Matthew 9:14

12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

13 But go and learn what this means: ^a‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, ^bbut sinners, to repentance.”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting

14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ^a“Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

15 And Jesus said to them, “Can ^athe friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and ^bthen they will fast.

16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for¹ the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.

17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins¹ break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

18 ^aWhile He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.”

19 So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His ^adisciples.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does Matthew 9:14 Mean?

Matthew 9:14-15

The bridegroom's friends would not think of fasting while he was with them. For them, it was a time of festivity and rejoicing—mourning was not appropriate. When the bridegroom left them, their festivities would end, and the proper time for fasting and sorrow would begin.

While Christ, the Bridegroom, was with His disciples, it was a time for joy. Expressing grief by fasting would have been inappropriate at that time. In addition, since Jesus was with them, they had no need to draw closer to Him through fasting. After Christ died, the disciples fasted when appropriate.

Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Cloth and Wineskins

Matthew 9:14-17

The new wine represents the inner aspects of a Christian life, and the new cloth pictures outward conduct and conversation. A person's behavior reflects his commitment, seen in the illustration of attaching new cloth to old clothing. The old clothing—our sinful, selfish life—cannot be mended but must be replaced. The new cloth is a righteous life. The Pharisees' ritual fasting was an old garment for which a new piece of cloth was useless.

It is untenable to attach Christ's doctrine to the old corrupt doctrines of this world's religions. The righteous system Christ came to establish cannot be forced into an old system. To attempt to force His teachings into the ways of Judaism, Protestantism, Catholicism, or any other of this world's religions causes confusion. Christ is warning against syncretism of beliefs; it simply does not work (Matthew 24:4-5, 24; Romans 6:5-6; 16:17-18; Galatians 1:6-10; Ephesians 4:14; 5:6-11; I Timothy 6:3-5; Hebrews 13:9).

Our Savior teaches that life cannot be a mixture of two opposite principles. We cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). We cannot trust in our own works for salvation in Christ, nor follow the world and God. His new way must completely replace our old worldly ways so that we walk in newness of life.

Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Cloth and Wineskins

Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Matthew 9:14:

Luke 5:36-39

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Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

What Does Matthew 9:14 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning