Luke 5:34

34 "Can you compel the bridal party to fast," replied Jesus, "so long as they have the bridegroom among them?

Luke 5:34 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 5:34

And he said unto them
The disciples of John, or the Scribes and Pharisees:

can ye make the children of the bride chamber fast, while the
bridegroom is with them?
signifying, that he was the bridegroom, and his disciples the children of the bride chamber; and that as it is unreasonable to expect, and morally impossible, that persons, attending the festivals of a nuptial solemnity, should be engaged in severe fastings; so it was not to be thought, that whilst Christ was corporeally present with his disciples, that they should be prevailed upon to live such an austere and mortified life.

Luke 5:34 In-Context

32 I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners."

33 Again they said to Him, "John's disciples fast often and pray, as do also those of the pharisees; but yours eat and drink."

34 "Can you compel the bridal party to fast," replied Jesus, "so long as they have the bridegroom among them?

35 But a time for this will come, when the Bridegroom has been taken away from them: then, at that time, they will fast."

36 He also spoke in figurative language to them. "No one," He said, "tears a piece from a new garment to mend an old one. Otherwise he would not only spoil the new, but the patch from the new would not match the old.