(Continuing from last week)
AFTER the discourse on the historical origin of fasting, we now turn attention to, what is fasting and what is its place in the Scriptures – OT and NT. We must appreciate that fasting [what we do with ourselves) is one of the THREE Christian attributes of personal discipline which relate to the believer’s spiritual life, along with Almsgiving (what we do with others) and Relationship with God (what we do with God). All the three relate to the approved Christian conduct on which the Lord Jesus gave the following general injunction: “Take heed that ye do not your righteousness (or your peity) before men, to be seen of them: else ye have no reward with your father which is in heaven”.
Although Jesus did not anywhere in the Scripture (NT) direct fasting, it is enough for every believer to consider the proclamation of Jehovah Himself in Lev. 23:27-31; and the subsequent call for fasts by leaders of Israel under various circumstances in the OT times (see II Chron. 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Neh.9; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15; Jonah 3:5). The nature of the circumstances that prompted the various leaders – priests and prophets – of Israel to call for the fasts still (in various and different forms) afflict today’s Christians and churches. Therefore today’s believers must see and accept fast as something taught in the OT as having been instituted by Jehovah – Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The reprisals for any Jew failing to participate effectively in the annual fast on the Day of Atonement is clearly stated in verses 29 and 30. And further details of the mode of this annual fast are given in verses 30 and 31.
Undoubtedly Jesus died on the cross of Calvary to propitiate the sins of mankind and there can never be a greater atonement for sins then that wroth on the cross, but this did not take away or nullify the injunction for the believer to continually pray for the forgiveness of his daily sins. Christ made the final atonement sacrifice which procured redemption for mankind on condition of repentance and faith in His vicarious death on the cross.
The blood of this final sacrifice must be accessed by today’s believer through acknowledgment of his daily sins and prayers for forgiveness (see I John 1:8; Matt. 12:8). The propitiation and atonement for sin on the cross is an assurance that, if the believer should acknowledge his sins, pray for forgiveness and forsake such sin, he will be forgiven and declared guiltless before God. It is to this effect that the sinning believer may fast to afflict the soul and not the body as often believed by many. To afflict the body for sin; is to dodge the issue and miss the true nature of repentance because sin is a ‘disease’ of the soul and not of the body. The chief benefit of fasting is to obtain a clarity of the mind that comes with complete or partial abstinence from food, and that enables a person to perceive God’s will more distinctly.
Some argue that fasting as proclaimed in Lev. 23:27,29 was a proclamation of the law of Moses which is of no relevance to the Christian who, according to them is no longer under law, but under grace. This is an error of conception, for even the law has its own grace – “The law of Grace” which is a category of Christian doctrine and precept of grace, addressed to the redeemed child of God in this age of the dispensation of Grace and the Holy Ghost administration of the church. The law here must be clearly distinguished and divorced from the Mosaic law with its ritual ceremonies which have no relevance to Christianity. In the law of Grace, grace imparts to the believer, all the merit he could ever need (John 1:16; Rom. 5:1; 8:1; Col.9:2,10). Being ‘in-laived’ to Christ (I Cor. 9:20,21) does not mean that the Christian is without law, but it does mean that, as one redeemed by grace, he has the duty, or rather the gracious privilege of not doing that which is displeasing to God (disobedience) but fully discharging that which is well pleasing to God on the basis of a manifestation of spontaneous gratitude for his salvation in grace.
Also there is the ‘Natural Lam Written in the Heart’ which is always observed by grace in the Christian, being the aspect of God’s law closely connected with the revealed will of God. This must also be distinguished and divorced from the Mosaic ritual ceremonial laws, since it is what God requires of all His creatures, (see Rom. 2:14; 15), throughout all ages.
In the NT, we find that though Jesus never taught fasting directly He taught it indirectly. In Matt. 9:14,15; Mark 2:18-21 and Luke 5:33-35, the Jews asked Jesus “why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not** 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” This is an implicit teaching of and an injunction to fast. It is clear, however, that Jesus in this statement did not prohibit fasting. In fact His approval of it is clearly implied – in His statement in Matt. 6:16-18, “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. But thou when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face. That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
The foregoing is the Lord’s teaching on fasting as a spiritual exercise. The reference of Christ here is to voluntary fasting and must be done to afflict the soul into submissive contriteness and not the flesh. The hypocrite here is a translation of Greek “hapokiritai” from a verb meaning “to pretend” “to fein” Jesus here refers to feined appearance of the hypocrites who conceal their true feelings by a simulated appearance in pretended superior piety, and going about unwashed, unshaven and unkempt hair and beard. This they do to secure the attention of men, and with it a reputation for superior piety. It is striking that the Sermon on the Mount contrasts the philosophy of God and man.
The teaching of Jesus: “but I say unto you” sets out the contrast between the traditions relied on by the Jewish rabbis as their authority for the interpretation of the law. Christ spoke on His own authority, and this fact distinguished His teaching from that of the rabbis as the people were quick to observe (see Matt. 7:29). The expression “but I say unto you” appears six times in Matt. 5 (see verse 22,28,32,34,39,44). Christ showed that His requirements went far beyond the mere form of the law to include the spirit that imparts life and meaning to what was otherwise only form. He sets six specific examples by way of making clear the distinction between outward acts and the motives that prompt those acts. This contrast which runs like a thread of gold through the Sermon on the Mount, makes the address, the supreme statement of Christian philosophy of life, and the greatest exposition of ethics of all time, Christ pointed out how far reaching the requirements really are, and emphasized that mere outward conformity to law avails nothing. Clearly, the teaching of Jesus – “but I say unto you” stand in opposition to those of the Jewish rabbis, to the lives of the citizens of the kingdom of the heavens – “but thou” – in contrast with those of the hypocrites.
Jesus does not in this passage or in any other, command fasting nor does He condemn it. Whether a man fasts is a matter of concern to such a man alone. In fact the very essence of fasting is the consciousness of personal need for doing so. The point in Jesus’s teaching is that fasting is to be a personal experience entered into because of that sense of the need, and not as a pious formality or to earn a reputation for superior piety. There is no virtue in fasting simply because a man is commanded to do so. Citizens of the kingdom of the heavens may fast, but when they do so, they are to dress and appear as usual, because fasting is personal and loses its meaning if done to “appear unto men to fast” In fact Christ put this symbolically in context with “Anoint thine head with oil” – oil was a symbol of joy (Ps. 45:7; 104:15). The anointing of the head with oil was figurative of blessings received. (Matt. 23:5; 92:10).
Jesus condemns appearing gloomy when fasting for the aforestated reason and more because there is nothing gloomy about Christianity, and the Christian who is gloomy in either word or appearance for any reason, misrepresents the character of God. It is a joyous privilege to be the sons of God (I John 3:1,2) and a goony appearance creates the impression of being an orphan rather than a son. Fasting is purely a matter between a man and his God; not between a man and his fellow man.
However, those interested in textual criticism, will note that in Mark 9:29, our Lord Jesus Christ is reported as saying: “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting” it is probably true to say that the word “fasting” should not be there, according to the best documents and manuscripts, but, to my mind, it is quite immaterial as regards the general question, because there is all this other teaching which show clearly that the NT. definitely admits of the Tightness and the value of fasting. And when we enquire into the subsequent history of the church, we find that the saints of God in all ages and in all places
