Now that it has been made clear that John the Baptist’s disciples were also present at this meal in the home of Levi (Matthew), and thus reminding us that there has not been a change of venue, there are some additional observations that we can go on to make when we look at what follows. Jesus, after the question that is either posed by or on behalf of John’s disciples, goes on to ask, “You cannot make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?” (Luke 5:34) Matthew has Jesus asking, “The wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they?” (9:15a) When we read this, we must resist the temptation to start immediately projecting various Christologies upon Jesus, and in doing so, see Jesus, first and foremost, as giving Himself titles. Though that is ultimately a proper thing to do, and though both Matthew and Luke, writing after the crucifixion and Resurrection, are most definitely providing the report of these words from a past-tense conceptual context that allows for a full import of Resurrection and therefore kingdom of God implications, we must understand that there is a more basic point of reference at play here, and we cannot allow ourselves to lose sight of the importance of meals and the fact that Jesus is at a meal.
As we consider that, the oddity of the question cannot help but strike us. In Matthew, Jesus is simply said to be at a meal (9:10). Luke tells us that Jesus is at “a great banquet” (5:29). Whether it is simple a meal, or whether it is a great banquet, it is nonetheless a meal. So why is Jesus being asked about mourning or fasting? The question seems terribly out of place, and may be an indication that the presence of “tax collectors and sinners” (5:30) had caused some present at the banquet to abstain from participating in the festivities and frivolities. Jesus, quite obviously, is not dissuaded by their presence, and seizes upon their presence, what He is doing, the setting in which they all find themselves, and His conception of His mission, so as to communicate certain truths about the kingdom of God and what He would expect from His followers.
Jesus is also in the habit of communicating to people at a level that they are going to be able to understand. This can be understood from His use of “wedding guests and bridegroom” in relation to the inquiry. If He launches into a flight of speculative philosophy and theology from which to draw eschatological implications, then it is possible that the majority of His hearers are going to misunderstand Him. For that reason, Jesus often uses examples that are ready at hand when He wants to make a point. Perhaps the finest example of this is to be found in the Gospel of John. In the fifteenth chapter, we hear Jesus telling His disciples “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener” (15:1). Having said that, Jesus goes on to speak of bearing fruit, pruning, and branches. He then repeats Himself and His insistence that He is the vine, while going on to tell His disciples that they are the branches and that they must remain in Him if they are going to be able to accomplish what it is that He intends for them to accomplish (15:5).
Now, it is certainly possible to hear Jesus, with these words, communicating eternal truths to His disciples as He rounds out His instructions to them before making His way to the cross. However, if we note the setting in which this is taking place, it does not necessarily heighten or deepen our understanding, but it does give us a further glimpse into Jesus’ teaching habits. So where is Jesus when He is saying these things? He is in the Garden of Gethsemane. The thirteenth chapter of John has Jesus at His last supper, and the fourteenth chapter has Jesus expounding upon the remainder of His mission. Chapter fourteen has Jesus closing His discourse by saying “Get up, let us go from here” (14:31b). Chapters fifteen through seventeen have Jesus continuing His discourse following His “time to go” statements that closed out the fourteenth chapter. Though chapter eighteen begins with “When he had said these things, Jesus went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley. There was an orchard there, and He and His disciples went into it” (18:1), the fact that He had already said, “let us go from here,” coupled with His new discourse which began with “garden talk,” better informs our mental picture of the setting. This “orchard” is the place where He is arrested, which we know is the Garden of Gethsemane.
In using the imagery of the vines and fruit, while amongst vines and fruit, the truth of what He is attempting to convey is going to settle in more effectively. This is not difficult to understand. This reminds us that Jesus does such things on a regular basis, and in so doing, it is far more likely that He is going to achieve satisfactory levels of contemplation among His hearers. So with all of that said, we are able to make the connection that, based on His words about wedding guests and bridegrooms, Jesus is at a wedding banquet. A wedding banquet would be a community-wide celebration, and would generally consist of a diverse array of guests, as we can gather from the fact that there were tax collectors, sinners, disciples of John the Baptist, Pharisees, and experts in the law present. By extension then, we can extrapolate that there was wine at this feast, being poured from wineskins, which explains Jesus’ reference to wine and wineskins. Perhaps new wine had been poured into an old wineskin and one had burst at the feast, thus providing yet another example for Jesus? Also, it is likely that He and others were wearing wedding garments (think about the parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22 and the reference to wedding garments), and it is possible that either His garments, or the garments of some of the guests, had been repaired with patches. This then explains the reference Jesus makes to garments.
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