Neville Goddard on Mark 2:18-22 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Mark 2 in context

Scripture Focus

18And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

19And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

20But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

21No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.

22And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.

Mark 2:18-22

Biblical Context

The passage asks why John’s and the Pharisees’ disciples fast; Jesus answers that while the bridegroom is with them, his followers do not fast. It then teaches that new life cannot be contained in old forms, symbolized by cloth and wine.

Neville's Inner Vision

Behold the question of fasting is not about form, but about recognizing the bridegroom within. The bridegroom is the I AM that dwells as your very awareness. While you awaken to this Presence—you and the Father are one—fasting is unnecessary, for you do not lack what you already are. Yet the day will come when you identify with a persona other than the Living Presence, and then you might feel compelled to fast in order to remind yourself of your true state. The old cloth and old bottles signify states that cannot contain the new life you envision; you must not sew fresh possibility onto worn thinking, nor pour living wine into a decaying vessel. Instead, prepare a new vessel—the renewed self-concept—that can hold the life you desire. The new cloth and the new wine are your revised awareness, your imaginative form. The kingdom is within you, here and now; when you assume the feeling of the fulfilled wish, you are not merely hoping — you are choosing the very state that makes the external scene confirm itself.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes and, in the I AM within, imagine the bridegroom consciousness as your own; revise one lack into a felt certainty, and imagine your self-concept renewed to hold the coming life.