WatchmanOnTheWall
Well-known member
Not many Christians know about this Jewish tradition but it was a fast that Jesus took part in but has virtually gone unnoticed. The fast of Esther begins on day 13 of month 1 (Aviv) and lasts three days till the 16th:
Esther 3:12
Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned.
Later that day:
Esther 4:15-16
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
Esther broke with tradition and rather than eat the Passover meal she decided to fast in the hope of receiving God’s Favour, as she was about to break a law that could have resulted in her receiving a death sentence. In recognition of this event many of the Jews who were saved began a tradition by fasting over these same three days and instead ate the Passover meal early on the 13th, others however continued to eat it on the normal day. (I believe the Essenes kept the fast of Esther).
After the last supper (which was a commemorative feast to Esther) that took place on the evening of the 13th Aviv as the sun set (and which is not the the Passover meal that is on the 15th), Jesus also fasted over these same three days, ending on the evening of the sixteenth day when He broke bread with Cleopas and the other disciple in Emmaus (Luke 24). He then immediately appeared to the eleven disciples in the upper room that night and asked for some broiled fish to eat. His disciples also fasted over that time just as Jesus had said they would:
Mark 2:19-20
19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
Esther 3:12
Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned.
Later that day:
Esther 4:15-16
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
Esther broke with tradition and rather than eat the Passover meal she decided to fast in the hope of receiving God’s Favour, as she was about to break a law that could have resulted in her receiving a death sentence. In recognition of this event many of the Jews who were saved began a tradition by fasting over these same three days and instead ate the Passover meal early on the 13th, others however continued to eat it on the normal day. (I believe the Essenes kept the fast of Esther).
After the last supper (which was a commemorative feast to Esther) that took place on the evening of the 13th Aviv as the sun set (and which is not the the Passover meal that is on the 15th), Jesus also fasted over these same three days, ending on the evening of the sixteenth day when He broke bread with Cleopas and the other disciple in Emmaus (Luke 24). He then immediately appeared to the eleven disciples in the upper room that night and asked for some broiled fish to eat. His disciples also fasted over that time just as Jesus had said they would:
Mark 2:19-20
19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
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