Jesus and fasting (Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39)

The following story might actually occur at this same banquet.  In all three accounts, the tax collector story continues into this next one.

Jesus is approached by Pharisees and disciples of John the Baptist.  They ask him why Jesus and his disciples are not fasting while the Pharisees and disciples of John the Baptist do not fast.

Again, there is no need to infer malicious intent on behalf of the question in the since of Pharisees trying to trap Jesus.  There is no evidence of a setup or trying to get Jesus in trouble.  Since the disciples of John the Baptist are part of this group, this neutralizes the question in that regard because Jesus and John the Baptist were friends.

However, I think the disciples of John the Baptist might be somewhat angry at Jesus.  John the Baptist is imprisoned and I suspect that his disciples are fasting for John's release and safety.  They also would know that several of John's disciples are now following Jesus, Simon and Andrew.  They would also know that Jesus was baptized by John.  So, they might view the fact that Jesus' group is feasting (with tax collectors) as being disloyal to John the Baptist when the others are fasting.  

Jesus responds with a few parables.  The first is that the guests of the bridegroom cannot fast while the bridegroom cannot fast while the bridegroom is present.  When the bridegroom leaves, the guests will fast.

This is a strange answer, but it does speak to the disciples of John.  They should know that John the Baptist anointed Jesus as one greater than John the Baptist.  So, in a way, the parable is a turnaround to the disciples of John and implies that if they were followers of John the Baptist, they should now be following Jesus too.

Jesus follows this with two parables.  That no one uses new, unshrunk clothing to repair old clothing.  Likewise, no one puts new wine into old wine skins because the new wine will burst the old, unstretched, wine skins as it ferments.

As written, this statement seems to come out of nowhere and probably left the original crowd confused.  However, I think Jesus may have looked around the group or feast of wherever he was.  He saw a wine skin and someone with a patch of repaired clothing and they became the bases of the parables.

As for the substance, I think Jesus means that both the Pharisees and disciples of John have a rigid, inflexible viewpoint while Jesus is offering something new and fresh.  Unless they have a container that can accommodate Jesus' fresh ideas, his message will rip and tear at them.

Finally, it is interesting that Jesus uses the parable of wine skins at a time when he is questioned about fasting.  He is making no apologies for the feasting.