They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.”
Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”
He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”
Luke 5:33-39, NIV
I have written about this passage before, but focussing on the statement at the end – simply making the point that this isn’t about old wine being obviously superior to new (which is what the NIV suggests), but rather that if you are working you way down a skin of old wine, you are likely to say “who cares about new wine, this stuff is okay…” Which is a different saying altogether – namely, “what you are familiar with tends to shut down your openness to what is new to you.”
I would like to focus on the beginning of the passage this time, and focus on two aspects: one, just how different Jesus’ disciples are from those of John or the Pharisees; and two, the extremely conditional nature of what Jesus says about the bridegroom being taken away.
It is worth also noticing that Jesus has already seen one of their objections off – “why are you eating with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus replies that “You call a doctor for those who have problems, not those who are well.” So there is a change of tack, away from dinner guests and to the behaviour of the disciples.
In verse 33, the bystanders – Pharisees and scribes or their hangers-on – say:
Οἱ μαθηταὶ Ἰωάννου νηστεύουσιν πυκνὰ καὶ δεήσεις ποιοῦνται, ὁμοίως καὶ οἱ τῶν Φαρισαίων, οἱ δὲ σοὶ ἐσθίουσιν καὶ πίνουσιν.
The NIV has toned everything down; the contrast is actually exceptionally strong.
“The disciples of John fast πυκνὰ, and make entreaties…” (which could equally be, “the disciples of John fast and make entreaties, πυκνὰ”). So what is πυκνὰ?
Well, certainly not “often”. “Often” would get us to the two fasting days a week that the Pharisees apparently followed, or perhaps longer fasts once a month or every other month. πυκνὰ is an intense word; it refers to anything with its constituent parts tightly bound together, or for example, anything completely perforated with holes. The nearest we can get in context in English would be “constantly” – but “relentlessly” is definitely an option too. So here is a better rendering:
“The disciples of John fast and make prayers endlessly; and so also the disciples of the Pharisees. But yours (just) eat and drink!”
It is a black and white contrast. Hence the parables of the patch and the wineskins.
But what does Jesus say of the future? Does He in fact suggest that His disciples will end up fasting and making entreaties with the best of them (or even more than anyone?) Because that does seem to be how many have taken this passage: “Oh yes, for now it is right to rejoice, but there will be long years of faithful mourning ahead…”
So here is what Jesus says to them in verses 34 and 35:
Μὴ δύνασθε τοὺς υἱοὺς τοῦ νυμφῶνος ἐν ᾧ ὁ νυμφίος μετ’ αὐτῶν ἐστιν ποιῆσαι νηστεῦσαι; ἐλεύσονται δὲ ἡμέραι, καὶ ὅταν ἀπαρθῇ ἀπ’ αὐτῶν ὁ νυμφίος τότε νηστεύσουσιν ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις.
Three quick notes: “sons of the bridal-chamber” is some more intentional and meaningful periphrasis for what has become “the groomsmen” in modern parlance. υἱοὺς (sons) + something (that doesn’t obviously have sons) is a common formulation, especially in the LXX and other Hebraistic Greek literature.
Secondly, the phrase ἐλεύσονται δὲ ἡμέραι stands alone here, and uses the future tense and middle voice. So the sense is “days will pass” (subject as both actor and acted upon).
Finally, “ὅταν ἀπαρθῇ” – ὅταν which is intensely conditional in force, practically “if it should ever be”; plus ἀπαρθῇ, which is 3rd sg aor subj pass, so “if it should ever be that be taken” (the bridegroom from them), then…
“It isn’t possible to make the sons of the bridal-chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them. But days come and go, you know; and if it should happen that a day comes when the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast then in those days.”
(my rendering for sense)
Jesus is not prophesying a period of mourning for His disciples. It is more that He is saying “behaving like that wouldn’t be appropriate (or even possible) right now, but you know, things change, maybe in the future…”
And in doing so, He is once again telling the truth but not revealing the whole truth. We see Him speak more openly about the same thing in John 14 – “you are sad because I said I am going away, but your joy is going to be huge. Because you will see me again.” And even there, we sometimes speak as if this joy is saved up for the Second Coming, when in fact they would see him again in a few days, and be having breakfast with Him by the Lake in Galilee in a couple of weeks.
Did the disciples mourn when Jesus was taken away? Yes. They had three horrible, confusing days. Peter must have been beside himself, despite all the preparation Jesus had given him. But they saw Him again, and were beside themselves – for joy!
So what is appropriate for us? Mourning or rejoicing?
If you have been thinking that this whole “seeing the Kingdom” thing is trivial or a matter of words, think again. It absolutely sets the direction of our expectation. If you think we look back to a wonderful promise made, and then looking forward to something future so we can at last rejoice again, and in the meantime, fast and pray (and weep), that is just wrong. We have a Kingdom right now; and yes, there will be challenges, and yes, the future is even better; but we see Him now; His Spirit is in us.
So enough with the mourning, already. Fasting and praying and eating and drinking – knock yourself out, it is all lawful to you. Just understand the freedom, and the Kingdom, that you have.
Seeing the Kingdom 