Even a cursory reading of John 6 will show that Jesus had compassion on those who were hungry (John 6:5). Nevertheless, Jesus didn’t dedicate his office as Messiah to satisfy the needs of the poor in the world or even in Palestine (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4), but he had compassion upon the needy, wherever he saw them.
Some folks believe that Jesus and the disciples were poor and often didn’t have enough to eat (Matthew 12:1; cp. Matthew 8:20), but this is not true and results from a very cursory reading of the scriptures. Matthew 8:20 concerns the fact that the world had no comfortable place of rest for God. We are his Temple, and he wasn’t able to rest in us until after Pentecost, following the death of Jesus. Matthew 12:1 has to do with the annual fast day, the Day of Atonement, which that year fell on the 6th day of the week and the disciples were hungry, because back to back Sabbaths prevented their being able to prepare food for themselves, so they ate what was in the corners of the fields (permitted by the Law of Moses). Jesus had compassion on people, simply because it wasn’t difficult for him to imagine what their plight was like. One doesn’t need to be blind, before one could have compassion on the blind. Jesus didn’t have to be poor, in order to understand their need, and neither do we.
Reading John 6, we can understand that one of the signs of Jesus’ Messianic office was that of feeding the hungry. We know this, because, when the people saw what Jesus did, they immediately wanted to crown him King or Messiah (John 6:14-15). We need to understand that God expects us to ponder what the scriptures say, compare them with similar contexts elsewhere and understand more deeply, than what only a cursory reading provides. Matthew 4:3-4 and Luke 4:3-4 show Satan challenging Jesus’ office as Messiah in the name of satisfying physical needs (Matthew 4:2; Luke 4:2). In other words: “If you are the Messiah, prove it.” This was one of Jesus’ constant challenges throughout his earthly ministry (Matthew 12:38; 16:1; John 2:18; 6:30), “give us a sign that we may believe,” and there was more than one conception of what the Messianic office should fulfill. Nevertheless, Jesus wouldn’t give anyone a sign, except for the sign of his own resurrection from the dead (Matthew 12:39; 16:4; John 2:19; John 6:32-33).
The people looked to the physical things they saw every day. Most of them didn’t have or were not aware of spiritual hunger. Jesus wanted to satisfy their spiritual need for God in their lives. Once this was done, all else would be provided, but they wanted the physical up front. They had no faith, seeing that they wanted their needs satisfied, first, before they would believe. This is merely a sign of our own rebellion against God. We want God to do things our way. We have no desire to listen to him and obey him and allow him to provide for all our needs. Our flesh cries out to be satisfied first and is not aware of any spiritual necessities. If we have our ears open only to what we can see, feel, smell and taste, then we will never be able to hear the words of faith. God’s will is for us to hear and trust in Jesus (John 6:29, 39-40).
Jesus is not the ruler of this world, and is not responsible for its inconsistencies or poverty. He has compassion on us where we are, but he points to something beyond where we are. Nevertheless, if we cannot or will not see this, then we will always be stuck, trying to figure out how we can do better where we are. May God help everyone who reads this understand that only in Jesus can we find true satisfaction.
Smoodock's Blog 