Short answer: Matthew 6:16–18 records Jesus saying "Moreover when you fast," which treats fasting as something his followers do rather than something optional. He warns against fasting with a sad, disfigured face so that others notice, and says those who do this have received their reward. Instead he tells them to anoint the head and wash the face so the fasting is not seen by people but by the Father who sees in secret. The passage does not say fasting earns anything; it says the Father who sees in secret is the one whose reward matters.
Fasting in secret within the sermon on the mount
Matthew 6:16–18 sits inside the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' extended teaching to his disciples about life under God's rule. It is instruction, not story, and it belongs to a set of three matched examples: giving, praying, and fasting. Each one follows the same pattern, a warning against public display, a command to practice the devotion quietly, and a promise about the Father who sees what is hidden. The repeated line about receiving a reward ties the three together into one argument about motive. Jesus does not introduce fasting as something new here; he assumes his hearers already practice it and tells them how not to.
The placement matters. Just before this, in 6:14–15, Jesus ties the Father's forgiveness to our forgiveness of others. Just after, in 6:19–20, he warns against storing up treasure on earth and urges treasure in heaven. Fasting stands between those two concerns as one practice among several that show where the heart's treasure actually lies. The setting is a Jewish world where fasting was a recognized devotion, not an oddity. Jesus neither abolishes it nor turns it into a public badge. He treats it as a normal part of devotion and then redirects its audience from people to God.
The shape of the passage is easy to follow: a warning, then a positive command, then a promise. Jesus contrasts the hypocrites, who distort their faces so others will notice they are fasting, with the disciple who anoints his head and washes his face so the fasting stays unseen. The promise is not that fasting earns anything, but that the Father who sees in secret sees truly. Because fasting can harm people with medical conditions, including diabetes or a history of disordered eating, this teaching belongs alongside wise pastoral and medical caution, not as a universal obligation laid on everyone.
The warning about hiddenness also guards the practice itself. Fasting is physically visible in a way giving and praying need not be, so Jesus addresses the face and the appearance directly. He does not say the fast is worthless if someone notices; he says the motive of being seen by men has its own reward and leaves nothing further to receive. The disciple's fast is aimed at the Father, who sees what is not on display. That keeps the practice in the same frame as the treasure saying that follows, where the heart's real loyalty is what finally shows.
When you fast: the wording of Matthew 6:16-18
Notice the word Jesus uses twice in this short section: "when." He does not say if you fast, as though it were an optional add-on for especially serious disciples. He assumes his hearers will fast, the same way he assumes they will pray and give. The instruction is not a command to fast at a set frequency, and the passage names no required day or duration. What it does is treat fasting as a normal part of devotion and then address how it is done. The question the text answers is not whether fasting earns anything, but who is watching while you do it.
The contrast is between two audiences. The hypocrites, Jesus says, disfigure their faces so they will be seen by men to be fasting. The word pictures people acting a part on a stage, arranging their appearance to advertise their devotion. Jesus tells his disciples to do the opposite: anoint your head and wash your face. In that culture, oil and washed skin were ordinary signs of health and gladness, not mourning. The point is not to hide fasting from God, who already knows, but to refuse to stage it for people. The Father who sees in secret is the one whose notice matters, and the reward named here is what that Father gives, not a payment we earn.
Two cautions belong with this text. First, secrecy is not the goal by itself; the goal is honesty before the Father, and the passage never promises that hidden fasting produces a particular result on a timetable. Second, fasting is a bodily practice, and some bodies cannot safely go without food. Diabetes, pregnancy, and a history of disordered eating are real reasons to seek medical and pastoral counsel before fasting, and abstaining from food is not the only form of self-denial Scripture describes. Read in context, these verses call for devotion aimed at God rather than at an audience, held with wisdom about our own bodies.
Fasting that the Father sees in secret
Jesus does not open this teaching by asking whether his followers will fast. He says, when you fast, and then spends three verses on how. That assumes the practice. His concern is motive. The hypocrites in view made their faces look drawn and disfigured so others would notice their devotion. Jesus says plainly that they have received their reward, meaning the notice itself was the payment. He then tells his disciples to anoint the head and wash the face, ordinary grooming that hides rather than advertises hunger. The fast is real, but it is directed to the Father, not to an audience.
The placement matters. Matthew 6:14–15 has just tied the Father's forgiveness to our forgiving others, and 6:19–20 will warn against treasure stored on earth. Fasting sits between those two, one practice among several that show where the heart's treasure actually lies. The repeated formula about receiving a reward links giving, praying, and fasting into a single argument about motive. Jesus is not abolishing a recognized Jewish devotion or turning it into a badge. He is moving it out of public view. The Father who sees in secret is the one whose reward matters.
That does not make fasting a universal obligation or a guarantee of anything. The passage promises that the Father sees, not that fasting earns a specific result. Fasting can also harm people with diabetes or a history of disordered eating, so it belongs with wise pastoral and medical caution, not pressure. Grace comes first: we fast as those already seen and known by God, not to secure his attention. The question Jesus presses is where the treasure is, and a hidden fast is one small way of answering that honestly.
When you fast: where readers disagree and what the text limits
Jesus begins with a word that assumes something is already happening: when you fast, not if you happen to. He then contrasts two worshippers, the one who disfigures his face so others can tell he is fasting and the one who anoints his head and washes his face so no one can tell. The setting is the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus has just addressed giving and prayer in the same way, each time warning against performing devotion for an audience. The practice itself is never condemned here. What is condemned is the display, and the audience the hypocrite is actually playing to.
Careful evangelical readers disagree about how binding fasting is for the church today. Some read the word when as an assumption that Jesus' followers would keep fasting as a discipline, and they point to fasting in the book of Acts. Others hold that fasting belonged to the old covenant order and that the New Testament letters never command it, so it remains a free practice rather than an obligation. Readers also differ on the reward: a heavenly reward at the last day, or a present sense of the Father's favor. The text does not specify which, and honesty requires leaving that open.
What stays central across those differences is that fasting is never performed for human approval. The one who fasts is addressing the Father who sees in secret, and that is the only audience the passage allows. The text also sets a clear limit: it forbids display, not the practice, and it promises no particular outcome, whether health, breakthrough, or emotional relief. Because fasting can harm people with medical conditions such as diabetes or a history of disordered eating, it belongs alongside wise pastoral and medical caution, never as a universal obligation laid on everyone.
The Father who sees in secret
Jesus has just taught his disciples to pray, and he moves straight from prayer to fasting without softening either one. In 6:16 he assumes fasting will happen: he says when you fast, not if. His concern is the theater of it, the sad faces and disfigured looks arranged so others will notice. The hypocrites he describes are not irreligious; they are religious for an audience. He tells his disciples to anoint the head and wash the face, ordinary grooming that hides the practice rather than advertising it. The fast itself is assumed. The visibility is what he redirects, from the crowd to the Father who sees in secret.
The reason this lands is that Jesus is describing a Father, not a transaction. In 6:18 the reward comes from the Father who sees what is hidden, which means fasting does not purchase attention from a distant God. It is what children do before a Father who is already looking. This is where the passage points past itself to Christ. He fasted in the wilderness and refused to turn hunger into a spectacle, and he kept his obedience hidden while his shame was made public. The reward his people could never earn was secured by him, not by their discipline.
So fasting is a response, never a recommendation of ourselves to God. If you fast, the passage asks who you are trying to be seen by, and it frees you from performing. It also does not command everyone to fast. Fasting can harm people with diabetes or a history of disordered eating, so this belongs with pastoral and medical wisdom, not as a universal obligation. The Father who sees in secret is not impressed by damage done in his name. He is looking for the quiet trust that leaves the outcome with him.
The connection to the gospel stays plain here. Jesus defines kingdom righteousness from the inside out, and he is the Son who actually lived it, hidden obedience and all. Our fasting does not commend us; it is the response of people who already have a Father who sees them. That order matters, because it keeps discipline from becoming performance and keeps the secret place from becoming a stage.
Fasting quietly before the Father who sees in secret
Jesus does not introduce fasting here as a new command. He assumes it will happen: when you fast, not if. What he corrects is the performance. The hypocrites in 6:16 disfigure their faces so that others will notice they are fasting. Jesus says they have received their reward, meaning the attention they wanted is the whole payment. His alternative is almost comically ordinary: wash your face, anoint your head, look like yourself. The point is not that God is impressed by grooming but that fasting should be invisible to the room and visible to the Father. Faithful response begins there, with a practice that does not advertise itself.
That honesty about motive is worth sitting with, because the desire to be seen is subtle. It can hide inside a spiritual conversation, a carefully timed comment, even a look of weariness. Jesus names it directly rather than politely, which suggests he takes it seriously. So examine the motive, but do not turn the examination into another performance. Fasting also belongs alongside prayer and mercy, not above them, and it is not a lever to force an outcome God has not promised. Scripture never treats it as a way to obligate God. It is a practice of setting something aside to attend to him.
Grace comes first here. The Father who sees in secret already knows you in Christ, so fasting is not a bid for approval but a response to it. That reframes the whole practice: you are not fasting to become seen, because you already are. It also means fasting is not a universal obligation laid on everyone. It can harm people with medical conditions such as diabetes or a history of disordered eating, and wisdom, pastoral care and medical advice belong alongside this text. If you fast, do it quietly, keep it in its place, and let your Father in secret be enough.
Biblical fidelity check
Jesus speaks to people already expected to fast. The word when occurs twice in 6:16–18, framing fasting as a normal practice rather than an optional extra. The warning lands on performance: hypocrites act a part, and disfiguring the face means making oneself look miserable so others notice. Seen and in secret carry the weight of the passage. The contrast is between human observers and the Father who sees what no one else sees. The risk here is turning a warning against display into a rule against the practice itself, or reading the promised reward as a guarantee of a particular outcome.
Evangelical readers disagree about how binding fasting is today. Some hear an assumption of continuing discipline, others hold that it belonged to the old covenant order and is not commanded in the New Testament letters. Readers also differ on the reward, whether heavenly at the last day or a present sense of the Father's favor, and the text does not specify. What stays central is that fasting is never performed for human approval. The passage forbids display, not the practice, and promises no health, breakthrough, or result.
Related studies for Matthew 6:16-18
These themes of hidden devotion and treasure run through the Sermon on the Mount, so it helps to read this passage alongside Jesus Denounces Hypocrisy in Matthew 23 on giving, Matthew 1: Genealogy and Birth of Jesus on prayer, and Matthew 10: Jesus Sends the Twelve with Authority on treasure, with Matthew 12: Lord of the Sabbath and Sign of Jonah offering a wider biblical survey of fasting.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Bible command Christians to fast, or is it optional?
This passage does not issue a separate command to fast, but Jesus words "when you fast" in Matthew 6:16 assume that his followers will fast, just as he assumes they will give and pray. He spends no time arguing that they should, and instead corrects the way they do it. So the text treats fasting as an expected practice of devotion rather than an optional extra, while never making it a condition of God's acceptance. Wisdom and pastoral care still matter here, because fasting can harm people with medical conditions such as diabetes or a history of disordered eating, and this passage should never be used to pressure anyone into it.
Why did Jesus say to wash your face when you fast?
Jesus told his hearers to anoint their head and wash their face so that they would not be seen by men to be fasting, but by their Father who sees in secret (Matthew 6:17–18). The instruction is about appearance: normal grooming rather than the deliberately disfigured, gloomy face of those who wanted attention. He is not teaching deception or pretending nothing is happening; he is redirecting the fast away from an audience of people toward the Father alone. The point is that the fast is real before God even when it is invisible to everyone else.
What reward does the Father give for secret fasting?
The passage does not name the reward; it says only that your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you (Matthew 6:18). Jesus leaves the content open, which keeps the focus on the Father himself rather than on a promised outcome we can measure. What the text rules out is the alternative reward: those who fast to be noticed by people have received their reward already (Matthew 6:16). So the reward is whatever the Father chooses to give, and the passage promises his attention to hidden devotion, not guaranteed health, wealth or emotional relief.
