Luke 5:33

The religious leaders (Luke 5:30; Mark 2:18) and John’s disciples (Matthew 9:14; Mark 2:18) raised the question of fasting. They did so because it was another practice, besides eating with sinners, that marked Jesus and His disciples as unusual (cf. Luke 7:34). Since Jesus preached repentance (Luke 5:32), why did He not expect His followers to demonstrate the accepted signs that indicated it? These questioners made Jesus and His disciples appear to be out of step by contrasting their behavior with that of John the Baptist’s and the Pharisees’ disciples. All of those people appeared to be sympathetic to Jesus and righteous.

The Old Testament required only one day of fasting, namely, the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29), but over the years additional fasts had become traditional. Evidently John and his disciples fasted periodically. The Pharisees fasted every Monday and Thursday (cf. Luke 18:12) as well as on four other days in memory of Jerusalem’s destruction (Zechariah 7:3; Zechariah 7:5; Zechariah 8:19). [Note: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, s.v. "nestis," by J. Behm, 4:930.] Jesus did not oppose fasting, but He criticized its abuse (Luke 4:2; Luke 22:16; Luke 22:18; Matthew 6:16-18).

Luke alone mentioned the reference of Jesus’ questioners to prayer. He probably did this to clarify the circumstances in which fasting happened for his readers. The questioners implied that Jesus’ disciples neglected prayer as well as fasting.