Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

He explains the joy and strength of the new order

¹⁴ Then John’s disciples approached him with the question, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees observe the fasts, but your disciples do nothing of the kind?”

¹⁵ “Can you expect wedding-guests to mourn while they have the bridegroom with them?” replied Jesus. “The day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them—they will certainly fast then!”

^16-17 “Nobody sews a patch of unshrunken cloth on to an old coat, for the patch will pull away from the coat and the hole will be worse than ever. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins—otherwise the skins burst, the wine is spilt and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into new skins and both are preserved.”