Fasting

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

FASTING

Matt 9:14-17

14 Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 15 Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

16 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." 

NIV

We think we may have taken this statement of Jesus and made it into a doctrine we should ascribe to. Fasting was a regular routine among the Jews or at least among the Pharisees or those in the Sanhedrin. There were also regular ascribed days of fasting in the law, for special reasons. This is the reason the disciples of John questioned Jesus about why his disciples did not observe such rules and regulations. This does not necessarily mean that we should set up rules and regulations regarding fasting or have special days of fasting. We also must garner a true understanding of what fasting means. Does this mean the total abstinence of all foods for a twenty-four period? Does it mean to abstain from food for one meal, or all three meals, or simply during the daylight time? Does it mean, as it has in one faith, to fast from meat on one day of the week during the Lenten season. There is a great number of sources to inform of the various methods and reasons why we should fast, such as to overcome a calamity in life, renew our connection with God, empower us to fulfill God’s calling in our life, and fasting helps defeat the devil. These sources also give us methods, such as a full fast, only drinking liquids for the number of days we decide. There is the partial fast, where we can fast from 6am to 3 pm of sunup to sundown or, giving up one type of food, such as chocolate. We could select the Daniel fast, eat no meat, no sweets, no bread, only fruits and vegetables. It seems to me there is too many reasons and methods that man has developed in order to feel he is fulfilling the words of Jesus when he said after he is gone then they will fast. That was a connection to a marriage feast, with a bridegroom. But Jesus has not gone, he is still with us for he said that He would never leave us nor forsake us. So then how could we fast because He is gone, for He is not gone. Again, it would seem that man has made fasting into something Jesus never meant it to be. We will get to the wineskins later, although Jesus tied this to the fasting thing. because we have enough to deal with the simple fasting because the bridegroom is gone. It was a point of legality of the law of Moses, the old covenant, under which the Jews tried to find their righteousness. We live under the new covenant in Christ. Those who promote all these methods and reasons to fast seem to be looking to efforts of man to either appear holy or invoke some effect in our lives. But we live in Christ and He lives in us and we are already declared holy and blameless in the sight of God. Everything that happens in our lives is a work of God, and not a work done by us, which even includes fasting. Perhaps if we want to cast out a demon we might want to fast and pray, but how many demons have we encountered? This is not to say, that we should abandon fasting altogether, but that it should be done only when the Spirit inspires us for some reason God has determined for us, and not because we have determined.