Articles
Why Don't Your Disciples Fast?
Regular fasting was evidently a common practice among religious people in Jesus’ day. Jesus depicted a Pharisee as boasting that he fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12). Non-Biblical sources confirm this practice. It therefore raised obvious questions when Jesus and His disciples broke with this convention.
“Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?’” (Matthew 9:14). Luke’s account depicts the Pharisees as joining in asking the question.
Jesus answered, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (v. 15). Two things are noticeable about this response and the rest of Jesus’ teaching with regard to fasting.
First, Jesus connected fasting with specific circumstances rather than depicting it as a routine practice. A wedding is surely no time for fasting, and Jesus likened His stay on earth to such an occasion for His disciples. Later when He was taken away would be a more suitable time to fast.
Fasting as a product of circumstances is consistent with Bible examples of it. Those who fasted, whether in the Old or New Testaments, were either burdened with some sorrow or preoccupied with some spiritual activity. The Law of Moses prescribed only one fast day, the Day of Atonement on which the Israelites were to “afflict your souls” (Leviticus 23:27, NKJV). Other regular fasts emerged over time. Interestingly, God raised the question of whether people were fasting on these occasions for Him or for themselves (Zechariah 7).
Second, there is an obvious absence of instruction in the New Testament about any specifics of fasting. Jesus taught that when we fast we are to keep it private rather than to make a display of it (Matthew 6:16-18). However, neither He nor His apostles taught anything about how often or how extensively (fully or partially) to fast.
Does fasting strengthen us against temptation? Some say yes, yet the New Testament cautions: “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!’ (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence” (Colossians 2:20-23).
Fasting is appropriate as a natural consequence of sorrow or immersion in spiritual activities. It is a mistake to view it independently as a means of spiritual strengthening or obtaining divine favor.
