Short answer: Matthew 6:16–18 records Jesus telling his disciples not to fast like the hypocrites, who disfigure their faces to be seen by people. Instead they are to anoint the head and wash the face, so the fasting is not visible to others but to the Father who sees in secret. Jesus assumes fasting will happen; his concern is how and for whom. He promises that the Father who sees in secret will reward, leaving the timing and nature of that reward with God.
Where fasting fits in the sermon on the mount
Matthew 6:16–18 sits inside the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' extended teaching on life under God's rule, given to his disciples with the crowds listening. The unit is short and shaped like the instructions around it. Jesus sets what the hypocrites do beside what his disciples should do, then names the reward that follows. The same three-part pattern appears in the chapter's teaching on giving and on prayer, so fasting is one member of a set, not a uniquely meritorious act. Jesus assumes fasting will happen among his people; the question he presses is motive, not whether the practice exists.
The verses just before this unit matter. Matthew 6:14–15 addresses forgiving others, a reminder that religious practice does not cancel relational obligations. Just prior, the Lord's Prayer taught disciples to pray to a Father who is in secret, and that same secret-place logic carries straight into the fasting instruction. Immediately after, verses 19–20 turn to treasure, contrasting what is stored on earth with what is stored in heaven. That frame shapes how verse 18's reward is read: Jesus is not promising a transaction but describing the Father who sees what is hidden.
The setting is first-century Jewish piety, where fasting was an established practice, not an innovation Jesus introduces. He neither abolishes it nor makes it a condition of acceptance with God. The sermon's larger concern is a righteousness that exceeds outward conformity, so the passage addresses the heart behind the practice. Fasting can harm people with medical conditions such as diabetes or a history of disordered eating. This text should never be taught as a requirement for acceptance with God, and readers with health concerns should seek medical advice and pastoral counsel before undertaking any fast.
What Jesus says about how to fast
Jesus begins with the word when, not if, and the sense is closer to whenever. Fasting is assumed, the way prayer and giving are assumed in the verses just before. He is not launching a new practice but correcting a familiar one. The contrast in 6:16 is with the hypocrites, a word that means people acting a part. Their sadness is a costume worn for an audience. Jesus does not say their fasting is nothing; he says they have arranged their own payment. The question running through the whole unit is not whether a person fasts, but who is watching.
The next phrase is striking: they disfigure their faces. The word describes making your face unrecognizable, deliberately spoiling your appearance so that others can tell you are fasting. Against that, Jesus says to anoint your head and wash your face, which is ordinary grooming, the routine a person would do on any normal morning. The point is not to look gloomy and not to look especially bright either, but simply to look ordinary. Fasting is directed toward God, not staged for neighbors. Nothing here commands a particular length, frequency, or kind of fast, and it is never a condition of God's acceptance. Anyone with medical concerns should seek medical advice and pastoral counsel before undertaking a fast.
The weight of the passage rests on two words: seen and secret. Jesus says the Father sees in secret and will reward. That is a wisdom principle about who receives our devotion, not a formula that guarantees a specific outcome. The audience determines the reward. A fast performed for people has its payment already, and Jesus says plainly that they have received their reward. A fast hidden before God is left in his hands. Grace comes first here: we fast as people already known and seen by the Father, not to earn his notice. The practical question is simple. If no one knew you were fasting, would it still be worth doing?
Fasting for the Father who sees in secret
Jesus begins with the word "when," not "if." He assumes his disciples will fast, just as he assumes they will give and pray. His concern in Matthew 6:16–18 is not whether fasting happens but how and for whom. He pictures the hypocrites disfiguring their faces so others will notice their seriousness. The disciple instead anoints the head and washes the face, looking ordinary. Fasting is directed toward the Father who sees in secret, not toward an audience. The practice is assumed; the performance is forbidden. Fasting was established Jewish piety, and Jesus neither abolishes it nor makes it a condition of acceptance with God.
The immediate context shapes how we read this. Verses 14 and 15 address forgiving others, a reminder that religious practice does not cancel relational obligations. The wider chapter treats giving, prayer, and fasting in the same pattern, so fasting is one member of a set, not a uniquely meritorious act. The Lord's Prayer in verses 9 through 13 has just taught disciples to pray to a Father in secret, and that same secret-place logic carries straight into the fasting instruction. The setting is life under God's rule, where righteousness exceeds outward conformity. Fasting does not earn standing; it is devotion offered to a Father already known.
Verse 18 promises that the Father who sees in secret will reward. The timing and nature of that reward stay in the Father's hands; the text does not promise health, insight, or emotional relief. Verses 19 and 20 turn at once to treasure, contrasting what is stored on earth with what is stored in heaven, which frames that reward language. Fasting pleases God when it is hidden devotion rather than a display of seriousness. Because fasting can harm people with medical conditions, it should never be taught as a requirement for acceptance with God, and readers with health concerns should seek medical advice and pastoral counsel first.
What Jesus says about fasting and where readers differ
Jesus begins with an assumption rather than a command: he says, “Moreover when you fast,” not if you fast. He then contrasts two audiences. The hypocrites disfigure their faces so that others notice their fasting, and Jesus says plainly that they have their reward already, meaning the attention they wanted. His disciples are told to anoint the head and wash the face, ordinary grooming that hides the fast from onlookers. The fast is still real, but it is directed to the Father who sees in secret. The passage is first about who is watching, not about how long or how often a person goes without food.
Evangelical readers agree that Jesus condemns fasting for display and commends devotion hidden from people, yet they disagree on whether this obliges Christians to fast at all. Some read “when you fast” as assuming a practice disciples would continue, and they point to fasting in the book of Acts. Others hold that fasting belonged to the old covenant order or to particular occasions and is not commanded for the church. Readers also differ on the reward, whether a present spiritual benefit or a future reward in the kingdom, and the text does not specify which.
The passage sets its own limits. It gives no frequency, no duration, no type of fast, and no list of permitted exceptions. Practices therefore differ widely, whether food only or other comforts, and for how long. What stays central is that fasting is aimed at the Father, kept out of sight, and never used to impress people or to leverage God. It is also never a condition for acceptance with God. Anyone with a medical condition such as diabetes or a history of disordered eating should seek medical advice and pastoral counsel before undertaking any fast.
Fasting before a Father who sees in secret
Jesus has just finished teaching his disciples to pray, and he immediately turns to fasting with the same concern: who is watching? He pictures the hypocrites disfiguring their faces so that others notice they are fasting, and he says plainly that they have their reward already (6:16). The problem is not the fast itself but the audience. A discipline meant to be directed toward God had been turned into a performance for people. Jesus does not abolish fasting here. He assumes his followers will do it, saying "when you fast," and then redirects it away from public display toward the Father who sees what is hidden.
Notice how ordinary his correction is. He does not tell them to fast longer or harder, but to anoint the head and wash the face, the normal grooming of a person going about the day (6:17). The point is that fasting should not announce itself. What matters is that the Father sees in secret, and Jesus says the Father will reward what is done that way (6:18). This is a wisdom principle about hidden devotion, not a formula that guarantees a particular outcome. The reward is left in the Father's hands, and the fast is left hidden from everyone else.
That is where the gospel keeps this passage honest. Jesus speaks as the kingdom's teacher, and he names hypocrisy because he came to make worshippers who are real, not performers. Acceptance with God is given in Christ, not earned by skipping meals or any other discipline. So fasting is never a way to secure the Father's favor. It is the response of people who already have a Father who sees them. Anyone with a medical condition, or a history of disordered eating, should seek medical advice and pastoral counsel before fasting, and should never treat it as a requirement for God's love.
Fasting that only your Father sees
Jesus pictures a man with a sad face, deliberately making himself look worse so people will notice he is fasting. That is the whole problem in one image: the fast has become a performance with an audience. His instruction runs the other way. Anoint your head and wash your face, he says, which means keep up the ordinary routines of grooming and going about your day. Do not cancel your life so that your abstinence becomes visible. If your schedule or your health makes complete secrecy impossible, let your practice be quiet rather than announced. The point is not to hide from God but to be seen by the One who is in secret.
The motive is where this gets uncomfortable. Ask honestly whether you want someone to notice your seriousness, and if the answer is yes, that is the very thing Jesus warns against. It calls for repentance, not for trying harder to look normal. Notice too that Jesus places fasting alongside giving and prayer as one part of a hidden life with God, not as a lever for getting what you want from him. And guard the body he gave you: fasting is never a requirement for acceptance with God, and anyone with a medical condition or a history of disordered eating should seek medical advice and pastoral counsel before undertaking a fast.
Everything here rests on grace. The Father who sees in secret is already your Father before you skip a single meal. You fast from acceptance, not toward it, because Christ has obtained what no discipline of yours could earn. That frees you from both pride and anxiety about results. Do the quiet thing, keep your face washed, and leave the outcome in his hands. He mentions reward, but he does not put it on a schedule or hand you a receipt. Whether he rewards visibly or invisibly is his business. Your business is to eat or abstain as unto him, without an audience.
Biblical fidelity check
Matthew 6:16–18 sits inside Jesus' teaching on hidden devotion, right after his words on forgiveness in 6:14–15 and just before the command about treasure in 6:19–20. Read carefully, the passage carries risks. The opening word means whenever, so Jesus assumes fasting happens rather than inventing it, yet he never commands a frequency or duration. His target is the hypocrite whose spoiled face is a costume for an audience, contrasted with ordinary grooming done in secret. The danger in handling this text is turning a warning against display into a rule about food, or turning a promise of reward into a guarantee.
The real disagreement is whether this obliges Christians to fast at all. Some read whenever you fast as assuming a continuing practice and point to fasting in Acts; others hold it belonged to the old order or to particular occasions and is not commanded for the church. Readers also differ on whether the reward is present or future, and the text does not say. What stays central is that fasting is aimed at the Father, kept out of sight, and never used to impress people or to leverage God.
Following the theme of Matthew 6:16-18 through Scripture
Fasting in Matthew 6 sits beside teaching on prayer and treasure, so it helps to read the wider Sermon on the Mount and other passages where Scripture speaks of fasting and hidden devotion. For further study, see Matthew 1: Genealogy and Birth of Jesus, Matthew 10: Jesus Sends the Twelve with Authority, Matthew 12: Lord of the Sabbath and Sign of Jonah and Matthew 13: Parables of the Kingdom.
Frequently asked questions
Does Jesus actually command Christians to fast, or is he only assuming that some of his followers will fast?
Jesus does not issue a command to fast here; he assumes that those who do fast will do it for God rather than for an audience. The wording is "when you fast," not: if you must fast, so fasting is treated as a real practice among his hearers, not imposed on everyone. His concern in 6:16–18 is motive and secrecy: the hypocrites fast to be seen, while his disciples fast before a Father who sees in secret. So the passage regulates fasting rather than requiring it.
What kind of fast should a Christian choose, and how long should it last?
This passage does not specify a kind of fast or a length, so the choice of food, drink or duration is left to wisdom and circumstance. What Jesus does fix is the manner: do not fast in order to be seen by men, but before your Father who sees in secret (6:16–18). The one who fasts should look ordinary, anointed and washed, not disfigured to advertise devotion. So choose a fast you can keep quietly before God, and let the hidden Father, not an audience, be the one you are seeking.
What does it mean that the Father who sees in secret will reward you?
Jesus means that fasting done for God alone is seen by God, even when no person notices, and the Father himself answers it with reward. In 6:16–18 he contrasts the hypocrites, who disfigure their faces to be seen by men and receive only that human notice, with the disciple who washes and anoints normally so the fasting stays hidden. The reward is God's own response to secret faithfulness, not a payment earned or a guarantee of earthly gain. The point is the audience: fast for the Father, who sees what is secret.
