5:33 The Pharisees agree with Jesus about the need for repentance, but they question whether Jesus understands what repentance is. The Baptist seemed to grasp repentance, for his disciples regularly fasted and prayed.77 In that way the disciples of the Baptist match the practice of the Pharisees. In the OT we see fasts on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29), to express repentance (1 Sam. 7:6; 1 Kings 21:27; Neh. 9:1; Isa. 58:3–6; Joel 1:14; 2:12–27; Zech. 7:5; 8:19), to mourn (2 Sam. 1:12; 1 Chron. 10:12; Est. 4:3), and to seek the Lord for particular requests (2 Sam. 12:16, 21–23; Ezra 8:21–23; Est. 4:16). In the Baptist and his disciples the Pharisees recognize godliness, but Jesus’ disciples live an entirely different life. They are eating, drinking, rejoicing, and feasting. Such joy and conviviality do not accord with traditional conceptions of righteousness. We see the Pharisaic stance in Luke 18:12, where the Pharisee reminds God that he fasts twice a week and is careful to give a tenth to God of everything he acquires. The religious life is marked by self-denial and sacrifice.

5:34 Jesus responds by affirming that what his disciples are doing is entirely fitting and appropriate. Wedding guests would never call a fast while the bridegroom was with them. Fasting during the wedding would be an insult to the bridegroom, puncturing the joy of everyone present. The bridegroom, of course, is Jesus himself, as the Baptist points out elsewhere in using the same illustration (John 3:28–29). Jesus’ presence with the disciples indicates that the messianic feast has commenced. Isaiah looked forward to a day of “a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine” (Isa. 25:6). Death will be overcome and tears will be no more (Isa. 25:8). The feast has begun but is not consummated, as the next verse makes clear. Israel looked forward to the day in which her relationship with God would be restored; the Lord is described as the bridegroom and Israel as the bride, and days of restoration were coming (Isa. 54:5–6; 62:4–5; Hos. 2:14–23). Still, the wedding has begun and the feast has started, and the disciples are right to eat, drink, and enjoy the conviviality of the banquet.

5:35 Fasting does not fit with Jesus’ ministry, which is a time of joy and celebration, a time, as we have seen, for forgiveness of sins, for healing the sick, for casting out demons. The kingdom of God is dawning in Jesus’ ministry (Luke 11:20); the covenant promises are being realized and the new exodus is being fulfilled. Still, a day is coming in which the bridegroom will be removed, and the reference here is probably to Jesus’ death.78 Fasting will be appropriate at that time, since those who have followed Jesus will be filled with grief. The reference, then, is probably not to the period of Jesus’ absence after his resurrection. Nor do Jesus’ words mean that fasting is wrong in the present age (cf. Matt. 6:16; Acts 13:2). There are times that fasting is appropriate or fitting, but the NT does not emphasize its necessity or importance. The focus is on the joy of the kingdom.

5:36 Jesus proceeds to tell parables about sewing/clothing and wine/wineskins that unpack the point he is making. People do not take a patch from a new piece of clothing and put it on an old piece of clothing. The new will tear away from the old, and the patch from the new garment will not match the old one. Jesus teaches that there is a newness that has come in his message and ministry, a newness that was not present even in the Baptist’s ministry. After all, the Baptist looked forward to the coming of the Christ, anticipating his coming. But in Jesus the new has come, and it cannot be simply patched onto the old. The focus on fasting and prayer, which are not bad in themselves, stresses what humans do in pursuit of such spiritual disciplines. But Jesus concentrates on what God has done, on the free offer of forgiveness in the gospel.

5:37–38 The illustration of the wine and the wineskins makes the same point. New wine must not be put into old wineskins, since the latter have shriveled and cannot handle the fermenting wine. The new message of Jesus cannot be contained or summed up by the spiritual practices of the Baptist and the Pharisees. Putting new wine into old wineskins will burst the wineskins and ruin them, and the new wine will be wasted as well. There is a joy, a newness, a wedding-like celebration that has arrived with the coming of Jesus as the bridegroom. Fresh and new wine must be put into new wineskins. The teaching and ministry of Jesus burst through the categories of spirituality promulgated by the Pharisees and transcend the Baptist as well, for the time of fulfillment has come. Of course, the fulfillment in Jesus is inaugurated and not consummated, but a focus on spiritual practices does not capture the radical grace and love and joy that characterize Jesus’ ministry. We should not read this as saying there is no continuity between Jesus and John. Clearly he fulfills what John anticipated, but if we see too much continuity we fail to see the newness that has come in Jesus.79

5:39 One would think that the new wine in Jesus’ ministry, with the grace and joy it brings, would be sought by all, but life is complicated. After people have drunk the old wine, the new does not seem interesting or attractive. The old seems preferable and superior. Jesus is not talking about literal wine (old wine is better, after all!) but continues the parable from Luke 5:37–38, where the new symbolizes vivacity, joy, and celebration. The Pharisees and the scribes think the old is sufficient and superior; they see no need for the newness Jesus brings, since they think the emphasis on purity and discipline they promulgate will be the means by which the promises are secured.