The contents of these verses occur Matthew 9:14-17, where they are explained at large. The disciples of John fast and make prayers Long and solemn prayers: but thine eat and drink Freely, though thou professest a high degree of righteousness. And he said, Can ye make, &c. That is, Is it proper to make men fast and mourn during a festival solemnity? My presence and converse render this a kind of festival to my disciples: for, as John taught his hearers but a little before his confinement, I am the bridegroom of my church; you cannot, therefore, in reason, expect I should command them to fast now, or that they should do it without such a command. But the days will come And that very soon; when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them And shall leave them exposed to much toil, hardship, and suffering; “with their hearts full of sorrow, their hands full of work, and the world full of enmity and rage against them.” Henry. Then shall they fast in those days They shall have great need, and even shall be compelled so to do. They shall both hunger and thirst, and even be destitute of clothing, 1 Corinthians 4:11. They shall also keep many religious fasts; shall serve the Lord with fastings, Acts 13:2-3; for Providence shall call them to it. He spake also a parable unto them Taken from clothes and wine, therefore peculiarly proper at a feast. See on Matthew 9:16-17. No man having drunk old wine As people, who have been accustomed to drink wine made mellow with age, do not willingly drink new wine, which for the most part is harsh and unpleasant; so my disciples, having been accustomed for some time to live without practising any of the severities for which John's disciples and the Pharisees are remarkable, cannot relish that new way of life which they recommend. They are not yet so fully acquainted with and established in my doctrine as to submit cheerfully to any extraordinary hardships. To this purpose is Le Clerc's interpretation of the verse; but Wolfius and others apply it to the Pharisees, who were much better pleased with the traditions of the elders than with the doctrines of Christ; because the latter prescribed duties more difficult and disagreeable to the corrupt natures of men than the former. Perhaps the general sense of the sentence may be, that men are not wont to be soon or easily freed from old prejudices. As if Christ had said, Judge how fit it is that I should not oblige my disciples to a new course of severities at once, but should rather gradually form their characters to what the duty of their future profession, and the usefulness of their lives, may require.
Luke 5:33-39
33 And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?
34 And he said unto them,Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?
35 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
36 And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.
37 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.
38 But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.
39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.