See, Jesus is saying, hey, you guys fast
so that way you can get closer to God.
You guys fast so you can be closer to his presence.
You guys fast so that way you can be more righteous.
Well, I am the one that you're fasting to.
I am their righteousness.
And if I am with them right now,
then they have no need to fast.
Hey, welcome back to our devotional
through the book of Matthew.
Today we are on our third part of Matthew chapter nine.
In our last study, we looked at Jesus calling Matthew
away from the tax booth.
Jesus calling Matthew away from the location
that was affiliated with hurt and betrayal.
You see what Jesus did when he called Matthew into service
is he didn't call him into service
and teach him how to be a better tax collector.
He didn't call him into service to teach him
how to be a more honest tax collector.
You see tax collectors at that time
were taking advantage of their own people.
And they had a sworn allegiance
to a kingdom that hated them.
So what Jesus did was call Matthew out of service
from a hateful, barbaric, and bloodthirsty kingdom
and called Matthew into a kingdom of grace and forgiveness.
You see, he called him out of service from oppressors,
from a king, Caesar, who didn't even know Matthew existed.
A king who only reaped the benefit
of what Matthew was doing and what he was bringing
by betraying his own people.
Jesus called Matthew out of that
and into service of a king who knows Matthew
because this king formed his inward parts
and knitted him together in his mother's womb
according to Psalm 139.
A king who wasn't going to use Matthew to reap a benefit
but wanted instead to use Matthew to benefit other people
and put a value in him that Matthew couldn't attain
from anywhere or anyone else.
This calling that Jesus gave Matthew was so profound
and so attractive for outcasts
because it gave outcasts a community
and it gave outcasts a family
that more and more tax collectors and sinners
wanted to be around Jesus.
And Jesus did something that was so foreign
and it was so out of place for that time,
Jesus ate with them.
He had community with them and a relation with them.
And what we saw there was the starts
of revival happening from that.
And so today we're gonna be looking in Matthew 9,
immediately right after that in verses 14 and 15.
It says this,
then the disciples of John came to him saying,
why do we in the Pharisees fast
but your disciples do not fast?
And Jesus said to them,
can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom
is taken away from them and they will fast.
So disciples of John came to Jesus with the question.
The John mentioned here that this verse is talking about
was actually John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus.
In Matthew chapter three,
it tells us that he lived in the desert.
And it says that he wore camel hair on his tunic.
And it says that he ate locusts and wild honey.
And it says that he actually lived in the desert.
And so this is what you would call a man's man.
But what we also get from that chapter
in Matthew chapter three,
is it says that he was declaring repent
for the kingdom of heaven is coming.
And he was baptizing people.
And he was calling out the Pharisees
for their false teaching.
You see John the Baptist's entire ministry
was preparing the way for the Messiah who was coming.
And everyone in the area knew
that John the Baptist was anointed.
Everyone in the area knew that he was important.
They knew that he was righteous.
You see fasting in that day was a practice
that people did to grow closer to God.
And this is something that John the Baptist
was teaching his disciples.
You see the righteous did it because it assumed
that if the person fasted,
they would be made more righteous.
Now scripture does not say if John the Baptist,
his disciple was asking humbly,
or if he was asking out of jealousy.
All we know is that he asked and Jesus gave an answer.
And Jesus said to them,
can the wedding guests to mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them,
the days will come when the bridegroom
is taken away from them and they will fast.
In this culture, people fasted to get closer to God.
John's disciple asked Jesus, why don't his disciples fast?
Let me say it one more time.
In the culture, people fasted to get closer to God.
John's disciple asked Jesus, why don't your disciples fast?
Jesus responded, can a wedding guest mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
You see, Jesus is making a statement.
He's saying, you all fast to draw closer to God.
Well, my name is God with us.
I am the one that you are fasting to.
See, Jesus is saying, hey, you guys fast
so that way you can get closer to God.
You guys fast so you can be closer to his presence.
You guys fast so that way you can be more righteous.
Well, I am the one that you're fasting to.
I am their righteousness.
And if I am with them right now,
then they have no need to fast.
Now, Jesus wasn't giving some odious statement
of saying that believers don't need to fast.
That's not what he was saying.
What Jesus is doing here is.
Jesus is showing them that, hey, I am the Messiah.
I am the one that you have waited for.
So what Jesus is doing here is he is making a statement
that he is God.
And so I just find it really funny
that John's disciple is asking Jesus,
hey, how come your disciples don't fast?
Because the culture was fast so God can get closer to us.
So again, Jesus is not saying we don't need to fast anymore.
In a second statement is saying this,
the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away
from them and they will fast.
You see, fasting is still a part of our culture
as Christians.
So we're not fasting for righteousness,
we're actually fasting in righteousness.
Because the thing with the Christian
is when Jesus lives inside of us,
now that we're fasting, we're not fasting to say,
God, make me more holy.
God, make me draw closer to you.
God, make me righteous.
No, Jesus is saying, hey, you are holy, so fast.
Hey, you are righteous, so fast.
Hey, I am with you.
I am dwelling inside of you.
So now fast and watch what I can do with you,
in you and through you.
Well, I hope this blesses you.
I hope that this inspires you.
And I hope that from this, you know that when you fast,
you're fasting in righteousness and not for righteousness.
God bless you, I hope you guys have a great one.