And Jesus said to them, Can the children of the bridal chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
Can.
Matthew 25:1-10 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom…
Judges 14:11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
Psalm 45:14,15 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee…
when.
Luke 24:13-21 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs…
John 16:6,20-22 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart…
Acts 1:9,10 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight…
and then.
Isaiah 22:12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
Acts 13:1-3 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul…
Acts 14:23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them?
Here, Jesus uses the imagery of a wedding feast, a common cultural event in Jewish society, to illustrate His point. Weddings were times of joy and celebration, not mourning. The "bridegroom" is a metaphor for Jesus Himself, and the "guests" are His disciples. This imagery is consistent with Old Testament references to God as the bridegroom (Isaiah 62:5) and is later echoed in the New Testament (Revelation 19:7-9).
But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them;
This phrase foreshadows Jesus' crucifixion and ascension. The "time" refers to the period after Jesus' earthly ministry when He will no longer be physically present with His disciples. This prediction aligns with prophecies about the Messiah's suffering and departure (Isaiah 53). It also sets the stage for the coming of the Holy Spirit, who will be with the disciples after Jesus' ascension (John 16:7).
then they will fast.
Fasting, in Jewish tradition, is associated with mourning, repentance, and seeking God's guidance. Jesus indicates that after His departure, His followers will fast as a sign of longing for His return and as a spiritual discipline. This practice is seen in the early church (Acts 13:2-3) and is a way for believers to draw closer to God, reflecting a heart of devotion and dependence on Him.
• Jesus pictures Himself as the Bridegroom, drawing on joyful wedding imagery familiar to His listeners (John 3:29; Isaiah 62:5; Revelation 19:7–9).
• Wedding guests celebrate because the groom is present; fasting or mourning would be out of place at such a feast (Ecclesiastes 3:4).
• In this scene, Jesus’ disciples—“the guests”—live daily in His immediate presence. Their joyful fellowship with Him rightly overrides the ritual fasting practiced by John’s disciples and the Pharisees (Mark 2:18–19).
• The statement affirms that joy is the proper response when the Savior dwells among His people (Zechariah 9:9; Luke 5:33–35).
• Jesus hints at His coming arrest, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension—events that will remove His bodily presence (John 16:5–7; Isaiah 53:8).
• This unexpected “taking” underscores both His sovereignty and His sacrificial mission (Acts 2:23; 1 Peter 3:18).
• The verse prepares the disciples for impending sorrow, echoing Jesus’ later words: “You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice” (John 16:20).
• Though absent in body, He promises a future reunion and ongoing fellowship through the Holy Spirit (John 14:16–18; Matthew 28:20).
• After Jesus’ departure, fasting becomes an appropriate expression of longing, dependence, and focused prayer (Acts 13:2–3; Acts 14:23).
• The early church practices fasting not as empty ritual but as heartfelt devotion birthed from love for the now-ascended Bridegroom (2 Corinthians 5:6–8).
• Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:16–18 shapes this practice—fasting is private, sincere, and God-oriented rather than a display for human applause.
• Believers fast today to seek guidance, intercede for others, humble themselves, and sharpen their desire for Christ’s return (Luke 2:37; Revelation 22:20).
Matthew 9:15 contrasts two seasons for Christ’s followers. While Jesus walked among them, joy eclipsed ritual mourning. After His departure, fasting became a fitting response of longing faith, practiced until the ultimate wedding feast when the Bridegroom returns. The verse invites believers to rejoice in His presence now through the Spirit, yet also to fast with anticipation for His promised, glorious return.
(15) Can the children of the bridechamber mourn?--The words were full of meaning in themselves, but they only gain their full significance when we connect them with the teaching of the Baptist recorded in John 3:29. He had pointed to Jesus as "the Bridegroom." He had taught them that the coming of that Bridegroom was the fulfilling of his joy. Would he have withdrawn from the outward expression of that joy?The children of the bridechamber--i.e., the guests invited to the wedding. The words implied, startling as that thought would be to them, that the feast in Matthew's house was, in fact, a wedding-feast. His disciples were at once the guests of that feast individually; and collectively they were the new Israel, the new congregation or Ecclesia, which was, as our Lord taught in parable (Matthew 22:2), and St. Paul directly (Ephesians 5:25-27), and St. John in apocalyptic vision (Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:2), the bride whom He had come to make His own, to cleanse, and to purify. . . .
Verse 15. - And Jesus said unto them, Can. It is a moral impossibility (ch. 6:24). The children (sons, Revised Version) of the bride-chamber (οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ νυμφῶνος). Edersheim ('Life,' etc., 1:663) points out that these are not the shoshbenim, the friends of the bridegroom, who conducted the bride with music, etc., to the house of her parents-in-law, and to the bride-chamber, and who naturally remained to take part in the wedding feast; for(1) the custom of having shoshbenim prevailed in Judaea, but not in Galilee;
(2) Talm. Jeremiah, 'Succah,' § 2:5, expressly distinguishes between the two terms: "Those who are shoshbenim, and all the sons of the bride-chamber, are free from the obligation of booths (חופה פטורין סן סוכה שושבינן וכל בני)." They appear to be those, invited by either party, who come to take part in the wedding festivities. They are, therefore, in full sympathy with bridegroom and bride, and, like them, cannot but rejoice. Mourn; parallel passages, "fast," but Matthew's word, as less closely connected with the cause of the objection raised, seems the more original. As long as the bridegroom is with them? Nosgen sees in this a claim to be the expected Bridegroom of Israel (Hosea 2:19, 20; Jeremiah 3:1-14; Ezekiel 16:8). But the days will come. Christ speaks with prophetic assurance of the coming of such a time (ἐλεύσονται δὲ ἡμέραι). Observe his consciousness alike of his position and of what is coming upon him. When the bridegroom shall be taken (away, Revised Version) from them. His removal shall be effected, not by his own action, but by external agents (ἀπαρθῇ). In these unsettled times, with their frequent though mostly unimportant popular risings, it cannot have been a very unusual thing for the bridegroom to be carried off, not indeed before the consummation of the marriage, but before the end of the week of festivities. And then shall (will, Revised Version; there is no trace of a command, Christ is but stating a fact) they fast. Christ here endorses the principle of Christian fasts (cf. Matthew 6:16), but regards them as springing; not from any legal obligation, but flora personal grief, in this case at his absence (cf. John 16:20). The only later passages in the New Testament where Christian fasting is mentioned, are Acts 13:2, 3; Acts 14:23; 2 Corinthians 6:5; 2 Corinthians 11:27. In the 'Didache,' § 8, we have the earliest formal recognition or' it as a practice. It is there forbidden to fast on the same days as the Pharisees. Observe that this verse was understood in Tertullian's time as expressly commanding a fast during the forty hours in which our Lord was in the grave ('De Jejun.,' § 2), and that, from Irenseus's expression in Eusebius ('Ch. Hist.,' 5:24), this fast had been kept almost from apostolic times.
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