Part of an e-mail Bible study on the Gospel. He told them this parable: 'No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on. New Wine in Old Wineskins.

Text Luke 5:33-39 [33] They said to him, 'John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking. Reggae Anthology Winston Riley Quintessential Techniques Raritan more. ' [34] Jesus answered, 'Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? [35] But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.' [36] He told them this parable: 'No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. [37] And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.

[38] No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. [39] And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.' ' Exposition Jesus has called Levi to be a disciple (5:27-28) and Levi has responded by holding a banquet attended by his tax collector friends (5:29). By this time in Jesus' ministry, the Pharisees and scribes are watching him carefully, seeking ways to criticize him -- fairly or not -- much like presidential candidates pick at an opponent trying for an advantage in the public eye. When they object to Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus responds that he had come as a doctor to heal the sin-sick; no wonder he spent time with sinners. This week's passage continues the Pharisees' criticism: 'John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking' (5:33).

The implication is that Jesus and his followers aren't as spiritual as John the Baptist and the Pharisees. Cephalometric Tracing Program more. Fasting in the Bible and Jesus' Day (5:33) So Jesus doesn't fast enough, the Pharisees say?

We see fasting throughout the Bible as a minor theme. Moses, Elijah, Daniel, and Jesus all went through prolonged fasts as they sought God. Times of national calamity and personal bereavement sometimes called for fasting as a means of humbling oneself, mourning, and seeking God's mercy (Deuteronomy 9:18; Nehemiah 9:1; Esther 4:16; 1 Samuel 7:6; 31:13; 2 Samuel 1:12; 3:35; 12:16, 21-23; Psalm 35:13; Jeremiah 36:6; Daniel 6:18; 9:1-3). At least once a year on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the Jews would fast, or 'afflict their souls.'