Hi everyone. Welcome back to the logical Bible study podcast.

And today we're looking at a passage from Matthew chapter 9 versus 14 to 15. So as always we'll start by reading the passage

and then we'll jump into the text and see if we can unpack it a little bit. So Matthew 9

verse 14 to 15. John's disciples came to Jesus and said, why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?

Jesus replied, surely the bridegroom's attendance would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them.

But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then

they will fast. So that's it. That's our short reading for today from Matthew chapter 9.

So whenever you're doing an exegesis of the literal sense of the text, you always want to start

by asking, what has happened just before this.

What's the context? And so just before this, Jesus has been sitting in his hometown of Copernum

and he's been engaging with the Pharisees. So some disciples of John arrive. So this is John the

Baptist we're talking about. So John has his own disciples. He's a popular teacher,

and he developed quite a large following, and so he had an inner group of disciples that followed

the teachings of John and followed him around. Now, by this point John has been imprisoned,

but he still has followers who apparently can visit him every now and then. So they ask Jesus, why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?

So both John the Baptist and the Pharisees taught that fasting was an important spiritual

discipline.

And so their followers, both the Pharisees followers and the disciples, the John, the Baptist

disciples, did fasting. And it was actually one of the three basic practices of Jewish

piety at that time. So, Tobre chapter 12, verse 8, says that fasting is sort of an expected

behavior for Jews.

The reason is because it turns their attention to spiritual things.

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