What the New Testament Teaches about Fasting

There are several passages in the Bible that talk about fasting, yet it is a topic that is sometimes ignored or glossed over. Because of this, many people have questions about it. The biggest question that we should be concerned about is this: Are Christians to fast today?

This is a good question, and to answer it, we need to consider what the Bible – particularly the New Testament – has to say on this topic. In this article, we will examine what the New Testament teaches about fasting and how it applies to us.

What Is Fasting?

Generally, fasting refers to the practice of abstaining from food for a period of time, though it could also include “washing, anointing, sleeping” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). It means to “afflict soul or self” (ISBE) and involves denying ourselves of certain comforts and desires.

Fasting could be done for religious or non-religious reasons. Notice two examples:

Religious reasons – “So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed…” (Daniel 9:3-4). This passage shows fasting connected with prayer, as Daniel made an appeal to God on behalf of His people.
Non-religious reasons – “All the valiant men rose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days” (1 Samuel 31:12-13). Following the death of King Saul and his sons, his valiant men buried them and then fasted. This was not done for some religious reason, but it was a sign of mourning.

What Does the New Testament Say about Fasting?

As we see fasting in the Old Testament, it was also practiced in the New Testament:

Jesus fasted before going to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-2).
The teachers in the church in Antioch were fasting before the Holy Spirit called Saul and Barnabas to go out and preach (Acts 13:1-3).
The prophetess Anna fasted while serving in the temple (Luke 2:36-37).
The disciples of John the Baptist said that they fasted, which was in contrast with Jesus’ disciples (Matthew 9:14).

However, there were differences.

In the Old Testament, in addition to the individual acts of fasting that we noticed above with Daniel and Saul’s warriors, there were some fasts which took place at specific times as the Lord directed: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace’” (Zechariah 8:19). At other times, the rulers of God’s people called upon them to fast (2 Chronicles 20:3; Esther 4:16).
In the New Testament, fasting was practiced individually. Jesus said, “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. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face 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” (Matthew 6:16-18). While someone might decide to “fast twice a week” (Luke 18:12), this was not done because the Lord taught for His disciples to do it this way.

In the New Testament, fasting is connected with certain activities:

Prayer – We already noticed this in two of the examples above (Luke 2:37; Acts 13:3). In Luke’s account of John’s disciples talking to Jesus about how they fasted, they mentioned doing so while they offered prayers (Luke 5:33). When the disciples had trouble casting out a demon from a man’s son, Jesus said it could only be done “by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21).
Mourning – When John’s disciples asked Jesus why His disciples did not fast, He said it would be inappropriate for them to do so because He was still with them. However, when the time came for them to mourn, they would fast (Matthew 9:14-15).
Decision-making – When it was determined that Saul and Barnabas would be sent out from Antioch, the teachers in the church there were fasting (Acts 13:2-3). When Paul (as he came to be known) and Barnabas returned to the churches they helped establish on this preaching tour, they prayed and fasted as they “appointed elders…in every church” (Acts 14:23).

The New Testament also describes fasting as an individual matter. Remember what Jesus said about it in the Sermon on the Mount:

“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. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face 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” (Matthew 6:16-18).

Fasting was not done by a congregation or by all of God’s people together. At most, it was done by a handful of people at a time (Acts 13:2-3; 14:23). But Jesus explained that if His people were to fast, others should not be able to tell they were fasting.

Must Christians Fast?

This is an important question. Jesus spoke of His disciples fasting, but does that mean we are required to fast?

On one hand, there is no command in the New Testament for Christians to fast. We should refrain from binding a command that God has not bound upon His people, lest we become guilty of “teaching as doctrines the precepts of men” (Matthew 15:9). Jesus told Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19). This means that Peter and the rest of the apostles would command this to be done if it was required by God. However, if God did not require it, there would be no command from the apostles. When we examine the New Testament, we find no such command in the apostles’ teaching.

On the other hand, some will argue that, even though it is not commanded, it is spoken of as if it were assumed that the Lord’s disciples would fast. After all, when Jesus gave instructions about fasting to those who were gathered for His Sermon on the Mount, He said, “when you fast” (Matthew 6:17), not if you fast. However, consider a few points:

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talked about more than just fasting. He also mentioned the practice of offering sacrifices: “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering” (Matthew 5:23-24). The fact that Jesus mentioned something on this occasion (whether fasting or animal sacrifices) did not mean it was a requirement for His people once His kingdom was established. Instead, He addressed both of them because those were common practices, and He was teaching them the attitude they were to possess as they did them. His point was not to say that His people under the new covenant were required to fast, but that any fasting we do is between us and God. We are not to fast to be noticed by men.
When Jesus answered the question from John’s disciples about why Jesus’ disciples did not fast, He said, “But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15). However, like the statement from the Sermon on the Mount, He was not talking about an act of obedience under the new covenant. This was about a time of mourning, “when the bridegroom is taken away.” This would occur when Jesus was put to death.
As we noted, the example in Antioch before Saul and Barnabas were commissioned by the Holy Spirit describes something done by seven men (Acts 13:1). It was not being done by the whole church.

Jesus’ statement in the Sermon on the Mount is no more a requirement to fast than His statement about offering sacrifices. The disciples’ mourning of Jesus’ death before His resurrection does not constitute an ongoing practice bound upon the church. Christians may fast as the individuals in Antioch did, but it is not something we are required to do.

Why Would We Fast?

Fasting is not commanded, but a Christian may fast voluntarily. Why would a Christian choose to fast? Consider a few reasons:

Fasting can help one practice self-control – Self-control is listed as a “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23) and is a necessary trait for us to possess as Christians. As Paul explained to the brethren in Corinth, “food is for the stomach,” but we must “not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12-13). It is good to enjoy food as a blessing from God (cf. 1 Timothy 4:3-5). However, if we have difficulty exercising self-control in our consumption of food, fasting can be helpful from time to time in order to help us learn to enjoy the blessing of food as God intended, rather than eating in excess because we lack self-control.
Fasting can help one focus on spiritual things – This is why the practice is often connected with prayer in both the Old and New Testaments. In Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians about food and the stomach, he reminded them that “God will do away with both of them” (1 Corinthians 6:13). This life is temporary, so we need to focus on what is lasting. After miraculously feeding the five thousand, Jesus said to them, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you…” (John 6:27). Food is a blessing, but we must not allow it – or any blessing from God – to distract us from what is eternally important.
Fasting can be done when in mourning – Jesus said His disciples would mourn His death (Matthew 9:15). This is a natural response when a loved one passes away. The wise man said, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). When we go through periods of mourning, we may find it helpful to fast.

Fasting is not commanded, but it can help remind us of certain spiritual truths. Therefore, it can be beneficial to us in certain circumstances.

Warnings about Fasting

While Christians have the liberty to fast, and it can be helpful at times, the New Testament also contains warnings about fasting that we should heed before deciding to fast.

Do not fast to be noticed by others – Jesus strongly warned against “practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them,” because then we will have “no reward with [our] Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 6:1). This included the practice of fasting. Whenever His disciples would fast, Jesus forbade them from portraying themselves in a miserable condition in order to draw attention to their fasting (Matthew 6:16). Instead, any fasting done by His disciples was to be done “in secret” and not practiced in order to be “noticed by men” (Matthew 6:17-18). Fasting is to be personal, not performative.
Do not think that God is obligated to show you approval because you fast – In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus described the Pharisee bragging in his prayer about how he would “fast twice a week” (Luke 18:12), among other things. The reason Jesus gave the parable was to teach those who “trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt” (Luke 18:9). Despite the Pharisee’s outward show of piety, he was not justified before God (Luke 18:14). Likewise, fasting today does not mean God will be pleased with us.
Do not think that fasting is a substitute for actual self-control – Paul warned of those who practiced “self-made religion,” which involved “self-abasement and severe treatment of the body” (which could include fasting), but was “of no value against fleshly indulgence” (Colossians 2:23). As we noted earlier, fasting can help us learn self-control. However, refraining from enjoying food (which is a blessing from God) is useless if we fail to refrain from sins like sexual immorality (which Paul addressed in his comments to the Corinthians about food, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20). One may appear righteous by practicing something like fasting, but still be spiritually dead. Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees because they were in this condition: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:27-28). If fasting is practiced, it must be done for the right reasons, not to mask other sins while giving others the impression that we are righteous.

Conclusion

The New Testament certainly talks about fasting, but it is not commanded of Christians to practice. If you fast, do so for the right reason and not for any of the wrong reasons we are warned against.

In all things, whether we fast or not, we must exercise self-control and focus on spiritual things.