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.
Jesus is speaking in a setting that already carries the theme of joy. He has just called Matthew and shared a meal with “tax collectors and sinners” (Mt 9:9-13). Into that setting, the disciples of John raise a question about fasting, and they include the Pharisees as a point of comparison (v. 14). In Israel, fasting was often connected to mourning and sorrow, and it could also be practiced as a voluntary discipline beyond what the law required. In that religious world, a serious teacher and his followers might be expected to fast frequently.
Jesus answers by putting their question into the image of a wedding (v. 15). Wedding guests do not act as mourners while the bridegroom is still present. A wedding is a time of joy, and mourning would be out of place. That basic human logic is the heart of his reply. It also fits the broader biblical sense that “there is an appointed time for everything” (Eccl 3:1-8). Jesus is saying that the presence of the bridegroom makes a real difference. The time is not the same when he is with them.
At the same time, Jesus’ image carries older biblical overtones. The Scriptures often speak of God’s covenant with his people with the language of marriage, where the Lord is like a husband to Israel (for example, Is 54:5; Hos 2:14-20). When Jesus places himself in the role of the bridegroom, he is doing more than offering a helpful comparison. He is quietly claiming that, in his ministry, God is drawing near to his people in a new way, and that this nearness brings a fitting note of joy. This is why the question is not simply about a religious rule. It is about whether the questioners recognize what time it is.
Jesus then adds a second line that turns the image toward Lent’s horizon: “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (v. 15). He does not reject fasting. He assigns it to its proper time. The phrase “taken away” points forward to the Passion and death of Jesus, and then to the time when he will no longer be with the disciples in the same visible way. In that “in-between” time, after his departure and before the final completion of the kingdom, fasting again becomes appropriate. The Gospels preserve the same core saying in parallel form (Mk 2:18-20; Lk 5:33-35), and the early Christian community is remembered for fasting as part of its common life and worshipful discipline.
Read in Lent, the passage becomes especially clear. Lent is not a denial that Christ has brought joy into the world. It is a season that takes Jesus at his word: there is a real time for fasting, and it is connected to his being “taken away.” Christians fast as they prepare to commemorate his suffering and death, and as they learn to desire his presence more deeply. Lent is shaped by that tension the Gospel names. The Church lives with joy because the kingdom has drawn near in Jesus, and the Church also fasts because the Bridegroom’s Passion truly happened in history and because his final coming is still awaited.
Lord Jesus, teach me to recognize the time you have given. Give me a sober heart in Lent, and a steady joy rooted in your saving love. Help my fasting to be simple, sincere, and directed toward you. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), Mt 9:14-15.
- Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, Matthew, pp. 22.
- New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990), Matthew, pp. 650, para. 62.
- Navarre Bible: St. Matthew’s Gospel, pp. 77.
- Paulist Biblical Commentary (2018), Matthew, p. 927.
- The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century (2020), Matthew, pp. 1190.
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