Mark 2:19

19 Jesus replied, "Can wedding guests fast while the groom is still with them? As long as they have the groom 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 that, he said to them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor; those who are sick do. I've come to call sinners, not people who think they have God's approval."

18 John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came to Jesus and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples fast, but your disciples don't?"

19 Jesus replied, "Can wedding guests fast while the groom is still with them? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast.

20 But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast.

21 "No one patches an old coat with a new piece of cloth that will shrink. Otherwise, the new patch will shrink and rip away some of the old cloth, and the tear will become worse.