Matthew 9:14-15

Matthew 9:14-15

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,

“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,

but your disciples do not fast?”

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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I recognize that I have sinful tendencies. I recognize my weakness and inability to overcome them. With you, all things are possible. I trust in you and am confident in the help of your grace.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Fasting Twice a Week: The disciples of John the Baptist were concerned that Jesus’ disciples did not seem to practice fasting. The Pharisees fasted twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. The disciples of John the Baptist likely fasted also on Mondays and Thursdays. These two days were considered the “market days” in first-century Judaism. Rural people would come into the towns and villages to buy and sell. Many synagogues in the first century held public readings of the Torah on those Market days. The Pharisees likely wanted to be an example to the people, especially on the day when they would encounter them. When the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C., the Jews had a practice of fasting. They fasted because God’s Spirit left the Temple. They were fasting because they were mourning the absence of God with his people. And so, the Pharisees would fast twice a week to do penance because God’s Spirit had left the Temple. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees were still waiting for the visible return of God’s Spirit. 

2. Celebrating with the Bridegroom: Although the Pharisees would fast twice a week, they did not fast during a week-long wedding feast. When Jesus calls himself the bridegroom, he is announcing the return of God’s Spirit. God is not absent, but present to the people in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the redeemer Bridegroom sent by God the Father. While Jesus the bridegroom is present, his disciples, called elsewhere the “friends of the bridegroom,” and the other wedding guests, should not fast.

3. The Days will Come: Jesus uses the question about fasting to speak about his death and ascension into heaven. The day of Jesus’ death will be his wedding day. “Although the disciples cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, Jesus concludes the parable by declaring that the time will come when his disciples will take up fasting” (Pitre, Jesus the Bridegroom, 90). By speaking about “being taken away,” Jesus is referring to a particular part of the seven-day wedding celebration in First-Century Judaism – the night of consummation. “On the night of consummation, the bridegroom would leave his friends and family and enter into what was known as the ‘bridal chamber’ (Hebrew huppah) in order to be united to his bride, not to emerge again until morning” (Pitre, Jesus the Bridegroom, 90). Jesus, the bridegroom, will be taken away on the Cross on his wedding day. His bridal chamber will be the cross. And as we await the return of our bridegroom at the end of time, we should, at times, practice fasting.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you fasted forty days and forty nights to give us the supreme example of self-denial. When tempted to turn stones into bread to satisfy your hunger, you resisted. When tempted with the wealth of the kingdoms of the earth, you resisted. When tempted to make a display to earn the admiration of the crowds, you resisted. Help me in my battles against the unquenchable desire for pleasure, the insatiable hunger for luxury, and the insistent craving for renown. 

Living the Word of God: What do I need to fast from the most? Fasting from food? Fasting from alcohol? Fasting from entertainment? Fasting from social media? If this fasting frees up time during my day, then what should I do with that time?