Feasting With the Bridegroom: When Fasting Gives Way to Fellowship

There is a sweetness in fasting. There’s beauty in emptying ourselves, in hungering for heaven, in longing for something more than what this world can feed us. But Jesus, in His own words, tells us something sacred, something freeing:

“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

—Matthew 9:15 (ESV)

This verse is tucked inside a moment when the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus, puzzled. They saw Jesus’ followers feasting instead of fasting. Laughing. Enjoying. Dwelling. While others were mourning, His disciples were celebrating. Why?

Because the Bridegroom had come.

When the Bridegroom Is Present, the Table Is Full

To fast is to say, “I am hungry for You.”

But when He is near, the hunger is met.

The table is full. The feast is now.

There’s something so tender in this: Jesus isn’t scolding the fast—He affirms it. He simply says there is a time for it, and there is a time to be with Him. His presence changes the posture. When the Bridegroom walks into the room, fasting turns to feasting. Mourning turns to gladness. Tears dry under His gaze.

In our pursuit of holiness, it's easy to forget that the goal is always communion.

Fasting is beautiful—but it is not the end. It is a means to union, to intimacy, to spiritual clarity. But if fasting becomes a performance, a striving, a spiritual badge, it can slowly pull us away from the very one we are longing for.

If you feel like your fasting has made you busy with sacrifice but distant from Jesus, pause.

Sit down. Breathe in His presence. Let Him serve you His peace. Let Him be the Bread of Life to your soul.

There’s an ancient echo in Psalm 23 that sings to this moment:

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.”

—Psalm 23:5 (ESV)

This table isn't just metaphorical. It is spiritual, and it is eternal. It’s a table Jesus sets, even when life feels like war. Even when everything feels empty. And He doesn’t just prepare it away from your enemies—He prepares it in front of them. He wants them to see you feasting. Safe. Loved. Protected.

As Clarke’s commentary reflects:

“A magnificent banquet is provided by a most liberal and benevolent host; who has not only the bounty to feed me, but power to protect me... I sit down to this table with confidence, knowing that I shall feast in perfect security.”

This is the heart of Jesus.

Fasting is sacred. But communion is the goal.

Jesus said there would be days for fasting—but He also called us to recognize when He is near. And when He is, it’s time to stop striving and start dwelling.

We aren’t meant to fast from His presence—we’re meant to feast on it.

If the Lord is inviting you to sit at His feet, to drink of His Spirit, to rest in His nearness—don’t let discipline become distance. Don’t let striving keep you from soaking in His love.

Holy Hunger or Holy Fulfillment?

Ask yourself gently:

Am I fasting from a place of lack, or from love?

Is Jesus inviting me to sit at the table instead of the floor today?

Have I mistaken absence for hunger when He is, in fact, very near?

There is a holy hunger that leads to more of Jesus. And there is a holy fullness that comes from resting in Him.

Fasting is not a formula. It’s not a spiritual badge of honor. It's a posture of expectancy—but when the moment comes to receive, to feast, we must not cling to the mourning clothes. We must put on the wedding garment.

A Better Wine Has Come!

In the same conversation in Matthew 9, Jesus says:

“Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

—Matthew 9:17 (ESV)

Fasting is part of the old wine. The old wineskin. It is beautiful, but Jesus is saying something new is here. And you can’t hold the newness of His presence with the oldness of religious patterns.

He is the New Wine. He is the Bridegroom. He is the Banquet. He is the Bread of Life.

When He walks into your heart today, what does He find?

An empty cup, ready to be filled?

A soul too focused on sacrifice to sit with the Savior?

Or a beloved friend, setting aside striving, ready to rest?

Today’s Invitation: Commune With Him

Beloved, if you’ve been fasting—literally or spiritually—out of longing, that’s beautiful.

But maybe, just maybe, Jesus is already here, whispering:

“Come, eat. Come, drink. I’ve prepared a place for you.”

Fasting has its day. But today, maybe He’s inviting you to feast instead.

To sit at the table. To look into His eyes.

To lay down your ache and pick up His peace.

To receive His oil, His wine, His Word, and His embrace.

“Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

—Revelation 19:9 (ESV)

You are invited.

You are welcome.

And the Bridegroom is here.