Matthew 9:14 - Meaning and Application

The objections people made against Christ and his disciples often gave rise to some of his most helpful teaching. In that way, even opposition served the truth, because Christ’s wisdom can bring good out of evil. This is the third time in this chapter that happened. His teaching on his power to forgive sin, and his welcome to sinners, came after the scribes and Pharisees found fault with him. Here, a criticism of his followers led to teaching about his care for them.

The complaint came from John’s disciples, and the Pharisees seem to have joined them, as the other Gospels show (Mark 2:18, Luke 5:33). It is possible the Pharisees stirred them up and used them as their messengers, because John’s disciples had better standing with Jesus and his followers. This is nothing new, bad people often try to turn good people against each other. When God’s people differ, eager troublemakers use that chance to spread discord, stir up anger, and drive people apart.

Their question was, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” It is a shame when religious duties, which should strengthen holy love, become causes of strife. Yet that often happens. They were boasting about their own fasting. The Pharisees were known for this, and many of them fasted twice a week, even though most were hypocrites and evil men. False and formal believers often outdo others in outward acts of worship and self-denial.

John’s disciples also fasted often, partly because they followed their teacher’s example, since John “came neither eating nor drinking” (Matthew 11:18). They also fasted because John preached repentance. People often copy their leaders, even when they do not share the same inner reason. In many cases, people first practice the stricter parts of religion under a heavy sense of duty and fear, before they come to a glad trust in God.

They came to Christ as if to report that they fasted often, at least often in their own minds. Most people are ready to speak well of themselves (Proverbs 20:6). Religious people are especially prone to boast about their duties, mainly when something about them seems unusual. Some even begin to trust in these duties as if they made them righteous before God.

Then they blamed Christ’s disciples for not fasting as often as they did. “Your disciples do not fast.” Yet they must have known that Jesus had told his disciples to fast privately and not to make it obvious to others. So it was unkind of them to assume the disciples did not fast at all simply because they did not advertise it. We must not judge someone’s faith by what the world can see.

Even if it were true that Christ’s disciples fasted less often or less long, the critics seemed to think that made them more religious than Jesus’ followers. That is common among proud believers. They make themselves the measure of religion, as if everyone who differs from them must be wrong. If others do less than they do, they think it is too little. If others do more, they think it is too much. That kind of judgment shows a lack of humility and love.

They also took this complaint to Christ. If Christ’s disciples do something wrong, or even seem to, he will hear about it. People still say, “O Jesus, are these your Christians?” So we should be careful to live in a way that honors him. The quarrel with Christ had already been brought to the disciples (Matthew 9:11), and now the quarrel with the disciples was brought to Christ (Matthew 9:14). This is how discord grows, by setting people against ministers, ministers against people, and friends against one another.

Christ answered by defending his disciples. He could have pressed John’s disciples about their own fasting, since they were so ready to talk about it. But he did not. He simply cleared his disciples when they had no answer for themselves. That is how wisdom works: her children are shown to be right in the end. What we do according to Christ’s command and example, he will support, and we can safely leave our integrity in his hands.

Jesus gave two reasons for why his disciples did not fast then. First, it was not the right time for that duty (Matthew 9:15). “Can the wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is with them?” Christ’s answer was carefully framed. It justified his own disciples, but it did not condemn John or John’s disciples. The Pharisees hoped he would blame either his followers or John’s, but he did neither. When people wrongly accuse us, our task is to clear ourselves, not to attack others in return. There may be different circumstances that make one practice right in one case and another practice right in another.

Jesus’ point came from the common practice at wedding celebrations. While the marriage feast lasts, sorrow and grief do not fit. They are seen as out of place, as at Samson’s wedding (Judges 14:17).

Now, the disciples of Christ were like the children of the bride chamber, invited to the wedding feast and welcome there. But the disciples of the Pharisees were not in that place; they were still like children of the slave woman, under a time of darkness and fear (Galatians 4:25, Galatians 4:31). Those who truly follow Christ and have the Spirit of adoption live with a settled joy, while those who live under bondage and fear cannot rejoice like other people (Hosea 9:1).

The disciples of Christ had the bridegroom with them, but the disciples of John did not. John’s master, John the Baptist, was in prison and in danger of death, so it was fitting for them to fast often. A day would come, though, when Christ’s disciples would lose the bridegroom’s bodily presence, and then they would fast. They were deeply troubled when he was leaving them (John 16:6). Trouble and suffering would come after he was gone, and those would give them reason for mourning and prayer, that is, for religious fasting.

Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom of his church, and his disciples are the children of the bride chamber. He used this picture with John’s disciples because John had already spoken that way, calling himself the friend of the bridegroom (John 3:29). If they remembered John’s own words, they could answer their question for themselves. The condition of the children of the bride chamber changes many times in this world. Sometimes they sing of mercy, and sometimes of judgment.

It is a joyful or sorrowful time for the children of the bride chamber depending on how much of the bridegroom’s presence they enjoy. When he is with them, it is as if the light of God shines on their heads, and all is well. But when he is withdrawn, even for a little while, they are troubled and walk sadly. His presence makes day and summer, and his absence makes night and winter. Christ is everything to the church’s joy.

Every duty must be done in its proper time. There is a time to mourn and a time to laugh, and we should fit ourselves to each season (Ecclesiastes 7:14; James 5:13). In fasting, we must think about how God’s grace is dealing with us. When he grieves us, we should mourn. We must also consider his providence in our lives, because there are times when the Lord God calls for weeping and mourning. We should also think about any special work before us (Matthew 17:21; Acts 13:2).

The second reason is that they did not have enough strength for that duty. This is shown in two pictures. One is putting new cloth on an old garment, which only tears the old cloth more (Matthew 9:16). The other is putting new wine into old wine skins, which only bursts the skins (Matthew 9:17). Christ’s disciples were not able to bear these strict exercises as well as John’s disciples and the Pharisees. Dr. Whitby explains this by saying that among the Jews there were not only Pharisees and Essenes, who lived very strictly, but also schools of the prophets, who often lived in mountains and deserts and many of whom were Nazarites. There were also private schools to train men in strict discipline. Many of John’s disciples, and many of the Pharisees, may have come from such places. But Christ’s disciples had been taken right from their ordinary work, and they were not used to such hard religious practices. Those practices might have made them less fit for their other work.

Some religious duties are harder than others, like new cloth and new wine, and they require more focus of mind. They are especially hard on flesh and blood, and fasting is one of those duties. Even the best of Christ’s disciples pass through a time of growth. Not all the trees in Christ’s garden are the same size, and not all his students are at the same level. There are little children in Christ and grown men.

When religious duties are assigned, the weakness of young Christians should be considered. The food given to them must suit their age (1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12), and so must the tasks given to them. Christ would not tell his disciples what they were not yet able to bear (John 16:12). New believers should not be pressed at once into the hardest duties, or they may lose heart. God showed this kind of care when he brought Israel out of Egypt and did not lead them by the way of the Philistines (Exodus 13:17, Exodus 13:18). Jacob showed it too when he would not drive his children and cattle too hard (Genesis 33:13). Christ shows the same care for the little ones in his family and the lambs of his flock, and he leads them gently.

If this care is lacking, the wine skins often burst and the wine is spilled. Many people’s profession of faith fails and comes to nothing because they were handled unwisely at the start. There can even be too much zeal in doing good, a kind of being righteous over much, and that kind of excess can end in ruin through Satan’s cunning.