What About Fasting?

calendar_today December 29, 2024
menu_book Luke 5:33-39
view_list Luke
Sermon 18 in Series

Luke 5:33-39

[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.’”


DEEP SHEET: Sermon Study Questions
1.
   As the new year approaches, how are you thinking about resolutions/fresh commitments to the Lord? How can you be more intentional about prioritizing joy in Christ?
2.   How would you describe the Pharisees’ attitude towards Jesus in this section of Luke? How might the motive of their question/critique have been different from that of John’s disciples (Matthew 9:14)?
3.   What role did fasting play in the Old Testament? How was it being practiced in Jesus’ day by the religious leaders?
4.   What is Jesus’ response to this question/critique? What does it teach us about Christ and discipleship?
5.   What implications does this passage have for fasting today? What are some pitfalls of this practice among believers?
6.   What is the main idea of Jesus’ two illustrations? How does this passage speak to the question of continuity vs. discontinuity?7.   What is Jesus saying to his critics in v. 39? How does this challenge us today?

References: Isaiah 58:6-10; Luke 2:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12; Luke 5:21, 30; Matthew 9:14; Mark 2:18; Luke 6:11; Leviticus 16:29-30; Nehemiah 9:1-2; Joel 2:12-13; Esther 4:1-3, 16; Ezra 8:21; Matthew 6:16; Luke 18:11-12; 4:2; Matthew 9:15; Isaiah 54:5; John 3:29; Ephesians 5:31-32; Acts 13:2-3; 14:23; Matthew 5:4; James 4:9; 1 Corinthians 5:2; Jeremiah 31:31.

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