Jesus indicated that fasting was very appropriate under the old covenant, given the nature of the experience of the people of God under the law of Moses. But now that Christ has come, the reasons for fasting have largely faded away. Christians are people characterized by joy.

People fast for a variety of reasons. Some fast as a form of political protest. Others fast for health reasons—to lose weight or cleanse their bodies of toxins. Throughout history many people have fasted and continue to fast for religious reasons as a way to express spiritual devotion. This is true for many Christians, as well as people from other religions.

People who fast or promote fasting are sometimes accused of hypocrisy—having an external righteousness but lacking an internal one. They may be accused of pride or of exhibiting a kind of worldly spirituality. Sometimes Christians who promote fasting are accused of violating Christian liberty by imposing rules beyond that which Scripture gives us.

In Matthew 9:14-17, Jesus says the following about fasting:

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 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.  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. 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.”

As we will see, these verses about fasting are not so much about pride or hypocrisy or Christian liberty but about the movement from the old to the new—from the old covenant to the new covenant. They indicate that fasting was very appropriate under the old covenant, given the nature of the experience of the people of God under the law of Moses. But now that Christ has come, the reasons for fasting have largely faded away. Christians are people characterized by joy.

The disciples of John the Baptist fasted.

The disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus an important question. It was natural for them to wonder why they and the Pharisees fasted but Jesus’ disciples did not fast. We know today some things about the Pharisees’ practices in the first century. Historical evidence indicates that the Pharisees regularly fasted as part of their ordinary spiritual life. They fasted on Mondays and Thursdays on a regular basis, which means not eating for two days a week.

While we don’t know what the disciples of John did in regard to fasting, they certainly might have followed the pharisaical practice. Whatever their practice was, we know from their question that they were regular fasters. This makes sense when we think about the kind of message that John preached, which was specifically a message of the coming of God’s wrath.

John preached about the coming of God’s wrath.

John preached a message of judgment and the need for the people to repent of their ways—to take stock of their sins, humble themselves, and turn to God before he swings the axe at the root of the tree (Matt. 3:10; Luke 3:9). If you had been listening all day to sermons about God’s wrath and the need to repent, surely fasting rather than feasting would seem to be a more appropriate response.

This actually raises important questions about the obligations of God’s people at this time with respect to fasting. What were the requirements of the Old Testament with respect to fasting? We know from Matthew 11 that John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets, though we only read about John in the New Testament. John the Baptist was in the line of the Old Testament prophets Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.

It’s interesting to note that the Old Testament law required the people to fast only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, which we read about in chapter 16 of Leviticus. The Day of Atonement was the only time each year that the law required the people to fast. And yet, if we read the Old Testament, we find a lot of fasting taking place, and there is a good reason for that.

Fasting was appropriate at certain times in the Old Testament.

Fasting was appropriate in times of judgment or impending judgment. Fasting was also appropriate in times of mourning, grief, lament, and repentance for sin. We see this in Joel 2:12-13, for example: “‘Yet even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.’” Thus, it was fitting for the disciples of John the Baptist to fast when they were hearing this message of wrath and repentance from their master.

As God’s people Israel lived under the law of Moses, and because they lived in such constant rebellion against the law of Moses, it was very appropriate for them to be a fasting people. Throughout the Old Testament, we read again and again how the people rebelled against God and how God brought his judgment against the people.

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