Matthew 6:16 teaches that when you fast, you should not make a show of it. Jesus warns against the kind of fasting that is performed so others will notice, because the praise of people is the only reward such fasting earns. Jesus is speaking to the crowds gathered on the hillside in what Christians call the Sermon on the Mount, and his listeners would have known the Jewish practice of fasting well.
“Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
Matthew 6:16 (WEB)
What Matthew 6:16 Means
The verse begins with “when you fast,” which assumes fasting is a normal part of spiritual life. Jesus does not say “if” you fast. He takes it for granted that his followers will go without food for a time to focus on God, and he is concerned only with how they go about it.
The warning is aimed at “the hypocrites,” a word that in this setting describes people who play a part. They make their faces look sad and neglected so that others will see them and admire their devotion. The verse’s point is that the audience becomes the goal. Jesus says that such people “have received their reward,” meaning the approval they wanted from others is the whole payment they will get.
The verse does not condemn fasting itself, and it does not say that people who fast in public are necessarily fake. It addresses the motive behind the outward act. It also does not promise that a private fast will bring any particular result on earth. What it does promise is that God sees what is done in secret, a point made clearly in the verses that follow.
The Context of Matthew 6:16
Matthew’s Gospel was written for a community that knew Jewish law and practice, and it presents Jesus as the teacher who fulfills and deepens that tradition. Chapters 5 through 7 contain a long run of teaching on righteousness, prayer, and living under God’s rule. Verse 16 sits in the middle of a section on three acts of devotion: giving to the needy, praying, and fasting. In each case Jesus draws the same line between doing good for God and doing it to be noticed.
Read alongside verses 14 and 15, which speak about forgiving others, and verses 17 and 18, which give the positive instruction to fast in a way that is hidden, verse 16 becomes a call to sincerity. Jesus is describing a relationship with a Father who sees in secret, and the reward he offers belongs to that relationship rather than to the applause of a crowd.
Key Phrases in Matthew 6:16
Matthew 6:18
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.
(WEB)
This verse finishes the thought begun in verse 16 by describing the hidden fast and the Father who sees in secret. Reading it next to verse 16 shows the contrast Jesus draws and the reward he promises to those who seek God rather than an audience.
Isaiah 58:3-7
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ say they, ‘and you don’t see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’ “Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and oppress all your laborers. 4 Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to humble his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under himself? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 6 “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? 7 Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?
(WEB)
In this passage the prophet Isaiah rebukes people who fast while continuing to oppress others. It shows that Jesus’s concern with sincerity in fasting has deep roots in the Old Testament, where true worship is tied to justice and mercy toward the needy.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 6:16
Father, you see what no one else sees, and you know the reasons behind everything I do. When I fast or set aside something for your sake, guard my heart from wanting to be noticed. Let my devotion be real and quiet, known to you alone. Turn my attention away from the approval of others and toward your presence, where I find the reward that truly satisfies. Teach me to seek you in secret and to trust your faithfulness. Amen.
