Church Fathers Commentary Luke 5:33-39

"And they said unto him, The disciples of John fast often, and make supplications; likewise also the [disciples] of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink. And Jesus said unto them, Can ye make the sons of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come; and when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, then will they fast in those days. And he spake also a parable unto them: No man rendeth a piece from a new garment and putteth it upon an old garment; else he will rend the new, and also the piece from the new will not agree with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old wine-skins; else the new wine will burst the skins, and itself will be spilled, and the skins will perish. But new wine must be put into fresh wine-skins. And no man having drunk old [wine] desireth new; for he saith, The old is good." — Luke 5:33-39 (ASV)

St. Cyril of Alexandria: As soon as they received the first answer from Christ, they proceeded from one thing to another, intending to show that the holy disciples, and Jesus Himself with them, cared very little for the law. This led to their next question, which was, in effect, “Why do the disciples of John fast, but yours eat and drink?” It was as if they were saying, “You eat with tax collectors and sinners, even though the law forbids fellowship with the unclean, but compassion serves as an excuse for your transgression. Why, then, do you not fast, as those who wish to live according to the law are accustomed to do?”

Holy men do indeed fast so that by the subduing of their bodies they may quell their passions. Christ, however, did not need to fast to perfect His virtue, since as God He was free from every yoke of passion. Neither did His companions need to fast; as partakers of His grace, they were strengthened in all holy and godly living without it. For when Christ fasted for forty days, it was not to put His own passions to death, but to show fleshly men the discipline of abstinence.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Now, Luke evidently relates that this was spoken not by John’s disciples themselves, but by others about them. How then does Matthew say, “Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast...’?” This must mean that the disciples themselves also came and were all eager, as much as they were able, to ask Him the question.

There are two kinds of fasts: one is in times of trouble, to propitiate God for our sins; the other is in times of joy, when, as fleshly things delight us less, we feast all the more on spiritual things. The Lord, therefore, being asked why His disciples did not fast, answered concerning each type of fast. First, concerning the fast of tribulation, He says, “Can you make the children of the bridegroom fast when the bridegroom is with them?”

St. John Chrysostom: It is as if He were saying, “The present time is one of joy and gladness; sorrow must not be mixed with it.”

St. Cyril of Alexandria: For the appearance of our Savior in this world was nothing less than a great festival, spiritually uniting our nature to Him as His bride, so that she who was formerly barren might become fruitful. The children of the Bridegroom, then, are those who have been called by Him through a new, gospel discipline—not the Scribes and Pharisees, who observe only the shadow of the law.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Now this, which only Luke mentions—“You cannot make the children of the bridegroom fast”—is understood to refer to those very men who implied they would make the children of the Bridegroom mourn and fast, since they were about to kill the Bridegroom.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: After granting that it was not fitting for the children of the Bridegroom to be troubled while they were keeping a spiritual feast, and that fasting should be abolished among them, He adds this instruction: “But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: It is as if He said, “Then they shall be desolate, in sorrow and lamentation, until the joy of consolation is restored to them by the Holy Spirit.”

St. Ambrose of Milan: Or, that fast by which the flesh is put to death and the desires of the body are disciplined is not given up, for this fast commends us to God. But we who have Christ, and who banquet on the flesh and blood of Christ, cannot fast in that way.

St. Basil the Great: The children of the Bridegroom also cannot fast—that is, refuse nourishment to the soul—but instead live on “every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

St. Ambrose of Milan: But when are those days in which Christ will be taken away from us, since He has said, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world”? No one can take Christ away from you, unless you take yourself away from Him.

The Venerable Bede: For as long as the Bridegroom is with us, we rejoice and can neither fast nor mourn. But when He has gone away because of our sins, then a fast must be declared and mourning must be prescribed.

St. Ambrose of Milan: Lastly, this is spoken of the fast of the soul, as the context shows, for it follows that He also said, “No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old.” He calls fasting an old garment, which the Apostle said should be put off, saying, “Put off the old man with his deeds.” In the same manner, we have a series of precepts not to mix the actions of the old man with those of the new.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Alternatively, when the gift of the Holy Spirit is received, there is a kind of fast that comes from joy, which those who are already renewed to a spiritual life celebrate at the proper time. Before they receive this gift, He says they are like old garments, to which a new piece of cloth is unsuitably sewn—that is, any part of the doctrine related to the sobriety of the new life. If this happens, the doctrine itself is, in a way, torn. It teaches a general fast not only from pleasant food but from all delight in temporal pleasures. He said that the part of this teaching related to food ought not to be given to men still devoted to their old habits, for this creates a tear, and it does not match the old garment.

He also says they are like old wineskins, as it follows: “And no one puts new wine into old skins.”

St. Ambrose of Milan: The weakness of the human condition is exposed when our bodies are compared to the skins of dead animals.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Apostles are compared to old wineskins, who would more easily burst from the new wine—that is, from spiritual precepts—than contain it. This is why it says, “Else the new wine will burst the skins, and be spilled.” But they became new wineskins when, after the Lord’s ascension, they received the Holy Spirit, and when, out of a desire for His consolation, they were renewed by prayer and hope. Thus it follows, “But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.”

The Venerable Bede: Since wine refreshes us on the inside, but garments cover us on the outside, the garments are the good works we do outwardly, by which we shine before men; while wine is the fervor of faith, hope, and charity. Alternatively, the old wineskins are the Scribes and Pharisees, while the new patch and the new wine are the precepts of the Gospel.

Gregory of Nyssa: For newly drawn wine ferments on account of its natural heat, throwing off its own impurities by natural action. Such wine is the new covenant, which the old wineskins cannot contain because of their unbelief. They are therefore burst by the excellence of the doctrine and cause the grace of the Spirit to flow in vain, because “into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter.”

The Venerable Bede: Therefore, to every soul that is not yet renewed but still continues in the old way of wickedness, the sacraments of the new mysteries ought not to be given. Likewise, those who wish to mix the precepts of the Law with the Gospel, as the Galatians did, are putting new wine into old bottles.

This is why it says, “No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.” For the Jews, steeped in the taste of their old life, despised the precepts of the new grace; and, being defiled by the traditions of their ancestors, were unable to perceive the sweetness of spiritual words.