Bible Study series: Matthew 6:16-18. Don’t appear to be fasting. Don’t show off.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
I also comment more at that link.
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Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 6:16-18
16 Whenever you fast, do not become as the gloomy hypocrites, for they do up their faces in order to appear to people to be fasting. I tell you the truth: they have their reward. 17 But you, as you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to people to be fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matt. 6:16-18)
Comments
16:
“whenever”: it is atemporal. There is no command here. But it does assume that kingdom citizens do fast.
“do up”: it could be translated as “hide,” since the root meaning of the verb means to “appear.” So Jesus is drawing a contrast between public appearance of fasting and a relationship with the Father among people who are so secure in this relationship that they can fast in private and not appear to be fasting, as they go out in public. Jesus is against ostentatious display and for private devotion.
People into ostentatious display have their cheap reward down here on earth, when people pay them the utmost respect. But that’s all they get. They get no heavenly reward for their fasting.
“hypocrites”: see v. 2 for more information.
“people” see v. 1 for more comments.
17:
Here we begin the contrast. Don’t be like the hypocrites, but be like kingdom citizens who have a relationship with their Father and understand his ways.
“you”: it is singular in Greek. You can fast by yourself.
“anoint”: people used oil for cleanliness and also for going through a public ceremony, like being anointed for the priesthood (Lev. 8:12) or for kingship.
See the post What Is the ‘Anointing’?
Therefore when we fast, we should live life as we are celebrating God, not by looking gloomy. “Oh, look at me! I’m fasting! I’m suffering for God! Pay attention to me! Praise me for my devotion to God!” Instead, do the opposite. Wash your face and put oil in your hair as if you are ready to celebrate something.
Ordination of Aaron and Sons in Leviticus 8 from a NT Perspective
“This does not contradict 9:14-15, which says the disciples weren’t fasting, for Jesus says there that this would last only so long as ‘the bridegroom … is with them.’ Afterwards, the disciples would return to fasting” (Osborne, comment on 6:17)
18:
The Greek phrasing is elliptical (omitting some elements) because it has case endings. So it could be more fully translated: “So that you don’t appear to people to be fasting, but that you appear to your Father to be fasting.” “But” is a strong contrast in Greek. Also, the Greek really does say that “your Father who is in secret.” But this could be translated more fully: “your Father who sees in secret,” which overlaps with the next clause, but that’s the intent. But again I like the brevity. And I like the idea that your Father meets you in secret, he lives there with you. He is there in your private fasting as you live your everyday life, but who knows? … maybe we can expand the meaning to include the idea that he is there in secret with you during your pain. But the context is about fasting, so I’ll leave it there.
Before I end this pericope on fasting, let’s explore it more thoroughly.
There are all sorts of ways to fast:
Eating no food, but drinking water only, which is standard;
No food and no water, but only for a short time (Acts 9:9);
No delicacies (Dan. 10:3);
Sometimes people fast from TV or social media, which is a good idea.
And anything in between.
In the OT the purposes of fasting were, as follows:
Preparing for God’s law (Ex. 34:28; Dt. 9:9, 18);
Preparing for the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29, 31);
Showing grief at time of death (1 Sam. 31:13; 2 Sam. 1:12);
Showing remorse for sin (1 Kings 21:27; Neh. 9:1; Ps. 35:13);
Praying in time of national need (2 Chron. 20:3; Ezr. 8:21; Est. 4:16; Joel 2:15-17);
Praying for personal reasons (2 Sam. 12:16, 21; Neh. 1:4; Dan. 9:3-4);
But be warned: prophets criticized fasting for outward show (Is. 58:3-7; Jer. 14:12; Zec. 7:4-10).
In the NT, the purposes of fasting were as follows:
Jesus fasted to overcome temptation and prepare for his ministry (Matt. 4:1-11 // Luke 4:1-13);
Saul fasted after his conversion to humble himself and work out the massive change in his worldview (Acts 9:9);
Part of worship (in Acts 13:2);
Preparing for ministry (here in Acts 13:1-3; 14:23);
Sending off for ministry (here in Acts 13:3; 14:23);
Jesus’s disciples did not fast while he was there, but when he was gone, they would fast (Matt. 9:14-15);
Jesus criticized fasting for its outward show (Matt. 6:16-18; Luke 18:9-14).
“Whenever fasting becomes a performance, it ceases to be righteous activity. Private activity with the Father is the true goal of fasting. Reward from God is predicated on the right attitude and motivation” (Osborne, comment on 6:18).
GrowApp for Matt. 6:16-18
1. Have you ever fasted? What kind of fast? From food? From TV and social media? What was your fast like?
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SOURCES
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