Is Christian Fasting Still for Today?
Matthew 9:14–17 and Our Hunger for God
Why This Question Matters Right Now
As a church family, we’ve been talking about Prayer 2020—our desire to pursue God with all that we are. We want to pursue Him through fasting, prayer, His Word, His mission, and together as His people.
But as we step into a season of fasting, one honest question rises to the surface:
- Is fasting really Christian?
- Is it something followers of Jesus should practice today, or is it just a religious leftover from another time?
Wrestling Honestly with Fasting
Before I could stand up and call our church to fast, I had to wrestle with that myself. As most of you know, I really enjoy food -donuts, sweets, and meat. I’m grateful God gave us taste buds and designed food to be enjoyable. He didn’t have to do that—but He did. That’s a gift of His common grace.
So, while driving to church one Wednesday night, I was praying about a 21–day fast, I found myself asking God, “Why am I doing this? Why should I give up something good that You created?”
Yes, I know Jesus fasted. I know the Bible teaches fasting. But if I’m going to call our church to it, I can’t do that from a distance. The Word has to preach to me first. I need the Spirit to convict me before I ask anyone else to respond.
What Christian Fasting Is Really About
And as I wrestled with that, the Lord brought me to Matthew 9 and to a simple, piercing answer:
You need to fast because you need more of Me.
You need a fresh sense of My presence—more than answers to your prayers, more than provision, more than breakthrough. You need Me.
That’s really what Christian fasting is about.
Here’s the audio version of this message if you prefer listening.
A Thanksgiving Picture of Hunger
A few weeks ago, we celebrated Thanksgiving. And, yes, let’s talk about food again.
My dad can smoke meat like nobody’s business. When he fires up the smoker for Thanksgiving or Christmas, the whole neighborhood smells it. Last Thanksgiving, as he was cooking for others, he also smoked meat for our family. We went over the night before, and we could already smell it—a savory aroma that made our mouths start to water.
As we were leaving, Dad hugged the kids and said, “Y’all come hungry tomorrow.”
The next morning, I noticed something unusual. Our kids, who are notorious snackers, weren’t raiding the pantry. No cereal, Pop-Tarts, or fruit. Nothing. Every time I offered them something, they said, “We’re good.”
They hadn’t suddenly stopped liking food. My kids were saving their appetite. They were willing to skip a lot of lesser snacks because they knew something better was coming—Papa’s smoked meat.
When we finally got to Nana and Papa’s house, they went after that turkey and meat like they hadn’t eaten in days. There are pictures of my kids holding turkey legs bigger than their heads. After her third plate, I asked my daughter, “Honey, were you hungry?” She said, “Well, Papa said to come hungry.”
They had tasted Papa’s meat before. They knew how good it was. And they didn’t want to ruin their appetite on cheap snacks.
That’s a picture of what fasting is meant to be for followers of Jesus.
Too often, we nibble all day on the “snacks” of life—good gifts, entertainment, small spiritual doses—until we have no appetite left for God Himself. Fasting is our way of saying, “Lord, I want You more than the lesser things I’ve been filling myself with.”
The Question: Is Fasting Christian?
In Matthew 9:14-17, Jesus is confronted with a sincere question about fasting:
“Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’” (v. 14)
Fasting was one of the three main religious practices in Judaism at the time (along with prayer and giving). By Jesus’ day, many devout Jews—especially Pharisees—fasted twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. Later rabbinic tradition even connected those days with Moses’ ascent and descent from Mount Sinai. For John the Baptist’s disciples—who followed a very strict, wilderness lifestyle—fasting was typical and expected.
So their question is understandable:
- “We fast.”
- “The Pharisees and their disciples fast.”
- “Why don’t Your disciples fast, Jesus?”
Are You lowering the bar? Are You ignoring or overlooking something important?
Jesus’ answer reshapes how we think about fasting.
The Bridegroom Is Here
“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 9:15)
In Jewish culture, weddings were a time of joy, feasting, and celebration. The friends of the groom—the equivalent of our groomsmen—were responsible for making sure the party happened. No one would think of turning a wedding celebration into a funeral.
That’s Jesus’ point. He calls Himself “the bridegroom.”
That title is loaded with Old Testament meaning.
In Hosea 2:16, 19–20, God speaks to Israel and says:
“In that day… you will call me ‘My husband’… I will take you to be my wife forever… in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion… and you will know Yahweh.”
Over and over, God describes Himself as the husband or bridegroom of His people. He is the faithful spouse, and Israel is the bride.
So when Jesus calls Himself “the bridegroom,” He is quietly but clearly claiming to be God in their midst.
The One Israel longed and fasted for—Emmanuel, “God with us”—is standing right there.
For centuries, Israel had fasted in part as an expression of mourning over sin and longing for the Messiah to come. Now the Messiah has come. The Bridegroom is present.
So for the disciples, fasting in that moment would not be the correct response. You don’t mourn when the One you were mourning for has arrived. You celebrate.
But Jesus doesn’t stop there.
“The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” (v. 15b)
What days is He talking about?
Not just the three days between the cross and the resurrection, though certainly those were days of sorrow. The early church continued to fast long after Jesus rose again and ascended (see Acts 13:2-3; 14:23).
The “days” Jesus points to are the entire church age—from His ascension until His return. Right now, we live in a time when the Bridegroom is physically absent, and we long for His return.
One day, when Jesus comes again and we sit with Him at the marriage supper of the Lamb, fasting will end.
Until then, Jesus says, “then they will fast.”
New Cloth and New Wineskins
To drive the point deeper, Jesus gives two quick illustrations:
“No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment…
Neither is new wine put into old wineskins…” (vv. 16–17)
Unshrunk cloth will tear an old garment. New wine will burst old, brittle wineskins. You cannot contain something new with something old and inflexible.
So what’s the “new wine”? It’s the gospel itself:
- God the Son, fully God and fully man
- living a perfectly righteous life
- dying as our substitute on the cross
- rising from the dead
- offering forgiveness and new life by grace through faith
This is the new work of God in Jesus Christ. It can’t be squeezed into old religious categories.
And what’s the “old wineskin” in this context? It’s the old way of fasting that longed for a Messiah who had not yet come.
Jesus is saying:
“You can’t go on fasting as if I haven’t come yet. I’m here. The new wine has been poured out.”
So Christian fasting is not us trying to twist God’s arm or earn His favor. It’s not us who are still waiting for the Messiah to show up.
Instead:
Christian fasting is the response of people who know the Bridegroom has come, who have tasted His goodness, and who long for more of His presence and for His return.
So Should Christians Fast Today?
Yes.
Not to earn salvation—we already have every spiritual blessing in Christ.
We don’t fast to bribe God into answering us—we cannot purchase His favor.
Not to punish ourselves—Jesus bore our punishment on the cross.
We fast because:
- We have tasted that the Lord is good.
- We are not satisfied with a distant, casual, distracted walk with Jesus.
- We want more of His presence, power, and work in our lives, our families, our church, and our world.
- We long for His physical return and the day when faith becomes sight.
Fasting becomes a way of saying, “Lord, I want You more than I want this good gift I’m laying down.”
Two Questions to Pray Through
As we consider a season of fasting together as a church, here are two simple questions to ask the Lord:
1. Lord, what would You have me fast from?
In biblical times, preparing food took a lot of time—hunting, gathering, grinding, and cooking. To step away from food for a day was to free up significant time and attention to seek God.
Today, many things consume our time and attention:
- Certain foods or meals
- Social media
- TV or streaming
- Our phones
- Particular hobbies
Ask the Lord honestly:
“What takes up space in my life that could be set aside for a season so I can seek You more fully?”
Fasting might mean:
- skipping one meal a day to pray
- choosing one day a week to fast from food
- abstaining from certain foods for 21 days
- stepping away from media or your phone during certain hours
The specifics can vary—but the heart is the same:
“God, instead of reaching for this, I’m going to reach for You.”
2. Lord, what would You have me fast for?
At some point in your fast, you will wonder, “Why am I doing this?” and you’ll need a Spirit-given conviction to carry you.
Pray ahead of time:
- “Lord, am I fasting for a deeper awareness of Your presence?”
- “For revival in my own heart?”
- “For the salvation of a spouse, child, or friend?”
- “For a breakthrough over sin or addiction?”
- “For direction in a major decision?”
Personally, one of my cries in this season is simply revival—that we would not be satisfied with comfortable, mediocre Christianity, but that God would overwhelm us with His presence.
Come Hungry
When my kids skipped breakfast before Thanksgiving, they weren’t trying to earn the right to eat. They were already family. Papa was going to feed them no matter what.
They wanted to come hungry so they could fully enjoy what they knew was coming.
In the same way, we don’t fast to earn God’s blessings.
We fast because we are His children—and we’ve tasted enough of His goodness to know we want more.
So as we step into this season, here’s the simple invitation:
- Come hungry.
- Come hungry for more of Jesus.
- Come hungry for His presence, His power, His work in your life and in our church.
- Come hungry for the return of the Bridegroom.
The King who satisfies has already come.
He is coming again.
Until then, may we be a people who say with our lives and our fasting:
“Lord, we want You more than anything else.”
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