Mark 2:18

Questions about Fasting

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were often fasting. So people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t Your disciples fast like John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees?” ¹

Mark 2:18 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 2:18

And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to
fast
Or "were fasting"; perhaps that very day, and so were the more displeased at this entertainment, Matthew had made for Christ and his disciples, and at their being at it; or fasting was usual with them: they fasted often, both John's disciples, and the disciples of the Pharisees, or the Pharisees themselves; so the Vulgate Latin reads: of their frequent fasting, (See Gill on Matthew 9:14),

and they came:
both the disciples of John, ( Matthew 9:14 ) , and the Scribes and Pharisees, ( Luke 5:30 Luke 5:33 ) ,

and say unto him, why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees
fast, but thy disciples fast not? (See Gill on Matthew 9:14).

Mark 2:18 In-Context

16 When the scribes who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

17 On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were often fasting. So people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t Your disciples fast like John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees?”

19 Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them? As long as He is with them, they cannot fast.

20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

Cross References

• 1. (Matthew 9:14–15; Luke 5:33–35)