This follows on immediately after the previous words by Jesus about the need for repentance. The Pharisees asked about fasting. This is a common human tactic of trying to avoid the real issue. The real issue that the Pharisees, like everyone else, needed to face up to was the need for them to repent. Instead they tried to shift the focus by raising the issue of Jesus' disciples not fasting. Both the disciples of John the Baptist and the disciples of the Pharisees often fasted, Jesus' disciples apparently did not.
Jesus' reply is that the Pharisees failed to understand the times. The Son of God was here, this was no time for fasting. Something different and far greater was happening. Now Jesus is not saying that fasting is wrong, indeed His disciples would fast after He had gone, but not this day. We need to understand the times, and we need to have all our habits and rituals in perspective. They may be perfectly good and helpful, but sometimes they need to be set aside for something greater.
Something new was happening and the old ways could not contain it. If new wine was put into old wineskins they will burst. A new way of living was required. But people find it difficult to abandon the old ways. It is a fact of life that people are always holding on to the past. We need to know when to let go.
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