"And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast." In Matthew 9:15, Jesus says of the disciples, "when the bride groom shall be taken from them, then they shall fast. The discipline of fasting, long regarded as a stalwart of the Christian faith, has of late suffered from serious neglect. It seems we fundamentalists (evangelicals) have assigned fasting to the ascetics. In casting out their lifestyle as meaningless legalism and ritual, we have also done despite to fasting. My friends, these things ought not to be so.
Fasting is a useful spiritual discipline for any believer, and now, the beginning of a new year, is an opportune moment to seek God in fasting and prayer. But before beginning, it might be useful to remind ourselves of a few things that fasting is and isn’t.
First, fasting is not simply ritual. The oft-abused passage in Isaiah 58 is an example. In it, God declares:
Isa. 58:3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. 4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
In this passage, the people of God have accused Him of being indifferent to their fasting (v. 3). They describe Him as not seeing their fasting and taking no notice when they afflicted themselves. God responds by telling them their fasting is of no value. In a time when they should be seeking Him, they continue to indulge their own lusts (v. 3) They continued to oppress their neighbors and live in rebellion to the revealed will of God (v. 4). God is incredulous; "Did they really think fasting with that type of heart was going to honor or invoke a response from Him (v. 5)?" Rather, God says, show justice and mercy to those in bondage (v. 6). Help the poor and hungry (v. 7). Then, in verses 8-14, God tells them the benefits of righteous living (which are not at all related to fasting):
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rearward. 9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: 11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. 13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
The point of the passage (many, many interpreters’ errors notwithstanding) is that ritual is no substitute for obedience. Fasting is not a bell on the celestial service counter that brings instant attention from the Almighty.
Second, fasting is not for show. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, briefly addresses fasting:
Matthew 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
The hypocrites put on a sad face and looked weak in order that others might recognize their high level spirituality. Jesus accorded them their reward, then gave instructions to one who would truly seek God in fasting. "Do it in secret, for God, and He will see it, and He will reward you."
So, why and how do we fast? I believe there are essentially only two reasons for fasting. The first is because I hunger for God. As His child, I long with all my heart to know Him better, to hear Him more clearly, to sit at His feet, to worship Him with my whole being. By crucifying the flesh, I free my spirit for communion with His Spirit.
The second reason is because I do not hunger for God (1). It is unfortunate that the good gifts of God can often overshadow the Giver. My life can be so consumed by things of little consequence that I am unable to focus on the One who is everything. Most of the diversions in our life are not wrong except they divert us from God Himself. Take note, in the parable of the sower, of the one who "the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things enters in, chokes the word, and it becomes unfruitful - Mark 4:19." We fast that we might increase our desire for Him by decreasing our desire for His gifts.
Brothers and sisters, let us seek Him. Let us seek Him on behalf of ourselves, our families, our churches, and our nation. Let us seek Him with all of our strength. Let us seek Him in prayer and fasting.
Just a servant,
Bro. Tom
(1) With gratitude to John Piper, whose book "A Hunger for God" greatly influenced my thinking in this area.
