“And Jesus said to them, “While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. “But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.” (vv.19-20)
Today’s passage underscores the overarching reason God’s people fast: to draw near to God. In verse 18 it’s noted that both the Pharisees and John the Baptist’s disciples were fasting, whereas Jesus’ followers were not fasting. When questioned Jesus said, in essence, I am already here so my followers don’t need to fast. In contrast, because they didn’t recognize God the Son, the others were leaning toward God the Father, fasting in an attempt to bridge the distance.
Today we live in the days of the “absence” of our Lord here on earth. So for us, fasting (when placed on our hearts) now becomes a way to draw nearer to God. J.I. Packer described fasting in this way. “There’s nothing magical about fasting. It’s just one way of telling God that your priority at that moment is to be alone with him, cutting out whatever is necessary, a meal, a party, a concert, or whatever else you had planned to do in in order to fulfill that priority.”
Fasting reduces the influence of our self-will and invites the Holy Spirit to do more intense work in us. Christian fasting, at its root, is the hunger of a homesickness for God. May God richly bless you as you set Him as a priority in your life!
The Truth: “So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.” (Ezra 8:23)
