If I Send Them Away Hungry

⏱️ 4 minutes.

Greetings, Saints of Christ,

Today, let’s learn a bit more about our Lord’s compassion and care:

“And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.”
— Mark 8:3

In this verse, Jesus finishes the thought He began in the previous verse. Here, we see a genuine and tender concern for His people. His care is not limited to their spiritual needs—He had been teaching them the Word of God—but it extends to their physical needs as well.

It matters to Jesus that these people had been with Him for three days and were now hungry. He expresses concern about the consequences of sending them away without food, saying they could faint on their way home. He also acknowledges that many of them had come from far away.

This kind of care is a true mark of love. Jesus is deeply concerned that their physical needs be met. James makes a similar point in his letter: while caring for someone’s spiritual condition is good, true faith expresses itself in meeting practical, physical needs as well. He writes:

“If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?”
— James 2:15–16

This is a point many of us need to reflect on. It’s good to provide spiritual encouragement to others. But our Lord models something greater—He goes beyond words to action, meeting both spiritual and physical needs.

God, in His divine wisdom, created us as both spiritual and physical beings. And after the fall, we live in a world where physical needs are ever-present. Rather than treating these needs as inconveniences, God has given us an opportunity to express His love by caring for each other in tangible ways.

James speaks again about the nature of true religion:

“Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
— James 1:27

This implies that there is such a thing as false religion—one that is tainted by worldliness and indifferent to the suffering of others. In contrast, true religion meets people in their distress and distinguishes the believer from the world.

We see this consistently reflected in Jesus’ character. In Matthew 25, He speaks to His disciples about the final judgment:

“For I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’
Then they themselves also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’
Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
— Matthew 25:42–46

Far too often, we are tempted to say, “I’ll pray for you,” while leaving someone in a state of need. Let us remember that the Lord has blessed us so that we might be a blessing to others. As believers, we are called not only to provide spiritual help, but to also be physically present and generous with what we have.

Let us be reminded that the Lord cares not only about our souls, but also about our physical well-being. It’s important to recognize that even at the end of time, our physical bodies will not be discarded but restored to God’s original design.

So let’s ask the Lord to give us hearts that are moved by both spiritual and physical needs. And as we do, may He open doors for us to share the good news of His love with those around us.

As one author writes:

“How concerned are you for the hunger of those around you? You cannot do everything for everyone, but you can do something for someone. Ask God to keep your eyes open to human need and give you direction on how you can truly minister to them in His name.”
— John MacArthur