Fasting: A Seven-Fold מוּסָר (Musar) Synthesis, Part I. Introduction: The context of the Sermon on the Mount

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Musar and Matthew 5

It should be instructive to us (at least, in the musar sense of Proverbs which has the intentionally dual meaning of both “instruction” and “correction”) that Jesus commands/instructs/corrects us at the center of the Sermon on the Mount to fast.

We tend to, at least in the superficial sense, assent to most of what is presented to us in the Sermon on the Mount. We affirm the paradoxical wisdom in the Beatitudes—that poverty of spirit is the entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, that mourning leads to true comfort, meekness to eternal inheritance, and the like (…though we may cringe a bit when we come to the blessedness of being persecuted, reviled, spoken evil against…).

We preach about how we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We affirm Christ’s vindication of the Law (…but maybe not to the extent that if we break one or the least of the commandments we shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven…). And we even uphold Christ’s reinterpretation of the Law…because we are definitely not Pharisees who conform only to the outer reality of the Torah…We’re not people that murder in our hearts, that commit adultery with our eyes…

And we may possibly even uphold the hard teaching that if our eye, our hand, cause us to sin then we must pluck it out, cut if off and cast it from us, lest our whole body perish in eternal fire.

We agree on the grounds of divorce (…but there are lots of mitigating circumstances…). Oaths, we don’t really struggle much with so we can affirm that teaching.

But we definitely believe that Christ moves us way beyond the eye for an eye teaching of a more primitive period. And we evangelize that we should turn the other cheek …at least on a theoretical level…because when someone actually makes it legal and tries to sue us…we have to uphold our rights…just like the Proverbs say, right? I mean, Jesus is for justice. And so, we might just have to go to court to defend our rights…but, even so, we still like the idea of a nonviolent approach to theoretical conflict.

And we like the teaching that we should love our enemies…and bless those that curse us…a little harder…and do good to those who hate us…much harder…and pray for those that spitefully use us and persecute us…well, all that to a point, right? Because Jesus wants to create a safe space for us.

And we definitely have a high theology of how we are the children of our Father in Heaven, and so don’t just do things for secondary gain like the publicans…

Ok, yes, we affirm mostly all of that.

But now beyond all that theory of Mt 5 to the practical application of chapter 6, which we definitely believe.

The three-fold synthesis of the Christian life in Mt 6

Mt 6 opens with Jesus offering us a three-fold synthesis of the Christian life—a paradoxically rich pathway of spiritual direction which is hidden in a way that is eternally visible; and, at the same time, visible, in ways that will only obscure.

Christ begins by calling us first to “works of mercy” (eleémosuné, 6:1-4) in so hidden a manner that we ourselves are not even aware of the work being done. Then He moves us into prayer (6:5-13—with, as He Himself makes explicit in a way that should not be too quickly overlooked—forgiveness (6:14-15). And finally, Jesus closes with the third dimension of the Christian life, fasting (6:16-19).

This is what preceded the teaching on fasting. And what follows?

It should be as equally instructive/corrective to us that Jesus concludes this synthesis of the Christian life by moving us out of the ephemeral into the eternal:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (6:19-21).

The heart of man before the eternal God.

With that background and context, we come now to Jesus’ teaching on fasting.

The following posts will work through a synthesis offered to us by Douglas F. Kelly (presented a decade ago in a small country church during a Wednesday night prayer service) on the seven dimensions of fasting. The outline is below to which we will return in the coming days:

1. Bring down the Resurrection power of Christ

2. Accomplishes the Promises of God

3. Defeats Satan

4. Hastens Repentance

5. Opens the Door for Salvation

6. Helps Christian Marriage

7. Furthers Christian Ministry