Jesus Told His Followers to Make Sure All Are Fed

What Did Jesus Do?

His disciples said, “This is a desolate place…
Send them away to go buy themselves something to eat.”
But Jesus answered them, “You give them something to eat.”
Mark 6:35-37

It is not always possible to determine the exact chronology of the events recorded in the four Gospels. By way of providing something of an excuse for the disciples who were eager to tell five thousand plus hungry people to scram and go find themselves some food (Mark 6:36), I am going to believe that these disciples had not yet heard Jesus say, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35) Jesus was simply unwilling to ignore hunger, to let it be someone else’s problem, to turn away any who came to him needing to be fed. And the Lord was quite clear that he expects his Church to do no less. As a matter of fact, the Lord warned that there would be dire consequences for those who fail to do their utmost to alleviate hunger (see Matthew 25:41-42).

Somehow, I don’t think Jesus would let his Church today get away with sending hungry folks to the nearest food pantry, or to the local Welfare office in order to get something to eat. As I’ve just recently pointed out, priority #1 for Jesus was to make sure that all his sheep were fed (see WDJD for 2/28/12). And, both Matthew 25 and Mark 6 make it clear that Jesus was not about to let his followers get away by trying to make distinctions between sheep in Jesus’ flock and lost sheep. Essentially, I believe the position of the Lord, which he wants his Church to uphold, is, “If you see any sheep who are hungry—feed them!”

And we don’t have to actually lay our eyeballs on hungry sheep to know that we need to be about the business of feeding the flock. It is believed that some 26,000 children in the world die every day of starvation or preventable diseases. 26,000 in the world. You can’t tell me that the Church does not right now have the resources to provide meals and/or medicines for 26,000 children a day. And don’t try and suggest that Jesus wants us to wait for people to come. I know what he said in John 6:35, “whoever comes to me,” but Jesus never sat down and waited for people in need to come to him, he ever and again went out among people, and that’s where his Church should be also. The Church should be with each of those 26,000 in the world. The Church, not the government, should be making sure that every child in our communities is fed daily (And I guarantee you that children go hungry every day in pretty much every city, town, and village in our country).

So, where do we begin? I believe we need to get back to the Shepherd’s Table. I believe we need to again read and study what Jesus had to say about the nurture and care of his sheep. I believe we have to recover the lifestyle of the early Church, and its understanding of, and passion for, doing what Jesus did, and refuse to let any go hungry whom we can feed.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4