Understanding Christian Fasting: A New Covenant Perspective

Understanding Christian Fasting: A New Covenant Perspective

Fasting is a spiritual discipline that many Christians have heard about but few truly understand or practice regularly. When we look at Jesus' teaching in Matthew 9:14-17, we discover that Christian fasting is fundamentally different from other forms of fasting throughout history and even different from Old Testament fasting practices.

What Christian Fasting Is Not

It's Not Old Covenant Jewish Fasting

In Matthew 9:14, both the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees questioned Jesus about why His disciples weren't fasting like they were. These groups represented Old Covenant thinking - they were still waiting for the Messiah to come and establish His kingdom.

The Pharisees fasted twice a week (every Monday and Thursday) as part of their strict religious observance. John the Baptist's disciples fasted as they waited for the coming Messiah. But Jesus explained that His presence changed everything: "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?"

Old Covenant fasting was primarily about mourning and longing - grieving national tragedies and waiting for redemption that hadn't yet come. Consider Anna from Luke 2, who fasted and prayed in the temple for decades, "waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem." When she finally met Jesus, her mourning turned to celebration.

It's Not a Denial of God's Good Gifts

Christian fasting doesn't reject food as evil or bad. Paul warns against false teachers who "require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving" (1 Timothy 4:3). Everything God created is good when received with gratitude.

When Christians fast, we're not saying food is bad - we're saying food is good, but God is better. We're declaring that our hunger for God and His kingdom surpasses even our physical appetites.

What Is Christian Fasting?

We Are Expected to Fast

Jesus didn't say "if you fast" but "when you fast" (Matthew 6:16). In Matthew 9:15, He declared that after His departure, "then they will fast." This isn't optional - it's an expectation for followers of Christ.

The early church demonstrated this. In Acts 13:1-3, the church at Antioch was "worshiping the Lord and fasting" when the Holy Spirit called Paul and Barnabas to missionary work. Significantly, the entire missionary movement of the New Testament was birthed during a time of corporate fasting and prayer.

Fasting Trains Us to Hunger for God

Our greatest appetite should be for God Himself and His kingdom. The psalmist declared, "My soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water" (Psalm 63:1).

Jesus demonstrated this when His disciples returned with food while He was ministering to the Samaritan woman. He told them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about" (John 4:32). His satisfaction in seeing the Father's kingdom advance was greater than His physical hunger.

During the South Korean revivals of the 20th century, Dr. Jun Gon Kim fasted for 40 days before a major evangelistic crusade. When asked why, the story revealed that his desire to see God's kingdom advance was so intense that it surpassed his desire for food. Perhaps we haven't fasted more because we haven't desired God's work with that same intensity.

Fasting Trains Us to Master Our Appetites

God created us with legitimate desires and appetites, but we can become dominated by them instead of controlling them. Paul said, "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything" (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Paul also wrote, "I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified" (1 Corinthians 9:27). Even good things can "choke the word" if they control us rather than us controlling them (Mark 4:18-19).

As John Piper notes, "We are less sensitive to spiritual appetite when we are in the bondage of physical ones." Fasting helps us break free from the bondage of physical appetites so we can be more sensitive to spiritual ones.

The New Wine Requires New Wineskins

Jesus used the metaphor of new wine and new wineskins to explain that Christian fasting is different from Old Covenant practices. We live in the "already but not yet" of God's kingdom. Christ has already come and redeemed us, but He hasn't returned yet to consummate His kingdom.

We can celebrate what God has already accomplished while still longing for what He will yet do. This is why Christian fasting has both elements of celebration and anticipation, joy and longing.

Life Application

Consider participating in a season of prayer and fasting to deepen your hunger for God and His kingdom. This might involve fasting from food for certain periods, abstaining from social media and news, and replacing that time with focused prayer.

The goal isn't to impress others or earn God's favor, but to train your spiritual appetite and break free from anything that might be dominating your desires more than God should.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What do I hunger for more intensely - God and His kingdom, or physical comforts and pleasures?
• Are there good things in my life that have become controlling influences rather than blessings I control?
• How might fasting help me develop greater spiritual sensitivity and self-control?
• What is God calling me to seek Him about with greater intensity through prayer and fasting?

Remember, fasting isn't about earning God's approval - it's about training our hearts to desire Him above all else and positioning ourselves to seek His kingdom with the intensity it deserves.