Transcription

Jeff
Well today Wesley, we’re going to talk about everybody’s favorite topic. Oh yeah. Yes yes. Yeah. This is going to be a good one. It’s going to be the best. People just love it. They can’t get enough. It’s riveting. They can’t get enough of this topic. Yeah. So today we’re talking about fasting. Yeah. And what Jesus had to say about that. So he’s Wesley and I’m Jeff and you’re watching the Bible guys. So this one’s all about the the questions about fasting. Yeah. And we’re going to ask each other some questions. This or that. Yeah. Questions. The first one that I think we should ask on here. So I’m not sure that uh, uh, we plan very well on this. Yeah. But would you rather eat Thanksgiving dinner every night or Christmas breakfast every morning? Ooh.

Wesley
Yeah, I don’t know. That’s a tough one. You know what I’m going to go with? I’m more of a breakfast person. Yeah, I think I would do breakfast. I like Thanksgiving dinner, but after about a day, like, I don’t want leftovers. You know how some people have leftovers for, like, a week? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or some. I’m like, after a couple days, I’m like, yeah.

Jeff
Is this, is this every day for the rest of your life?

Wesley
Yeah. It doesn’t say I don’t know say yeah.

Jeff
Yeah that’s that’s tough. Okay. So what is Christmas breakfast for you.

Wesley
Christmas bread. We don’t have like a standard. It’s just whatever. Okay.

Jeff
Well, that’s why is because you don’t have a standard Christmas breakfast.

Wesley
So it can be a little bit. You can have anything.

Jeff
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay.

Wesley
It makes me waffles one day. Pancakes the next day.

Jeff
Not though. Aren’t you. Yeah.

Wesley
We I’m ashamed to say we have three different waffle irons. We do.

Jeff
Don’t be ashamed.

Wesley
Be proud.

Jeff
Be proud.

Wesley
Different kinds, different styles. Yeah.

Jeff
Uh, so I think I would go the other way, I would, I would I love Thanksgiving dinner, especially all the stuff. Yeah. So you just have to make sure that the first one has, like a million plates, a million things. In that way, you kind of.

Wesley
You got a little bit every day.

Jeff
I love Thanksgiving.

Wesley
Oh, man.

Jeff
Okay. Uh, this is a funny one. Uh, I’m not sure Desiree realized that you were going to be on on the show today, because this is funny on multiple levels. Yeah, this is multiple, multiple levels. The first question. Ah. The first question is, would you rather always have a mullet haircut or a ponytail haircut?

Wesley
This may shock everybody. I’m going for ponytail. Really. I’m going for like 1980s Miami Vice. Like white suit loafers and a ponytail. Yeah, that’s what I’m going for. Yeah, well, any any.

Jeff
Kind of haircut right now would be nice for you right now. Now, I have to ask a sensitive question. Yeah. Uh. Uh, for a black guy, uh, is a mullet a thing?

Wesley
Uh, some. Yeah. So some mullet. So I won’t say as much as a mullet. Yeah. Like like because when.

Jeff
I think mullet, I think, like, county fair truck pull, Lynyrd Skynyrd t shirt.

Wesley
Maybe not that. So.

Jeff
You know, business on the side, party in the back.

Wesley
So maybe not exactly that.

Jeff
No, no, that’s not.

Wesley
But like Mohawks. Yeah, that’s a thing. A mohawk. You see a mohawk sometimes.

Jeff
I mean, I’ve seen, I’ve seen like, uh, wasn’t there a time when some of the, like, Motown singers or whatever, they’d have it closer on the side and then, like, curly and longer in the back? Yeah.

Wesley
I think you would see like in the 50s. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of those, like, slicked back hair.

Jeff
Yeah. Lionel Richie didn’t Lionel Richie either.

Wesley
Confirm or deny that I had that, uh, hairdo? Like the temptations? Like super silky wavy? Yeah. Yeah, I had that.

Jeff
Oh, man, I’d pay good money for that.

Wesley
I had the big, like, high top where it, like, stood straight up, like you’re here. Yeah, I had that too. Oh yeah. I had a few hairdos. Yeah. But yeah definitely the ponytail.

Jeff
They’re funny. Miami Vice I can’t believe that question was asked on here. Okay. Would you rather be a lion tamer or human cannonball in the circus? Ooh.

Wesley
Uh, you know what? Honestly, I would go with lion tamer.

Jeff
Lion tamer really.

Wesley
Is long as I had the equipment. So you know how sometimes they’ll have, like, a stick or like a chair. So as long as I have the equipment, I would do. Lion tamer. Yeah.

Jeff
What’s the closest you’ve ever been to a lion?

Wesley
Probably the zoo.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, I’ve been up close to some lions out in the wild, and that scares me. Human cannonball, I think, is what I would pick, I really would. Yeah, I really did. Not just because it’s opposite, but because, you know, I changed my name to Human or Hugo. Was it? Ray Stevens used to have a song. Hugo the human Cannonball. Yeah. And talk about getting shot out of the cannonball. Arms are flailing. He kept on sailing that horrified, screaming creature. Yeah, and it just was the last second he realized he’s going to miss the net. And there he was, splattered all over the bleachers.

Wesley
Oh, no. Oh, no. Okay.

Jeff
Uh, would you rather, uh, would you rather attend the Super Bowl or the World Series?

Wesley
Oh, man. Though both of those are, like one in a lifetime.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who’s in the World Series? I think that would be my question. Yeah, because you get to go to all the games of the World Series.

Wesley
Yeah. So if there are multiple games. Yeah, yeah. I don’t people like the, uh, maybe Super Bowl, I don’t know, I think.

Jeff
Super Bowl is just more of a spectacle. Yeah. Yeah. But if the Tigers were in the World Series Detroit Tigers, definitely. And it looks like you get to go to all the games because it just says Super Bowl or World Series.

Wesley
I still remember 84.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah. There you go. The roar of 84. That’s a good one. We better we better close it there. Now that we know, uh, your preference on mullets and ponytails and, uh, I’m.

Wesley
Gonna have to go get one of those 80s suits now. Yeah.

Jeff
That’s funny. Well, hey, uh, we’re like, we already said, this is everybody’s favorite topic. And, uh, so Matthew, Mark and Luke again, which seems to be the theme. Yeah. Here, these three, they all write about this same event. And so Matthew, chapter nine, uh, they come and ask some questions. Is John the Baptist’s disciples. One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do? Jesus replied, do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But some day the groom will be taken away from them and they will fast. Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth for the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. No one puts new wine in old wineskins for the old wineskins, uh, burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved. Mark. Chapter two says, once when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and said, why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples and the Pharisees do? Jesus replied, do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. They can’t fast while the groom is with them, but someday the groom will be taken away from them and then they will fast. Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth for the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tail than before. And no one puts new wine in old wineskins, for the wine would burst the wineskins and the wine and the skins would both be lost.

Jeff
New wineskins or new wine calls for new wineskins. And then it may feel very similar to the other two. Yeah. Luke says one day some people said that Jesus, John the Baptist disciples fast and pray regularly, and so did the disciples of the Pharisees. Why are your disciples always eating and drinking? Yeah, always. Jesus responded, do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them and then they will fast. Then Jesus gave them this illustration. No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment, for then the new garment will be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old garment. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, for the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins, but no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. The old is just fine, they say. Oh, there you go.

Wesley
Yeah. Now let’s back up, Jeff, because we’re not going to assume that everyone, um, thoroughly understands this passage. Who was John the Baptist?

Jeff
Yeah. So we’ve we’ve already referenced John the Baptist. He was, Jesus said, the greatest of all men ever, uh, of course, apart from Jesus. But he was the last of the prophets, and his job was to announce that Jesus, the Messiah had come. Yeah, right. And so he was Jesus cousin, actually, and he was out in the wilderness. He became famous way before Jesus did. Yeah. And he was out preaching repentance and to be baptized to demonstrate that you were repenting of your sin and turning to God. This was a big deal, because for hundreds of years, the Jewish people had gone through the rituals of their religion. Yeah, but it wasn’t a heart thing so much. It was a ritualistic cultural thing. And so, John, talking about repenting, it’s a heart thing. And then the demonstrate repentance through baptism was a big deal. And so John was famous before Jesus became famous. Yeah. And then I think it’s so funny because, uh, you know, all three of them tell the instant slightly different. Luke says one day some people came to Jesus. Yeah. In, uh, Mark chapter two, it says once when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Mhm. And then in Matthew says, one day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him. Right. Yeah. So, uh, Luke just says, some people asked. Yeah. Then Mark says the John’s disciples and the Pharisees. But then in Matthew just says, John’s disciples come to Jesus and say, hey, how come we’re fasting? Yeah. And the and the Pharisees are fasting, but your disciples don’t fast. Uh, if it were me asking, I’d be like, hey, how do I get in your group? Jesus.

Wesley
Because you’re always. That’s what he said.

Jeff
Yeah, that’s what Luke said. Luke. Luke said they’re always eating and drinking. So I wonder if that was a, you know, one of the things that that’s what the disciples of John were saying was, hey, how do we get in your group? Because you guys are never fasting.

Wesley
Yeah. And then so just to even back up a little further, also, what exactly is a fast.

Jeff
Yeah.

Wesley
Like two fast. Now, I know it doesn’t explicitly cover that in these scriptures, but yeah, but what is it. Is fasting just not eating something. Yeah.

Jeff
So so let’s cover that. One of the things we love to talk about on the podcast is Chris, and I love to use the Life Application Study Bible. Right. And we’ve encouraged it. We don’t get paid by them. Uh, hey, Tyndale, step up. You should pay us. We’re recommending it all the time. Uh, but publishers. But, um, uh, the life application, one of the things that’s cool is at the top of the page, you have all the Bible verses. Yeah. And then at the bottom, uh, like it says here, Matthew 914, there’s a note and they’ll give you some historical understanding. And it says, uh, John’s disciples fasted. They went without food as a sign of mourning for sin and preparation for the Messiah’s coming. And then Jesus disciples didn’t need to fast because he is the Messiah and he was with them. Jesus didn’t condemn fasting. As a matter of fact, he fasted. Remember in Matthew chapter four? Yeah, he went out in the wilderness and fasted for 40 days. I don’t recommend that one. But, um, that’s pretty brutal and dangerous, right? But he did it. And then he emphasized that fasting must be done for the right reasons. We’re going to read that here pretty soon. Yeah. Where Jesus talks about the importance of fasting. So fasting is um, now, you know, we’re just now finding out the medical benefits of yeah, I decided to lose a little bit of weight. So I started doing a fasting thing, you know, um, and, and. And mental life, you know, that worked. There’s a lot of health benefits to it. God gave fasting to us for multiple reasons. The health side is the one that we’re finding out now, but the idea would be to go without a thing that you normally would would enjoy, or that you would normally have in your life.

Jeff
Yeah, most often it would be a food thing because it’s so food is so integral to our culture. It’s so integral to our relationships. It’s so integral to just staying alive. Uh, and there’s a cost to it. I mean, you know, when you haven’t eaten for a while, your stomach starts to growl. Maybe your blood, your blood sugar drops a little bit. Yeah. Start feeling hangry. Yeah. Do you ever get hangry? You get hangry when your Snickers commercial. But yeah, exactly. But that’s real for me, man. Uh, and so what they would do is they would, they would choose to go without a thing, maybe whole meals or, uh, go. Daniel, for instance, didn’t fast whole meals. What he did is they didn’t eat meats or sweets or any of the fancy foods. They just ate vegetables and soup. Yeah, right. That’s what Daniel and the and the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did. So that was a fast. And it honored God. And God bless them. Uh, Jesus went for 40 days and 40 nights with no food. Yeah, right. That that’s pretty brutal. Uh, sometimes they would do one day, 24 hours fast. And the idea would be during the time that you would normally be partaking of that thing. Yeah. Instead you would dedicate that to prayer. You dedicate that to meditation, contemplating God’s words. The rumble in your stomach would remind you, hey, it’s time to pray. Yeah, right. And putting God first. So yeah, that would be the purpose of it. And and it’s mostly about mourning, either mourning our sin, which should be a regular part of our life, that we we mourn the fact that we don’t always live up to what God called us to, uh, at the same time, we celebrate and we glory in the fact that we do have the bridegroom in our life all the time, Jesus, and and that we’re saved, but, uh, and forgiven of our sins.

Jeff
But it’s not inappropriate. When we do cross the line, it would be appropriate. The other one would be Jesus talks. In another passage, he talks about the power of God. Uh, the disciples have trouble casting out demons and and healing some people. And Jesus said, some of these only come by prayer and fasting. Yeah, right. So there’s you’re tapping into the power of God by denying yourself and saying, God, you and your power is the only thing I need.

Wesley
So it sounds like you’re saying it’s not just the absence of food, right? So can I be on a quote unquote fast and then tell my neighbor off and then tell my brother off and go punch this person? But but I’m not eating.

Jeff
I’m. It’s a hard thing.

Wesley
Yeah, it’s a hard thing. So it’s not just withholding food.

Jeff
When I was a youth pastor, uh, back in another life, we, uh, I was challenging the teens to do a fast. Yeah. And so we did a, uh. What was it? It was. Three’s. Three days without food. Yeah. Um, soups and vegetables is what we did. But no snacks. No. Anything else? Just, you know, because I. I didn’t want to put them in danger physically, but. So we’re only going to go with soup and and vegetable type things. We’re not going to eat meat, we’re not going to eat, uh, delicacies and all those kinds of things. Yeah. So that was one, uh, the other one, uh, we fasted three weeks on social media. Okay. And three months for Christian only. Christian music only. Okay. Right. So it was three, three and three, three days without, you know, the normal foods that you would eat three days without or three weeks without social media and three months only listening to Christian music and fasting, secular music. And, uh, it was really powerful for our kids. Um, and you’ll be.

Wesley
Surprised what you can actually do when you do fast like that. Yeah. Like you may think I could never go without my phone. Yeah, or I could never go without, you know, social media for that long. And then you do, and you’re like, oh, I can do this. Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
We did a series, and then we did a thing of prayer and fasting as a church. Yeah, for a while. And so I had a book called fasting that I was reading as I was preparing for this series that was coming up. And, uh, I was in Detroit at a meeting in Detroit. Yeah. And then, uh, it got late. It was like two in the afternoon. I realized I hadn’t had any breakfast. Any lunch. Yeah. And I had that book. It just the title says fasting. Yeah. Across the thing. And it was sitting on my console and I pulled into McDonald’s because I have a McDonald’s problem, and I pulled in McDonald’s. I ordered, like a Big Mac or Quarter Pounder and with cheese and fries and a large drink. And I pull up to the window, and the lady that was in the window, she leans out, is like an African American grandmother. Yeah. She just so sweet. Big happy smile just lit up the world. And she leans and she. She hands me my food. And then she looks at that, the book. And she goes, oh, honey. Yeah. If you read in that book, you shouldn’t be here. Yeah. And she she took the bag out of my hand. Oh, no, oh no.

Wesley
Oh no.

Jeff
And so I was like, oh no, no, I’m reading it for a future message. And we’re going to do a fast in the future. Yeah. And she’s like, all right, enjoy your sin my friend.

Wesley
She’s like, I’m not getting involved with that. Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
So it’s embarrassing to pull into a McDonald’s drive through with a fasting book on. Yeah.

Wesley
He’s like, I want no parts of that. Yeah, but.

Jeff
Uh, learning to fast like that, what you’re saying is what you’re trying to do is discipline your body. Yeah. Which, by the way, Paul talks a lot about disciplining our bodies, right. Yeah. It’s a character thing. Mhm. There’s a battle. And sometimes we don’t realize how real our physical nature truly battles against our spirit. Yeah. Until we take something as simple as food. Yeah. And go I’m going to set that aside. Yeah, I’m going to set it aside for God and the times I should be eating. I’m going to read my Bible or pray. I’m going to listen to the Bible Guys podcast. I’m going to I’m going to feed my spirit and not feed my body. Yeah. And the battle, dude, you go, okay, a day I can do a day fast. Not too hard. Uh, the the end of a second day, I am like, what in the world? Third day fast is, uh, I think I think I’ve made the worst decision in my life. Yeah, right. It’s a struggle. It’s a real struggle. But what you begin to find is how strong your flesh is. Yeah.

Wesley
And what’s funny about that? You even start to desire things you don’t normally even eat.

Jeff
Exactly.

Wesley
It’ll be stuff like I’m allergic to fish. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, I’m a Long John Silver’s commercial comes on like, oh, man, that looks great. That looks amazing. Jeff
Of course I would die if I ate it, but, man, just one bite.

Wesley
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it’s just funny how the strength of the flesh is so there’s so.

Jeff
You know, when you read Paul, Paul talks about there’s this constant battle between the spirit and the flesh. Yeah. And most Christians only live in the flesh all the time. Yeah. They never try to fight their flesh at all. And so this is one of the purposes of a fast, is to remind ourselves how dependent we are on God in the spirit, because our flesh is so strong. Yeah. And so we beat down our flesh for the purpose of saying, God, you’re more important to me than I am to myself. And, uh, God honors that. He honors that with his power. He honors that with his peace. He honors that through answering prayers and all those things, God honors fasting. So, yeah, there are some things that we’re just not going to achieve. There are some answers to prayer we’re not going to get. Yeah. Without prayer and fasting. Yeah. Right. And so so that’s a big part of it. So the John’s fast was a grief over sin. Yeah. Right. It was a repentance thing. And Jesus said there’s no reason to grieve when you’ve got the the the groom is right here. The wedding party. Yeah. My my disciples don’t. But he does say there is a day that’s coming that they will grieve. Yeah, right. And they did. They suffered. Yeah. Jesus’s disciples had a pretty good time. They’re running with with Jesus for a few years. But then it got really, really hard. Lots of persecution. Yeah, a lot of persecution. And so the fasting builds up the strength to be able to to go through. Some of those difficult things. Yeah. So it’s this is a discipline I want to get better at. Yeah, I really do. So yeah.

Wesley
One thing I will say about, uh, fasting, if anyone wants to, um, embark on that is to use common sense. And when I say use common sense, you know, if, uh, you know, your body, uh, some of you may need to consult a doctor before you go on fasting, especially if you’re taking certain medicines. Absolutely. You definitely want to make sure that you, uh, consult your physician just to make sure that you’re doing it in the right way. Absolutely. For your body. Yeah, but I do have to share one funny story. So I remember I was going to Wayne State, and this is a thing not to do. So again, that battle with the body. Yeah. Yeah I did a fast it was about two and a half days and I did no food, no water. Oh no I am not recommending anyone do that. Don’t do that.

Jeff
I wouldn’t be don’t fast water.

Wesley
Absolutely clear on that. But that’s what I did. I was I was in highschool uh college. So I’m like I’m just going to do this. So the. At about the second the two days and a half. Um, I stopped the fast and I decided I was going to get some pizza.

Jeff
Oh, Wesley
Let me tell you, when your body has not consumed anything for two and a half days, you want to ease into it with, like, soup? Yes. Or some bread. Not some greasy pepperoni and cheese. Butter crust. He paid the price. I was sick for, like, a day. Yeah, after eating that.

Jeff
So if people are listening and they’re wanting to track with, you know, how can they learn more about fasting? Yeah, I think my favorite book on fasting, believe it or not, it’s not a very big book. But Jentezen Franklin wrote a book called fasting.

Wesley
Yeah, I think I remember that book.

Jeff
It’s an excellent book that unpacks all the different kinds of fasts, not just fasting against food. Yeah, for food, but there’s lots of different fasts. Can I read one note, though, because all three passages reference this idea of new wine old wineskins thing. Uh, let me just read the note. Remember, we love the notes in the life application Bible. Yeah, it says in Bible times, wine was not kept in glass bottles, but in goatskins sewn around the edges to form watertight bags. New wine expanded as it fermented, stretching its wineskin. After the wine had aged, the stretched skin would burst if more new wine was poured into it. New wine, therefore, was always put into new wineskins. Jesus used this description to explain that he did not come to patch up the old religious system with its rules and traditions. His purpose was to bring something new, though it had been prophesied for centuries. This new message, the good News, said that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came to earth to offer all people forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. Right. And so what he’s saying is, I’m not here. Um, when we follow Christ, we must be prepared for new ways to live, new ways to look at people and new ways to serve, he said. I didn’t come here to repair the old way. Yeah, I came here to give you a new way. Yeah, right. And so that’s awesome. That’s that’s what he’s talking about with the old skin. New new wineskins or new wine. New wineskins. Yeah, yeah. And that can be a little confusing. And certainly we don’t deal with that very often. So. Yeah, I just thought we’d address that. Well, hey, that seems like a good place to end.

Jeff
Yeah, I think so. So he’s Wesley and I’m Jeff. We want to thank you for joining us on The Bible Guys.