Matthew 9:14-17
Chapter 9
14
On Fasting
Then John’s disciples approached him with the question: “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but not your disciples?”15
Jesus answered them:
“How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16
No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunk cloth because the patch will shrink and create an even bigger hole in the coat.
17
Similarly, you don’t put new wine into old wineskins. If you do, the wineskins will burst and the wine will be spilled. Instead, you put new wine into fresh skins; then both are preserved.”
Commentaries
On Fasting.
Through this specific question about fasting, we see the symbolism of the Messiah as the bridegroom (cf. Mt 22:1-14; 25:1-13). The newness brought by the bridegroom is explained in verses 16 and beyond. The images of new wine and new clothes make it clear that the Gospel cannot be contained in old structures and mentalities. We must be open to the newness that the Gospel introduces into our lives.