In today’s Gospel reading there appears to be a conflict between friends: John the Baptist’s disciples question Jesus’ followers lack of fasting. It was accepted practice at that time and place that anyone following a holy Rabbi was to fast according to the prescriptions of the Law. John the Baptist, the last of the Prophets in the Old Testament mold and also a blood relative of Jesus, wore the prophet’s “uniform” also worn by Elijah: camel’s hair garments (equivalent to today’s garbage bags) cinched by a belt. He lived in the Judean desert and ate a very scant diet of insects and wild honey. His followers would have followed his ascetic fasting prescriptions. The Pharisees, who aimed at following the Law perfectly through punctilious observance, also fasted according to those norms.
It all paints a picture of watching and waiting for something. For Someone. Jesus responds to the query with a direct answer: the object of all the watching and waiting has come. He is the Bridegroom of His people.
For most 1st century Jews the image of the Bridegroom evoked a betrothal ceremony at which the bride and groom often met for the first time. Once the bride price was paid, the bridegroom went away to “prepare a place” for his bride, often building on to his family’s house. The bride and her family had to wait often over a year for the bridegroom to return, with little or no notice, to take her away to live with him. At that time there would be a great wedding feast that often lasted several days. Sometimes the host family would run out of wine, sometimes the bride’s friends would not have planned ahead and would run out of oil…
Within this framework we can see where Jesus is going with this image: He is the Bridegroom. After much watching, waiting and fasting He has arrived. He will pay the Bride price in His blood. He has gone to prepare a place for us, His Bride. He will return and we will celebrate the Wedding Supper of the Lamb with Him. During the time between His first and second comings we also watch, wait and fast. How else will we prepare to receive Him?
Lavinia Spirito is the Founding Team Teaching Leader for Catholic Way Bible Study. Through Renewal Ministries in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she collaborates in the Young Adult Ministry, i.d.916, and is part of the Teaching Team for their annual Summer Institute School of Bible Study. Lavinia is co-host of “Real Living” and “Unpacking the Gospel,” two weekly radio programs on relevant issues facing today’s Catholics.
