If the end of all things is near (Judaism, judgment, resurrection, second coming), then these saints would only take the supper until he comes. Before then, however, they would anxiously wait for His return and associated with the wait is fasting. Matthew 9:14-17 reads,
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.
Based on this text, if Jesus is not with us and we are still waiting for his return, why are not disciples still fasting? Does not this text teach that the absence of Christ necessitates fasting? The illustration that follows the explanation for why Jesus’ disciples did not fast as long as he was with them suggests that fasting is a practice of the old covenant. Using the illustration, it is of a different cloth. It seems that the old was near vanishing away (Heb. 8:13). The period of the last days was the ending of the old and the coming of the new way so that it represents a transition. The coming or presence (parousia) of the Lord had not yet come in which he would not only end one system, but begin a glorious new kingdom. Leading up to that was a transitional period. You see this throughout the New Testament. For example, Acts 21:23-24 illustrates Paul taking James’ advice to purify himself along with four men who have taken a vow and pay their charges so that he might strengthen the relation with the Jews who had come to believe that Paul was against them. Yet, in another context and time, Paul tells the Gentiles that they are not under obligation to keep the law (cf. Colossians 2:16). Notice, Paul doesn’t argue with James and explain that he ought to know that being zealous for the law is wrong because Jesus died and nailed it to the cross. Paul does not explain that what the Palestinian Jews had heard from Paul’s teaching is a false rumor. Thirdly, he doesn’t tell James that he’s not going to listen to his advice or give into his request for even an hour are referenced in Galatians 2:5. The traditions of the Law of Moses was at that present time a shadow of good things to come (Col. 2:17). Those things mentioned in the text, such as the feast days, new moon, or Sabbath were “at that time” a shadow of things “to come”, not “had come”. When Paul wrote that letter and wrote that they “are” a shadow of things about to come, he realizes that it had to take its course in order to fulfill every jot and tittle of the law. As the author of Hebrews teaches, the law was pointing to something “better.”
The Jewish body of Christ had to play out the fulfillment of the law itself in the last days. This could not be done without participating in it, to some degree. Jesus taught:
“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Therefore, Jesus was not teaching His disciples to break the law of Moses. The problem was their relations with the Gentiles and their demands that they observe the Law of Moses to be saved (cf. Acts 15, Galatians 2). During this transition, the Jews had to keep the law to bring about its fulfillment and satisfy the types and shadows. As the law was nearing its fulfillment, the Hebrews writer explains,
“We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (Heb. 10:10-16, ESV)
This is similar to God calling His people out of Jerusalem in Revelation 18:4. It reads:
Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;”
The time had come to make a break. The preparation was over and now, the final curtain is about to fall. We may reason on what seems too obvious to question. Human experience reveals that Jesus could not have possibly come and that the resurrection or the judgment could not have come because we are still here and no one has seen Him, the resurrection or the end of the world. Bultmann writes, “The problem of eschatology grew out of the fact that the expected end of the world failed to arrive, that the “Son of man” did not appear in the clouds of heaven, that history went on, and that the eschatological community could not fail to recognize that it had become a historical phenomenon and that the Christian faith had taken on the shape of a new religion.” This provides one of the greatest obstacles that is presented by atheists who mock Christians who has been claiming for many generations that Jesus is coming soon. Bultmann continues, “The mythical eschatology is untenable for the simple reason that the parousia [coming or presence—SGD] of Christ never took place as the New Testament expected. History did not come to an end, and, as every schoolboy knows, it will continue to run its course. The problem of Eschatology grew out of the fact that the expected end of the world failed to arrive, that the “Son of Man” did not appear in the clouds of heaven.” Many agnostics and atheists raise this to substantiate the belief that such hopes and promises are fairy tales, along with the belief in the God that promised them. But, our theme is in keeping with the overall context of this study being a specific time of fulfillment, called the “last days.” Jesus did return like he promised, just as he sent the Holy Spirit, and built His spiritual household of “called-out” people. He was seen in the clouds of heaven and did come to render national judgment to a people who were His people but were rejected for refusing His lordship.
The logical support for a future coming is influenced by certain given but false expectations. For the sake of clarification, we will appeal to two examples to illustrate the misunderstanding in future blogs.