Fasting - 3

Sermon on the Mount-46

Matthew 6:16–18 (NIV84)

16“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

18so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Fast = νηστεύω nēsteuō = to go without food for a set time as a religious duty.

Fasting is the laying aside of food for a period of time when the believer is seeking to know God in a deeper experience.

It is to be done as an act before God in the privacy of one’s own pursuit of God.

A Jew would typically miss two meals.

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for their hypocritical fasting, but He never required any fasts.

Last week we covered the fact that fasting was added to the original Bible text to make it culturally relevant.

We also noted how there have been several Bible translations that have changed or added words and phrases to the original Bible text to make it more culturally relevant (e.g., gender-neutrality, absence of the mention of sins like homosexuality, adultery, and fornication.)

We noted some Bible translations that you should avoid.

As older manuscript of God’s Word is discovered, we find increasingly more accurate translations.

There was no printing press. To duplicate an original manuscript, it had to be copied by hand on to scrolls. (Show next slide.)

It is clear that Jesus did not stress fasting, nor did He lay down any rules concerning its observance as had John the Baptist and the Pharisees for their disciples.

Jesus denounced the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, but He emphasized that fasting done in secret out of true devotion to God would be rewarded (Mt 6:16–18).

His followers would fast, even as John the Baptist’s disciples did after He ascended.

There are no mandates to fast given in the New Testament.

There are a few examples of fasting in the NT.

Fasting in the New Testament

Matthew 4:1–2 (NIV84)

1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

Only time recorded in Scripture where Jesus fasted.

Scripture does not specify if Jesus fasted both food and water.

Verse 2 states that after Jesus fasted for forty days and nights, he was hungry (not thirsty).

Jesus never required His disciples to fast.

Luke 2:36–38 (NIV84)

36There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,

37and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

38Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Anna’s fasting was an act of worship and devotion to God, as she "served God day and night with fasting and prayer.”

This practice was part of her anticipation of the Messiah, as she waited in the temple.

Luke 18:11–12 (NIV84)

11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.

12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

Many Jews traditionally fasted on the second and fifth days of the week.

It was supposed to be on the second day of the week that Moses went up into Mount Sinai to receive the two tablets of the law.

It was on the fifth day of the week that he came down (forty days later) on account of the idolatry concerning the golden calf.

Acts 13:1–3 (NIV84)

1In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.

2While 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.”

3So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

The Holy Spirit instructed the leaders of the church at Antioch to set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

The leaders took it upon themselves to pray and fast.

The Holy Spirit did not instruct them to fast; this was a choice the leaders made.

It's important to note that while fasting is mentioned in the New Testament, it is not commanded for Christians but rather presented as a voluntary practice for spiritual purposes.

Acts 14:23 (NIV84)

23Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

The late addition of and fasting to a few medieval manuscripts is explained by the pairing of the two words in Luke 2:37; Acts 14:23; and in some manuscripts of Mark 9:29. But the words and fasting are not original.

The original text of Acts 14:23 likely read only having prayed (προσευξάμενοι), with and fasting added later by scribes who were accustomed to the common Christian pairing of these two practices.

Luke 6:12–16 (NIV84)

12One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

13When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:

14Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,

15Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot,

16Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus spent the night praying to God. There was no mention of fasting.

Jesus did not need to fast to hear from His Father.

He knew His Father intimately.

There was no record in Scripture that Jesus prayed and fasted before He chose His twelve apostles.

Acts 6:1–7 (NIV84)

1In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

2So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.

3Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them

4and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

5This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.

6They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

There was no mention of fasting, when the first deacons were chosen.

Involuntary Fasts

Acts 9:1–9 (NIV84)

1Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest

2and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

3As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

5“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

6“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.

8Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.

9For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

The shock of being blinded by a light from heaven left Saul without a desire for food or water.

After he received his sight, he started to eat and drink again. (Verses 18-19)

Acts 27:18–21 (NIV84)

18We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.

19On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

20When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

21After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.

2 Corinthians 6:3–10 (NIV84)

3We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.

4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;

5in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;

6in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;

7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;

8through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;

9known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;

10sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

2 Corinthians 11:27 (NIV84)

27I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

In the New Testament, fasting is voluntary not mandatory.

There is no mandate or command in the New Testament exhorting or pressuring us to fast.

We don’t have to fast, we choose to.

If we don’t have to fast, then why fast at all?

What does fasting accomplish?

Is there a right way and a wrong way to fast?

Improper Fasts

Isaiah 58:1–3 (NIV84)

1“Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.

2For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.

3‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.

V. 2, They seem eager. (GNB): “claiming that they are eager to know my ways.”

V. 3, Why have we fasted, and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you not noticed?

These people were fasting to get God’s attention.

‘We’ve done our part [fasting], so why haven’t you done yours [answering our requests]?’

Their quotation in verse 3 indicates they are engaging in the behavior for the very same reasons the pagans do, to manipulate God to act in their favor.

Fasting is not to get God to hear you, it’s for you to hear God.

These people complained to the Lord and wanted to know why He was not impressed with their fasting.

They wanted to know why God did not notice or pay attention to their rituals and prayers.

These folks wanted to get from God what they wanted instead of doing for God what He wanted.

The people are going through the motions of fasting to manipulate God to act in their favor.

They were no different than the pagans who lived around them.

Zechariah 7:5–14 (NIV84)

5“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?

6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?

7Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’ ”

8And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah:

9“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.

10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’

11“But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears.

12They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.

13“‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty.

14‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land was left so desolate behind them that no one could come or go. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’”

The Israelites fasted and mourned during their exile with no thought of God or their sins that had caused it in the first place.

When you go to church, pray, or have fellowship with other believers, are you doing these things from habit or for what you can get out of them (or God)?

William C. Kaiser, Jr. (1933- ): “All religious acts must flow out of a genuine response of faith and obedience to God, or they are merely self-serving, self-glorifying and, consequently, self-condemning.”

Micah 6:6–8 (NIV84)

6With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

7Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

When a person prays, fasts, or gives alms to be seen by men, that is false worship.

True worship includes acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with the Lord Almighty.

Colossians 2:16–23 (NIV84)

16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.

19He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

20Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:

21“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?

22These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.

23Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Paul was addressing a movement that came to be known as Merkabah Mysticism.

The Merkabah refers to Ezekiel 1 and the throne chariot of God that Ezekiel saw.

This teaching spoke of days of fasting to prepare for a journey to the heavens to see God and have a vision of Him and His angelic host in worship (Philo, Die Somniis 1.33–37; De Vita Mosis 2.67–70; 1QH 6:13; 1 Enoch 14:8–25; 2 Baruch 21:7–10; Apocalypse of Abraham 9:1–10; 19:1–9; Ascension of Isaiah 7:37; 8:17; 9:28, 31, 33).

One could withdraw and eventually go directly into God’s presence.

This false teaching emphasized the humility of ascetic (strict, harsh) practice, visions, the rigors of devotion, treating the body harshly, and rules about what should not be eaten or what days should be observed (2:16–23).

All this activity was aimed to help prepare individuals for the experience that took them beyond what Jesus had already provided, so they could see God and His angels in heaven.234

The false teachers were in effect forcing the Colossians to apply works and rituals (including fasting) to escape the world system and the flesh.

These man-made regulations and rules were based on human commands and teaching and were all destined to perish.

They had an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility, and how they forced the body into submission.

But they were not able to restrain their sensual indulgences.

“There is only one thing that will put the collar on the neck of the animal within us, and that is the power of the indwelling Christ.”237

“One may shut himself up in a monastery in order to escape the world, only to find he has taken the world in with him.”238

“Asceticism does not touch the seat of sin. All its strength is exerted against the body. Sin is of the soul, has its seat in the soul. So long as the heart is corrupt, no bodily restraints will make the life holy.”240

The Christian life is not Faith + works.

The Christian Life is Faith in Christ Alone.

Four harmful teachings of these false teachers are still with us today:

Gnosticism: So-called scientific, archaeological, or paleontological (study of fossils, ancient life forms) facts that contradict Scripture, so-called revelations that claim to be on a par with Scripture, and teaching that directly contradicts biblical revelation.

Legalism: Observance of laws in order to win God’s favor. Salvation by works, teaching that puts Christians under the Mosaic Law, and teaching that says sanctification comes by keeping man-made rules.

Mysticism: The belief that beings other than Christ must mediate between people and God. Certain beings (e.g., angels, canonized saints, ancestors) or experiences (e.g., glossolalia, hearing voices) can improve our relationship with God.

Asceticism: The practice of abstaining from things in order to earn merit with God. Some examples are fasting to force God’s hand, living in isolation to avoid temptation, and self-mutilation to mortify the flesh.

Isaiah 58:4–5 (NIV84)

4Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

We will comment on this verse next week, the Lord willing.

Matthew 6:17–18 (NIV84)

17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

18so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Jesus promises us that when we fast in a way that only God, the Father, who is unseen, see what you do in secret versus making it obvious to everyone around you, He will reward you.

What is the proper way to fast?

What are the rewards shown in Scripture for one who fasts properly?

Next Week!!! (The Lord Willing)