As a book of doctrine, Matthew presents us another case in 9:14-17: the case of fasting without the Bridegroom. Verse 14 says, “Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast?” Verses 10 through 13 record the Lord’s dealing with the question of the Pharisees, who were in the old religion. Now in verses 14 through 17 the Lord deals with the problem of John’s disciples who were in the new religion. John the Baptist dropped the old religion and began his ministry in the wilderness outside of religion. However, after a short time, his disciples formed a new religion to frustrate men from enjoying Christ, just as the Pharisees in the old religion did. John the Baptist’s ministry was to introduce men to Christ that Christ might become their Redeemer, their life, and their all. However, some of his disciples drifted away from his goal, Christ, to some of John’s practices and turned those practices into a religion. To be religious means to do something for God without Christ. To do anything without the presence of Christ, even though it is scriptural and fundamental, is religious. Both the disciples of John, the new-timers of religion, and the Pharisees, the old-timers of religion, fasted much, yet without Christ. They did not own Christ as the Bridegroom, but made fasting a matter of religion. Meanwhile, they condemned the disciples of Christ who did not fast, but had Christ with them and lived in His presence.
John the Baptist was born a priest, but later he fully abandoned everything religious. Nevertheless, less than three years after he had been put into prison, his disciples formed a new religion. To have a religion is to worship God, to serve God, and to do certain things to please God, yet without Christ. A religion is anything you do for God without the Spirit, without Christ. The Pharisees did a great many things for God, but Christ was not in them. They did many things to serve God, but they did them without the Spirit. Now the disciples of John the Baptist were fasting without Christ, without the Spirit. Nevertheless, this fasting was for God. Hence, they formed another religion. Therefore, in verse 14 we have the old religion, the religion of the Pharisees, and the new religion, the religion of the disciples of John.
How easy it is to have a religion! Do not think that you can be free from religion by simply dropping an old way and picking up another way. No matter whether the way is old or new, it is a religion as long as it does not have Christ and the Spirit in it. Your new way may simply be your new religion. Remember what religion is: it is doing things to please God apart from Christ and the Spirit.
The self-righteous Pharisees, the old-timers of religion, were bothered by the fact that Christ made Himself a companion of tax collectors and sinners, who were condemned by them (v. 11). They condemned Him for feasting with the sinners. The fasting disciples of John, the new-timers of religion, were troubled by the feasting of Christ and His disciples (v. 10) and condemned them for not fasting. The situation is similar today. On every hand the religionists condemn us. What then should we do? We should stay with the Physician.
In the case of the new religion, the Lord is not only the Physician, but also the Bridegroom. In verse 15 the Lord Jesus said to them, “Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Both the Physician and the Bridegroom are pleasant. I appreciate the Lord’s wisdom. In the case concerning the Pharisees, He likened Himself to a Physician. Now in the case with the disciples of John, He likens Himself to a bridegroom at a wedding. The Lord asked if the sons of the bridechamber can mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. It is a joyful time with the Bridegroom. But when the Bridegroom is taken away, they may fast.
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. Later they will become the Bride (John 3:29; Rev. 19:7). The Bridegroom was taken away from the sons of the bridechamber when the kingly Savior was taken up from the disciples into heaven (Acts 1:11). After that, they fasted (Acts 13:2-3; 14:23).
In dealing with the self-righteous and dissenting Pharisees of the old religion, the kingly Savior indicated that He was a Physician to heal the sick (v. 12). In dealing with the fasting and dissenting disciples of John who had formed the new religion, He revealed Himself as a Bridegroom to take the Bride. John the Baptist told his disciples that Christ was the Bridegroom to take the Bride (John 3:25-29). Now Christ, the kingly Savior, reminded some of them of this. The kingly Savior firstly healed His followers, then made them the sons of the bridechamber. Eventually He will make them His Bride. They should appropriate Him not only as their Physician for the recovery of their life, but also as their Bridegroom for a living of 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? This dissenting question indicates that some of John’s disciples had fallen into a new religion and also had rejected the kingly Savior.
The question of John’s disciples seemed to be one of doctrine. But the Lord did not answer with a doctrine, but with a Person, the most pleasant Person, the Bridegroom. The religious people always care for their doctrine with their doctrinal reasonings. But Christ cares only for Himself. The living and walk of His followers should be regulated and directed only by His Person and His presence, not by any doctrine.
It would be ridiculous for someone to fast at a wedding. Moreover, to fast while others are enjoying the wedding feast would be an insult to the bridegroom. Here we see the Lord’s wisdom. He did not argue with them, but He certainly condemned the religious ones. The Lord seemed to be saying, “You religious people have missed the mark. Don’t you realize that I am the Bridegroom and that all My disciples around Me are the sons of the bridechamber? They shouldn’t be fasting. They must feast with Me.” Without these two cases, the Lord Jesus could never have been revealed as the Physician and as the Bridegroom. We should thank the Lord for the Pharisees and for the disciples of John. We should even thank the Lord for all the religions, for without the occasions afforded by religion the Lord could not be revealed in so many different aspects. It is the same today.