When You Fast…
(Matthew 6:16-18)
I. The Wrong Way to Fast
A. Fasting as a hypocrite
1. To gain a sense of God’s approval and self-approval
2. To fulfill a religious act
3. To gain religious recognition
B. Fasting for recognition
1. Danger of feeling “super-spiritual”
2. Danger of over-confidence
3. Danger of changing one’s appearance and actions
C. Reward: Human recognition and esteem
II. The Right Way to Fast
A. As a duty
B. Without notice
C. To God alone
D. Reward: God will reward you
Introduction
During a Sunday service, a woman experienced a miraculous healing in her body—so she wrote a note to her pastor to tell him of her experience. As she closed her letter, she wrote, “Do you think, Reverend, that God could do something about my WEIGHT problem, too?”
The pastor wrote back: “Dear Sister, this kind does not go out except by fasting.”
Last week I began a series of sermons entitled, A Primer on Fasting. We looked at an OT passage to get an understand-ing of God’s attitude toward fasting and what He desires to be accomplished through this discipline. We discovered that God is primarily concerned that our hearts be turned toward Him when we fast. It is a time to seek His face and be captured by His Spirit. As we do this, we find that He then moves us to a place of demonstrating His love and character in practical ways—we are blessed and we become a blessing to others.
This morning we turn our attention to the NT and take a look at Jesus’ primary teaching on fasting as a Kingdom principle. What we will discover is that what Jesus has to teach us about fasting is very similar to what we learned from the OT last week. In fact, His teaching approach is practically identical to Isaiah’s. He begins by showing us the wrong way to fast and then contrasts this by telling us the right way to fast. And His point is clear and simple: true fasting is not principally concerned about food or the external act of fasting because those things can be easily fabricated and counterfeited. Rather, true fasting is focused on the Object of our fasting and is to be completely unto God. Please turn your Bibles with me to Matthew 6:16-18.
The Wrong Way to Fast
Jesus begins His teaching on fasting by drawing our atten-tion to the wrong way to fast. D.A. Carson writes, “Jesus is interested in condemning the abuses of the practice, and in exposing the dangers” (SOTM, p. 72). In other words, He shows us the negative in order to accentuate the positive.
Fasting as a Hypocrite
The manner in which Jesus helps His audience truly grasp what He is saying is by inviting them to take a look at a contemporary example of fasting that they were all familiar with: the example of the hypocrites. The word hypocrite is used by Jesus in the sense of a “play-actor,” like the actors in the Greek and Roman plays who wore exaggerated masks to present their message to their audience.
Matthew Henry writes in his commentary: “The hypocrites pretended fasting, when there was nothing of that contrition or humiliation of soul in them, which is the life and soul of the duty. Theirs were mock-fasts, the show and shadow without the substance; they took on them to be more humbled than really they were, and so endeavored to put a cheat upon God…” (MHCNT-QV).
There are many reasons why one might choose to participate in a fast. However, if we are not careful, we may find that we are actually fasting for the wrong reasons. We may believe that we are fasting for a noble or godly reason when, in fact, our fasting has very little to do with God. It may “sound” like a right fast, and it may “look” like a right fast, but it turns out to be a wrong fast, a pretend fast. Let’s explore some of the reasons that people fast that really amount to fasting as a hypocrite.
To Gain a Sense of God’s Approval and Self-approval
One reason a person might fast is to gain a sense of God’s approval and for self-approval. These people think, “If I fast, then God is bound to take note and give me ‘two thumbs up.’ He’s going to know that I’m serious. I’m certain this will get His attention and earn me His respect. I’m sure to receive an ‘Attaboy!’”
Unfortunately, there are a number of people who fast for this reason. They believe that by denying themselves of pleasurable, even necessary things, they will ultimately succeed in attaining God’s smile. Acquiring God’s smile, then, leads them to feeling good about themselves. This, in reality, is nothing short of a resurrection of asceticism. Asceticism is defined as “practicing strict self-denial as a measure of personal and especially spiritual discipline” (M-WCD-OL).
The truth is, God is smiling at us already. He is our heavenly Father who takes delight in His children. You don’t have to try to gain His approval—you’ve already got it. Don’t use fasting, or anything else for that matter, to try to gain His approval.
To Fulfill a Religious Act
Then there are those who fast in order to fulfill a religious act. Perhaps it is to fulfill a promise to God or as an annual religious ritual. They are simply going through the motions of a fast; the act of fasting being the only end in mind.
We saw last week that this was exactly what the people of Judah were guilty of. They had all the outward actions right—they bowed their heads, put on sackcloth and ashes, offered petitions to God, and presumably abstained from eating—but they never went beyond an external show; there was no corresponding internal change, no seeking after God. Their fasting was nothing but a hollow religious activity, an empty shell. Fasting of this sort will always result in receiving this kind of response from God, “Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?” (Isaiah 58:5).
To Gain Religious Recognition
Still others fast in order to gain religious recognition. They are looking to gain the attention of others, especially in religious circles. This is the chief charge that Jesus brings against the hypocrites of His day. “It was not the deed, but reputation for the deed which they sought” (JFBC-WS).
James Montgomery Boice writes, “…what began as spiri-tual self-discipline was prostituted into an occasion for pompous self-righteousness…What was once a sign of humiliation became a sign of self-righteous self-display” (SOTM, p. 72). He then goes on to give this contemporary illustration:
Tragically, we do similar things today. At one time people wore nice clothes on Sunday as a sign of respect and reverence before the Lord. It was not long before the quality of the clothes became more important than the reverence; and pretty soon people were competing to look better than their neighbors. Small wonder many youths finally rejected every trace of this clothes contest and started wearing blue jeans to church. Many of them may have done so for unworthy motives, but their parents’ motives for dressing up were equally unworthy (SOTM, pp. 72-73).
Fasting for Recognition
Paul “Levertoff well says, ‘although the disciples are to be seen doing good works, they must not do good works in order to be seen’” (TNTC, Matthew, p. 71). Let’s look more closely at this precarious goal of fasting for recognition and give consideration to some of the inherent dangers.
Danger of Feeling “Super-spiritual”
One of the dangers of fasting for recognition is that of feeling “super-spiritual.” We can deceive ourselves into believing that we have somehow reached a higher spiritual plane than others who do not fast. We can become “spiritual snobs” and look down upon those who haven’t “arrived yet.”
“Fasting [emphasizes] the denial of the flesh, but the [hypocrites] were glorifying their flesh by drawing attention to themselves” (BKCNT-WS). “Look at me! Don’t you wish you were ‘close to God’ like me? Don’t you wish you could be me?”
Danger of Over-confidence
Closely related to the danger of feeling “super-spiritual” is that of over-confidence. That is, we start to put our confidence in ourselves and our activities for God rather than in our relationship to God. When we are finally consumed by our over-confidence, we end up inflating ourselves to the point that we are larger than God, we swallow the lie that we are without need, and we view ourselves as to be without fault.
In Luke 18:9-14 we read this chilling reminder about the results of over-confidence:
To some who were confident of their own righteous-ness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself [or to himself]: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Danger of Changing One’s Appearance and Actions
A third danger of fasting for recognition, which Jesus explicitly mentions, is that of changing one’s appearance and actions. Jesus described the hypocrites of His day as individuals who disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting (v. 16). Albert Barnes makes these comments to give us an idea of the type of disfiguring that went on: “That is, they do not anoint and wash themselves as usual: they are uncombed, filthy, squalid, and haggard. It is said that they were often in the habit of throwing ashes on their heads and faces; and this, mixing with their tears, served still further to disfigure their faces” (BNNT-QV). It was an exaggerated exhibition aimed at drawing attention to themselves.
Reward: Human Recognition and Esteem
So what’s the reward of fasting the wrong way? Plain and simple: you gain human recognition and esteem. One commentator writes, “Some gain the control and discipline of their bodies through fasting, but they ruin themselves and their ministry through pride. They lose their reward” (POSB-WS).
“The word translated as have [received] in [v. 16]…is used in Hellenistic Greek in receipting bills, and indicates that payment has been made in full” (TNTC, Matthew, p. 71). John Piper, in his book A Hunger for God, comments, “If the reward you aim at in fasting is the admiration of others, that is what you will get, and that will be all you get. In other words, the danger of hypocrisy is that it is so successful. It aims at the praise of men, and it succeeds. But that’s all.”
The Right Way to Fast
In vv. 17-18, Jesus instructs His listeners on how to fast the right way. I want you to note that in these verses, Jesus is “referring, probably, to private and voluntary fasting, which was to be regulated by each individual for himself; though in spirit it would apply to any fast” (JFBC-WS)
As a Duty
The first thing Jesus points out about the right way to fast is that it should be seen as a duty. V. 17 begins, “But when you fast…” Notice He uses the word when not if. Matthew Henry rightly remarks, “It is here supposed that religious fasting is a duty required of the disciples of Christ, when God, in his providence, calls to it, and when the case of their own souls upon any account requires it” (MHCNT-QV). Jesus expected His disciples to participate in this discipline—that it would be a normal part of their spiritual journey.
I’m not going to say any more about this aspect of the right way to fast. I will deal with it in greater detail in my follow-up messages on fasting. So you’ll have to come back next week to hear this argument developed more fully.
Without Notice
Not only are we to fast as a duty, but Jesus goes on to say that we are to do it in such a manner that it occurs without notice. V. 18 states, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting. In contrast to the hypocrites, “the sons of the kingdom must…show the same cheerful [demeanor] when fasting as they would when keeping a festival” (TNTC, Matthew, p. 72).
It is interesting to note that “Jewish fasting required abstinence not only from food but also from other pleasures, which would include the usual practice of anointing one’s head with oil to prevent dry skin” (BBCNT-WS). It should not surprise us that Jesus would tell His listeners to act in a way that was contrary to the accepted Jewish norm. His purpose throughout the Sermon on the Mount, of which this passage is a part, is to dispel the popular interpretation of the Law and expose the heart of God in giving the Law. He knew that the hypocrites had merely seized the letter of the Law as an opportunity to promote themselves.
One commentary points out, “The believer is to fast before God, not before men. There is to be no change in appearance or behavior to indicate that he is fasting. Think about it. Why should there be? Why should anyone know that a person is seeking God in a very special way? The matter is God’s affair, not man’s affair. It is between the person and God, not the person and other people” (POSB-WS).
To God Alone
The final thing that Jesus tells us about the right way to fast is that it should be to God alone. The middle part of v. 18 states, “but only to your Father.” “The believer is to fast to God alone. God is the object of his fast. He needs to meet God in a very, very special way. In meeting God all alone, the believer is demonstrating his dependency upon God and His provision” (POSB-WS).
In a similar vein, Myron Augsburger writes, “Fasting for ‘power with God’ is not to somehow ‘pressure’ Him to act; rather it is to be more objective in discerning the will of God and to be able to rightly claim His presence and His answer” (MTNT, Matthew, p. 90). We fast to know Him and His will with the intention of acting upon what He reveals to us.
Results: God Will Reward You
What is the reward of fasting the right way? The end of v. 18 gives us the answer: “and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” God takes notice of true fasting and He generously rewards it.
I remind you of this blessed promised from Jeremiah 29:13, You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. When our objective in fasting is to seek to know God Himself and to align ourselves with His will, we are guaranteed to be rewarded—we will find God.
Conclusion
In Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus contrasts wrong fasting with right fasting. Fasting the right way involves doing it as a duty, doing without notice, and doing it to God alone.
When we choose to fast the way that Jesus teaches us to, it is likely that we will not receive any acclaim or praise from men. In fact, some may even ridicule us for fasting or view us as fanatical or legalistic. We may be considered as propagating an outdated mode of meeting with God that He no longer requires or looks upon with favor. But regardless of the way that others view us when we fast, we have the word of our Lord that true fasting is rewarded by God.
I encourage you to not just take my word for all this. Take the time to personally search out the scriptures. Diligently seek God out in this matter. Allow Him to direct you. And then be obedient to His voice.
