14 John’s disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?”

15 Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch would tear away from the garment, and a worse hole is made. 17 Neither do people put new wine into old wine skins, or else the skins would burst, and the wine be spilled, and the skins ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wine skins, and both are preserved.”

Matthew 9:14-17 - World English Bible

The disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus about the spiritual practice of fasting. This exercise was popular at the time for different reasons. Pharisees fasted to atone for the past sins of the nation, the actions of its king and leaders that led to the Babylonian exile and the domination of the area by pagans. The disciples of the Baptist fasted as a sign of metanoia, turning one's life back to God in anticipation of the Kingdom. Jesus addressed the later reason with two parables that pointed to his presence. The images of the bridegroom and wine skin implied that the Kingdom was present IN HIM. He was the bridegroom; no one fasted at a wedding feast. His message about the Kingdom was the new wine being pour into the disciple (the new wineskin). One could not look to the past to find the Kingdom; no, he had to look to the Christ and his future in the Kingdom. To the disciple, fasting only made sense in that context.

Do you fast for spiritual reasons? When do you fast? Why do fast?