Of Fasting and Suffering

 Another serious post. I think I will try to make a card soon!

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Mark 2:18-20, Matthew 9:14-15, Luke 5:33-35

Today I want to talk about suffering. This I think will be a shorter post than the previous one. I have been meditating on these passages where Jesus tells the parable of the attendants of the bridegroom. When asked why Jesus’ disciples do not fast, He tells the Pharisees and John’s disciples that the attendants of the bridegroom do not fast when the bridegroom is with them, but they do fast when he leaves.

I have always taken this to mean that Jesus came to earth, it was a time of celebration and rejoicing, and then He left earth, which is a time of mourning and suffering until we are reunited with Him. But I have realized this interpretation ignores part of the scripture.

Jesus promises to be with us always. He sent His Spirit, and we are continually in the presence of Jesus, those of us who believe in Him. I am realizing that when He says, “But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days,” He is talking about His death. He was dead for 3 days, and that was the time of mourning and fasting. After His resurrection, we are reunited with Him forever and always - in this life and the next!

So what does this have to do with suffering? I believe that fasting has benefits, and it is for the purpose of disciplining our bodies to get them under submission. This is sometimes used for prayer, sometimes for the purpose of breaking strongholds like addictions, sometimes for the purpose of spiritual warfare.

But I believe fasting also represents suffering. No doubt we will suffer in this life. But fasting is specifically designed to inflict suffering upon oneself. And this is what I believe Jesus was talking about in the parable. Jesus came to set free the oppressed and open the eyes of the blind. He is with us always, and therefore there is no need to inflict suffering upon ourselves.

This is so comforting to me because often we are counseled to remain in destructive, abusive, unsafe, dangerous situations even when we have the opportunity to escape, so that Christ can form us in our sufferings. But if there is a way of escape, the suffering will not be formative. It will be destructive to our witness, because if Jesus came to set us free, why would we remain captive?

I believe Jesus came to set us free spiritually AND physically, but that is a post for another day. Today I just want to express the comfort Christ has brought me in knowing that because He is with me, He has not called me to inflict pain on myself. He will lead me through and out of my trials. I can choose to fast if I feel it will be helpful. I can choose to suffer for Christ, if and when He asks me to witness for Him. But I do not need to stay in dangerous situations, let other people sin against me continually, or fast unnecessarily, because He, the Bridegroom, is with me.