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Updated: May 18, 2025
Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? 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.
'Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, while the bridegroom is with them? The answer sometimes seems to be, 'Yes, they can. Our own hearts, with their experience of tears, and losses, and disappointments, seem to say: 'Mourning is possible, even whilst He is here.
The 'children of the bridechamber' is but another name for those who were called the 'friends' or companions 'of the bridegroom. According to the Jewish wedding ceremonial it was their business to conduct the bride to the home of her husband, and there to spend seven days in festivity and rejoicing, which were to be so entirely devoted to mirth and feasting that the companions of the bridegroom were by the Talmudic ritual absolved even from prayer and from worship, and had for their one duty to rejoice.
Then came unto him disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees keep many fasts, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber weep, whilst the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then will they fast.
And Jesus said to them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
I came not to call righteous men, but sinners, to repentance. Then said they unto him, Why do the disciples of John observe frequent fasts, and make prayers; but thine are eating and drinking? And he said unto them, Can you make the children of the bridechamber fast, as long as the bridegroom is with them?
But the point which I wish to consider now is not so much this, as the representation that is given here of the reason why fasting was incongruous with the condition and disposition of the disciples. Jesus says: 'We are more like a wedding-party than anything else. Can the children of the bridechamber fast as long as the bridegroom is with them?
If we set the Lord always before us our days may be at once like the happy hours of the 'children of the bridechamber, bright with gladness and musical with song; and also saved from the enervation that sometimes comes from joy, because they are also like the patient vigils of the servants who 'wait for the Lord, when He shall return from the wedding. So strangely blended of fruition and hope, of companionship and solitude, of feasting and watching, is the Christian life here, until the time comes when His friends go in with the Bridegroom to the banquet, and drink for ever of the new joy of the kingdom.
"What is that?" asked I. Quoth he, "At the upper end of the bridechamber stands a cabinet, on whose door is a padlock of brass and the keys under it. Take the keys and open the cabinet, in which thou wilt find a coffer of iron, with four talismanic flags at its angles.
And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them! as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. 21.
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