The Question about Fasting

14 Then the disciples of John *came to Him, asking, “Why do we and (A)the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “The [a]attendants of the groom cannot mourn as long as the groom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for [b]the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. 17 Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

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Notas al pie

  1. Matthew 9:15 Lit sons of the wedding place
  2. Matthew 9:16 Lit that which fills up

Jesus Did Not Come To Patch Up The Old System, But To Inaugurate a New One

14 Then the disciples of John come to Him, saying “For what reason are we and the Pharisees fasting[a] often, but Your disciples are not fasting?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of the wedding-hall[b] cannot be mourning as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But days will come when the bridegroom is taken-away from them, and then they will fast. 16 And no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. For the fullness of it takes[c] from the garment and a worse tear takes place. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise indeed the wineskins are burst, and the wine spills out and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh[d] wineskins, and both are preserved”.

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Notas al pie

  1. Matthew 9:14 John’s disciples may have been fasting regarding his imprisonment or their own repentance and preparation. Some Pharisees fasted twice a week, Lk 18:12.
  2. Matthew 9:15 That is, the groomsmen, the attendants of the groom, representing the disciples.
  3. Matthew 9:16 During washing, the new patch ‘takes’ from the old garment, tearing it. Jesus is not a patch repairing the Jewish system. He is a new garment, so His disciples behave in a new way.
  4. Matthew 9:17 Jesus, the new and fresh, cannot be contained within the old worn out Jewish system of that day.