As the Physician, the Lord Jesus is not for the righteous but for sinners. The Lord “did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” There is none righteous, not even one (Rom. 3:10). All “the righteous” are self-righteous like the Pharisees (Luke 18:9). The Lord came to call not them but sinners.
The Lord’s use of the word righteous in Matthew 9:13 is related to the matter of sins. This word also indicates that the healing of the Lord as our Physician is not mainly physical but spiritual. He is the One who heals our spiritual sicknesses.
In Matthew 9:14 the disciples of John asked the Lord Jesus, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast?” In His answer, the Lord revealed Himself as the Bridegroom. “Jesus said to them, The sons of the bridechamber cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast” (v. 15). Matthew 25:1 is a further word concerning the Lord Jesus as the Bridegroom. This verse reveals that the Lord will come back as the Bridegroom, as the pleasant and attractive person.
The Bible reveals that Christ is God embodied to have the bride. Therefore, Christ’s status is that of the Bridegroom. As the Bridegroom, He is the pleasant person for our enjoyment. When He is present, there is no need of fasting. When He is present, there should not be any sadness. Instead, everything should be pleasant.
In dealing with the self-righteous Pharisees, the Lord indicated that He is the Physician to heal the sick. In dealing with the fasting disciples of John, He revealed Himself as the Bridegroom coming for the bride. John the Baptist had indicated to his disciples that Christ is the Bridegroom (John 3:25-29), and in Matthew 9:15 the Lord Jesus reminded them of this. The Lord first healed His followers, then made them sons of the bridechamber. Eventually, He will make them His bride. Thus, they should appreciate Him not only as their Physician for the recovery of life but also as their Bridegroom for a living enjoyment in His presence. They were at a joyful wedding with Him, not at a sorrowful funeral without Him. How then could they fast and not feast before Him?
The question raised by John’s disciples seems to be one of doctrine. However, the Lord did not answer with a doctrine but with the revelation of Himself as the Bridegroom with the sons of the bridechamber.
As the Bridegroom, Christ is for the enjoyment of the sons of the bridechamber. The phrase sons of the bridechamber refers to the disciples of the Lord. In the transitory period of the Lord’s ministry on earth, His disciples were sons of the bridechamber, those who are with the Bridegroom in His chamber, gazing on Him and enjoying His presence. Later they would become the bride (John 3:29; Rev. 19:7).
In Matthew 9:16 Christ refers to Himself as unshrunk, or unfulled, cloth. “No one puts a patch of unfulled cloth on an old garment, for that which fills it up pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.” The Greek word translated unfulled may also be translated “new,” “raw,” “unwrought.” The Greek word here is agnaphos, formed with a, which means “not,” and gnapto, which means “to card or comb wool”; hence, “to dress or full the cloth.” Thus, the word means “uncarded,” “unfulled,” “unfinished,” “unshrunk,” “untreated.” This unshrunk cloth signifies Christ from His incarnation to His crucifixion as a piece of new cloth, untreated, unfinished, whereas the new garment in Luke 5:36 signifies Christ after being “treated” in His crucifixion as a new robe. Christ was first the unshrunk cloth for making a new garment, and then through His death and resurrection He was made a new garment to cover us as our righteousness before God that we might be justified by God and acceptable to Him (Luke 15:22; Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 1:30; Phil. 3:9).
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