And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
Some religious leaders questioned Jesus about why his disciples didn't practice fasting — a common spiritual discipline in Jewish tradition involving going without food as an act of mourning and devotion. Jesus answers with a wedding metaphor: at a wedding feast, you don't mourn while the groom is right there with you — it would make no sense. Jesus is referring to himself as the "bridegroom," drawing on imagery from the Hebrew scriptures where God is sometimes described as a bridegroom to his people. His disciples are the wedding guests. But then Jesus says something sobering and unexpected: the day is coming when the groom will be "taken from them" — a quiet, early hint at his death — and on that day, grief and fasting will finally make complete sense.
Jesus, you made room for both feasting and grief — and you knew exactly which was coming and when. Teach me to receive joy when it's here without guilt, and to trust you when the grief arrives. You've walked both roads. Walk them with me. Amen.
Jesus slipped a prophecy of his own death into a conversation about skipping meals. "Taken from them" — not a triumphant exit, not a chosen departure. Taken. The disciples probably didn't catch it in the moment. But reading it now, from the other side of Good Friday, those two words carry the whole weight of what was coming. What strikes me is that Jesus made room for both — the feast and the fast, the joy available right now and the grief that was coming. He didn't tell his disciples to brace themselves, to hedge their happiness, to mourn preemptively just to seem more serious about God. He told them to enjoy the wedding while the groom was present. There's something worth receiving in that, whatever your current season looks like. If there is joy available to you today, let yourself have it — don't poison it with borrowed grief from a future you can't control. And when loss comes, because it will, know that Jesus already named it. He didn't pretend it wasn't coming. He just refused to let it steal what was still good.
Why do you think Jesus chose a wedding feast — of all images — to describe what life in his presence is like? What does that choice tell you about how he wanted his disciples to experience him?
Jesus hints at his own death before it happens, even in a veiled way. Why do you think he told them this? What do you think he wanted them to hold onto later?
Some people feel guilty about joy — as if suffering or spiritual discipline is more virtuous than delight. Where does that idea come from, and does this verse challenge it for you?
How do you tend to navigate the tension between genuine seasons of joy and seasons of grief in your own life? Do you find one easier to sit in than the other?
Is there a joy available to you right now that you've been withholding from yourself — out of guilt, anxiety, or a sense that you haven't earned it yet? What would it look like to simply receive it this week?
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
Acts 14:23
And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Revelation 19:9
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Matthew 6:16
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Ecclesiastes 3:4
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:2
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Matthew 25:1
Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
Acts 13:1
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
John 3:29
And Jesus replied to them, "Can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
AMP
And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
ESV
And Jesus said to them, 'The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
NASB
Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
NIV
And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
NKJV
Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
NLT
Jesus told them, "When you're celebrating a wedding, you don't skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to pull in your belt, but not now. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come!"
MSG