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See, Jesus is saying, hey, you guys fast

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so that way you can get closer to God.

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You guys fast so you can be closer to his presence.

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You guys fast so that way you can be more righteous.

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Well, I am the one that you're fasting to.

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I am their righteousness.

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And if I am with them right now,

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then they have no need to fast.

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Hey, welcome back to our devotional

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through the book of Matthew.

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Today we are on our third part of Matthew chapter nine.

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In our last study, we looked at Jesus calling Matthew

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away from the tax booth.

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Jesus calling Matthew away from the location

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that was affiliated with hurt and betrayal.

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You see what Jesus did when he called Matthew into service

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is he didn't call him into service

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and teach him how to be a better tax collector.

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He didn't call him into service to teach him

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how to be a more honest tax collector.

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You see tax collectors at that time

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were taking advantage of their own people.

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And they had a sworn allegiance

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to a kingdom that hated them.

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So what Jesus did was call Matthew out of service

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from a hateful, barbaric, and bloodthirsty kingdom

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and called Matthew into a kingdom of grace and forgiveness.

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You see, he called him out of service from oppressors,

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from a king, Caesar, who didn't even know Matthew existed.

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A king who only reaped the benefit

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of what Matthew was doing and what he was bringing

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by betraying his own people.

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Jesus called Matthew out of that

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and into service of a king who knows Matthew

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because this king formed his inward parts

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and knitted him together in his mother's womb

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according to Psalm 139.

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A king who wasn't going to use Matthew to reap a benefit

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but wanted instead to use Matthew to benefit other people

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and put a value in him that Matthew couldn't attain

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from anywhere or anyone else.

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This calling that Jesus gave Matthew was so profound

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and so attractive for outcasts

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because it gave outcasts a community

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and it gave outcasts a family

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that more and more tax collectors and sinners

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wanted to be around Jesus.

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And Jesus did something that was so foreign

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and it was so out of place for that time,

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Jesus ate with them.

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He had community with them and a relation with them.

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And what we saw there was the starts

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of revival happening from that.

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And so today we're gonna be looking in Matthew 9,

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immediately right after that in verses 14 and 15.

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It says this,

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then the disciples of John came to him saying,

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why do we in the Pharisees fast

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but your disciples do not fast?

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And Jesus said to them,

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can the wedding guests mourn

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as long as the bridegroom is with them?

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The days will come when the bridegroom

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is taken away from them and they will fast.

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So disciples of John came to Jesus with the question.

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The John mentioned here that this verse is talking about

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was actually John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus.

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In Matthew chapter three,

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it tells us that he lived in the desert.

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And it says that he wore camel hair on his tunic.

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And it says that he ate locusts and wild honey.

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And it says that he actually lived in the desert.

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And so this is what you would call a man's man.

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But what we also get from that chapter

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in Matthew chapter three,

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is it says that he was declaring repent

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for the kingdom of heaven is coming.

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And he was baptizing people.

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And he was calling out the Pharisees

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for their false teaching.

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You see John the Baptist's entire ministry

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was preparing the way for the Messiah who was coming.

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And everyone in the area knew

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that John the Baptist was anointed.

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Everyone in the area knew that he was important.

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They knew that he was righteous.

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You see fasting in that day was a practice

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that people did to grow closer to God.

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And this is something that John the Baptist

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was teaching his disciples.

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You see the righteous did it because it assumed

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that if the person fasted,

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they would be made more righteous.

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Now scripture does not say if John the Baptist,

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his disciple was asking humbly,

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or if he was asking out of jealousy.

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All we know is that he asked and Jesus gave an answer.

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And Jesus said to them,

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can the wedding guests to mourn

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as long as the bridegroom is with them,

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the days will come when the bridegroom

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is taken away from them and they will fast.

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In this culture, people fasted to get closer to God.

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John's disciple asked Jesus, why don't his disciples fast?

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Let me say it one more time.

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In the culture, people fasted to get closer to God.

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John's disciple asked Jesus, why don't your disciples fast?

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Jesus responded, can a wedding guest mourn

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as long as the bridegroom is with them?

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You see, Jesus is making a statement.

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He's saying, you all fast to draw closer to God.

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Well, my name is God with us.

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I am the one that you are fasting to.

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See, Jesus is saying, hey, you guys fast

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so that way you can get closer to God.

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You guys fast so you can be closer to his presence.

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You guys fast so that way you can be more righteous.

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Well, I am the one that you're fasting to.

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I am their righteousness.

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And if I am with them right now,

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then they have no need to fast.

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Now, Jesus wasn't giving some odious statement

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of saying that believers don't need to fast.

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That's not what he was saying.

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What Jesus is doing here is.

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Jesus is showing them that, hey, I am the Messiah.

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I am the one that you have waited for.

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So what Jesus is doing here is he is making a statement

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that he is God.

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And so I just find it really funny

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that John's disciple is asking Jesus,

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hey, how come your disciples don't fast?

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Because the culture was fast so God can get closer to us.

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So again, Jesus is not saying we don't need to fast anymore.

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In a second statement is saying this,

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the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away

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from them and they will fast.

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You see, fasting is still a part of our culture

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as Christians.

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So we're not fasting for righteousness,

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we're actually fasting in righteousness.

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Because the thing with the Christian

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is when Jesus lives inside of us,

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now that we're fasting, we're not fasting to say,

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God, make me more holy.

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God, make me draw closer to you.

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God, make me righteous.

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No, Jesus is saying, hey, you are holy, so fast.

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Hey, you are righteous, so fast.

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Hey, I am with you.

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I am dwelling inside of you.

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So now fast and watch what I can do with you,

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in you and through you.

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Well, I hope this blesses you.

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I hope that this inspires you.

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And I hope that from this, you know that when you fast,

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you're fasting in righteousness and not for righteousness.

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God bless you, I hope you guys have a great one.