Day 12: The Question About Fasting (Mark 2:18–22)

By Sindhu Nadarajan · September 28, 2026

v. 19: "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?"

History and culture: In later Jewish tradition, a wedding is treated as a personal Yom Kippur for the bride and groom, meaning their past sins are forgiven. Because of this immense spiritual elevation, everyone taking part in the celebration must share in the joy.

Fasting is a sign of mourning, repentance, or distress, so Jewish tradition forbids any public mourning or fasting during a wedding. Whatever the local customs or laws, wedding guests are commanded to eat, drink, and dance. A funeral procession even gives way to honor a wedding party.

Why does Jesus use this image?

The bridal metaphor expresses a new relationship of love between God and his people in the person and mission of Jesus. It marks the beginning of the new and joyful messianic time of fulfillment, and the passing of the old.

Any attempt to carry on the old Pharisaic practice of fasting would be futile, as would extending the preparatory discipline of John's disciples beyond the arrival of the Bridegroom (Jesus). It would be like sewing a patch of unshrunken cloth onto an old cloak, or pouring new wine into old wineskins, destroying both cloth and wine.

In Jewish thought and Old Testament imagery, God is the groom and Israel is the bride. By calling himself the "bridegroom," Jesus makes a radical claim about his identity. The Messianic Secret is slowly being revealed. He is saying that his arrival begins the great messianic feast of joy, which supersedes routine, institutional fasts.

v. 20: "The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast."

When Jesus says the bridegroom will be "taken away," he points explicitly to his future crucifixion and death. Once the groom is removed, the time of immediate, face-to-face joy pauses. The context shifts from celebration to a time of longing, solemnity, and preparation, and fasting becomes fitting for his followers once again. But right now, you cannot mourn when the source of ultimate joy is standing right in front of you.

v. 22: "No one pours new wine into old wineskins."

The new wine (Jesus' ministry): It stands for the Gospel, the Holy Spirit, and the dynamic kingdom of God that Jesus is ushering in. It is alive, expanding, and full of transforming power.

The old wineskins (rigid religious systems): They stand for the rigid external structures, oral traditions, and legalistic mindset of the Pharisees, such as their strict, non-biblical rules about fasting and the Sabbath.

The incompatibility: The new era of grace and freedom cannot be contained within the old, inflexible legal frameworks. Forcing his radical teachings into the old system would ruin both: it would distort the Gospel and shatter the old traditions completely.

To experience the power of the new wine, a person must be made into a fresh wineskin, receiving a renewed heart and a mind open to God's radical work.

Ponder

• What is the newness into which our Lord is inviting me today?

• Ask for the grace to be open to God's radical work.

The Lord knows all the intentions of our hearts (Lk 9:47, the day's Gospel). Yet he pleads with us and is ready to work in us. Be docile, with great desire, and let him labor for you, in you, and through you.