Old Ways and New Ways

Now, John’s disciples and the Pharisees were often fasting. So, John's disciples and some others came to Jesus and asked, “Why is it that John’s disciples and the Pharisees and their disciples frequently fast and pray, but Your disciples keep on eating and drinking?”

Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn and fast while He is with them? As long as He is with them, they cannot fast. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast."

Jesus then told them parables about new ways and old ways: “No one sews a patch of new, unshrunk cloth onto an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, and a worse tear will result.

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and both will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Jesus then made an observation about those who prefer and maintain the old ways over the new. “And no one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”

(See Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39)

(Editor's Note: In biblical times and in some cultures today, mourning is a necessary and important human experience. When Jacob thought his son Joseph was dead, he mourned for many days (Genesis 37:34). When Moses died, the people of Israel wept and mourned for thirty days (Deuteronomy 34:8). And at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus noted that those who mourn are blessed and will be comforted (Matthew 5:4).

Fasting and mourning go hand in hand throughout the Bible. For example, the prophet Joel put fasting and mourning together, along with weeping and inward sorrow (Joel 2:12-13). And when Nehemiah heard the bad news of Jerusalem’s devastation, he wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed (Nehemiah 1:4).)

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