What is the context?
After the meal with tax collectors and sinners, John's disciples ask why Jesus' disciples do not fast as they and the Pharisees do. Jesus answers by turning attention to His presence among them. Wedding guests do not mourn while the bridegroom is with them; His being there calls for joy.
The answer also looks ahead. The bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast. Jesus is not rejecting fasting altogether. Earlier, Matthew 6:16–18 has already described sincere fasting before the Father. Here the question is what response fits the moment and His presence.
The cloth and wineskin pictures continue that concern with what fits. An unshrunk patch pulls away from an old garment, making the tear worse. New wine in old skins bursts them and loses the wine. New wine needs new skins if both are to be preserved.
A wineskin was a leather container. The Greek word is ἀσκός, askos (as-KOSS); Thayer's Greek Lexicon describes a leather bag or bottle used for water or wine. Jesus uses familiar containers to picture the harm caused by forcing together things that do not fit.
Mark 2:18–22 and Luke 5:33–39 give the related exchange. Luke adds the preference of an old-wine drinker for what is familiar.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly see Jesus as the bridegroom whose presence brings joy, while His coming departure explains a future time for fasting. The cloth and wineskin pictures receive different, sometimes overlapping explanations.
Wesley on Matthew 9:15–17 emphasizes both timing and the disciples' readiness for demanding practices. The US Catholic bishops' notes on Matthew 9:16–17 take a broader view: the gospel cannot simply be fitted within the old forms of religious life.
In his Angelus of February 26, 2006, Benedict XVI explains the related passage in Mark through Jesus' identity as bridegroom, His death, and the changed spirit in which Christians fast. These explanations connect fasting with receiving Christ, while placing different emphasis on personal readiness and the newness of His mission.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The bridegroom picture also appears in John 3:27–30. John describes his own joy as the bridegroom's friend and directs attention away from himself toward Jesus. That passage provides a clear parallel for the joy Jesus describes here.
The newness of His mission reaches its saving purpose in the new covenant. At the supper before His death, Jesus connects the cup with His blood poured out for His people in Luke 22:14–20. Hebrews 8:6–13 describes Him as the mediator of the promised relationship in which God forgives sins and writes His laws on people's hearts. His coming calls for a response shaped by who He is and what He gives, rather than simply fitting Him into existing expectations.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.