Feeding hungry people

You don’t have to look too far into the heart of God to see that he is love. And you don’t have to look too far into the nature of love to see that love always seeks to feed hungry people. Food is our most basic source of nourishment – both physically and spiritually. And whether it is physical hunger or spiritual hunger, love is always motivated to try and meet the needs of those who are deprived of nourishment, because love always seeks to nurture others to health. Its not surprising then, that many passages in the Bible describe God as not only being concerned for those who are hungry but actually feeding them. Consider the following examples:

Psalm 107:9

“He satisfies the thirsty soul and fills the hungry soul with good things.”

Psalm 146:7

“He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.”

Luke 1:53

“He has filled the hungry with good things.”

There are also a number of passages in the Bible that either commend feeding the hungry, or condemn those who do not. Consider these examples:

Isaiah 32:6

“The fool speaks folly, his mind is busy with evil: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the Lord; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water.”

Isaiah 58:10

“If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

Ezek 18:5-9

Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just and right… He does not oppress anyone… but gives his food to the hungry… That man is righteous; he will surely live.”

Perhaps nowhere is God’s desire to feed the hungry seen more clearly than in Jesus feeding the multitudes – both spiritually and physically. In Matthew 14:14-21 and 15:32-38 we find two separate accounts of Jesus feeding multitudes. In each account, he began by first teaching the multitudes and healing those who were sick. Then, after the crowd had been with him for a long time, he satisfied their physical hunger as well.

Notice that when his disciples suggested he send the multitudes into the cities to buy food, Jesus said, “They do not need to go away, you give them something to eat!” John 6:6 makes it clear that Jesus was testing his disciples – to see if they would react in faith to his statement, and trust God to provide for the people. Unfortunately, they failed the test – a fact that is clearly seen in Phillip’s reply: “Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Andrew looked for a moment like he was going to pass this test when he said, “There is a boy here with five small barley loaves and two small fish…” but then he fell back into unbelief and said, “but how far will they go among so many?”

Another significant aspect of these stories is the fact that Jesus himself did not feed the people directly – he blessed the food, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, who in turn gave it to the crowds. The clear principle being displayed by this was that the disciples of Jesus were acting as an extension of his body, just as the church is his body today. Just as it was through his disciples that he fed the hungry crowds in these stories, it is through his church today that he feeds the hungry today – both spiritually and physically. (John 21:15,17)