Eliza King sings, ‘All Things New’. As you begin this time of prayer, allow yourself to be refreshed by God...

You break like the light of the sun

Bringing colour to shadows

Christ, it was you all along

You’re the words of an ancient song, we’ve been singing

Behold, He makes all things new

Behold, He makes all things new

Behold, He makes all things new

Behold, He makes all things new

You rise, as the bright morning star

We were blind but we see you now

The light of the world here with us

You’re a fire making holy ground, by your spirit

Behold, He makes all things new

Behold, He makes all things new

Behold, He makes all things new

Behold, He makes all things new

You’re the treasure of the ages

Sought for generations

How the prophets longed to see what we have seen

You’re the final word incarnate

Leaping from the pages

You’re the burning heart behind the mystery

Behold, He makes all things new

Behold, He makes all things new

Behold, He makes all things new

Behold, He makes all things new

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 2:18-22

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to [Jesus], ‘Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’ Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.’

Many think they know what holy people should be like. That’s as true in Jesus’s day as it is in our own. And they can then be quick to reject those who don’t live up to their expectations. How do you hear this question about fasting that is put to Jesus? Is it an innocent enquiry, seeking knowledge? Or a barely-concealed attack on Jesus and his followers?

What part, if any, does fasting play in your own response to God? If it’s important to you, why is that? And if it’s not, then why might that be?

We’re only in the second chapter of Mark’s gospel here, and already Jesus is conscious of a time when he’ll be “taken away” from his disciples. Recall for a few moments times when you’ve experienced the absence of God, of Jesus, in your own life.

Notice, as the passage is read again, the way that Jesus insists on new wine being put into new wineskins. If the “new wine” is his teaching, what “new wineskins” are you able to present so that you can receive what he offers?

Mark 2:18-22

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to [Jesus], ‘Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’ Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.’

As this time of prayer draws to a close, share with Jesus whatever you will be taking away from it.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be

World without end

Amen