Fasting Today - Different from the Old testament
Fasting was a widespread religious practice in the time of Jesus. In fact, Mark 2 shows us that when Jesus and his disciples feasted instead of fasting, they drew some questioning looks. How could such a great religious teacher not take part in such a sacred discipline when other devout Jewish figures committed themselves so faithfully to fasting? When Jesus answered the crowd’s challenges, he provided a new lens, a New Covenant lens, to make sense of the proper purpose and the appropriate time for fasting. Fasting is “voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes.” 1 While there are instances in the Old Testament of fasting to gain wisdom (e.g., 2 Chron 20:3 ), the primary theme surrounding the practice was mourning, and especially mourning over sin ( 1 Sam 7:6 ; Jonah 3:5–10 ; Joel 2:15 ; Ezra 10:6 ). 2 For instance, the Old Testament commanded only one mandatory fast, and that on the Day of Atonement ( Lev 23:27...