Matthew 9:14-17, A Question about Fasting

14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 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. 16 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.17 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.”

Comments

We meet a surprising third group of opponents to Jesus after the scribes and Pharisees: the disciples of John, who, like the Pharisees, practiced fasting. Their leader was in prison, while Jesus, the bridegroom, was the center of his disciples’ joy. The issue for Jesus was irreconcilable religious attitudes that were a recipe for schism. Jesus and “official” Judaism were not compatible. Something was going to give because the new wine could only be put into new wineskins. A new covenant was going to replace the old covenant.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, help me to find my joy in you today that you may be my all in all.