Fasting isn’t a Formula

Learning to Hunger for What We Cannot Yet See

If you search up “fasting” on Google, you’ll find that the entire first page is filled with medical studies on intermittent fasting and its benefits. Ask Gemini for the benefits of fasting, and it returns the same: information on how it has been shown to improve metabolic health, weight loss, cellular repair, brain clarity, and heart health. For most people, fasting is nothing more than a potential health hack.

Yet long before modern medicine began exploring its physiological benefits, people fasted. The earliest mention of fasting in the Bible comes from the end of the book of Judges during the pre-king era of ancient Israel. At this moment in Israel’s history, eleven of the tribes had gathered to make war against the city of Gibeah, because it had acted in great wickedness. Twice they battled Gibeah, and twice they were repelled. As doubt began to grip the army, we read this:

“Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And the people of Israel inquired of the Lord (that is, they prayed)...” Judges 20:26

After the people fasted and prayed? Victory.

But this story leaves us with more questions than answers. Is fasting still relevant or is it a relic of the past? Is the point of fasting to supercharge our prayers? Is it a way of earning an answer from God?

The Disciples Who Didn’t Fast

Fast forward roughly a thousand years. Many of Israel’s religious leaders fasted regularly as a spiritual discipline, often twice a week. Yet one group of disciples following a particular Rabbi stood out, not because of how often they fasted, but because they did not fast at all.

“Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’ 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.’” Matthew 9:14-15

Here we see the disciples of John (the Baptist) coming to Jesus with a question, because unlike all of the other religious leaders of the day, the disciples of Jesus were living differently. They didn’t fast. And the disciples of John wanted to know why.

Feasting and Fasting

There are better and worse ways to explain complex topics. For example, you could try explaining centripetal force to a child by discussing Newton’s first law, orbits, and inertia. Or you could explain it by saying: “It’s what you feel when you ride the spinny thing on the playground.” Most children will immediately understand. Most of us as well.

As Jesus so often did, He answered this sincere spiritual question not with lofty theology or condescending correction, but with a story. The story of a wedding.

In this story, there is a man called the bridegroom. The betrothal has already happened, but the wedding is in the future. Jesus doesn’t share when it will take place, only that it’s yet to come. But in the present, the groom is hanging out with His guests. It’s a time for rejoicing and feasting.

Jesus begins responding to their question by asking: “Do the guests mourn while the bridegroom is with them?” Mourning, in the Biblical sense, describes unmet desires. Unfulfilled expectations. Longing for something that is promised but not yet fulfilled. These disciples came asking about what to do. Jesus is helping them understand the better question isn’t what, but when. When the bridegroom is present, it is a time to feast. When the bridegroom is absent, it is a time to fast.

Save the Date

This simple illustration describes a cosmic reality. Jesus calls Himself the groom. His people are His bride. While walking the earth, He accomplished all that was necessary for the future wedding to take place, so that His people might be united to Him for eternity. But that time has not yet come.

The incarnation of the Son of God was a brief moment in human history. It was a short period when “the bridegroom was with them,” so rather than fasting, His followers feasted in his presence. This points us to a truth about fasting: Fasting is not a prayer formula. It’s a reflection of our personal fellowship with God. When the bridegroom is away, fasting is the heart posture of a soul longing for a better time. The fulfillment of a promise. The promised wedding day when the bride and groom will be united as one. Until that day arrives, fasting is a living embodiment of that future hope.

Concluding Thoughts

There is much more to say, but here Jesus clarifies the posture of fasting. Fasting isn’t about what we want, it’s about who we already have. The groom has come and is coming again. Until that day, fasting is more than a health hack. It reminds our souls that what we have received already has not yet been experienced in full.