Daily Devotional For Thursday, October 24, 2024

It is Thursday and this is the “day the Lord has made and we can rejoice and be glad in it.” As you know, if you have been reading these devotionals, we are making our way through the most famous sermon ever – Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount. You can read this in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7. We have finished Matthew 5 and we are currently in Matthew 6. We are currently looking at Matthew 6:16-18:

“Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. (17) But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face (18) so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (NASB).

Jesus now comes to give a correction to a third area – fasting. The first one was about giving in Matthew 6:2-4 and the second one was about prayer in Matthew 6:5-15. In all three, it seems the religious leaders did each of these to be seen and praised. Fasting is an old religious discipline that has been around forever. In fact, in many pagan religions, they would fast because they believed demons and evil spirits could enter food and thus enter the body.  To ward off these demons and evil spirits, they would fast. The yogis in some religions that delve into mysticism and hallucinogenic elements claim they gain great insights from this. In the western world, fasting has become popular for not religious or spiritual reasons but for cosmetic and self-centered reasons – to look beautiful or handsome.

When it comes to Jews and Christians, the Bible gives no commands to fast, but only what our attitude should be if we do fast. Legitimate fasting has always had a spiritual purpose and is never presented as having any value in and of itself. Yet, many in the Old Testament did fast – Moses, Samson, Samuel, Hannah, David, Elijah, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel, and many others. And the New Testament tells us of the fasting of Anna, John the Baptist and his disciples, Jesus, Paul, and numerous others. We know that many of the early church Fathers fasted, and that Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Whitefield, and many other outstanding Christian leaders have fasted. 

In Leviticus 23:27, God did give a command about fasting only for the Festival called The Day of Atonement – “Also the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble yourselves [by fasting] and present an offering by fire to the Lord” (AMP). This was a national fast for every Jew that symbolized forsaking food as an act of self-denial. Fasting comes under a different category than giving and prayer. Why? There are numerous Scriptures for both, just a very few for fasting. Both the Old and New Testaments speak favorably of fasting, but there are no compulsory commands to Christians to do it. If done, it is strictly voluntarily and done in private.

I like what New Testament scholar Bruce B. Barton writes about fasting:

“The purpose of fasting is to provide time for prayer, to teach self-discipline, to remind God’s people that they can live with a lot less, and to help them appreciate what God has given” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, The Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 118).

Jews fasted for certain occasions. Mourning over a death, to make amends for a sin, preparation for a revelation from God, and for a national holiday such as The Day of Atonement. New Testament scholar William Barclay writes that there were 3 basic ideas in a Jew’s mind when they fasted:

1. “Fasting was a deliberate attempt to draw the attention of God to the person who fasted. This was a very primitive idea. The fasting was designed to attract God’s attention, and to make him notice those who thus denied themselves.
2. Fasting was a deliberate attempt to prove that penitence was real. Fasting was a guarantee of the sincerity of words and prayers. It is easy to see that there was a danger here, for that which was meant to be a proof of repentance could very easily come to be regarded as a substitute for repentance.
3. A great deal of fasting was vicarious, done on behalf of others. It was not designed to save an individual’s own soul so much as to move God to liberate the nation from its distresses. It was as if specially devoted people said: ‘Ordinary people cannot do this. They are too involved in work and in the world. We will do this extra thing to counterbalance the necessary deficiency of piety in others’” (Source: William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series, “The Gospel of Matthew,” 3rd Ed., pp. 270-271).

New Testament scholar Bruce B. Barton is right when we writes this:

“Most people who practice fasting would say that the word “slow” presents a clearer picture of this discipline than “fast.” Time slows down during a fast as energy levels decline with the absence of food” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, The Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 119).

So, “When you fast” implies this is voluntary, not commanded. Fasts were sometimes total and sometimes partial. So, in Jesus’ day fasting had become not a spiritual discipline of spiritual conviction, but a means of self-gratification. The Jews in Jesus’ day saw fasting as a means to get merit with God and favor with people. Pastor and author John MacArtur tells us this:

“Many Pharisees fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), usually on the second and fifth days of the week. They claimed those days were chosen because they were the days Moses made the two separate trips to receive the tablets of law from God on Mount Sinai. But those two days also happened to be the major Jewish market days, when cities and towns were crowded with farmers, merchants, and shoppers. They were, therefore, the two days where public fasting would have the largest audiences” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 401).

This is the real reason Jesus said they “put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting.” John MacArthur continues:

“They would wear old clothes, sometimes purposely torn and soiled, dishevel their hair, cover themselves with dirt and ashes, and even use makeup in order to look pale and sickly. As we have seen in previous chapters, hypocrites comes from a Greek word for the mask used by actors to portray a certain character or mood. In regard to fasting, some Jewish hypocrites literally resorted to theatrics” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 401).

All they cared about was the reward to be seen by others and Jesus says that is the only reward they got. Tomorrow, we will look more at this spiritual discipline. 

Questions To Consider

1. Have you ever done anything for the Lord in hopes that others will see you doing it? Do you currently do anything for the Lord to be seen by others? Why?
2. Jesus called the religious leaders hypocrites – meaning – here were actors acting like actors on a stage before others to be seen. If you could go back in time, would you say anything to these religious leaders about this? Why or why not? If you did, what would you say to them and why?
3. There is no biblical command to fast except to the Jews in the Old Testament for the Day of Atonement. We are commanded to pray, read the Word, tithe, serve, give, share our faith, but not fast. What does this tell you and why?
4. As we look at both the Old and New Testaments, a lot of God’s people fasted. This means it was important for them to do it. Have you ever fasted and if so, why? What did it do for your relationship to Jesus Christ?
5. Look over again at the 3 reasons New Testament scholar William Barclay gives for what was in the mind of godly Jews when they fasted. Which one do you identify with the most and why? 

Scripture To Meditate On: Mark 2:18, “Once when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples and the Pharisees do?” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I never want to do anything for You to be seen or admired or praised by others. I seek to live for an audience of One – You. If I ever do anything for You to be seen by others, please convict me right then to repent. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly