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Question

The prophet Isaiah presents a profound understanding of true fasting:

[Isaiah 58:1-12 NASB] Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, And declare to My people their wrongdoing, And to the house of Jacob their sins. ² Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God. ³ ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And oppress all your workers. ⁴ Behold, you fast for contention and strife, and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you have done today to make your voice heard on high! ⁵ Is it a fast like this that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord? ⁶ Is this not the fast that I choose: To release the bonds of wickedness, To undo the ropes of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free, And break every yoke? ⁷ Is it not to break your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? ⁸ Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will spring up quickly; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. ⁹ Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, ¹⁰ And if you offer yourself to the hungry And satisfy the need of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness, And your gloom will become like midday. ¹¹ And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. ¹² Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

Isaiah appears to emphasize that true fasting is not merely about abstaining from food but rather a transformative, active "fasting" characterized by acts of justice, compassion, and service to others.

However, Jesus's example and teachings consistently refer to a literal, physical abstaining from food:

[Matthew 4:1-2 NASB] Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

[Matthew 6:16-18 NASB] ¹⁶ “Now whenever you fast, do not make a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they distort their faces so that they will be noticed by people when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ¹⁷ But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

[Matthew 9:14-15] ¹⁴ Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the groom cannot mourn as long as the groom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Does Isaiah's teaching on a "metaphorical" fasting of social justice contradict Jesus's clear endorsement and practice of literal, physical fasting?

Answer 1

Short answer: No contradiction, perhaps a slight difference of focus between the two passages.

In Isaiah, the criticism is of God's people going about their religious rituals, while at the same time acting unjustly towards others.

In that context God effectively says, "If I had to choose, I'd choose obedience over sacrifice." (But of course that doesn't mean that sacrifice is wrong. In an ideal relationship God's people would exercise both true justice and pure worship - which might include physical fasting.)

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' criticism is of God's people going about their religious rituals, while at the same time making sure that other people knew about it, knew how pious they were.

In that context God effectively says, I will bless the person whose religious rituals are focussed only on me; and those whose focus is on showing off in public will find they get the public applause they seek. But that won't impress me.

There's no doubt that Jesus would agree with all that Isaiah says. To take just two examples:

1. consider Luke 4, where Jesus defines his mission by quoting from Isaiah 61.

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[f]

Interestingly, the NIV footnote for this passage refers to Isaiah 58.6 as well as Isaiah 61 (a fact that I had never noticed previously). So it's possible that Jesus, although reading from Isaiah 61, also had in mind Isaiah 58.

2. Consider Matthew 23, where Jesus slams the scribes and Pharisees for exactly the same reasons as Isaiah:

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Interestingly, Jesus here makes the point that it's not a strict choice between justice and ritual. True religion will have both ("You should have done one without neglecting the other.")

Answer 2

Isaiah & Jesus's teachings can best be understood in the context of the realities on the ground they were responding to:

• Isaiah responds to the scenario described in verses 1-5, wherein people have lost sight of the purpose of fasting. Fasting is not designed as a punishment or affliction, nor is it merely starving oneself. Fasting is intended to break yokes (many people fast seeking God's aid in overcoming a temptation or addiction), support the poor (many people donate the money they would have spent on the skipped meals to charitable causes), and drawing near to the Lord (many people fast to teach the physical to submit to the spiritual)
• Jesus responds to people who are fasting to put on a show: look how pious I am! He gives instructions on fasting in a manner that one will not receive the praise of men.

Fasting is neither about punishing oneself nor impressing other people.

The Pharisees customarily fasted on Mondays and Thursdays, as well as on specific holy days (source). That Jesus' followers were accused of not fasting does not mean they never fasted, but it could mean one or both of the following:

• They did not comply with the Pharisees' oral tradition which called for fasting 2x/week. If one of the purposes of fasting (see Isaiah) is to draw near to God, perhaps fasting is less necessary while in the presence of the Son of God?
• People couldn't tell so easily if they were fasting (since they didn't put on a gloomy show).

Conclusion

Isaiah & Jesus's teachings do not contradict. In fact, it seems likely that Jesus had Isaiah's teachings in mind at the time.

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Appendix

As a matter of formal logic, the following propositions are not contradictory:

• Fasting can be a transformative experience
• Fasting includes abstaining from food

Though neither entails the other, neither contradicts the other nor claims to be exhaustive. (Potentially exhausting, but not exhaustive =) )

Answer 3

We should distinguish between Jesus' literal fasting in the wilderness and his general teaching about fasting. Like other men of God such as Moses and Elijah, Jesus was moved by the spirit to fast at the beginning of his mission. But he and his disciples did not fast during his ministry, as the question from the Baptist's disciples indicates. As @Peter Kirkpatrick notes, Jesus also affirmed Isaiah's "social gospel" in his first sermon according to Luke 4, as well as his emphasis on loving one's neighbor as a key to eternal life.

This brings us to Jesus' instruction on fasting Matthew 6:16-18. I interpret this to be a teaching for future church, not for his disciples during the period in which "the groom" was with them.

Conclusion: What Jesus taught about fasting does not contradict Isaiah's teaching. Isaiah opposed insincere fasting, and so did Jesus. There's no indication that Isaiah opposed fasting per se, especially when the fast was done in response to God's call.