And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?
Luke 5 belongs to the record of Christ's works for the spiritual and physical needs of those who sought His help. Study of the verse gives precious lessons from His ministry of healing, showing Him as the great Medical Missionary. Medical missionaries everywhere are to do the work He did while on earth, learning His meekness and lowliness of heart, testifying to His power as the great Restorer, and revealing to needy souls the principles of righteousness.
The verse records His question whether wedding guests, the children of the bridechamber, can be expected to fast while the bridegroom is with them, using a wedding celebration to explain why fasting is out of place in that moment. Christ is the bridegroom and His disciples are the children of the bridechamber. The question answered a complaint that the often fasting and prayers of John's disciples in their austere piety, and likewise the rigorous fasting of the Pharisees' disciples, was contrary to Jesus eating and drinking and feasting with publicans and sinners.
While the bridegroom was with them, the disciples could not be made to fast and mourn as the Pharisees did; fasting was unfitting and joy and feasting were fitting. His presence made the feast a time to teach and bring hope to those willing to receive Him. Having the presence of God with them, the disciples believed in Him, trusted in Him, loved Him, and were taught by Him daily.
He was in their very midst as the light of Heaven, the Redeemer of mankind, the Majesty of Heaven and Prince of Peace, bestowing daily mercies and blessings and opening truths hidden from the foundation of the world, with joy fitting as at the announcement of great joy, peace and good will at His birth for poor, rich, ignorant and learned. He had come as Redeemer to bring freedom and light, and mourning and fasting were more fitting for those who rejected the Saviour and chose darkness rather than freedom and light. After the bridegroom is taken away from them, His followers will fast in those days.
When He goes back to Heaven and returns to Heaven, leaving His disciples without His bodily presence to meet the unbelief and darkness of the world, it is fitting for the church to fast and mourn until her absent Lord returns the second time, as they await His return. Mourning and fasting become fitting in days of trial and temptation when the presence of the Comforter is not clearly discerned, when the disciples' faith would be tried and their hope and courage would fail. That time came as Christ approached the cross and descended into humiliation, in the hands of wicked men, with His own nation clamoring for His blood, crowned with thorns by Herod and his soldiers, clad in the purple robe, bowed to and struck with the reed, passed over for the murderous Barabbas, scourged as the worst of criminals, and lifted up on the cross dying as a malefactor.
That same time is seen with Herod and his soldiers plaiting the crown of thorns for His brow, clad in the purple robe and struck with the reed, scourged as the worst of criminals while the murderous Barabbas was chosen in His place, though He was expected to take His place on David's throne, and lifted upon the cross dying as a malefactor.
Luke 5 belongs to the record of Christ's works for the spiritual and physical needs of those who sought His help. Study of the verse gives precious lessons from His ministry of healing, showing Him as the great Medical Missionary. Medical missionaries everywhere are to do the work He did while on earth, learning His meekness and lowliness of heart, testifying to His power as the great Restorer, and revealing to needy souls the principles of righteousness.
The verse records His question whether wedding guests, the children of the bridechamber, can be expected to fast while the bridegroom is with them, using a wedding celebration to explain why fasting is out of place in that moment. Christ is the bridegroom and His disciples are the children of the bridechamber. The question answered a complaint that the often fasting and prayers of John's disciples in their austere piety, and likewise the rigorous fasting of the Pharisees' disciples, was contrary to Jesus eating and drinking and feasting with publicans and sinners.
While the bridegroom was with them, the disciples could not be made to fast and mourn as the Pharisees did; fasting was unfitting and joy and feasting were fitting. His presence made the feast a time to teach and bring hope to those willing to receive Him. Having the presence of God with them, the disciples believed in Him, trusted in Him, loved Him, and were taught by Him daily.
He was in their very midst as the light of Heaven, the Redeemer of mankind, the Majesty of Heaven and Prince of Peace, bestowing daily mercies and blessings and opening truths hidden from the foundation of the world, with joy fitting as at the announcement of great joy, peace and good will at His birth for poor, rich, ignorant and learned. He had come as Redeemer to bring freedom and light, and mourning and fasting were more fitting for those who rejected the Saviour and chose darkness rather than freedom and light. After the bridegroom is taken away from them, His followers will fast in those days.
When He goes back to Heaven and returns to Heaven, leaving His disciples without His bodily presence to meet the unbelief and darkness of the world, it is fitting for the church to fast and mourn until her absent Lord returns the second time, as they await His return. Mourning and fasting become fitting in days of trial and temptation when the presence of the Comforter is not clearly discerned, when the disciples' faith would be tried and their hope and courage would fail. That time came as Christ approached the cross and descended into humiliation, in the hands of wicked men, with His own nation clamoring for His blood, crowned with thorns by Herod and his soldiers, clad in the purple robe, bowed to and struck with the reed, passed over for the murderous Barabbas, scourged as the worst of criminals, and lifted up on the cross dying as a malefactor.
That same time is seen with Herod and his soldiers plaiting the crown of thorns for His brow, clad in the purple robe and struck with the reed, scourged as the worst of criminals while the murderous Barabbas was chosen in His place, though He was expected to take His place on David's throne, and lifted upon the cross dying as a malefactor.