“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.”
Jesus answered, how can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them — the bridegroom metaphor is the most Christological claim in this chapter after the Son of Man saying. In the Old Testament, God is frequently the bridegroom of Israel (Isaiah 62:5, Hosea 2:19–20, Ezekiel 16); here Jesus implicitly identifies himself as the bridegroom. The wedding is the occasion that makes fasting inappropriate — you do not mourn at a wedding. Jesus is present, the wedding has begun, the kingdom has arrived: this is the time for celebration, not for the fasting that expressed mourning over the exile and the divine absence. The not while he is with them anticipates the time when he will be taken away.
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