Mark 2:18-22

The Jews had set many religious rules about how to live. Some of them required them to fast – to not eat for long periods of time. But Jesus and his disciples didn’t seem to follow these rules. The religious leaders thought that Jesus’ followers should fast and be miserable together with them, so they came and asked him about it. The people were shocked that Jesus and his disciples were clearly having a good time eating and drinking. The religious leaders taught that if you were properly religious, you shouldn’t enjoy life at all. Instead, you had to go around fasting and being solemn and serious all the time. But Jesus uses the example of new wine, which was basically unfermented grape juice. He says, you don’t put fresh grape juice into an old wineskin, in which the previous wine had fermented, because obviously, the wineskin would burst.…

The Jews had set many religious rules about how to live. Some of them required them to fast – to not eat for long periods of time. But Jesus and his disciples didn’t seem to follow these rules. The religious leaders thought that Jesus’ followers should fast and be miserable together with them, so they came and asked him about it. The people were shocked that Jesus and his disciples were clearly having a good time eating and drinking. The religious leaders taught that if you were properly religious, you shouldn’t enjoy life at all. Instead, you had to go around fasting and being solemn and serious all the time. But Jesus uses the example of new wine, which was basically unfermented grape juice. He says, you don’t put fresh grape juice into an old wineskin, in which the previous wine had fermented, because obviously, the wineskin would burst.…

Being willing to let go of my initial vision of the birthday cake was imperative. I had to open my hand, hold it loosely so He could give something more.…

Open Matthew 6:16-18. There’s a fascinating background to Jesus’ teaching on fasting. After all, Judaism was primarily a religion of feasting.…