Matthew 9:14-17 "Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved."
There is a great deal of discussion about how and when to fast. These discussions are either religion based or (more recently) based on a way to lose weight. Either way, the discussion most often revolves around abstaining from food. In these verses, Jesus gives us another view of what it means to fast.
When asked why His disciples did not fast, Jesus replied in a manner that equated fasting with mourning. Jesus’s disciples could not mourn (fast) while He was present with them. He also spoke of the day when He would be taken away (die on the cross). He assured that in that day, His disciples would indeed fast (or mourn).
Jesus also told them (and us) that the result of their time of mourning was going to bring about something new. He had not come to be a new “patch” on the law service (as the Jews supposed the Messiah would do). The law service performed by men would only be rendered more unacceptable by His holy presence. Neither was He going to leave men unchanged, because the new wine of His full salvation by grace could not be housed in the old life of the law service.
Dear ones, we have all experienced the mourning that comes from not feeling our Redeemer’s presence. Thankfully, we also still find it impossible to mourn when we are blessed with the assurance that He is with us. There is a great joy in our lives when we put on Christ and walk in the newness of life. We cannot use Him to try and patch up our old ways; it will just make things worse. Our peace comes in knowing that He has made us new creatures in Him and, as such, we are blessed to hold the purity of the truth that Christ is all in all.