Questions
Why fasting? (Mk 2:18-22, Mt 9:14-17)
(Questions for meditation)-
Why do the disciples of John the Baptist feel strange when they see that the disciples of Jesus do not fast? What makes them think that way?
-
What could be the purpose of fasting in the Old Testament? (Judges 20:26, I Samuel 7:6, Esther 4:16)
-
When we compare eating in Mark 2:15-17 with fasting here, what wrong motive do the Pharisees have in mind?
-
How does Jesus rebuke Pharisees concerning their hypocrisy? (Matt 23:13-29; 23:5,28)
-
What principle does Jesus give us about fasting? (Matt 6:16-18)
-
What wrong thinking may we Christians have today that is similar to the wrong motive of the Pharisees in fasting?
-
What does Jesus want to illustrate in the parable of the bridegroom?
-
What do old cloth and old wine represent? How about old garment and old wine bottle? New wine and new bottle? (John 1:17)
-
How do you interpret the parable of new cloth sewn in old garment? (Romans 10:31-32)
-
What does Jesus mean in saying that new wine should be put into new
bottle? (Romans 3:21-28)
-
Is the fasting practice of Muslims similar to that of the Pharisees
in terms of their motives?
-
What do you think of the real purpose of fasting for us?