Matthew Chapter 9 Verses 15-17

Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

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Before Jesus and in the old test image 

The sole fast required by the Law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32).  It is called “the fast” (Acts 27:9). This was a group time of serious reflection on their sins during the year and their sorrow before God.

There are occasions when special fasts were and should be called by leaders. These times of fasting are usually dictated by circumstance such as:

1. sickness – Psalms 35:13,
2. death – I Samuel 31:13,
3. war or battle – Judges 20:24-28,
4. conviction of sin – Ezra 10:3,
5. realizing lost condition – Jonah 3:5,
6. important decisions –Acts 13:2; 14:23.

Fasting was not meant for joyful and happy occasions that is why Jesus said “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

‭‭Now the Pharisees didn’t fast for those reason they would fast twice a week just to make it clear to man to show how religious they were They would go out of their way to disfigure their faces so that someone would ask what was going on and this would give them the chance to let people know that they were fasting.

Jesus says here in Matthew 6 – 16 

““And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face, Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

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““Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.””

Here Jesus is saying that the way the Pharisees practice Judaism is like old clothing and old wine skins and he is introducing a new way and  the new way of Judaism is  not a patch because a patch can be torn away at the first washing which means if he just adds the new way into the old way it will just be washed away and forgotten but  but instead he is saying his new way is like a new wineskin to pour the new wine in so that the new way of Judaism is preserved which means that the new way of Judaism will last forever. The new way is the right way it’s not how the Pharisees do just for attention and praise but the new way is to give God the glory in what we do wether it’s to fast, pray, or even help someone we must do it for the glory of God not the glory of man