Today we talk about the passages in the New Testament that teach about prayer and fasting and discovered the idea of fasting was not included in the older manuscripts but was no doubt included by a scribe later. Money and possessions are the next subject Jesus addresses and then concluded with a teaching not to worry. His teachings were very practical and designed to help us live a more fulfilling life. This concludes the 6th chapter of Matthew. The final chapter includes eight more wisdom sayings of Jesus.
SHOW NOTES
9. Fasting (6:16-18)
16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret,will reward you.
Fasting implies not taking food or some kind of food during a fixed period. The Sabbath day was a day of feasting for the Jews. To fast on the Sabbath was to break the Sabbath. To disassociate themselves from the Jews the early Church commanded fasting on the Sabbath day. During the Fast of Ramadan, Moslems do not eat or drink during the daylight hours. For the period of Lent Catholics do not eat some foods as an act of contrition. Some Protestant groups enjoin members to fast and pray. The schism between the Western Church and the Eastern or Byzantium church (1054) was in part because the Western Church had commanded a Sabbath fast to encourage Sunday worship.
Famous Fasts:
Moses on Mount Sinai. Elijah running from Jezebel. Jesus in the Wilderness. Gandhi fasting against violence. Prisoners in Northern Ireland fasting against British rule.
There are two other passages in the older English translations which encourage fasting. The newer translation do not have the injunction to fast. Here they are.
Mark 9:29 (KJV) And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
The NIV does not have “and fasting” in the text. The reason is that it is not in the earliest manuscripts, and we believe it was added by a scribe who was in favour of fasting.
The parallel verse in Matthew (17:21 KJV) Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting appears as a footnote in the modern translations because it is not in the earlier manuscripts. We believe it was added because fasting is a prominent tradition of the church. Jesus emphasis in this incident was the lack of faith of the disciples in verse twenty.
1 Corinthians 7:5 KJV Defraud ye not one the other, unless it be with consent for a time only, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not through your lack of self-restraint.
There are very few translations which retain “fasting” in this verse because it is not in the early Greek manuscripts.
10. Money and possessions (6:19-24)
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Money is a symbol of possessions. Possessions are a symbol of security and power to live comfortably. It is for the unbelievers who have no knowledge of their identity as fellow heirs with Christ (Romans 8:14- 17). They have no knowledge of the care of God for them in this life and the gift of eternal life in the future.
The “eye” is a symbol of our vision of reality or attitude. This is why the eye is parallel with treasure. The greatest treasure we can have is the right attitude to our identity in Christ, that we are beloved fellow princesses and princes in the Kingdom of Heaven.
11. Do not Worry (6:25-34)
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Pagans or unbelievers are anxious for the immediate future. They do not know they have a loving father who made them, saved them and promised to fetch them to be with him forever. They live their anxious lives because no one has told them of the Fatherhood of God or they have rejected this knowledge through rebellion. At times the rebellion is because of the false picture, the baggage, they have of God.
Comments