The Sermon on the MountSample

Fasting

Jesus is not against the practice of fasting, but tries to put it in its proper context. The phrase when you fast implies that fasting is a part of the Christian life.

Similar to the teaching on almsgiving and prayer, it is necessary to choose between immediate approval from others and God's approval in the future. While in the Old Testament fasting was viewed as denying oneself (Leviticus 16:29), Jesus teaches that the time consecrated to Him in fasting be considered a feast to the Lord. This agrees with what is written in Zechariah 8:19.

Isaiah 58:1-14 warns against considering fasting as a means of trying to force God to comply with our demands. Abstaining from food, but continuing with the same daily activities, is dieting, not fasting! God is more interested in our behavior towards Him and others than in religious practices.

Fasting is always connected to prayer in the New Testament. It means dedicating oneself to seeking the Lord, leaving aside other occupations, including eating, to enter into communion with Him.

Chapter 8 of the "Didache," a Christian manual for neophytes from the end of the first century AD, begins with this verse:

Your fasts should not be with the hypocrites, for they fast on Mondays and Thursdays. You should fast on Wednesdays and Fridays.

There was a temptation to recycle religious rites not requested by the Lord, while trying at the same time to distinguish oneself from others. But Jesus said that new wine had to be put into new wineskins when He was asked why His disciples did not fast (Matthew 9:14-17). That is, fasting is not a weekly obligation, but something to be practiced when necessary and in order to pray.