Taste and see that the Lord is good! Psalm 34:8 (NIV)
Hunger Games – The Meal Series – Part 4
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7
A few days ago, in part one, I mentioned that it's my daughter's fourth birthday this weekend, and we’re having a little lunchtime get together to celebrate. For dessert, I’m making my favourite cake (I know, it's meant to be hers…), Jamie Oliver’s “Blooming Brilliant Carrot Cake.” (It’s Peter Rabbit themed folks, so it works, OK?! haha!). I can’t wait to eat it!
What happens to food when we eat it? Without getting all scientific, it mixes into our bodies, right? We chew it, swallow it, and then our stomachs and all the other bits and pieces, strip it down, sort it out and distribute it to our bodies. Food sustains us. Gives us life. Strengthens our muscles and fills our blood. We ingest it and digest it. It becomes a part of us.
David famously wrote, “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Ps 34:8).
At another meal Jesus was sharing with his friends, he “took the bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to his disciples. He said to them, “This is my body. Eat it.” Then taking the cup of wine and giving praises to the Father, he entered into covenant with them, saying, “This is my blood. Each of you must drink it in fulfilment of the covenant. For this is the blood that seals the new covenant. It will be poured out for many for the complete forgiveness of sins. The next time we drink this, I will be with you and we will drink it together with a new understanding in the kingdom realm of my Father.” (Matt 26:26-29… and I don’t think he was speaking about heaven here… I wrote more about that last Easter).
Richard Rohr wrote, “As Gandhi said, “There are so many hungry people in the world that God could only come into the world in the form of food.” It is marvelous that God would enter our lives not just in the form of sermons or Bibles, but in food. God comes to feed us more than just teach us.”
At the beginning of Jesus “ministry” perhaps you remember that he went to the desert to fast, and at the height of his hunger, the accuser said he should turn the stones into bread and eat them. Jesus replied, “Bread alone will not satisfy, but true life is found in every word which constantly goes forth from God’s mouth.” (Matt 4:4 TPT).
John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5 ESV).
We just need to be hungry, and then, eat.
When Jesus fed the crowd of five thousand plus, he turned a few bits of fish and bread into enough to satisfy all. It’s always been about hunger for him. He’s not impressed with our wise words, or full bank accounts, designer clothes, successes and failures; He cannot resist a hungry soul – someone who takes the food he provides/is and mixes it into themselves in such a way that it/he becomes a part of the very fabric of their make up.
We’re all hungry. We live in a starving world, in more ways than one. A world starved of compassion and kindness, love and forgiveness, hope and wisdom. A world whose belly aches to be filled with peace.
Of course, on that day that the crowd followed Jesus and stayed beyond the time where they could find food for themselves and all grew hungry, he fed them. He was showing them his true self.
And they all ate. Together. As one. Unified by hunger.
Dig in?
Your turn. Leave us a comment below.
Go to Part 5 – Leftovers »
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