Fasting of Jesus

According to Old Testament customs, fasting was common in Jesus' time. However, Jesus did not advocate fasting for the sake of fasting, but rather emphasized fasting accompanied by prayer. Thus, after his baptism in the Jordan River, and before beginning his public ministry, he himself, led by the Holy Spirit, first went into the desert, to a place of concentration, solitude, and close encounter with God. He spent 40 days in fasting and prayer, preparing for his public ministry. After 40 days, the devil began to tempt him, calculating that Jesus would give in at the moment when his body was exhausted from hunger. However, fasting and close encounter with God strengthened Jesus, and he rejected all temptations with a clear message that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. The temptations of Jesus, into which the devil wanted to draw him when he thought Jesus was weak and powerless, are also our temptations. Like Jesus, we must know how to resist various "satanic" temptations. Another important message of Jesus was: Worship the Lord your God and serve only him! (Matthew 4:1-11). After the devil left, Jesus returned from the wilderness in the power of the Holy Spirit to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the surrounding area (Luke 4:14). Jesus’ devotion to prayer and fasting strengthened him and enabled him to resist temptations.

Like the prophet Isaiah, Jesus emphasized that it is more important to be open to one's neighbor than to abstain from food and drink and to sprinkle one's head with ashes. Being open to one's neighbor also means being open to God. He left it up to each person to decide whether to fast. He condemned the hypocrisy of those who fast to be noticed, clearly stating that fasting should be done quietly, humbly, in secret: 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. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 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. (Matthew 6:16-18). Describing the attitudes of the Pharisee who fasted twice a week and the tax collector who was aware of his shortcomings, the evangelist Luke points out that it is important to be humble before the Lord, for he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:10-14).

Later, in the Sermon on the Mount, he taught his disciples that they should not be anxious about material things - what they would eat and drink, what they would wear... "So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:31-34)