In “The Sermon on the Mount,” one of Jesus’
most famous teachings, he instructs his followers on four vital activities
involved in living out their faith – praying, giving, serving and fasting. Many
of you would agree that if God’s Spirit is leading a follower of Jesus today,
the lifestyle of the individual would reflect times set aside for prayer,
generous giving to meet the needs of the poor and an attitude of service for
God that would lead to good deeds. But not many people today consider the
fourth topic, the role of fasting, as a vital aspect of the Christian life.
Fasting, going without food, has been
incorporated in the lives of people seeking God for a very long time. The first
biblically recorded fast was thousands of years before Jesus. The Bible records
people fasting in many different ways and for a variety of reasons. During the
time Jesus lived on earth, the Jews fasted once each week. Many of their
spiritual leaders, such as the Pharisees, fasted twice per week. As Jesus spoke
to the crowds who gathered to listen to him, it is apparent that he expected
them to be fasting regularly.
A few days after The Sermon on the Mount, a
follower of John the Baptist asked Jesus, “Why is it that John has us fasting
and the Pharisees fast, but you and your closest followers don’t fast?” In
other words, “The rest of us really spiritual people are doing what we are
supposed to be doing, but why aren’t you?” The response Jesus gives to him
sounds kind of confusing. Jesus said, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the
bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
As we look at the response that Jesus
gives, first consider that he calls himself a bridegroom. And while he, the
bridegroom, is here on earth with his followers, they are celebrating. But when
he is gone, then… In doing this, Jesus introduces a new paradigm of fasting – a
fast motivated by a desire to encounter His loving presence.
Previously in Scripture, fasting was an
expression of sorrow over sin or a plea for God to physically deliver his
people from disaster. But now, through God’s new covenant, the indwelling Holy
Spirit, living in each believer, would manifest the presence of Jesus through
fasting. Thus, the model Jesus gives his followers for fasting is rooted in a
desire for the Holy Spirit to manifest His presence in their lives.
