“And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 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 in that day.” Mark 2:19-20
This is the “day,” the time to fast. While we have the Holy Spirit’s presence with us, we are not yet united with Christ in heaven. We still live in this broken world where we experience hardship and trouble. “At present,” wrote the author of Hebrews, ”we do not yet see everything in subjection to him” (2:9). And so we fast.
Iain Duguid once again:
“So we fast at present, since Jesus is no longer with us in his physical presence. Now we experience the pain and fallenness of this world in full measure and cry out to God in the midst of our pain and doubt. But this world is not the ultimate measure of reality. A day is coming when we will no longer fast. When Jesus comes back there will be no more fasting, as well as on more crying, and no more pain. There will be feasting forever in the presence of the King for all of the King’s redeemed people. And then, at last, we shall share in his glory and taste the fullness of his goodness.”
The best thing about fasting is that we won’t always need to fast.
The ultimate reward of fasting is waiting for us in eternity. There, we shall “share in his glory and taste the fullness of his goodness.” Instead of trouble there will be peace. Instead of sadness there will be joy. Instead of fasting there will be feasting.
We’ll be with Jesus. And we will see everything in subjection to him.
