 3 – wineskins.
This idea of change, of something new, comes then in the third example which is on “wineskins.”
17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
As the New Covenant doesn’t patch-up the Old Covenant, so is the New Covenant NOT CONTAINED within the Old Covenant with its additions by the Pharisees.
Jesus is again saying “something profound is happening, something new.” And that is Jesus, the messiah is ushering in a new age.
What is this new way? What is it that Christ is ushering in?
Not only that there is a break from fasting, matching with the eternal rest in heaven,
but that there is a way of Salvation that is not of works but is of grace.
It is not works + grace as if grace is the patch on the garment.
Nor is it grace that fills in the works of man, like wine filling a wineskins.
It is something new entirely.
Something that brings all praise to God, and attention not to man but to Him, to Jesus Christ.
That is an overriding truth that I often come back to – we should boast only in the Lord. If you are boasting in yourself you’ve done something wrong. You’ve missed the bus. You’ve taken a wrong turn, perhaps as wrong as when Bugs Bunny ends up on the moon after taking a wrong turn in Albuquerque.
Conclusion:
What should we conclude. Let us conclude this:
A true believer forsakes legalism and all drawing attention to self, fasting only as an expression of genuine spiritual concern along with prayer to God. [REPEAT]
So when is the time for fasting?
From Christ’s ascent to heaven until his 2nd coming we are in a time of fasting. Not commanded, but can be done to your benefit.
Fasting expresses a hungering and yearning for Christ’s return.
There was fasting (before Christ), no fasting when he was present.
Now we fast again, but then (in the Heaven to come) we shall fast no more, for we shall be in the very presence of the Lord. Then will be the heavenly feast. The wedding supper of the Lamb.
[Rev 19:6-9 ESV] 6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”– for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”