9:14–17 Jesus is still at table with tax collectors and “sinners” (v. 10) when a group of followers of John the Baptist come and ask him why his disciples do not fast. Pharisees apparently fasted twice a week (cf. Luke 18:12; Didache 8), and John’s disciples fasted as well. In the previous paragraph the question was whether Jesus should be eating with outcasts; now the question is whether he should be eating at all! (Hill, p. 175). His failure to satisfy the religious scruples of sectarians would become a continuing irritant.

Jesus answers with a reference to the Jewish wedding feast. In that setting it would be inappropriate for the guests to mourn while [the bridegroom] is with them (v. 15). Later, when the bridegroom was taken from them, there would be time for fasting. In this figure …