I was hoping someone had something for the following :
Mat 9:14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not ?
I am a bit confused by this verse. John seemed to have his own disciples. What exactly was he teaching them ? It seems they were a seperate group from the Pharisees but its confusing to understand why his ministry seemed seperate from the disciples of Christ ?
Any help would be great !
Hello,
I think that is an excellent question. He told them that he must decrease and Jesus must increase. I don't believe John was teaching them anything like heresy, such as the heresy that was found in the first verses of Isaiah 58. Even Jesus said:
Matt. 23: 1
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.I'm going to give John the benefit of the doubt and say that he certainly was admonishing them to make straight the way of the Lord, Who came to do a different, much better kind of fast -- one that is pleasing to the Lord:
Isaiah 58:6
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
But I believe, even though the bible doesn't directly say it, that the Pharisees put John's disciples up to the question in Matthew's Gospel account; perhaps they were infected with the leaven of the Pharisees? I say that because it was only 3 verses earlier in verse 11 of Matt 9 that the Pharisees were hounding Jesus over his eating with "tax collectors" and "sinners." But they apparently
didn't hear Jesus' reply, or didn't believe his report:
vs. 13
"But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."However, in Luke's account of the Gospel, it appears it was the Pharisees who asked Jesus the question, not John's disciples:
Chapter 5:
30 And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured to His disciples, saying, "Wherefore are you eating and drinking with the tribute collectors and sinners?"
31 And answering, Jesus said to them [the pharisees and scribes], "Those who are sound have no need of a physician, but those who have an illness.
32 I have not come to call the just, but sinners, to repentance.
33 Yet they [the pharisees and scribes] said to Him, "The disciples of John are fasting frequently and are making petitions; likewise also those of the Pharisees; yet yours are eating and drinking."Jesus, did in fact fast:
Matt. 4
1 Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the spirit to be tried by the Adversary.
2 And, fasting forty days and forty nights, subsequently He hungers.John 4:34
"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.And He told his disciples that certain "demons" (sic) didn't come out without prayer and fasting:
Matthew 17:21:
But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. (This verse is not in the CLV, however)
Mark 9:29:
And He replied to them, This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting. (In the CLV, "and fasting" is not in that verse.)
No physical rituals saves spiritually, but a physical fasting is not carnal or oppressive, necessarily, and even though we know that Jesus' words are "spirit," they're not spiritual when money and prayer are being spoken about, curiously enough (that's
always the "real" deal! haha!). But it's how they, at that time, were fasting that Jesus said should be done in a way that wasn't like the "hypocrites" which do appear to men to be fasting, but really were only disguising their faces.
I hope that helps a little.
Again, great question!
Gina