Luke 5:33-39 | A Question About Fasting

Summary

Jesus is doing a new thing, and he invites us to reframe the way we think about him by using three illustrations: you wouldn't fast at a wedding, patch an old garment with a brand new piece of cloth, or pour new wine into old wine skins. Pastor James Westbrook from Realm Church in Oakland reminds us that, Jesus always surprises us, and this story is no exception.

Text

Luke 5: 33-39

A Question About Fasting

[33] And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” [34] And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? [35] The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” [36] He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. [37] And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. [38] But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. [39] And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”