Then the disciples of John approached him and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast (much), but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered 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. (Mt:9:14-15)
The Jews fasted on certain days to commemorate the major tragedies in the lives of the people. For example they fasted on Thursdays and Tuesdays, because on those days the temple was destroyed both by Babylonians and Romans at different times. So fasting was to remind the people of the great calamity that had taken place.
Presence of Jesus among his disciples is not a tragic event. Jesus is the bridegroom who has come to marry the world. His presence in the world is the wedding feast. All those who come to follow him or listen to him are the weeding guests. It is a time of celebration. His presence is a joyful event and it a time to celebrate and not a time of fasting.
When the kingdom of God is at work it is the time of outpouring of mercy. As Prophet Hosea had said (6:6), What God wants is mercy and not sacrifice. The time is changing. God’s new world is being born, and hence everything would be different. The disciple has to enter into the new world of celebration and he should not look back into the old world of fasting.
