Mt 9:14-15
14The disciples of John approached [Jesus] and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast [much], but your disciples do not fast?” 15Jesus 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.”
CAN THE WEDDING GUESTS MOURN? To mourn (Greek penthein) is to lament or grieve. In the Bible, a number of tokens of mourning are mentioned: rending of garments, wearing of sackcloth, smearing of dust on the head, omission of the customary use of ointment, and fasting. People mourn for the dead, for tragedy that has befallen, and for sins and trespasses. The opposite of mourning is rejoicing and feasting, and people express their festive joy by washing, anointing, and wearing of clean festal garments. People rejoice at victory, harvest, worship of Yahweh, and weddings.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples of John that the time of the Messiah is here; hence, joy and celebration—not fasting and mourning—is in order. Jesus compares the time of the Messiah to a wedding feast, which is associated with overflowing joy (v 15; Is 54:5). But Jesus also makes a veiled reference to the passion of the Messiah, a time of mourning. The phrase “taken away” is an allusion to Isaiah’s Suffering Servant, who by his voluntary suffering atones for the sins of his people, and saves them from just punishment at the hands of God (Is 53:8). When Jesus dies on the cross and his side is pierced with the lance, John says that Zechariah’s prophecy is fulfilled in him: “They shall look on him whom they have thrust through, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they shall grieve over him as one grieves over a firstborn” (Zec 12:10; Jn 19:37).