Mark 2:18

Mark 2:18, in plain English

People noticed that John's followers and the Pharisees fasted regularly, so they asked Jesus, 'How come Your disciples don't fast?'

Why it's here

Fasting was a big deal in religious life. Everyone noticed that Jesus' group wasn't doing it. It seemed like they were breaking the rules—but Jesus was about to explain that the rules had changed.

Who's speaking

People question Jesus about His disciples' lack of fasting compared to John's disciples and the Pharisees.

Where it sits in the story

It was an honest question. Everyone else was fasting—why weren't Jesus' followers? The answer would reveal something beautiful about who Jesus was and what His presence meant.

The scholarly reading

People questioned why Jesus' disciples did not fast like the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees, who practiced regular fasting as a spiritual discipline.

Language and setting

Pharisees fasted twice weekly (Monday and Thursday per Luke 18:12), and John's disciples maintained rigorous ascetic practices. Jesus' disciples' non-fasting was conspicuous and controversial.

Voice

Unnamed questioners (possibly the Pharisees or general observers) raise the issue of fasting practices to Jesus.

Significance

The fasting question exposed a deeper issue: the nature of the new era Jesus was inaugurating. Fasting expressed mourning and anticipation; Jesus' presence changed the spiritual calculus entirely.

16When the scribes who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

17On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

18Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were often fasting. So people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t Your disciples fast like John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees?”

19Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them? As long as He is with them, they cannot fast.

20But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

Read all of Mark 2 — Jesus forgives sins, eats with outcasts, and lets his disciples skip fasting. The religious leaders can barely keep up with the offenses.