Knowing The Word in Matthew 9

A Question About Fasting

14 Then the disciples of John [a third group of opponents after the scribes and Pharisees] came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast [weekly], 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? [Jesus is the center of their joy, John is in prison] The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away [allusion to his violent end on the cross] from them, and then they will fast. [Jesus and “official” Judaism were not compatible as the next verses make clear.] 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 [schism] 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.” [Combining irreconcilable religious attitudes is a recipe for schism.]