Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

The pharisees here are trying to scandalize Jesus and separate Him from His disciples. Lets start with a little context…, The pharisees, at this time, made a practice of fasting two days a week in order to morn the destruction of the temple, and the absence of the pressence of the lord. For over 600 years the Glory Cloud was not present in the temple, and all of Isreal was eagerly awaiting the return of the the pressence of the lord to the temple. And so the fasted as they awaited the return of the pressence of the lord.

What these jews did not understand, at this time, was that the thing that all of Jerusalem was waiting for had already happened. At the presentation of Jesus in the temple the fullfillment of all the old prophecy had been completed, and the pressence of the Lord had indeed returned to the temple, in the form of Baby Jesus. And so those disciples of Jesus were no longer mourning, but celebrating, because the pressence of God was litterally with them. And it will not be until the bridegroom leaves them again that they will need to fast. Incidentally, the reason that christians today, fast on fridays, is because it was on Friday that Jesus (the bridegroom) was taken from them.

But returning to today’s narative, The pharisees knew that any jew that did not observe the weekly practice of fasting, was going directly against the teachings of the pharisees, and also the regular practice of praying for the return of the lord. This was clearly upsetting to the pharisees at that time. But what really upset them was Jesus claiming that He is the bridegroom and that His disciples should not fast when He, the bridegroom is with them. But by saying this, Jesus is clearly saying that He is God, and this enraged the pharisees, so much so, that they strarted trying to plan out how they are going to destroy Him for His blasphemy.

But what must it have been like to be with Jesus at this time? They clearly did not fully understand what they had, but still, it must have been amazing. That kind of closeness is what the Lord wants with us all, He yearns to be our friend, to hear our problems and to help us along our journey, but we reject Him and think that we dont need Him, and we fool ourselves into misery. But the secret to this entire problem is to simply open your mind and heart to Him.

“No matter how many steps you take away from Jesus, it is only one step back”, and if you do, you will find him running to you like the father of the prodigal son. So, get some humility, suck up your pride, and turn to Him, now today, dont wait another minute. This decision will forever change your life! If you have already turned back, continue that way, and dont fall away again. And if you are already there, in His loving embrace, then you need to go out, find others, and bring them back to God as well. It is a lifelong journey, and we have only just begun. But start today!

Oh lord, help me today to recognize you the bridegroom, and to not miss the opportunity I have to be with you right now, help me to not miss it, and to celebrate those moments so that I can be consoled when you are gone. Amen.