Verse 16
c. Sincerity in fasting.
16. Moreover Be not only thus sincere in alms and prayer, but also in fasting. Put on no grim airs to attract attention, but fast unto God.
Of a sad countenance Solemn thought naturally indeed produces a solemn expression of countenance. Penitence may produce tears. And all this is right, provided the external expression is produced by the internal feeling before God. Nay, one may put on sackcloth and ashes, or use other means to bring his feelings to the right state. But to assume expressions, or put on forms, for the purpose of a show where the reality is not within, is simply hypocrisy. Forms, indeed, are often in a degree deserted by the feeling they express; and yet they are well retained to keep us in that way by which the feeling may be made to return, so that the form may become reanimated by the power. But when the form has banished the power, and become a substitute for it and a mere show of it, the hypocrisy has fairly commenced.
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