“Why do your disciples not fast?” This is the questioning challenge that the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees put to Jesus. Fasting was a part of Jewish piety and religious life. It was a part, but not the most important part, of their life with God. We hear similar questions today: Why don’t you pray the rosary? Why don’t you abstain from meat every Friday of the year? While these are good pious practices and devotions, they are not the center of our Christian faith. The center is Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.
Jesus tries to lead these Jewish disciples of John and the Pharisees to recognize that something new is happening, it is not a time for fasting but for rejoicing! It is a wedding and not a funeral. While Jesus and his disciples are good and faithful Jews something new is happening which goes beyond or is even outside the limits of Jewish faith. Our first reading from Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the new high priest. As high priest he offers prayers and supplications in obedience to the will of his Father. There is something new and earth shattering here. Unlike the Jewish high priest before him, Jesus “became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” (Hebrews 5:9). He is the Word made flesh who shows us the Father.
While Jesus is firmly rooted in Judaism there is also something new here, new wine. The new has precedence over the old: “Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.” (Mark 2:22).
While we value traditions and customs, be they in our country, family, or church we need to remember that the new in Jesus Christ is the optic through which we evaluate and judge all these traditions and customs. Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. A day for us to reflect on King’s prophetic stance against racism and hatred and his call to service and sacrifice. Today as Christians, we need to examine our own attitudes and words and ask forgiveness for our sins of racism and prejudice. Like us examine ourselves in the light of these words from John:
“Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (1 John 4:20-21).
Image: “File: Wineskins (botas de vino).jpg” by Tamorlan is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.