Pertanyaan: 450. Apakah Puasa Diperlukan dalam Kehidupan Kristen?
Puasa adalah sukarela di gereja Kristen awal. Musuh-musuhnya menuduh bahwa murid-murid Kristus tidak berpuasa, sementara murid-murid Yohanes berpuasa (Matius 11:18,19). Tuhan kita tidak secara positif memerintahkan berpuasa secara agama, dan bahkan Ia menyebut dengan celaan tentang puasa-puasa sering orang-orang Farisi. Referensinya tentang waktu yang akan datang ketika, karena tidak ada kehadiran pribadi mempelai laki-laki, murid-murid-Nya akan berpuasa, lebih mengimplikasikan musim berkabung secara umum daripada penyangkalan diri. Dalam Khotbah di Bukit (Matius 6:17) Ia mengakui praktik tersebut, tetapi meninggalkan frekuensi dan luasnya kepada penilaian individu. Puasa-puasa jelas diamati oleh orang-orang Kristen awal (lihat Kisah Para Rasul 13:2, 14:23; II Korintus 6:5), tetapi ini mungkin merupakan pengakuan terhadap penggunaan lama yang mapan, yang diturunkan dari generasi ke generasi. Ketika diingat bahwa sebagian besar gereja Kristen pada awalnya adalah orang Yahudi, tidak mengherankan bahwa puasa, yang merupakan ciri yang begitu mencolok di bawah perjanjian lama, harus diturunkan dari zaman ke zaman dan kadang-kadang ditemukan dalam gereja bahkan sampai saat ini. Bahwa puasa memiliki manfaat, baik secara rohani maupun fisik, tidak dapat disangkal. Puasa yang tulus, yang sambil merendahkan daging, membantu dalam memusatkan pikiran pada hal-hal Roh, sangat cocok untuk beberapa keadaan darurat besar. Juruselamat kita sendiri memberikan contoh kepada kita.
Question: 450. Is Fasting Necessary to Christian Living?
Fasting was voluntary in the early Christian Church. It was charged by his enemies that Christ's disciples "fasted not," while those of John did fast (Matt. 11:18,19). Our Lord did not positively enjoin religious fasting, and indeed he alluded in terms of censure to the frequent fasts of the Pharisees. His reference to the time which would come when, being deprived of the personal presence of the bridegroom, his disciples would fast, implied rather a season of general mourning than of self-denial. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 6:17) he recognizes the practice, but leaves the frequency and extent to the individual judgment. Fasts were undoubtedly observed by the early Christians (see Acts 13:2, 14:23; II Cor. 6:5), but these were probably a recognition of old established usage, handed down through generations. When it is remembered that a very large portion of the Christian Church was originally Jewish, it is not surprising that fasting, which was so marked a feature under the old dispensation, should have been handed down from age to age and that it should be occasionally found to some extent in the church even at the present day. That it has merits, both spiritual and physical, may not be gain said. A sincere fast, which while mortifying the flesh, aided in concentrating the mind upon the things of the Spirit, is especially adapted to certain great emergencies. Our Saviour himself set us the example.
