It started with a question. “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus pointed out how that would be inappropriate at this time. How can they fast when the groom is with them? Weddings are not a time to fast and neither is it the time when the bridegroom, that is Jesus, is with them. As bridegroom Jesus is “the host of the messianic banquet, the dawn of the kingdom of God.”¹ This is not a time to cease from food and festivities, but a time to rejoice and enjoy!

Jesus uses two metaphors to reiterate the idea that fasting at this time would be inappropriate. Just as it is inappropriate for people to sew new patches on old garments and put new wine into old wineskins, so it is inappropriate for the friends of Jesus to fast while His presence is with them. These analogies also point to another important idea. Not only is it inappropriate, but “[t]he time of the bridegroom signals the passing of the old and the coming of ‘the new.’”² The bridegroom’s presence makes it inappropriate to fast and His presence indicates that He is bringing God’s new covenant salvation that “cannot be poured into the old wineskins of Judaism.”³

The fasting question is answered with the reality of who is with them—God’s Messiah. Jesus cannot be seen as merely another prophet calling them to Mosaic covenant renewal with God. Rather, He is the Messiah who will fulfill the old covenants and usher in God’s promised age of salvation.⁴ What is important and of main concern is the identity and Messianic work of Jesus. What must be avoided is trying to squeeze Jesus into any system of religion that is not the new covenant promised by God’s grace (Jer. 31:31–34).

Sadly, this is what many have done. Islam seeks to squeeze Jesus into the mold of another prophet, but not the prophetic Son of God who died for sins. Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Scientology, and others pour Jesus into preconceived molds that miss who He is and what He brings.

We must not do this. We cannot pour or sew Jesus into any kind of system that we have created or that we would like Him to fit in. Rather, we must recognize and celebrate what Jesus the bridegroom has brought and bought with His own blood—new covenant grace. The call is this—recognize Jesus as the Messianic groom and join in the salvation wedding feast by faith!