Then the disciples of John approached him and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast [much], but your disciples do not fast?” 15 Jesus answered 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 patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. 17 People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
When the disciples of John the Baptist come to Jesus and ask, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” (v. 14), they are raising a question not only about religious practice but about identity and spiritual timing. Fasting in ancient Judaism was a sign of repentance, mourning, and preparation for God’s intervention. The Pharisees typically fasted twice a week (cf. Lk 18:12), and John’s disciples likely adopted a similar discipline, seeing fasting as a way to express longing for the coming of the Messiah. Their question, then, is sincere but based on an older framework—one that did not yet recognize what Jesus was revealing: the Bridegroom had come.
In biblical language, the Bridegroom is a powerful image of God’s covenant relationship with His people. In the Old Testament, the prophets often spoke of God as a divine spouse who lovingly entered into a covenant with Israel, His bride (cf. Is 62:5; Hos 2:16). When Jesus refers to Himself as the Bridegroom (Mt 9:15), He is claiming that He is the one to whom Israel truly belongs—the long-awaited divine Bridegroom who has come to fulfill God’s promise of intimate union with His people. This is a profound declaration of both His identity and His mission—one that would put Him at odds with the religious leaders. His presence marks the beginning of a new covenant, a time not for mourning, but for rejoicing.
But Jesus also adds, “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (v. 15). This is the first subtle allusion to His Passion—the time when He will be “taken away” through suffering and death. After that, fasting will once again have its place—not out of legal obligation, but as a spiritual expression of longing, repentance, and communion with the crucified and risen Lord.
To reinforce this shift from the old to the new, Jesus gives two short parables: patching old cloth with new fabric, and pouring new wine into old wineskins. In both, the point is clear—the new life Christ brings cannot be confined within the old categories of religious observance. The grace He offers is not merely an adjustment of past practices but a transformation of the human heart. One respected commentary notes, “The newness of the Gospel demands new forms of life” (Navarre Bible: Matthew, 2008). His teaching is not an addition to the Law—it is its fulfillment (cf. Mt 5:17) and elevation by divine grace.
Throughout Scripture, wine is often a symbol of joy and spiritual abundance (cf. Ps 104:15; Is 25:6). Here, it also signifies the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2:13–17), and the “new wine” of Christ’s mission cannot be contained in old vessels. The Church Fathers saw in these verses a prophetic image of the Church, which would grow beyond the limits of the Mosaic Law and extend to all nations. Jesus is preparing His listeners—and us—for a new kind of discipleship rooted not in ritual alone, but in the transforming relationship with Him—a relationship marked by interior conversion, grace-enabled obedience, and communion with the living God through faith.
In the end, this passage reminds us that Jesus did not come to add a new rule to an old system. He came to transform the human heart, to fulfill the law in love, and to make all things new (cf. Rev 21:5).
Lord Jesus, You are the Bridegroom to whom our souls are espoused. Teach us when to rejoice and when to fast, when to celebrate Your nearness and when to long for deeper union with You. Make us new vessels—ready to receive Your Spirit and live according to Your grace. Amen!
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Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, ed. Orchard et al. (1953).
- The Navarre Bible: Matthew, Faculty of the University of Navarre (2008).
- The Paulist Biblical Commentary, ed. Chiu et al. (2018).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§577–582, 1434, 1969.
- St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew, Homily 30.
- Isaiah 62:5; Hosea 2:16; Joel 2:12–13; Acts 13:2–3; Acts 14:23; Revelation 21:5.
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