Hungering for God

Quick. What do people who fast look like? What kinds of people come to your mind? Do they appear a bit strange? Are they John the Baptist types? Legalists? Health nuts?

Does Jesus come to your mind when you think of fasting and “fasters”? Jesus both practiced and taught fasting, you know. And yet, fasting is the most feared and misunderstood of all the Spiritual Disciplines.

Matthew 9:14–17 ESV

14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Pray.

1. What is Fasting (v.14)

Donald Whitney gives us a wonderful definition of fasting when he says:

A biblical definition of fasting is a Christian’s voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones added,

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Fasting Explained

fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose.

Matthew 9:14 ESV

14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

The Pharisees and John the Baptist’s Disciples practiced Old Testament Fasting

Types of Fasting in the Old Testament:

normal

Patial

Absolute

Supernatural

Reasons for Fasting:

To Strengthen Prayer (Urgency)

To Seek God’s Guidance

To Grieve Sin (Personal or National)

To Express Grief

To Seek Deliverance or Protection

To Express Repentance

We need to also consider some biblical principles for fasting.

2. Fasting is About Longing for Jesus (v.15)

Matthew 9:15 ESV

15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Imagine the most elaborate wedding you’ve ever been to. I’m talking about the kind of wedding where they have the buffet and pull out all of the stops.

That would not have been the kind of wedding you would have attended if you went to mine and Jessie’s wedding.

We got married at 3pm. Do you know why? Because if you have a 2pm wedding, some people might have thought to skip lunch. If you have a later wedding, you have to feed people supper.

We had Scooby snacks and skittles at our wedding with a few other things. We were aiming for cheap.

But can you imagine a huge wedding celebration and no food? That would have been unthinkable in the Middle East around the time of Christ.

In the Middle East, wedding celebrations lasted a full week with feasting and wine and it was a community event.

That helps us frame what Jesus is saying when He uses this language to describe the reason His disciples didn’t fast. It wouldn’t make sense to fast when the bridegroom was there. It wouldn’t make sense to fast during the wedding celebration.

Fasting was, and still is, usually a very somber occasion. If we are fasting over sin, that one is obvious. If we are needing answers to prayer, we aren’t exactly skipping and dancing.

Fasting was usually also associated with wearing sackloth, which is a very scratchy uncomfortable material. Think of it like a sack that potatoes come in.

Fasting also involved often, putting ashes on one’s head. It was very obvious in the Old Testament system when someone was fasting. Jesus actually condemns this kind of fasting in Matthew 6:16-18:

Matthew 6:16–18 ESV

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Fasting is about your heart and God. It is private unless it is done with other people.

But the point Jesus is making here is that fasting is also about longing for God. He mentions a day when the bridegroom would be taken away.

We live in that day now. We are waiting for His return.

Titus 2:11–13 ESV

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

3. Fasting is Not About Religious Ritual (vv.16-17)

Matthew 9:16–17 ESV

16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Today, if you were to try to make wine, we have all sorts of distilleries. Some of your grandparents may have had a still, but I’m sure you will keep it’s location a secret.

Well, in the ancient world, to transport liquids, you used an animal skin. It was kind of like a canteen., but they would basically cut the head and the feet off and then sew it together in the middle and use it to store liquids.

These skins would stretch if they were new, which is what you want if you have new wine in there. The new wine is giving off gasses and pressing against the skin and needs a container with some elasticity.

If you put new wine into an old wine skin, the skin had already stretched and had no more room to expand. In some cases these skins might be cracked and brittle and they could burst.

What Jesus is getting at is not the best way to carry wine around. He’s using this as an illustration of the old religious practices under the old covenant verse the new in the new covenant.

In the New Testament, a lot of things changed for us. We no longer need to sacrifice animals. We don’t have to observe all of the Old Testament Jewish festivals. But, we do need to understand how Jesus fulfilled these and we need to understand that fasting is not about showmanship or about letting other people know how pious we are.

Fasting is about our heart and God. It’s about longing for Jesus and longing for God to speak to us. It’s getting rid of anything that might distract us and causing us to focus on God.

Think about it this way.

When you fast and get hungry, you remember why you are giving up food. You then turn to God in prayer and seek Him, every time you are hungry.

When you fast, you have a few more moments of your day to focus your attention on God and pray.

In the Old Testament, fasting was done twice a week at least by the religious elite.

Luke 18:9–12 ESV

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

This is an example of fasting that was prescribed under the Old Testament that had gotten abused.

In fact, the only occasion where fasting is required in the Old Testament is with the Day of Atonement where they were to fast and mourn over their sins.

But just because Jesus brings a new form of fasting that is more about longing for God that ritual, doesn’t mean we should not fast anymore.

Jesus said this in verse 15,

Matthew 9:15 ESV

15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Did you notice Jesus said “then” they will fast?

He didn’t say “if” they fast, He said “then.”

This implies it is an expectation.

Conclusion

You know, when we are in love with someone, often we can spend the day with them and lose track of time. We might even skip a meal just to be together.

God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us to give us eternal life. We should long for God and yearn for His appearing that we might be together with Him in heaven.

Jesus used the illustration of a wedding a lot. His first miracle was at a wedding in Cana where he turned water that was in pots used for the ceremonial washings into wine. He hinted at this new covenant to come in this miracle.

Jesus also used wedding language in John 14 when He said He was going to prepare a room for us in the Father’s House. He said He would return for us that we might be with Him, like a groom longs to be with his bride. The Bible describes those who have faith in Jesus as the Bride of Christ.

We are going to have a marriage supper of the Lamb with Him in Heaven that’s described in Revelation 19:6-10.

In a Jewish wedding custom, the groom would prepare a room onto the father’s home and make it ready for his bride. When the father said it was time, the groom would come at a time when no one knew and snatch away his bride to have the ceremony and celebrate.

Jesus is coming back again soon for His bride. I hope you are a part of the celebration. I hope you are longing for Jesus to come again soon.

Fasting is a way for you to show your love for Christ and clear your mind. It is a way to tune your spiritual senses to what Jesus has to say to you.

Give fasting a try and hunger for God. If you don’t know Him, would you consider trusting in Jesus today?

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