Short answer: In Matthew 6:16–18 Jesus speaks of fasting as something his followers do, and his concern is how they do it. He warns against disfiguring the face to be seen fasting by others, and tells them to anoint the head and wash the face so the fasting stays hidden before the Father who sees in secret. He commands no schedule, no length, and no total abstention from food, and he says nothing about nursing mothers or any bodily condition. The promise is that the Father who sees in secret will reward, with the reward left unnamed and in his hands.
The setting of Jesus' teaching on fasting
Matthew 6:16–18 belongs to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' extended instruction on the life of the kingdom of heaven. The verses are the third panel in a matched set: giving, praying, and fasting, each built the same way, each warning against doing devotion to be seen by men, each promising a reward from the Father who sees in secret. The form is direct imperative teaching with a stated outcome, not story and not case law. Jesus speaks to disciples within earshot of a crowd, so the words shape a community's common practice, not a private technique.
The surrounding context keeps fasting tied to the rest of life. Just before this, Jesus teaches on almsgiving and prayer, including the model prayer, and immediately before verse 16 he warns that an unforgiving heart blocks the Father's forgiveness. Fasting cannot be peeled off as a separate technique from how a person treats others. Immediately after verse 18 he turns to treasures on earth and in heaven, so the whole section asks where the heart's treasure lies. Fasting is assumed throughout Scripture, from the Day of Atonement to Jesus' own wilderness fast, not introduced here.
Matthew sets this teaching in the covenant setting of Israel's Messiah instructing his disciples, and the church receives it as wisdom for discipleship rather than as a direct transfer of Israel's covenant obligations. The passage itself says nothing about nursing, pregnancy, or medical conditions, so a breastfeeding mother should not read it as a command to abstain from food or drink. What stays central is the contrast Jesus draws: hidden devotion before the Father, not display before people. Wise counsel about what her body and her child need belongs alongside that, not against it.
Each paragraph must be 95–120 words.
Sad faces, secret fasting, and the Father who sees
Jesus begins with the word when, not if. Fasting was already an expected practice among his hearers, and he assumes his disciples will keep it. The fast in view is going without food for a religious purpose, a deliberate setting aside of ordinary eating in order to seek God. Jesus does not argue that the practice is wrong or outdated. He takes it for granted and then goes after the manner of it. The question he presses is not whether you fast but who you are fasting for. That reframing is the heart of the paragraph.
The hypocrites he describes made their faces look miserable on purpose. They disfigured their appearance so that others would notice their devotion and admire it. Jesus says plainly that they have received their reward, meaning the attention was the whole payment. Against that he sets ordinary grooming: anoint your head, wash your face. These are the normal preparations for appearing in public, the things a person does before going out the door. The instruction is almost humorous in its ordinariness. Do not stage your fasting. Look like yourself. Let the discipline be visible to God rather than advertised to neighbors.
The phrase in secret carries the contrast. The Father sees what others do not, and his seeing is the audience that matters. Jesus states that the Father will reward, but he does not describe the reward, and that restraint is worth noticing. This is a wisdom principle about motive and hiddenness, not a technique for extracting blessings. It also gives no direction about nursing, pregnancy, or medical conditions. A breastfeeding mother should not read this as a command to abstain from food or drink, and she should seek wise counsel about what her body and her child actually need.
Fasting for the Father who sees in secret
Jesus opens this unit with the word "when," not "if." He assumes his disciples will fast, and his concern is how they do it. The hypocrites make their faces look miserable and disfigure themselves so people will notice their devotion. Jesus tells his followers to do the opposite: anoint your head and wash your face, ordinary grooming that hides the fast rather than advertises it. He names no schedule, no duration, and no rule about abstaining from all food. The principle is secret sincerity before the Father, and the form is left to wise judgment. The reward he promises is real but unnamed, kept in the Father's hands.
The surrounding verses frame this fast. Just before, Jesus teaches giving and prayer, each with the same warning against practicing righteousness to be seen by men. Immediately before verse 16 he speaks of forgiveness, warning that an unforgiving heart blocks the Father's forgiveness, so fasting cannot be treated as a technique detached from a person's relationships. Immediately after verse 18 he turns to treasure on earth and in heaven, asking where the heart actually lies. Fasting fits that question: it is devotion aimed at the Father, not a performance that stores up human praise. Scripture assumes fasting elsewhere too, from Israel's appointed fasts to Jesus in the wilderness.
This passage says nothing about nursing, pregnancy, or any bodily condition. A breastfeeding mother should not read it as a command to abstain from food or drink, and she should seek wise counsel about what her body and her child need. What Jesus settles here is direction and audience: the fast is toward the Father, not toward an audience. Matthew places these words in the setting of Israel's Messiah instructing his disciples, and the church applies them through wisdom and discipleship rather than by carrying over covenant regulations. The command is sincerity; the details belong to careful, prayerful judgment.
Where readers disagree about fasting in secret
Careful readers part ways on how binding Matthew 6:16–18 is. Some argue that Jesus commands fasting for his followers, since he says "when you fast" and not: if you fast, and that the only question is secrecy. Others read the passage as regulating a practice already voluntary, because Jesus names no frequency, no season, and no obligation. Both readings take the text seriously. What stays central across the disagreement is that fasting is directed to the Father, that it must not be performed for human approval, and that the Father sees what is hidden. The passage forbids display, not eating or abstaining as such.
Readers also differ on what the reward is. Some expect a heavenly reward at the last day, while others hear a present recompense from the Father who sees in secret. The text deliberately leaves the reward unnamed, so neither reading should be pressed into a guarantee. On the specific question of fasting while breastfeeding, the passage gives no rule at all. It says nothing about nursing, pregnancy, or medical conditions, and readers who press it into that question are going beyond what it says. A mother should not treat this text as a command to abstain from food or drink, and she should seek wise counsel about what her body and her child need.
The limits the text sets are worth naming. It forbids display, not eating or abstaining as such. Jesus contrasts sad faces and disfigurement with anointing the head and washing the face, so the issue is visibility, not the stomach. That means the passage cannot be used to measure another person's fasting or to require a particular diet. It also cannot be used to promise health, safety, or emotional relief. What the Father sees in secret he rewards, but the reward remains his to give. The central call is to fast, if one fasts, for the Father's eyes rather than for human approval.
Fasting that the Father sees
Jesus has just taught his disciples to pray, and he keeps talking about the same danger: religion performed for an audience. In 6:16 he pictures people who make their faces look miserable so others will notice they are fasting. He does not question that they fast. He questions who they are fasting for. Then he gives a quiet alternative: wash your face, anoint your head, look ordinary. The point is not secrecy for its own sake but direction. Fasting is aimed at the Father, not at the room. Jesus speaks here as the teacher of the kingdom, and he is also the one who later hungers in the wilderness and refuses to make a show of it.
The reward in 6:18 is worth noticing. Jesus says the Father who sees in secret will reward you. That is different from a wage. A wage is calculated and paid out; this is given by a Father who has already been watching. The disciple does not fast to earn a hearing but because she already has one. This is where the passage points to the cross. The religion of appearance is exactly what condemned the hypocrites, and it is what we are all capable of. The gospel begins with a Father who sees us truly, knows what is hidden, and does not need our performance to be persuaded.
So what does this mean for a mother who is nursing? The passage says nothing about food, milk supply, pregnancy, or health. It is not a command to abstain, and a breastfeeding mother should not read it as one. What it does address is motive: whether a hidden practice is offered to the Father or staged for people. Any fasting she considers belongs in conversation with wise counsel about what her body and her child need. The grace underneath it stays the same. God already sees her in secret, and her hidden devotion is a response to that grace, not a bid for attention.
Fasting for the Father who sees in secret
Jesus begins with motive. The hypocrites in 6:16 disfigure their faces so that others will notice they are fasting, and Jesus says plainly that they have their reward already. The question the passage puts to us is whether our practice would survive being completely unseen. If the fast only means something when someone knows about it, the aim has quietly shifted from the Father to the audience. Jesus does not tell his disciples to stop fasting; he assumes they will fast and redirects it away from display. In 6:17–18 he describes ordinary, unremarkable devotion, washed face and anointed head, seen by the Father who is in secret.
That reframing matters for a mother in a demanding bodily season. This passage says nothing about nursing, pregnancy, or medical conditions, so it should never be read as a command to withhold food or drink from a body that is feeding a child. What it does command is sincerity. A reader can ask whether a partial fast, a differently shaped abstinence, or a season of waiting better serves the same end of hidden devotion. Seeking wise counsel about what her body and her child actually need is not a failure of faith; it is the ordinary way we love our neighbors, starting with the child in our arms.
The ground of all this is grace, not payment. The Father who sees in secret has already looked on us in mercy in Christ, so hidden practice is grateful obedience rather than a transaction. Jesus gives no promise here of health, safety, or measurable spiritual results, and we should not manufacture one. A fast undertaken in faith may be small and unimpressive, and the outcome belongs to the Father. What the passage secures is simpler and better: the God who sees what no one else sees is not distant, and he is not keeping score against his children.
Biblical fidelity check
In Matthew 6:16–18 Jesus assumes his disciples will fast, saying when you fast rather than if. He contrasts the hypocrites, who disfigure their faces to be seen fasting, with disciples who anoint the head and wash the face, ordinary grooming that hides the practice. The phrase in secret names the audience that matters: the Father who sees what is hidden. Careful readers differ on whether Jesus commands fasting or regulates a voluntary practice, and on what the unnamed reward is. The passage forbids display, not abstaining itself.
The text gives no rule about fasting while breastfeeding, and pressing it into that question goes beyond what it says. What stays central across disagreements is that fasting is directed to the Father, never performed for human approval, and that the Father sees what is hidden. Matthew 6:18 says so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. A nursing mother's health and her child's need belong to wisdom, not to this passage's silence.
Reading Matthew 6:16-18 alongside other passages
For a wider look at how Scripture treats fasting and the body, see Matthew 2:23 Explained: Why Jesus Was Called a Nazarene on fasting in the Old Testament, Matthew 27:9-10: Why Matthew Says Jeremiah Not Zechariah on Jesus and food, Matthew 7:21-23: Not Everyone Who Says Lord, Lord on the secret life of prayer, and Matthew 1:1-17: Why Jesus' Genealogy Matters on wisdom and bodily limits.
Frequently asked questions
Does Jesus actually command his followers to fast, or is fasting something optional for Christians?
Jesus does not issue a new command to fast here; he assumes fasting will happen and regulates how it is done. The wording is "when you fast," not: if you fast, and the instructions concern hiddenness rather than obligation. So the passage neither forbids fasting nor makes it mandatory for every believer. What stays central is that fasting is directed to the Father who sees in secret, not performed to be noticed by people.
Is it wrong to tell anyone that I am fasting?
The passage does not forbid anyone from ever learning that you are fasting; it forbids fasting in order to be seen by people. Jesus describes hypocrites who disfigure their faces so others will notice, and he says their attention is their whole reward (6:16). Instead he tells the fasting person to anoint the head and wash the face, so the fasting is not seen by men but by the Father who sees in secret (6:17–18). The question to ask is whether telling someone serves God or serves your own reputation.
What reward does the Father give for fasting in secret?
Jesus does not name the reward; he simply says your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you (Matthew 6:18). The point is that the reward comes from the Father's seeing, not from people's notice, and it stands in contrast to the hypocrites, who receive their reward in full from being seen. So the passage assures a real reward from God while leaving its content unspecified, and it warns against fasting performed to be admired. The promise is made to those who fast before God rather than before an audience.
