Matthew

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Hank Hanegraaff, the host of the 𝘉𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘯 broadcast and the 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘜𝘯𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 podcast, reads Matthew 9: 14–17. The Pharisees fasted because they were unwilling to recognize Messiah in their midst. They wanted to preserve their customs for the sake of power and prestige. The disciples, on the other hand, left the old and embraced the new. They realized that the Bridegroom was in their midst and that He would one day carry them over the threshold of Jordon into the New Jerusalem. In essence they perceived the real purpose of fasting—which is to experience God as the source and substance of life that is truly life. And that that source and substance was their Master. The Lord Jesus is not negating the significance of fasting. If He were, He would conflict with His own teaching (in the Sermon on the Mount). As Jesus made plain, the living discipline of fasting fortifies our supplications. Moreover, it opens our hearts to the needs of the poor and the downtrodden. The message our Lord is sending here is one of contrast—the contrasts between the Old and the New Covenants. The old must give way to the new—for the blood of Jesus Christ is better than the blood of bulls and goats (see Hebrews 9: 11–14).

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