Should we fast?
Currently it's Lent (the lead-up to Easter in the religious calendar), and within some Christian circles, fasting is popular. There is nothing wrong with fasting, of course, and when you read both Old and New Testament, you will find instances where people fasted for very good reasons.
However, people will sometimes claim that Christians should fast because Jesus fasted. It is a dodgey line of reasoning because Jesus did many things that we are under no compulsion to imitate: he lived in Palestine; he learnt carpentry; he worked for his father Joseph; he thought that it was necessary to visit Jerusalem not once, but many times; he cursed fig trees that were not fruity enough; he saw the city of Jerusalem and wept; and he died by being nailed to a cross.
Nevertheless this still begs the question “Why did Jesus fast?” Let's be clear that he didn't do it much. If he had, it's unlikely he would have attracted the label of being “a glutton and a drunkard” (Luke 7:34). But in Mark's gospel, the reason given is that he had to: he was driven out into the wilderness (Mark 1:12-13; ‘driven’ is the same Greek word used later in the chapter where Jesus drives out a demon) and tempted by Satan, going without food and water for 40 days.
I suppose that next time we feel compelled by God to fast, we ought to do so. But given Jesus' unique ministry, it is also worth asking whether God in his word gives us any indication as to why he compelled Jesus to fast just before he began his public ministry in Israel.
In the Old Testament, who else was in the wilderness, led there by God to be tempted to unbelief for a period defined by “forty”? The answer is Israel (although we could have mentioned Noah's family in the flood in Genesis 7 and Elijah's visit to Mount Horeb in 1 Kings 19). Israel grumbled about food and water for a good 40 years, incurring the anger of God. God often reminds them of their 40-year grumbling in the rest of the Old Testament. But now, at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, before he enters the promised land, Jesus the true Israelite succeeds where they failed.
Not only this, but there are 40s within 40s. Someone else during the Exodus from Egypt spends 40 days without food and water. In Deuteronomy 9, Moses tells how he went without food and drink for 40 days—not once but twice: first when he receives God's law and second when he intercedes for Israel, praying about their sin. But Jesus is the true Israel: Jesus is the true intercessor who perfectly obeys the will of God and prays forgiveness for all the people of Israel.
When we understand the uniqueness of Jesus' work and the symbolism behind his fasting, would we be tempted to use his example as a reason never to fast again?