Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Mark 2:18-22.
“And
Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the
bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they
cannot fast” (Mark 2:19).
In
Christ’s early ministry he attracted both disciples and critics.
In
Mark 2:18 the critics ask, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples
fast not?” They were essentially accusing him of not teaching orthopraxy, right
conduct.
We have Christ’s response in v. 19 with his own question: “Can
the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?”
He poses here a parable or an analogy. Christ is like a
Bridegroom who has come. In a first century Jewish wedding, the bride and the
wedding party would wait for the coming of the Bridegroom (see Christ’s parable
of the wise and foolish virgins regarding his second coming in Matt 25:1-13). When the Bridegroom arrived the wedding
celebration began.
Here in Mark 2:19 Christ speaks about his first advent or first coming. Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, came into this world to claim his Bride, the people of God, the
Church. Those who are his disciples are “the children of
the bridechamber.” They are part of the wedding party. The coming of the long-expected
Bridegroom (the Messiah) is a time of joy and celebration and gladness. It is
not a time of “affliction” of the soul and fasting.
This
is Christ’s response to these critics. There are times for feasting and times
for fasting. Weddings are not funerals. The Bridegroom has come. Joy and
gladness are in order. This was the proper response of his disciples.
Christ then adds in v. 20 what is
essentially a prophecy of both the cross and his ascension: “But the days will
come, when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they shall
fast in those days.” The disciples will be filled with great sorrow over all
these things.
An underlying point is being made. Christ is taking to himself the
title of being the Bridegroom. If you look at the Old
Testament, you will find a rich treasury of references to the one true God of
the Bible as being the Husband or Bridegroom of his elect people, his Bride.
Consider just one example:
Isaiah 54: 5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy
Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
6 For the Lord hath
called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth,
when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great
mercies will I gather thee.
When Christ declares himself to be the Bridegroom, he is declaring
himself to be God. His first disciples thus confessed, “Jesus is Lord.” They were
filled with joy at his first advent, and his disciples on earth will be filled
with joy again at his second coming when we are called to “the marriage supper
of the Lamb” (Rev 19:9). Christ is the Bridegroom!
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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