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.”
John the Baptist compared Jesus to a bridegroom (Jn 3:29). Jesus does the same here and in His parable of the 10 virgins (25:1–13). Marriage imagery also figures prominently
in Rv (e.g., 19:9; 21:9). The Bride of Christ is the Church—all those who by repentance and faith are united with the Bridegroom. The Church sings with anticipation: “The Bridegroom comes, awake! Your lamps with gladness take! Alleluia! With bridal
care Yourselves prepare To meet the Bridegroom, who is near” (LSB 516:1).
I pray: Come, heavenly Bridegroom,
and make all things new. Amen.[1]