Theophylact Bulgarian. Commentary on the Gospel of Mark
Mark 2:18. The disciples of John and the Pharisees fasted. They come to Him and say: Why do the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?
Mark 2:19. And Jesus said to them, Can the sons of the bridechamber fast when the bridegroom is with them? As long as the bridegroom is with them, they cannot fast,
Mark 2:20. but the days will come when the bridegroom is taken from them, and then they will fast in those days.
John's disciples, as yet imperfect, adhered to Jewish customs. Therefore, some of those who came to Christ presented them as an example and blamed Him for the fact that His disciples did not fast along with those. And He said to them: now I, the Bridegroom, am with them, and therefore they should rejoice, and not fast; but when I am taken out of this life, then, being exposed to adversity, they will fast and mourn. Calls Himself “the Bridegroom” not only because He betrothed virgin souls to Himself, but also because the time of His first coming is not a time of crying and grief for those who believe in Him, and not a hard time, but one that calms us down with baptism without the works of the law. Indeed, what is the labor of being baptized? And yet, in this easy task, we gain salvation. 'The sons of the bridal chamber' are the apostles, because they have been made worthy of the joy of the Lord and have become partakers of everyone heavenly good and consolation. You can also understand that every person, when he performs virtue, is “the son of the bridal chamber,” and as long as he has the Bridegroom Christ with him, he does not fast, that is, he does not perform works of repentance; for why repent of one who does not fall? When the Bridegroom-Christ is taken away from him, when, that is, he falls into sin, then he begins to fast and repent in order to heal the sin.
Mark 2:21. No one puts patches made of unbleached fabric to old clothes: otherwise, the newly sewn will be removed from the old, and the hole will be even worse.
Mark 2:22. No one puts new wine into old skins: otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine will run out, and the skins will be lost; but young wine must be poured into new wineskins.
Just as a 'unbleached', that is, a new patch, by its firmness, will only tear off old clothes if it is sewn to it, and just as new wine, by its strength, will tear old wineskins, so My disciples are not yet strong, and therefore, if we burden them, through this we will harm them, because through the weakness of their minds they still look like shabby clothes. So, one should not impose on them the heavy commandments of fasting. Or you can understand this way: Christ's disciples, being already new people, cannot serve the old customs and laws.
