As we can see, Jesus' attitude toward fasting, like His attitude toward every religious tradition in general, was always very far removed from the religious formalism without which many of His interlocutors could not imagine their lives. Of course, in certain cases fasting is important and necessary, and Jesus by no means opposed the practice itself in principle. The point was something else...
As we can see, Jesus' attitude toward fasting, like His attitude toward every religious tradition in general, was always very far removed from the religious formalism without which many of His interlocutors could not imagine their lives. Of course, in certain cases fasting is important and necessary, and Jesus by no means opposed the practice itself in principle. The point was something else: every element of religious tradition should serve a person's spiritual formation and growth. Indeed, fasting, at least in Yahwist and Jewish tradition, always presupposed sadness and mourning. It might be family mourning for a deceased relative, public mourning connected with some sorrowful or tragic event of general significance, or, finally, mourning during days of repentance—individual or communal, and sometimes even national, as happened, for example, during the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian army in the eighth century BC. In every case, however, fasting had specific content and always possessed a quite definite meaning.
Yet in Gospel times, above all among the Pharisees, fasting had largely become, if not a mere formality, then a purely religious obligation. Everyone knew that a believer should repent of his sins and grieve over them. To regulate this religious practice, the spiritual leaders of the Pharisaic brotherhood established a mandatory fast assigned to two specific days each week, apart from special annual days of mourning. One could, of course, extend the period of abstinence if one wished. Reducing it, however, and declining to keep the prescribed two fast days each week was not exactly forbidden, but was regarded as extremely impious. Such a refusal would almost certainly provoke at least puzzled questions, which is precisely what happened with Jesus' disciples.
Jesus does not even attempt to provide any religious explanation for their refusal to fast. His arguments concern the spiritual life alone: if His disciples have nothing to grieve over now and are not thinking of repentance because He Himself is with them, then fasting has neither meaning nor necessity. When meaning and necessity appear, its time will come as well. There is a time for everything, determined by the logic not of religious regulations but of spiritual life—as is always the case in the Kingdom.
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1:15 Who is - By describing the glory of Christ, and his pre - eminence over the highest angels, the apostle here lays a foundation for the reproof of all worshippers of angels. The image of the invisible God - Whom none can represent, but his only begotten Son; in his divine nature the invisible image, in his human the visible image, of the Father. The first begotten of every creature - That is, begotten before every creature; subsisting before all worlds, before all time, from all eternity.
1:16 For - This explains the latter part of the preceding verse. Through implies something prior to the particles by and for; so denoting the beginning, the progress, and the end.Him - This word, frequently repeated, signifies his supreme majesty, and excludes every creature. Were created all things that are in heaven - And heaven itself. But the inhabitants are named, because more noble than the house. Invisible - The several species of which are subjoined. Thrones are superior to dominions; principalities, to powers. Perhaps the two latter may express their office with regard to other creatures: the two former may refer to God, who maketh them his chariots, and, as it were, rideth upon their wings.
1:17 And he is before all things - It is not said, he was: he is from everlasting to everlasting. And by him all things consist - The original expression not only implies, that he sustains all things in being, but more directly, All things were and are compacted in him into one system. He is the cement, as well as support, of the universe. And is he less than the supreme God?
1:18 And - From the whole he now descends to the most eminent part, the church. He is the head of the church - Universal; the supreme and only head both of influence and of government to the whole body of believers. Who is - The repetition of the expression {Colossenses 1:15} points out the entrance on a new paragraph. The beginning - Absolutely, the Eternal. The first begotten from the dead - From whose resurrection flows all the life, spiritual and eternal, of all his brethren. That in all things - Whether of nature or grace. He might have the pre - eminence - Who can sound this depth?
1:19 For it pleased the Father that all fulness - All the fulness of God. Should dwell in him - Constantly, as in a temple; and always ready for our approach to him.
1:20 Through the blood of the cross - The blood shed thereon. Whether things on earth - Here the enmity began: therefore this is mentioned first. Or things in heaven - Those who are now in paradise; the saints who died before Christ came.