{"id":423,"date":"2014-10-22T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-22T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/?p=423"},"modified":"2014-09-30T04:45:45","modified_gmt":"2014-09-30T04:45:45","slug":"matthew-616-18-fasting-cultural-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/10\/matthew-616-18-fasting-cultural-commentary.html","title":{"rendered":"Matthew 6:16-18; Fasting (Cultural Commentary)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Generally speaking, fasting was never intended to be used as a badge of honor or as a mark of super-spirituality. It is almost always associated with sorrow for sin and an expression of humility before God alone. In spite of this, Pharisees in Jesus\u2019 time had turned fasting into something of a performance art\u2014expecting figurative applause and literal admiration for their ostentatious displays of humility.<\/p>\n<p>Old Testament Law only called for fasting once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) when the high priest would make a holy sacrifice for the sins of the nation. In spite of that, religious leaders by Jesus\u2019 time had added 108\u00a0required fasting days to\u00a0the year!<\/p>\n<p>Pharisees and other religious leaders insisted that the devout fast four times a year to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. They also insisted on ritual fasting twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday. To make sure everyone knew they were among the religious elite, those who fasted on these days made a point of exaggerating the outward signs of a fast: A disheveled, haggard look; some kind of mark on their faces\u2014likely smeared ashes that added to a gaunt impression; and ashes poured over their head and clothing. As one Bible historian reports, \u201cThis was a pretentious way of letting others see and appreciate their extensive efforts to increase their godliness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jesus roundly condemned this kind of spiritual-act-as-preening-exercise. Instead, he advised that fasting should be a humble, intimate moment between God and the individual person\u2014not a public display of self-admiration.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/workscited.html\">Works Cited<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>[RBD 373-374, ASB, 1568]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u2126\u2126\u2126<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"About: Bible Study Nerds\" href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/about-for-bible-study-nerds.html\">About: For Bible Study Nerds\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"About: Mike Nappa\" href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/about-mike-nappa.html\">About: Mike Nappa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2014 to present by\u00a0<a title=\"Nappaland Communications Inc. official website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nappaland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nappaland Communications Inc<\/a>. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Generally speaking, fasting was never intended to be used as a badge of honor or as a mark of super-spirituality. It is almost always associated with sorrow for sin and an expression of humility before God alone. In spite of this, Pharisees in Jesus\u2019 time had turned fasting into something of a performance art\u2014expecting figurative&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":571,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2],"tags":[184,16,111],"class_list":["post-423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culturalcommentary","category-matthew","tag-fasting","tag-jesus","tag-sermon-on-the-mount"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Matthew 6:16-18; Fasting (Cultural Commentary) - For Bible Study Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/10\/matthew-616-18-fasting-cultural-commentary.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matthew 6:16-18; Fasting (Cultural Commentary) - For Bible Study Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Generally speaking, fasting was never intended to be used as a badge of honor or as a mark of super-spirituality. 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He's a former youth pastor who shepherded kids on staff at Chuck Swindoll's church in Southern California\u2014and he's a bestselling and award-winning author with more than a million copies of his books sold worldwide. Plus, he holds a degree in Christian Education with an emphasis in Bible Theology. So, you know, he\u2019s got that going for him. Mike is also a pop culture dork who watches too much TV, reads too many comic books, utters too many bad words, laughs at all the wrong jokes, and often gets in trouble because he says whatever he happens to be thinking at the moment\u2014like quoting an R-rated movie in the middle of a sermon. Yeah, he\u2019s a mess (just like you!), but he kind of likes it that way. Most of all, Mike Nappa loves Jesus, and he figures that covers over a multitude of sins. 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