Was it really about fasting?

Mark 2: 18-22

Here, in these passages, Mark records another spiritual lesson taught by Jesus. Again I can see that this lesson of His is very different from the worlds view of how life should be lived.

Begins with a question to Jesus from people observing Jesus' ministry (v18), "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don't fast?"

John's fasting was about repentance of sins and preparation for Christ coming and the Pharisees fasted to show others how holy they were. Jesus obviously did not disagree with fasting because He fasted Himself (Matthew 4:2), but He had strong feelings on how people chose to fast. Jesus' teaching was not to fast to impress others; fasting to impress others would twist and distort the purpose of fasting. Jesus chose to address not the action of fasting itself, but the heart behind the action.

I can see in my life, and the life of others of how we can distort or twist truths to fit our satisfaction instead of His. This very thing is the downfall of Christianity. I don't want to be so rigid about my own ideas that I neglect the life-changing truths of Christ as the Pharisee's did. When do we get to the point where we are more concerned about humility than selfishness? Jesus laid out a plan that is best for His people, and His life gives me a good idea on how to approach my daily living. We need to be careful not to distort His plan with man-made ideas.

As I continue to walk through the life of Jesus in Mark, I see that Jesus' ministry revolved around issues of the heart. He was more concern about eternity than a quick fix.