The Amazing Commitment of Jesus
009 The Amazing Commitment of Jesus
Mark 2:18-22
January 4, 2026
I want to start by having you turn to the book of Zechariah tonight.
TURN TO: ZECHARIAH 7
· Zechariah was a post-exilic prophet
· Ministry during the time of Haggai and Zerubbabel
· Working to rebuild the temple
· Working to restore true worship
In Zechariah 7 an interesting thing happens.
(READ: 7:1-3)
I won’t give all the backstory here, but the main point you see is that
A delegation has been sent to Jerusalem with a question.
(3)“Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?”
That may at first seem a little confusing since there was no fast or time of weeping prescribed in the Law for the fifth month.
· The first month was Passover
· The 3rd month was Pentecost
· The 7th month was Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Booths
We are a little curious what this fast even is?
Later we’ll read in Zechariah:
Zechariah 8:18-29 “Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.’”
· There we find that it wasn’t only the 5th,
· But also 4th, 7th, and 10th.
What are all of these?
Jewish history helps clarify.
· It was in the 10th month that the siege on Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar
began.
· It was in the 4th month that the city fell to Nebuchadnezzar.
· It was in the 5th month that Nebuchadnezzar burned the temple.
· It was in the 7th month that Gedaliah, the appointed governor was murdered,
thus securing Nebuchadnezzar’s judgment.
All of these fasts had to do with moments of
God’s judgment on His people during the time of the exile.
And here the delegation asks specifically about the 5th month.
This was their time of fasting and weeping
Commemorating the burning of the temple.
Why are the asking about this fast?
Because Zerubbabel is building a new temple, and it seems strange to fast for the old one, when there is a new one standing.
SO THAT’S THE BACKDROP.
But it opens the door for A SERMON from Zechariah.
(READ 7:4-7)
That’s a pretty intense question.
· They want to know if they should keep fasting,
· And God has a question for them:
Why were you fasting to begin with?
Was it even for Me that you did it, or was it for you?
Then Zechariah asks in verse 7, “Are not these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous..?”
In other words, “Hasn’t that always been what God was concerned about regarding your feasting and fasting?”
Keep your finger in Zechariah, but turn now to Isaiah 58
TURN TO: ISAIAH 58
· This would be one of those prophets Zechariah was referring to who already
answered the question about fasting.
(Read the whole chapter)
Isaiah’s point was clear wasn’t it.
· You aren’t doing it for Me, you are doing it for you.
· You don’t care about My desire, you care only for your desire.
· You would gladly feast or fast if you thought it would manipulate Me to fulfill
your desire, but that is missing the point.
That sort of sermon is what Zechariah is referring to
As he answers this delegation who has come to him.
You want to know if you should keep fasting in the 5th month.
God wants to know why you were fasting to begin with?
(READ: 7:8-10)
Notice Zechariah is here quoting men like Isaiah.
· He says, “Thus has the LORD of hosts said…” (past tense)
And it sounds just like Isaiah.
Or even Micah
Micah 6:6-8 “With what shall I come to the Lord And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”
You are inquiring about a fast,
But if you’d read your Bible you’d have your answer.
The problem is that your fathers didn’t listen to those prophets.
(READ 7:11-12)
· They didn’t listen, so wrath came on them.
(READ 7:13-14)
· They didn’t listen, so I invaded their city, burned the temple, and scattered them across the earth.
And now, here you come, some 70 years later wanting to know
If God wants you to keep fasting for a destroyed temple?
They were kind of missing the point weren’t they?
· They were just fasting because fasting is what you do in the 5th month.
· They didn’t even really know why anymore.
Tradition and religion have a way of producing bizarre behavior.
Phrases like “straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel”
Seem very appropriate indeed.
WELL I BRING THAT STORY TO YOUR MIND
Because it is clear that over 500 years later and still Israel is not getting it.
They are still hung up on the shadow and missing the substance.
Matthew 11:16-19 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
· They were like selfish children who want you to weep when they say weep and dance when they say dance, even if the behavior is totally inappropriate.
· They were like selfish children who had no discernment, but who only wanted their way.
AND TONIGHT IN MARK 2, THEY STILL DON’T GET IT
You know that Mark 2 highlights
4 enemy attacks that Jesus faced while on conquest.
First they QUESTIONED HIS CLAIM
Mark 2:7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Next they QUESTIONED HIS COMPANY
Mark 2:16 “When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?”
Later they will QUESTION HIS CHARACTER
Mark 2:23-24 “And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
But before we get there,
Tonight we look at the 3rd ambush of Mark chapter 2.
They QUESTION HIS COMMITMENT
Let’s once again walk through the text
We’ll see this ambush of Jesus and see how Jesus once again handles it.
#1 THE AMBUSH
Mark 2:18
We typically start by discussing Jesus’ advance into enemy territory,
And make no mistake He is there and He is advancing.
Mark 2:13 “And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.”
The first time He came to Capernaum
· He was teaching and got ambushed by a demon.
· Jesus thoroughly handled the demon,
· But the entire crowd got distracted looking only for miracles and healings from His hand.
· He left and went and preached the gospel in other cities.
When He returned to Capernaum
· He was teaching again
· When His ministry was once again ambushed by some men tearing a hole in the ceiling and interrupting the gospel sermon yet again.
· But that time Jesus kept the focus by turning the conversation not to healing, but to forgiveness.
By the time the sermon was over and the paralytic had walked home
The crowd was now more enamored with forgiveness than healing
And everyone was coming to Him and He kept teaching them.
It was during this advance that even Matthew was saved
And many of Matthew’s tax collector friends were saved as well.
JESUS IS ADVANCING.
What you are seeing here is a desperate enemy
Doing anything He can to derail Jesus’ Conquest.
This time they ambush Him
By questioning His level of commitment to God and to the Law.
(18) “John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”
FIRST you notice that “John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting;”
WE DON’T KNOW WHY,
· But clearly this was some sort of ritual.
· Clearly tradition called for this fast.
· The status quo of the religious bigwigs was that this time was to be a time of
fasting.
You should also know that fasting (as we noted in Zechariah) is associated with mourning and weeping.
· There was a certain level of grief and discontentment associated with it.
· They fasted because circumstances weren’t to their liking.
· They fasted to coerce God’s intervention into their unpleasant situation.
Again, we don’t know what specific situation had caused this fast,
But it was so ingrained in Jewish thought that
John’s disciples and the Pharisees both thought it was a good idea
THE FAST MADE SENSE TO BOTH GROUPS.
WE ALSO NOTICE that Jesus was not participating,
AND His abstinence seemed strange.
(It makes me think of something patriotic, like weeping that Rome is there.)
TO ALL WHO WERE WATCHING,
It seemed strange that Jesus would not participate,
And they confront Him over it.
“they came and said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”
· It is clearly a challenge to His commitment level.
· It may even be a challenge to His discernment or perception.
Why wouldn’t You be weeping with us at this time?
Why wouldn’t You be forsaking with us at this time?
He just doesn’t appear to be “all in” by not participating.
And they have called Him out publicly.
That’s the ambush.
· And Jesus will retaliate and go on the offensive.
#2 THE ATTACK
Mark 2:19-22
The first thing you notice is that all 3 of these scenarios present WRONG DECISIONS.
· You have people weeping at a wedding.
· You have people making a bad decision about patching a piece of clothing.
· You have people making a bad decision about new wine
And Jesus is exposing all three scenarios as ridiculous.
FOR EXAMPLE,
Twice He uses the word “cannot” in that first scenario.
· “the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they?”
· “So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.”
It would just be unnatural.
I’m not sure they could even make it happen.
The next two both begin with the same wording:
· “No one…”
As if Jesus is saying,
· “No one is dumb enough too…”
· That would be stupid.
So clearly, Jesus is about to totally discredit their theological position.
They want to know why Jesus isn’t fasting and, in a round about way,
His answer is “because that would be stupid.”
· It would be like straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel.
· It would be like casting your pears before swine.
· It would be like building your house on the sand.
IT WOULD JUST BE DUMB.
That’s the sort of answer Jesus is giving.
But if we look at them a little bit closer,
We’ll find even more about the conquest of Jesus
And just how amazing He actually is.
SO let’s break each of these scenarios out and learn something of Jesus.
1) YOU HAVE FAULTY PERCEPTION (19-20)
They want to know why He isn’t joining them in their current fast.
He responds:
(19-20) “And Jesus said to them, “While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. “But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.”
Jesus clearly uses a marriage analogy.
“attendants of the bridegroom” sounds sort of like groomsmen,
But that’s not what it is, it’s really just the guests to the wedding.
It is people who have shown up to celebrate
The marriage of this groom to his bride.
And Jesus says: “So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.”
He simply means this.
Fasting and weeping at a wedding is out of place.
Do you remember our study of Ecclesiastes?
Ecclesiastes 3:1 “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven”
Then there is that list:
Ecclesiastes 3:4 “A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.”
And then at the end of the list:
Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.”
If you remember that, it is Solomon saying that
There is a proper response for every season of life
And it is God who has determined what that response is.
And just as Solomon said, there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh”
There are times when each of those responses is proper.
· You shouldn’t laugh at traffic accident.
· You shouldn’t weep or grieve at a wedding.
AND THIS IS JESUS’ FIRST POINT.
You accuse Me of missing something because I’m not fasting…
But I have to ask you,
Given what is going on right under your nose, what type of man fasts and mourns right now?
THINK ABOUT MARK 1 & 2
WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO GRIEVE AND WEEP ABOUT?
· Was it Jesus casting that demon out of that man?
· Was it Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law?
· Was it Jesus healing everyone who came to the door that night?
· Was it Jesus offering forgiveness all over Galilee and casting out demons?
· Was it Jesus forgiving that paralytic?
· Was it Jesus healing that paralytic?
· Was it Jesus saving and transforming Matthew?
· Was it Jesus saving and transforming that whole room of tax collectors?
Which of those events did you find it appropriate to start mourning and fasting over?
Which of those scenarios was so grievous to you that you decided to abstain from food and go about mourning and grieving?
Which of those events was so terrible that you had so drastically appeal to God to make it stop?
DO YOU SEE THE POINT?
Jesus isn’t the one with faulty perception, it is them.
Jesus isn’t the one who is out of touch, it is them.
AND THE TRAGEDY IS, THEY ALWAYS SEEM TO BE.
Remember this famous one?
Luke 15:25-32 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ “But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”
· You’re angry when you should be ecstatic!
· You’re grieving when you should be rejoicing!
· You’re fasting when you should be feasting!
· You’re outside when you should be in there dancing!
Jesus wasn’t the one missing the point, they were.
They had faulty perception, they couldn’t see that His conquest was liberating sinners all around Him and that was a reason to rejoice!
2) FOOLISH PURPOSE (21)
Here Jesus gives another analogy,
Which certainly fits the same mold as the first,
Regarding how backward their thinking is.
But there is a unique point to gain here too.
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results.”
Here we have a garment with a hole.
Now, you think THE OBJECTIVE is to fix the hole.
· And so, you get “a patch” and sew it on that old garment in order to fix it.
· The problem is that your patch is “unshrunk” and so it won’t work.
· Over time and washings, and hanging out to dry, that patch is going to shrink and then it will tear lose and both will be ruined.
Now you might be thinking of a different solution: “You should get a patch from something that is already shrunk and then fixt the garment.”
If that is your solution, you have missed the point too.
I’ve told you that I practically grew up in Canton, TX.
We spent a week out of every month there at the trade days.
As a kid we still had a booth out on the grounds and we had various venders that set up around us every month. You get to know them pretty well.
· Across from us was a man who sold socks named J.C.
· I can still hear his jingle to the crowd as they walked by.
One day, I was talking to him and he asked me:
“Do you know the purpose of a sock factory?”
I said, “To make socks.”
He said, “Wrong, the purpose of a sock factory is to make money.”
Jesus here is looking at a group of men
Who are performing an untimely act of fasting and mourning.
And Jesus would in effect want to know what their purpose is?
WHY ARE YOU DOING IT?
And then Jesus insinuates that He knows why they are doing it.
· They are doing it because it is their goal to save their old system.
They’ve been fasting at this time for years
And they don’t want see it die out on their watch.
Also as a kid my family went to Grace Temple Baptist Church in Henrietta.
Every Sunday they would ask for birthdays and anniversaries and if you had had one that week, you came to the front, put money in a little wooden church, and the congregation sang either the happy birthday song or the happy anniversary song.
One Sunday, Bro. Wayne was going strong, and I suspect he had gone longer than at least one of the members was prepared to handle.
In the middle of his sermon, one old man stood up and said, “Bro. Wayne, me and my wife been married 50 years this week,”
· And he started down the aisle to the front.
· The pianist instinctively started playing the happy anniversary song,
· The congregation instinctively started singing,
· And with that the sermon was over.”
All that man cared about that Sunday was getting recognition.
That tradition was more important than anything else.
And we don’t have to go through all the lists of traditions
That churches have fought to keep over all the years.
BUT THAT IS WHAT IS GOING ON HERE.
These disciples of John and these Pharisees
Are in love with the system, not the substance.
And Jesus’ point is clear.
· You’re trying to patch an old cloth, don’t.
· It’s time to discard it.
What was the old cloth they wanted to save?
· It was the adherence to the Law as a means of pleasing God.
Jesus didn’t come to patch the old system, He came to replace it.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 7
(READ 7:11-19)
· The Law was not perfect because it could make nothing perfect.
· That Law had to be set aside so that a new hope could come.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 8
(READ 8:1-13)
· You recognize that as the New Covenant.
· And you’ll notice at the end that the writer of Hebrews said that it was “ready to disappear”
· Let the old shirt go.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 10
(READ: 10:1-3)
· That old system never perfected anyone.
(READ 10:11-14)
· Christ perfected everyone who trusted in Him.
Jesus looked at these men here and said,
“You’re trying to save the wrong thing.”
· It’s like when He told Nicodemus that he “must be born again”.
· Nicodemus didn’t need a renovation; he needed to be scrapped and started
over.
WHAT WAS JESUS’ OBJECTIVE?
TO SAVE SINNERS.
· If that meant eating with sinners, then so be it.
· If that meant rejoicing with sinners, then so be it.
· He wasn’t trying to save Judaism, He was saving sinners.
Not only did this crowd have faulty perception,
But they had a foolish purpose.
Quit patching that old shirt, throw it out.
3) FAILING PLAN (22)
“No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”
The third scenario Jesus mentions is again like the first two
In that it is something that no one would do
If they were discerning correctly.
Here it has to do with putting wine into wineskins.
New wine will still ferment and it will stretch the skins it is in.
· If you have old skins they have lost their pliability and they will burst.
· You have to put new wine into new wineskins.
So “No one puts new wine into old wineskins”
That would be stupid.
As stupid as, say, trying to force the New Covenant
That Jesus is bringing to operate inside of the old one.
Jesus is here to save sinners,
If you’ve been paying attention, He is doing a pretty phenomenal job.
His strategy of preaching and working miracles
Seems to be doing the trick.
Sinners everywhere are being saved.
· Even notorious and hard to reach sinners like tax collectors and the demon
possessed.
I think Jesus knows what He’s doing.
AND YET,
· You are going to question His plan?
· You are going to question His methods?
You want to know why He doesn’t stop what He’s doing
And join you in your traditional fast?
Seriously?
Matthew just gathered a room full of notorious sinners for a salvation feast.
· It is a literal banquet of the most unsavable people in Israel.
· They came, to hear Jesus, but also to have a meal at Matthew’s expense.
AND IT IS WORKING!
Many of those tax collectors are becoming followers of Jesus.
They are being forgiven and saved and transformed.
BUT YOU WANT Jesus to leave the banquet and participate in your fast so that your traditions survive and are honored?
LET ME ASK YOU:
· Has years of keeping your fast contributed at all to the salvation of men like Matthew or his buddies?
· Has your legalism benefitted any sinner that you are aware of?
So why would you ask Jesus
To conform His ministry to fit your old skins?
HE’S NOT GOING TO DO IT.
He’s not going to save your traditions,
· Either your torn shirt or your old wine skins.
He did not come to save the Judaism,
· He came to save sinners, and He is doing it.
I KNOW THE PHARISEES PROBABLY LEFT ANGRY,
But can you imagine how foolish John’s disciples
Must have felt after hearing this?
They, in effect, walked into a worship service where sinners were being saved.
· Everyone was celebrating!
· Everyone was rejoicing!
They decided to turn off the music and told everyone it was time to weep.
· They then tried to get everyone to adopt their Jewish custom.
· And tried to force everyone to adhere to their standard of religion.
BUT JESUS WOULDN’T HAVE IT.
And the church shouldn’t either.
Remember in Acts when the Pharisees said that unless Gentiles got circumcised they couldn’t be saved?
· Same issue.
Remember in Galatians when Peter pulled away from the Gentiles because he was trying to preserve his reputation among Jews?
· Same issue.
Jesus wouldn’t play their nonsensical games and in honesty we shouldn’t either.
· There is nothing wrong with dying to self.
· There is nothing wrong with being all things to all men.
· There is nothing wrong with honoring customs that are important to people.
Just remember who or what it is you’re trying to save.
IF I MIGHT PUT IT BLUNTLY HERE TONIGHT.
Our goal is NOT to save First Baptist Church of Spur.
Our goal is to save sinners in Spur.
The conquest of Jesus was never about tradition.
His commitment was much more amazing than that.
He was committed to saving sinners.
1. It started by going to them.
2. It continued by eating with them.
3. Eventually He would die for them.
THAT IS AMAZING COMMITMENT.
Jesus wins again.