New Wine and Old Wineskins
Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39
By Spiros Zodhiates

Dr. Zodhiates continues his exegesis of the Gospel of Matthew.

[14] The disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees had one thing in common: They both fasted (from ne steúo  [3522], a total or partial abstinence from food). In Israel, public fasts were common, such as the one appointed for the Day of Atonement that lasted through the month of October (Acts 27:9) and to which great merit was attached. The Pharisees fasted frequently, sometimes twice a week (Luke 18:12). The fasts mentioned in the New Testament were usually private (Matt. 6:16–18; 9:14; Mark 2:18, 19; Luke 5:33; 18:12; Acts 10:30; 13:2, 3) and were connected with sorrow and mourning (penthéo  [3996], Matt. 9:15).

The question in this verse was probably occasioned by the different lifestyles of Jesus and John the Baptist. John’s disciples asked why they and the Pharisees fasted frequently, whereas the Messiah, to whom John the Baptist pointed, and His disciples did not.