The Holy Martyr Julian of Tarsus (284-305)
Apostles’ Fast. Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read
Romans 5:17-6:2; Matthew 9:14-17
The startling revelation that Jesus and his company are not fasting seems to have been a common critique. He was often derided for hanging around drunkards and, in the Acts of the Apostles when they began to preach zealously, they were accused of the same. To write off convicted zeal as drunken jabber is a clever tactic to discredit the other side, but it is hardly truthful.
Jesus, however, responds to the question well. Jesus explains that the disciples lack of fasting at the present time is indeed honoring religious commitments. In fact, they are being as religious as possible, feasting in the joy of the fulfillment of all prophecy, the bridegroom who has come.
The continued presence of the Bridegroom in the sacramental life of the Church gives reason to the fasting and feasting of our liturgical year. We fast traditionally from midnight before receiving the Eucharist. Our seasons are interrupted by Wednesdays and Fridays during the year and intensified during the penitential seasons of the Great Fast. Fasting is not intended to deprive us of joy, but to help us recognize who are true joy really is. Hilary of Poitiers put it this way:
The Pharisees and John’s disciples were fasting, and the apostles were not. But Jesus answered them in a spiritual way and indicated to John’s disciples that he was a bridegroom. John taught that all hope in life lay in Christ. While he was still preaching, however, his disciples could not be received by the Lord. Up until the time of John, the law and the prophets prevailed, and unless the law came to an end, none of them would subscribe to faith in the gospel. The fact that he said there was no need for his disciples to fast as long as the bridegroom is with them illustrates the joy of his presence and the sacrament of the holy food, which no one need be without while he is present, that is, bearing Christ in the light of the mind. But once he is gone, Jesus says that they will fast, for all those who do not believe that Christ has risen will not have the food of life. By faith in the resurrection, the sacrament of the heavenly bread is received. Whoever is without Christ will be forsaken, fasting from the food of life.
Hopefully, after a Christian life lived according to this rhythm, that joy might sink in.