We continue our series in Matthew chapter 6, the center of Jesus’ great Kingdom Manifesto – the Sermon on the Mount. This section of Jesus’ sermon focuses on God-given rewards, heavenly treasures, and eternal priorities.
The world defines the basic question of life as: “How can I get what I want, and how can I get it now?” This world is all about quick fixes. It’s constantly prescribing us the drug of instant gratification. It’s also constantly letting us down, because this world can never deliver on its false promises.
Jesus reminds us that what really matters most will matter not just tomorrow or next week, but next 1 year, 10 year, 100 years, 1,000 years from now. The Question for Us Today: Are we pursuing what matters most? Will the plans and priorities and pursuits of today really matter 10, 20 or 30 years from now? Will they matter 100, 1,000, or 1 Billion years from now?
Only one life twill soon be past;
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
So “lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” Forget about quick fixes and instant gratification! We’re going to live for eternity, so let’s plan and prioritize with eternity in mind!
When we plan with eternity in mind, we give (Matthew 6:1-4), we pray (Matthew 6:5-15), and we fast (Matthew 6:16-18). We do so not to be seen by others or impress them with our piety. We do so to honor our Father in Heaven and receive the rewards that He loves to give His children (see Matthew 5:1-12).
Let’s turn our attention to the spiritual exercise of fasting. “And when you fast,” begins Jesus in Matthew 6:16. What is fasting? For starters, it’s not doing things faster! Fasting is going without food and/or water for a set period of time. It’s a physical exercise usually coupled with the spiritual exercises like the humiliation of penitence and the contrition of confession. Fasting and prayer go together so often that we may think of religious fasting as going without food in order to spend more focused time in prayer.
Now, Jesus doesn’t command fasting. Aren’t you relieved? I mean, how many of us really fast on any regular basis, right? I’m glad Jesus lets us off the hook on this one, aren’t you? J No, Jesus doesn’t command fasting. He assumes it. {Baptists be like “What?”}
Jesus couldn’t be clearer: “When you fast...” “But wait a minute, what about that time when Jesus was asked why His disciples didn’t fast like other religious folks of their day?” Good question. Let’s take a look.
ESV Matthew 9:14-17 14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is 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 tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."
D.A. Carson observes, “Far from banning fasting, Jesus assumes His disciples will fast, even as He assumes they will give alms and pray. His disciples may not fast at the moment, for the Messianic bridegroom is with them, and it is the time for joy (9:14-17). But the time will come when they will fast (9:15)." (Matthew, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 175).
Guess what folks: Jesus died and rose and ascended to heaven where He sits at the Father’s right hand. Now is the time when His disciples will fast. For instance, the apostles and Christians fasted and prayed in the book of Acts.
ESV Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." {Fasting as a component of worship and seeking God’s will} 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. {Fasting as confirmation of God’s will and seeking God speed for commissioned missionaries}
ESV Acts 14:23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. {Fasting seeking God’s confirmation and blessing of new elders of local churches}
The Scripture is clear. The apostles fasted and prayed. Jesus doesn’t command fasting. He assumes it. The apostles got it. Do we?
Consider further Jesus' fasting in the wilderness alongside the testing of Israel in the wilderness. Both clue us into the Biblical reasons behind fasting.
Matthew 4:1-4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 But he answered, "It is written, "' Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
No matter what misinformation, misconceptions, and misnomers comes to mind when you think of fasting, Jesus fasted, and He assumes His disciples will fast. Let’s consider what biblical fasting is all about. Then let’s consider Jesus’ warning concerning fasting in Matthew 6.
1. What is Biblical Fasting?
The Life Application Study Bible defines fasting as “Going without food in order to spend time in prayer.” This definition is on the right track, but there’s more to fasting than just freeing up meal time for prayer. Let’s go with a broader definition by Eugene H. Merrell in the Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology: Fasting is “abstinence from food and/or drink as an element of private or public religious devotion.”
At its heart, fasting is voluntarily going without food and/or drink for a certain period of time. Biblical fasting is often a public act engaged in by an entire fellowship, community, or nation of people. It can also be a private act. It is always an expression of devotion to God, though, as with any religious act, those who fast are not always sincere.
Using my computer, I searched the entire Bible – both Old and New Testaments – for every occurrence of the words fast, fasts, fasting, and fasted. I was surprised that Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the one time of the year fasting is commanded in Scripture, did not come up in my search.
ESV Leviticus 23:27 "Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the LORD....32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath."
“Afflict Yourselves” or “Deny Yourselves” means, among other things, fasting from food. Jewish people took this command very seriously, so that by the Apostle Paul’s day, Yom Kippur is referred to in Acts 27:9 simply as “The Fast.”
Biblical fasting’s roots in the Day of Atonement clearly brings out the primary purpose of biblical fasting:
Biblical fasting is first and foremost an expression of
humble penitence and sorrow for sin.
The truly penitent experience great sorrow for their sin. They know sin is an affront to the God who created them and chose them. They confess their sin, and their fasting is a vivid expression of their sorrow, contrition, regret, and repentance.
Along with the expression of humble penitence and sorrow for sin is the plea that God will stay His hand of judgment or relent from sending the punishment He has promised. A few noteworthy examples include King David (2 Samuel 12:13-23), the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:4-10), and Daniel (Daniel 9:2ff). Biblical fasting is first and foremost an expression of humble penitence and sorrow for sin.
Biblical fasting is also an expression of
humble petition and sincerity in prayer.
Those truly seeking God’s heart, God’s will, and God’s blessing are utterly humble. As we’ve been learning, prayer is our faith response to the Father’s love. He knows what we need before we even ask, yet He is pleased to hear our prayers, and we are pleased to spend time with Him in prayer. As Chris Tomlin sings, He’s a “good, good Father.”
Biblical fasting is an expression of humble petition and sincerity in prayer to our loving Father. Fasting and prayer go together like bread & butter, apples & pie, syrup & pancakes! A few biblical examples can be found in 2 Chronicles 20:1-3, 12; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:1-3, 16-17.
Biblical fasting is an expression of mourning.
We’ve already considered fasting as mourning for sin or mourning for pending doom. But fasting was also a way the nation of Israel expressed its sorrow for tragedies and calamities, and loss.
ESV Judges 20:26 Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. (Context: National Morning after civil war with Benjamite tribe leaving tens of thousands dead.)
ESV 2 Samuel 1:12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. Mourning for the fallen.
ESV Nehemiah 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. (Context: mourning and petitioning God because the wall of Jerusalem was broken, the gates burned, and trouble and disgrace had descended upon God’s people.)
Scot McKnight reminds us that biblical fasting is a whole-body response to severe, grievous moments like a death, the threat of war, personal sin, or fear of God’s judgment (Sermon on the Mount, The Story of God Bible Commentary,194). Fasting is a biblical response to horrors such as 9/11, a hurricane’s devastation, or yet another Chicago weekend full of violence, murder, and mourning. Biblical fasting is an expression of mourning.
Quick Review: Biblical fasting’s roots in the Day of Atonement clearly bring out three primary purpose of fasting:
1) Biblical fasting is first and foremost an expression of humble penitence and sorrow for sin.
2) Biblical fasting is also an expression of humble petition and sincerity in prayer.
3) Biblical fasting is an expression of mourning.
2. There are good, biblical reasons to pursue God by fasting from food, but in
Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus affixes a warning label on the practice of fasting.
a. Warning: Don’t fast like a hypocrite.
Matthew 6:16 16 "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others.
We know from the story of the self-righteous Pharisee in Luke 18:12 that Pharisees fasted twice a week. Generally, this fast was from evening meal to evening meal, meaning they would essentially skip the morning and noontime meals. Some fasts may have been longer than just one day, perhaps much longer.
Jesus says hypocrites go around drawing attention to themselves with gloomy and disfigured faces. They probably doused themselves in ashes, perhaps covered their head, wore sack cloth, or in some other way drew attention to themselves. While it is customary to bathe, trim one’s beard, change clothes, put on oil and perhaps some “nice-smellies,” those who were fasting did none of this. They had bed head, bed beard, bed clothes, bed smells, bed bugs (maybe!), you name it – it was obvious they were neglecting the customary grooming courtesies.
What were they doing? Drawing attention to themselves.
Why were they doing it? To be seen by others.
Was it worth it? Absolutely not!
Matthew 6:16 Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward (in full).
Like a receipt of sale in which the transaction was complete and no further payment would be given, Jesus confirms that worldly applause is the only reward hypocritical fasting will receive. God the Father will not reward those who fast to be seen by others. Jesus’ warning is plain and simple: Don’t waste your time. Don’t fast like a hypocrite. In verses 17 and 18, Jesus balances out this warning with a divine directive.
b. Divine Directive: Do fast like a child of your Heavenly Father (because that’s what you are!).
Matthew 6:17-18 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret.
The Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) fast was described as “afflicting oneself.” Afflicting oneself meant self-mortification and self-denial. There was to be no work, no food, no niceties, no sex. Self-denial was the rule of the day. Creature comforts and fleshly desires were denied in order to focus on penitence, contrition, and petition for forgiveness.
Jesus says, “When you’re fasting, when you’re abstaining from food to draw close to God, don’t let others know what you’re doing. Anoint your head and wash your face as you do each morning. Don’t do any of the things that make it obvious to others that you are fasting.”
Jesus isn’t saying we should be deceptive about our fasting. He’s just saying we shouldn’t draw attention to it. As D.A. Carson notes, “Jesus forbids any sign at all that a fast has been undertaken, because the human heart is so mixed in its motives that the desire to seek God will be diluted by the desire for human praise” (Matthew, 175).
What should we do when we fast? “Don’t draw attention to ourselves.”
Why should we do it? “So that our fasting may not be seen by others but by our Father.”
Is it worth it? Absolutely!
Matthew 6:18 And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Once again, Jesus gets down to the heart of the matter. Just like charitable giving and prayer, fasting means nothing if our hearts aren’t in it, if we’re not doing it for the right reasons. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Joel 2:12-13 12 "Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.” (Check out Isaiah 58:3-10 for the sort of “Fast” the Lord desires.)
CONCLUSION
As with charitable giving and prayer, so with fasting: It must be grounded in and motivated by love for our Heavenly Father and desire for His approval. In the end, nothing else matters. Whether it’s giving, prayer, fasting, serving, going to church, visiting the sick, you name it, the solution to hypocrisy is always the same: Relationship.
Hypocrisy is play-acting. It knows nothing of reality. It knows nothing of relationship. Hypocrisy cannot co-exist alongside a real, authentic, genuine, vibrant relationship with Abba Father. Relationship is the cure to hypocrisy. When we spotlight our relationship with Father God, hypocrisy exits stage left and love takes center stage.
We have a good, good Father. In all you do, reach for His reward. Act for His applause. Seek His smile. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
© 2016, Jason M. Platt, All Rights Reserved
The world defines the basic question of life as: “How can I get what I want, and how can I get it now?” This world is all about quick fixes. It’s constantly prescribing us the drug of instant gratification. It’s also constantly letting us down, because this world can never deliver on its false promises.
Jesus reminds us that what really matters most will matter not just tomorrow or next week, but next 1 year, 10 year, 100 years, 1,000 years from now. The Question for Us Today: Are we pursuing what matters most? Will the plans and priorities and pursuits of today really matter 10, 20 or 30 years from now? Will they matter 100, 1,000, or 1 Billion years from now?
Only one life twill soon be past;
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
So “lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” Forget about quick fixes and instant gratification! We’re going to live for eternity, so let’s plan and prioritize with eternity in mind!
When we plan with eternity in mind, we give (Matthew 6:1-4), we pray (Matthew 6:5-15), and we fast (Matthew 6:16-18). We do so not to be seen by others or impress them with our piety. We do so to honor our Father in Heaven and receive the rewards that He loves to give His children (see Matthew 5:1-12).
Let’s turn our attention to the spiritual exercise of fasting. “And when you fast,” begins Jesus in Matthew 6:16. What is fasting? For starters, it’s not doing things faster! Fasting is going without food and/or water for a set period of time. It’s a physical exercise usually coupled with the spiritual exercises like the humiliation of penitence and the contrition of confession. Fasting and prayer go together so often that we may think of religious fasting as going without food in order to spend more focused time in prayer.
Now, Jesus doesn’t command fasting. Aren’t you relieved? I mean, how many of us really fast on any regular basis, right? I’m glad Jesus lets us off the hook on this one, aren’t you? J No, Jesus doesn’t command fasting. He assumes it. {Baptists be like “What?”}
Jesus couldn’t be clearer: “When you fast...” “But wait a minute, what about that time when Jesus was asked why His disciples didn’t fast like other religious folks of their day?” Good question. Let’s take a look.
ESV Matthew 9:14-17 14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is 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 tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."
D.A. Carson observes, “Far from banning fasting, Jesus assumes His disciples will fast, even as He assumes they will give alms and pray. His disciples may not fast at the moment, for the Messianic bridegroom is with them, and it is the time for joy (9:14-17). But the time will come when they will fast (9:15)." (Matthew, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 175).
Guess what folks: Jesus died and rose and ascended to heaven where He sits at the Father’s right hand. Now is the time when His disciples will fast. For instance, the apostles and Christians fasted and prayed in the book of Acts.
ESV Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." {Fasting as a component of worship and seeking God’s will} 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. {Fasting as confirmation of God’s will and seeking God speed for commissioned missionaries}
ESV Acts 14:23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. {Fasting seeking God’s confirmation and blessing of new elders of local churches}
The Scripture is clear. The apostles fasted and prayed. Jesus doesn’t command fasting. He assumes it. The apostles got it. Do we?
Consider further Jesus' fasting in the wilderness alongside the testing of Israel in the wilderness. Both clue us into the Biblical reasons behind fasting.
Matthew 4:1-4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 But he answered, "It is written, "' Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
No matter what misinformation, misconceptions, and misnomers comes to mind when you think of fasting, Jesus fasted, and He assumes His disciples will fast. Let’s consider what biblical fasting is all about. Then let’s consider Jesus’ warning concerning fasting in Matthew 6.
1. What is Biblical Fasting?
The Life Application Study Bible defines fasting as “Going without food in order to spend time in prayer.” This definition is on the right track, but there’s more to fasting than just freeing up meal time for prayer. Let’s go with a broader definition by Eugene H. Merrell in the Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology: Fasting is “abstinence from food and/or drink as an element of private or public religious devotion.”
At its heart, fasting is voluntarily going without food and/or drink for a certain period of time. Biblical fasting is often a public act engaged in by an entire fellowship, community, or nation of people. It can also be a private act. It is always an expression of devotion to God, though, as with any religious act, those who fast are not always sincere.
Using my computer, I searched the entire Bible – both Old and New Testaments – for every occurrence of the words fast, fasts, fasting, and fasted. I was surprised that Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the one time of the year fasting is commanded in Scripture, did not come up in my search.
ESV Leviticus 23:27 "Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the LORD....32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath."
“Afflict Yourselves” or “Deny Yourselves” means, among other things, fasting from food. Jewish people took this command very seriously, so that by the Apostle Paul’s day, Yom Kippur is referred to in Acts 27:9 simply as “The Fast.”
Biblical fasting’s roots in the Day of Atonement clearly brings out the primary purpose of biblical fasting:
Biblical fasting is first and foremost an expression of
humble penitence and sorrow for sin.
The truly penitent experience great sorrow for their sin. They know sin is an affront to the God who created them and chose them. They confess their sin, and their fasting is a vivid expression of their sorrow, contrition, regret, and repentance.
Along with the expression of humble penitence and sorrow for sin is the plea that God will stay His hand of judgment or relent from sending the punishment He has promised. A few noteworthy examples include King David (2 Samuel 12:13-23), the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:4-10), and Daniel (Daniel 9:2ff). Biblical fasting is first and foremost an expression of humble penitence and sorrow for sin.
Biblical fasting is also an expression of
humble petition and sincerity in prayer.
Those truly seeking God’s heart, God’s will, and God’s blessing are utterly humble. As we’ve been learning, prayer is our faith response to the Father’s love. He knows what we need before we even ask, yet He is pleased to hear our prayers, and we are pleased to spend time with Him in prayer. As Chris Tomlin sings, He’s a “good, good Father.”
Biblical fasting is an expression of humble petition and sincerity in prayer to our loving Father. Fasting and prayer go together like bread & butter, apples & pie, syrup & pancakes! A few biblical examples can be found in 2 Chronicles 20:1-3, 12; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:1-3, 16-17.
Biblical fasting is an expression of mourning.
We’ve already considered fasting as mourning for sin or mourning for pending doom. But fasting was also a way the nation of Israel expressed its sorrow for tragedies and calamities, and loss.
ESV Judges 20:26 Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. (Context: National Morning after civil war with Benjamite tribe leaving tens of thousands dead.)
ESV 2 Samuel 1:12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. Mourning for the fallen.
ESV Nehemiah 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. (Context: mourning and petitioning God because the wall of Jerusalem was broken, the gates burned, and trouble and disgrace had descended upon God’s people.)
Scot McKnight reminds us that biblical fasting is a whole-body response to severe, grievous moments like a death, the threat of war, personal sin, or fear of God’s judgment (Sermon on the Mount, The Story of God Bible Commentary,194). Fasting is a biblical response to horrors such as 9/11, a hurricane’s devastation, or yet another Chicago weekend full of violence, murder, and mourning. Biblical fasting is an expression of mourning.
Quick Review: Biblical fasting’s roots in the Day of Atonement clearly bring out three primary purpose of fasting:
1) Biblical fasting is first and foremost an expression of humble penitence and sorrow for sin.
2) Biblical fasting is also an expression of humble petition and sincerity in prayer.
3) Biblical fasting is an expression of mourning.
2. There are good, biblical reasons to pursue God by fasting from food, but in
Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus affixes a warning label on the practice of fasting.
a. Warning: Don’t fast like a hypocrite.
Matthew 6:16 16 "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others.
We know from the story of the self-righteous Pharisee in Luke 18:12 that Pharisees fasted twice a week. Generally, this fast was from evening meal to evening meal, meaning they would essentially skip the morning and noontime meals. Some fasts may have been longer than just one day, perhaps much longer.
Jesus says hypocrites go around drawing attention to themselves with gloomy and disfigured faces. They probably doused themselves in ashes, perhaps covered their head, wore sack cloth, or in some other way drew attention to themselves. While it is customary to bathe, trim one’s beard, change clothes, put on oil and perhaps some “nice-smellies,” those who were fasting did none of this. They had bed head, bed beard, bed clothes, bed smells, bed bugs (maybe!), you name it – it was obvious they were neglecting the customary grooming courtesies.
What were they doing? Drawing attention to themselves.
Why were they doing it? To be seen by others.
Was it worth it? Absolutely not!
Matthew 6:16 Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward (in full).
Like a receipt of sale in which the transaction was complete and no further payment would be given, Jesus confirms that worldly applause is the only reward hypocritical fasting will receive. God the Father will not reward those who fast to be seen by others. Jesus’ warning is plain and simple: Don’t waste your time. Don’t fast like a hypocrite. In verses 17 and 18, Jesus balances out this warning with a divine directive.
b. Divine Directive: Do fast like a child of your Heavenly Father (because that’s what you are!).
Matthew 6:17-18 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret.
The Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) fast was described as “afflicting oneself.” Afflicting oneself meant self-mortification and self-denial. There was to be no work, no food, no niceties, no sex. Self-denial was the rule of the day. Creature comforts and fleshly desires were denied in order to focus on penitence, contrition, and petition for forgiveness.
Jesus says, “When you’re fasting, when you’re abstaining from food to draw close to God, don’t let others know what you’re doing. Anoint your head and wash your face as you do each morning. Don’t do any of the things that make it obvious to others that you are fasting.”
Jesus isn’t saying we should be deceptive about our fasting. He’s just saying we shouldn’t draw attention to it. As D.A. Carson notes, “Jesus forbids any sign at all that a fast has been undertaken, because the human heart is so mixed in its motives that the desire to seek God will be diluted by the desire for human praise” (Matthew, 175).
What should we do when we fast? “Don’t draw attention to ourselves.”
Why should we do it? “So that our fasting may not be seen by others but by our Father.”
Is it worth it? Absolutely!
Matthew 6:18 And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Once again, Jesus gets down to the heart of the matter. Just like charitable giving and prayer, fasting means nothing if our hearts aren’t in it, if we’re not doing it for the right reasons. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Joel 2:12-13 12 "Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.” (Check out Isaiah 58:3-10 for the sort of “Fast” the Lord desires.)
CONCLUSION
As with charitable giving and prayer, so with fasting: It must be grounded in and motivated by love for our Heavenly Father and desire for His approval. In the end, nothing else matters. Whether it’s giving, prayer, fasting, serving, going to church, visiting the sick, you name it, the solution to hypocrisy is always the same: Relationship.
Hypocrisy is play-acting. It knows nothing of reality. It knows nothing of relationship. Hypocrisy cannot co-exist alongside a real, authentic, genuine, vibrant relationship with Abba Father. Relationship is the cure to hypocrisy. When we spotlight our relationship with Father God, hypocrisy exits stage left and love takes center stage.
We have a good, good Father. In all you do, reach for His reward. Act for His applause. Seek His smile. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
© 2016, Jason M. Platt, All Rights Reserved
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