NOTES for Luk 5:33-39
Jesus is asked why His disciples do not observe the customs accepted among devout Jews. Why do they not pray and fast like the others? Christ answers with several short parables, comparing the situation to a wedding feast, a worn-out garment, and old wine. It is absurd not to rejoice at a wedding, stranger still to offer new wine immediately after well-aged old wine. And it seems utterly absurd to tear new cloth in order to make patches for a garment that is already worn out. The Lord does not say that there is no need to fast at all; He merely shows that at times it is entirely inappropriate, that everything has its proper time. But only those who are present at the wedding feast can understand these parables, those who understand that He is the very Bridegroom in whose presence it is impossible not to rejoice.
