(Matthew 9:14-17)
Jesus is approached by the disciples of John the Baptist and asked why his disciples did not fast like they and the Pharisees did. Jesus then used this teaching to show that the New Covenant was a new teaching and fasting under the New Covenant was quite a different matter to the Old Covenant.
Fasting in the Old Covenant was a process employed for many reasons. There were four appointed fasts under the law of Moses that were strictly applied as well as a fifth fast that was less strictly applied. Typically fasting was a form of abstinence, usually from food or drink, for a period of time. Fasting was also not an end in itself, but was a purpose or means to an end. Often fasting was seen in the Old Testament as a mechanism for a person to draw near to God for a specific purpose. As an example we saw King David fast to come before God in the hope that God would heal his child and prevent his death. (2 Samuel 12:13-23) Esther also proclaimed a three day fast among the Jewish people to come before the Lord on her behalf before she went in to approach the King on behalf of the Jews. (Esther 4:10-17) There are other examples, but the key to these fasts, both individual and of the whole community, were that the fasts were targeted towards a specific purpose and to seek out God.
In addition to the appointed fasts, there was also a practice of personal fasting when an individual would abstain from food or some other pleasure so as to come before God. They would fast and bring their prayers to the Lord during the period of fasting. The practice of fasting twice a week arose and became a custom although there was no scriptural basis for this practice in either the Old or New Covenants.
Fasting in the New Covenant is only occasionally mentioned and does not appear to be a strict condition or requirement under the New Covenant, unlike the appointed fasts ordained in the law under the Old Covenant. A problem had arisen in the practice of fasting in the New Covenant period as Jesus mentioned this in several of his teachings. We see in Matthew 6:16-18 that some people would disfigure their faces and look dismal when they fasted so that people would see their situation and perhaps commend their abstinence or look upon them as being pious. Rather, Jesus counselled that they should clean themselves up when fasting so no-one knew of their fast so that when they brought their petition before God they would receive their commendation from Him and hopefully gain the answer to their prayers. We see Jesus also upbraided the Pharisees who saw themselves as better than other people for they fasted twice a week (Luke 18:9-14). But in this case the Pharisees were fasting as an end in itself. They fasted so that they could look good before others rather than trying to draw closer to God. Indeed the Pharisees on numerous occasions were upbraided by Jesus for doing the works of the law without applying the wisdom, justice, mercy and truth of the law. Their fasts were not to come closer to God but were done to look pious or religious in front of the people. It was a mark of their pride, arrogance and hypocrisy which Jesus disdained.
Now in this teaching back in Matthew 9:14-17 we see also that Jesus was showing that these were new teachings he was giving. He was teaching the New Covenant although at that time few would have been aware of this matter. He showed that there was a challenge in giving this teaching for it involved a significant change. Humans as a species typically resist change because it requires effort and leads to the unknown. He gave two examples saying that you don’t put a new patch of unshrunk cloth into a garment that is already washed and old, and you don’t put new wine into old wineskins. In both cases if you do, more damage is done to both parts of the change. The wineskins are destroyed and the wine is lost and the patch shrinks and tears making a worse hole in the garment that was being repaired.
The old wineskins and the old garment in his examples are the people who have received the Old Covenant teachings. They are comfortable with the teachings and accepting of what they understand. The new wine and the new cloth patch represent the New Covenant teachings that Jesus was teaching the people. He was saying that to try and put these New Covenant teachings into the old people would be difficult and could even be damaging to them. The apostle Paul in his letters shows the anguish and heartache he went through in his walk as he had to reject the old Pharisee teachings he was steeped in from a young age, so that he could accept the New Covenant teaching he was receiving from Christ through the Holy Spirit. So it is possible to replace the old teachings, but Jesus was showing it would not be without difficulty and in some cases loss. In many cases it is better to leave the old people with their teachings and to seek new people to learn the new.
And so with fasting in the New Covenant, Jesus was saying that this is a new teaching too. Although it was mandated in the Old Covenant it is not as important in the New Covenant. The purpose of fasting in the Old Covenant was to come before God, but in the New Covenant we have direct access to God in Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said that he would be with us until the end of the age and we have access to him even today. The Holy Spirit he has given us has direct access to the Father to petition on our behalf, so we do not have the same need for fasting today as in former times.
The true fast that God sought from man was not an abstinence from food but rather to abstain from evil and to do good as shown in Isaiah 58:1-9. The fasts the Pharisees held were a sham but the true fast is consistent with the teachings that Jesus gave. There are times in the New Covenant where people did fast, however whether these are necessary now is questionable as we now have access to God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit directly. I would not suggest they either are or are not necessary and for the most part it is an individual matter. However they are not mandated in the New Covenant as they were under the Old Covenant.
UPDATE: At the time I wrote this post I was undecided about the power and effect of prayer and fasting, and while I still agree with 90% of what I wrote back then, I have learned much about this matter sincethen.
In recent times I have personally been exercising prayer and fasting over several quite serious matters. The process of prayer and fasting has great power when used correctly. It is still a valid and often necessary means to petitiong God where there are serious issues and spiritual warfare matters at play.
Fasting is not mandated in the New Covenant because under the New Covenant we are set free from ALL the law, including any that mandated fasting. But the power of prayer and fasting still exists and is still available when we need to bring sserious matters to the Lord for His intervention and resolution.
Does prayer & fasting work? In my experience, YES. It has helped to resolve several issues that were not able to be fixed by prayer alone. So while I may have sounded a little ambivalent about prayer and fasting in the original post, I am not now. Do use this process in accordance with the scriptures for your serious petitions to the Lord. It is still available to Christians and it works.
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Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.
Comments
12 responses to “Fasting in the New Covenant”
thank you Paul for giving me clear concept about fasting. yes today we don’t fast like the people of the old covenant to earn God’s blessing because of Jesus’ finished work, we can freely receive his blessing through faith. if someone is fasting out of desire to be in the presence of God without interruption that is well and good otherwise fasting to earn God’s favor and blessing will dishonor the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for your comment. Recently I have learned some new things about prayer and fasting and I have just updated this post. It is a powerful method by which we can bring our requests before God. I know this because I have had a need recently, along with other members of our church, to seek the Lord over some spiritual warfare issues where the Holy Spirit guided us to use prayer and fasting to seek results, and we saw the results.
All the best & God bless…John
Hi John. Thank you for your article. I don’t believe according to scripture that fasting is a commandment just as giving and praying is not a commandment but when we give, pray, and fast things happen which are good. Jesus himself spoke on the spiritual discipline of fasting and also modeled it although he was God in the flesh but he told the Pharisees that his disciples would fast after his departure from earth to glory because he knew that they were going to need to. We are living in a “this kind” of era where things will happen thru fasting and prayer. Look at the state of our country alone. We are turning our backs on God in leaps and bounds and embracing it as acceptable. I can attest that a matter I had been praying on for years changed courses when I truly fasted for the first time. My husband is diabetic and it was out of control due to his negligence for about 4 yrs. I fasted for 3 days and the day after my fast, he told me he was changing his eating habits, went to his doctor, and is on his meds as he should have been and is regulated. I think he was in depression all these yrs. He never knew I was fasting until a month or so later he overheard my daughter and I talking and to this this day he did not know my prayers were for him. So for th ose who would discredit new covenant fasting I would say to you to rethink it. Paul fasted and he was new covenant. Fasting seems to speed up God’s response when our attitude towards fasting is all about acknowledging who He is and humbling ourselves before him realizing our need for him in our lives.
Hi there & thanks for your comment.
Fasting is an interesting topic & I have to say I am not fully convinced one way or the other on this one. It was certainly part of the Old Covenant of law and people did fast after Jesus came. Whether this was necessary or not I cannot really say, but it is certainly not a mandated thing anymore. In the end, as I said in the last couple of lines in the post:
“I would not suggest they [fasts] either are or are not necessary and for the most part it is an individual matter. However they are not mandated in the New Covenant as they were under the Old Covenant.”
So if you choose to fast and receive the blessings of the Lord for doing so, that is fantastic & I would not suggest doing anything differently.
All the best…John
Thank you, this is how I feel. But I would like to add another thought. The reason why it is not a requirement to fast under the new covenant is because I am in Christ and Christ is in me and therefore there is no need for me to fast because I am still communing with Christ. The one requirement that is a Gift is to have “communion” with him as often as we remember Him. I have been having communion first thing in the morning and it is very special. You focus on what Jesus has done on the cross and picking up my cross daily which means dying to self. This has been a painful journey because everyday I am crucifying my flesh. This is more precious than fasting.
New testament new system new way new style new way of doing things new love new new new all things became new …old passed away.
Thank you so much for this John. This really blessed me. I have never seen fasting in the light of an old wine skin principle. We are to feast on the tree of Life. Bless you.
Hi Tanya,
Happy to be of service & I’m pleased to hear that you found something of value.
God bless.
John
I believe that fasting has its benefits as far as the natural is concerned. In such ways as detoxing the body and things like that. But biblically I think the new testament fast is to abstain from the the leaven of the pharisees(Law based teachings). We know that eating in the bible means believing. So I believe that we fast from the leavened bread and instead eat the bread which came down from heaven which are the teachings of Jesus Christ. The old testament fast were an attempt to get God to do something because of that individuals fast. (Works righteousness). The New Covenant of Grace is strictly for us to relate to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Not by fasting to get God to do something.
You are right. Fasting certainly has some benefits physically, but the spiritual fast that God is seeking is to cease from evil and to do good as he showed in Isaiah 58:1-9. Your explanation is a good one and worth consideration by all. Thanks for your input.
Thank you for this post John – it’s probably the most helpful comments on fasting I’ve read online.
It’s fair to say I’ve struggled with the whole concept of fasting – and judging by the comments I’ve read it seems I’m not alone.
The teaching that fasting was an essential part of Christian life and necessary to receive blessing didn’t ring true with the New Covenant however the teaching that it was totally pointless didn’t either. This was mainly due to the book of Acts which clearly showed the early Apostles fasting on more than one occasion.
Your final comment is probably the best summary I’ve found – fasting is a personal matter for each believer and I think it’s wrong to prescribe it or dismiss it completely.
Fasting is not prescribed under the New Covenant and therefore I think it’s fair to say nobody will “miss out” on blessings because they haven’t fasted. Surely if this was the case Scripture would say so? Equally, I don’t think anyone can say it’s completely pointless, as it was clearly acceptable to the early Apostles, including most notably Paul.
Best to leave it as a personal matter between the individual and God.
Hi Paul,
Yes you are right. Fasting is not an essential requirement today under the New Covenant. But if someone feels so inclined then there is no reason it cannot be done because neither is fasting condemned. The key is each person needs to be convinced in their own mind where they stand on this matter as Paul wrote in Romans 14 and look to the Lord for clarity if they need it.
All the best,
John