Self-Humbling - Matthew 6:16-18 Series

Matthew 6:16 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. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so 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.

Introduction - Questions

Fasting is a strange subject in God’s Word. On the one hand, it seems so important; on the other hand, it is never commanded in the New Testament. All the godliest people in the Bible did it; yet they did not tell us to do it. Here are the fasters in God’s Word (how would you like your name to be in this list?): Hannah, David, Daniel, Moses, Elijah, Ezra, Barnabas, the Apostle Paul, the rest of the Apostles, John the Baptist, the early Church, and the Lord Jesus Christ. All those people fasted. Fasting was not eliminated after Jesus’ resurrection because we see the early Church fasting in Acts 14. But on the other hand, Acts 14 is the last time we see fasting mentioned in the Bible. Throughout all the epistles, which are for the specific purpose of teaching how to live and how to worship, fasting is never mentioned. Prayer, Scripture, fellowship, and worship are referred to countless times – but never fasting. If it is important at all, why wouldn’t it be discussed in the epistles? If it is not important, why did Jesus do it? And why did He promise reward if we do it? But if it is a good thing, why didn’t He do it more? We have no knowledge that Jesus ever fasted any other time. Even the night before the crucifixion we do not see Him fasting; instead, He enjoys a big meal with the disciples. Let’s look to God’s Word and see if we can find some answers.

Review

If you have not been with us since last August then you may not remember the context here. So let’s go back to the beginning of chapter 6 to refresh our memory. Jesus stated His point very clearly right off the bat in verse 1.

Matthew 6:1 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

That is His point, and then He takes the next seventeen verses to give three illustrations of that point.

2 when you give to the needy…

5 when you pray…

16 When you fast…

Giving, praying, and fasting were considered the three pillars of Jewish piety. Ask any Jew what godly living is all about and they would say, “Giving, praying, and fasting.” Remember Jesus’ parable about the Pharisee praying at the Temple?

Luke 18:11 The 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. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

He stood up and prayed, he tithed, and he fasted twice a week. Giving, praying, and fasting were the three pillars of Jewish piety, so Jesus uses those three examples to illustrate His point about the right and wrong ways to do religious actions. And He says exactly the same thing about all three. In each case He says, “When you do it, do not do it to be seen by men. Do it for God’s reward alone, not for human applause.”

Now, if it seems to you like it has been a long time since we have talked about that principle, that is because when Jesus got to the second illustration – the one on prayer – He went off on a rabbit trail. It is the greatest rabbit trail any preacher has ever gone on. We got the Lord’s Prayer in that rabbit trail, and that took us some time to study. Then He took another rabbit trail off of that about forgiveness. But now Jesus brings us back to the point in verse 16. So let’s take a look at what He says about fasting.

16 When you fast

I think those three words might be the most important three words in the whole New Testament on fasting, because they let us know we should be fasting. Jesus assumes we will be fasting. If fasting were part of the Old Testament law only and it did not have a place in the Church, I cannot imagine Jesus would include a section on it in the Sermon on the Mount which is a sermon about what righteousness looks like in the Kingdom of the Messiah. So fasting is for us, which is why you see the Church doing it in the book of Acts. They do not seem to do it very much, but on at least a couple occasions we do see it.