ALTHOUGH I’M NOT a full-time minister, I’ve done dozens of weddings over the years. Some, naturally, were held in churches. Some were in more picturesque locations, with a view of the ocean or mountains. And some were in less expensive settings, like private backyards or even a driveway.
But all were joyous occasions. Two people were pledging their love and devotion to each other, in the sight of God and the friends and family who had been invited to witness the event. Their promises were filled with… well, promise, as they anticipated their life together.
Of course, weddings can also be stressful events, especially when people feel the pressure to have everything go perfectly. And there can be unresolved family conflicts that simmer just below the surface, though these are usually kept in check by a shared sense of propriety.
But some people are truly ready to celebrate. I remember one tall young man who was over the moon at being chosen as the best man. When we did a quick rehearsal, he happily followed every directive I gave him, calling me “Chief.” And when his moment came during the processional, walking with the maid of honor on his arm, he beamed and pranced. And I do mean pranced; he was joyfully high-stepping down the aisle, infecting others with his enthusiasm.
That’s the image that comes to mind as I read Luke 5. Somebody, perhaps the disciples of John the Baptist, came to Jesus with a question. At least it’s phrased as a question in Matthew and Mark, whereas in Luke it’s phrased as an observation that implies a “Why?”
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.” (Luke 5:33, NIV)
Technically, the Pharisees as a group didn’t have “disciples,” but the scribes among them might. And Matthew’s wording is more general; it’s John’s disciples saying “we and the Pharisees fast often” and then asking Jesus why his disciples don’t.
It may have been an honest question, and Jesus honored it with a response:
Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.” (vss. 34-35)
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus, like the prophets of old, is critical of the hypocritical way fasting (along with prayer and almsgiving) can be nothing more than religious show, meant to make an impression of piety on others (Matt 6:1-18). Here, though, he accepts that fasting has its place. It can be an expression of mourning and prayerfully seeking God’s will, especially during times of trouble. Some have suggested that John the Baptist’s disciples may have been fasting because John was in prison.
But Jesus’ answer suggests that now is not the time for mourning. He portrays himself as the bridegroom and his disciples as the groom’s friends, as if at a wedding celebration. It’s a time for joy, not sorrow; for feasting, not fasting. One might think here of the prophecy of Isaiah, in which Jerusalem’s days of sorrow would be ended:
As a young man marries a young woman,
so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you. (Isa 62:5)
We might also go back to what Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19)
And having captured everyone’s attention, he added, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (vs. 20).
Jesus was already proclaiming the good news, and continued to do so. Through his ministry of healing, he freed people from the oppression of demon possession, illness, disability, and the shame and isolation that accompanied them. The “year of the Lord’s favor” had arrived. Those who followed Jesus had already begun to realize that; why should they mourn? Why should they fast?
Darkly, however, Jesus also hints that a day of mourning will come. When the bridegroom is taken away, his friends will grieve and fast. He may, of course, be pointing to his crucifixion, which the disciples would later have a hard time accepting even beforehand, no matter how many times he tried to tell them. Or, thinking more long-term, he might also be speaking of his Ascension back to the Father, a story Luke will tell in the first chapter of the book of Acts. It doesn’t have to be either-or; both departures were part of God’s plan and Jesus’ mission.
. . .
WHAT’S THE PLACE of fasting today? First, we should remember Jesus’ warnings about hypocrisy in Matthew 6. There’s always the temptation to do any act of piety for the wrong reasons; instead of seeking God, we may be seeking the approval and admiration of others. If you’re going to fast, Jesus teaches, do it in private, so that only your Heavenly Father knows.
But second, we must also accept that the time and place in which we live is cause for both joy and sorrow. It is possible to have the joy of the Lord while also properly mourning the brokenness of our world, or even our lives and relationships. Things are not as they should be, and are sometimes desperately out of whack. Yet we believe that the bridegroom has come and trust that he will come again to put all things in order.
“Blessed are those who mourn,” Jesus taught, “for they will be comforted” (Matt 5:4). We mourn, but not as those who have no hope. In that context, we might fast to seek God’s will in the midst of the complicated realities of life. But we do so in anticipation of the glorious wedding feast that is to come.
