Mark 2:19

19 And Jesus said unto them, "Can the attendants of the bridechamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

Mark 2:19 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 2:19

And Jesus said unto them
Both to John's disciples and the Pharisees,

can the children of the bride chamber fast, while the bridegroom is
with them?
Suggesting that he was the bridegroom, as John their master had called him, ( John 3:29 ) , and that his disciples were the children of the bride chamber; and that it was very unsuitable for them, and very unreasonable to desire them to fast at such a time, and under such a character: wherefore the answer returned by Christ himself to the question is,

as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast:
all which the Syriac version expresses by (al) , "no": (See Gill on Matthew 9:15).

Mark 2:19 In-Context

17 When Jesus heard it, He said unto them, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

18 And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast; and they came and said unto Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?"

19 And Jesus said unto them, "Can the attendants of the bridechamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

20 But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

21 "No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment, else the new piece that filled it up teareth away from the old, and the rent is made worse.