What does the Bible say about fasting?
Fasting runs from Moses on the mountain to the prophets at Antioch, yet the commentators point out something surprising about it: nowhere is it commanded. What the Bible does is show what fasting is worth when the heart behind it is real — and what it is worth when it is not.
No Command, Only an Assumption
The Sermon on the Mount handles fasting the same way it handles giving and praying — as something already going on among those listening.
Arend RemmersFasting means to abstain from eating and drinking for a certain time. It is mentioned several times in Scripture and is known until now in many parts of Christendom. Yet when we open our Bibles we will not find a commandment for it either in the Old or in the New Testament. Nor does the Lord Jesus command His disciples to fast in Matthew 6:16-18, just as He did not command the giving of alms in verses 2-4. But He presupposes simply that His disciples are doing it.
What He does settle is the audience. In Matthew 6 alms are righteousness toward people, prayer is toward God, and fasting is toward self:
Numerical Bible NotesAs to the practice of it, He does not really decide anything; and as to its place in Christianity, we must inquire about that elsewhere. That the true life is one that is to be lived before God is the main point upon which He is here insisting.
The Old Testament Occasions
Fasting first appears with Moses, and then repeatedly at moments of crisis, prayer and repentance.
Arend RemmersWe also read in different passages that an Israelite or the whole people fasted in connection with earnest prayer (Neh. 1:4; Dan. 9:3), but also to humble themselves in mourning and repentance (1 Sam. 7:6; 1 Kings 21:27; 2 Chron. 20:3; Ezra 8:21). After the Babylonian captivity several yearly fastings were appointed to remember the captivity of Judah (Zech. 7:5; 8:19).
The clearest definition comes from a psalm: David humbled his soul with fasting.
Arend RemmersSo we see that the fasting which pleased God in the Old Testament was the expression of an inward humbling.
Isaiah 58 — The Fast God Chooses
Isaiah confronts people who fasted while quarrelling and striking with the fist. Kelly notes God's reason for refusing it:
William KellyNothing of the kind could be acceptable to Jehovah, Who will have truth in the inward parts, with things fair and good in the sight of all men. Hollow and sterile religiousness is abominable in His eyes.
God then answers His own question, and the answer is not about food at all — it is bread for the hungry, the poor brought home, the naked covered.
A. J. PollockIn short, fasting embraces self-denial, so that the needy of all sorts around may be helped and blessed. If Isaiah 58 were faithfully carried out it would mean constant self-denial, and this would prove a most acceptable form of fasting of a very practical nature.
Zechariah 7 — "Was It for Me?"
When men came asking whether the yearly fasts should continue, God asked instead who the fasting had been for.
H. L. RossierNo, they had fasted to themselves and cried over their own calamity, but had failed to repent. They had lamented about their own fate rather than asking what caused God's judgments and mourning over their condition. To be sad about ruin is not the same as humbling before the Lord.
The Bridegroom Taken Away
Asked why His disciples ate while others fasted, Jesus pointed to Himself as the bridegroom — and to the day He would be taken away.
A. J. PollockThose days have come, and in following Christ there must be fasting. Who fasted like the Man of Sorrows, and are we not called to follow Him? Well, rest assured of this that the more thoroughly we follow the Lord, the more glad and joyous we shall truly be.
Fasting in the Early Church
Fasting did not stop at the cross; it accompanied the church's biggest decisions, and one passage links it with power over evil spirits.
Arend RemmersThe fact that in certain circles of Christendom fasting has become a mere religious exercise must not turn away our eyes from the first Christians who fasted with great earnestness (see 2 Cor. 6:5). Before Paul and Barnabas set off on their first missionary journey the brethren fasted and prayed (Acts 13:3). And when these two, on their journey back, had ordained elders in the various assemblies of Asia Minor, they prayed with fasting and commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed (Acts 14:23).
Should Christians Fast Now?
Commentators differ on how far the practice should be organised. One writer sees no ground for dropping it, while another warns that scheduling it can do harm.
The Bible TreasuryNothing in scripture appears to warrant the present general abandonment of the practice by Christians, though indeed there is a sense in which we may say the Lord is still with us (Matt. 28:20). Self-denial in the spirit of Nazariteship, of which food-fasting is but a single phase, should, however, be practised by the believer habitually and not only on special occasions.
James McBroomHoly watchfulness is needed however, for it is well-known that the enemy has wrought great harm here by leading many into practices hurtful to spiritual well-being and also to bodily health. It is better without prearrangement though none dare to lay down rules.
Summary
- Assumed — Neither Testament commands fasting; Jesus simply takes it for granted and regulates the motive, not the timetable.
- Hidden — Anointed head, washed face: fasting is set before the Father who sees in secret, so the appearance of piety earns no reward.
- Humbled — Psalm 35 and Zechariah 7 make the test inward. Sorrow over one's own losses is not the same as bowing before God.
- Practical — Isaiah 58 turns fasting outward: loosed yokes, fed hungry, sheltered poor. Real self-denial costs someone else's gain.
- Hungry for Christ — The disciples feasted while the Bridegroom was present and fast now that He is gone; the more thoroughly He is followed, the greater the joy.