+ 10th Sunday after Pentecost - August 2nd, 2026 +
Series A: Isaiah 55:1-5; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:13-21
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Jesus’ feeding the 5,000 is a familiar story. All four Gospels tell us of the miracle feast. We’ve heard it in Sunday School. Vacation Bible School. Sermons. Devotions. Prayers. Hymns.
These are all good things.
And yet, there comes a point when something becomes so familiar that it can be easy to forget just how fantastic it is. When we lose the wonder. The awe. Skip ahead to the miracle we all know is coming.
So imagine yourself in the sandals of someone in the crowd for a moment. Try rubbing away some of the familiarity of this story by sitting down in those green pastures where you just ate and were satisfied with bread and fish in abundance out in the middle of nowhere. Try reading this story through the eyes of someone who’s desperate for help and hope and healing. Someone who is hungry in body and soul, enough to follow some rabbi and his disciples out into the wilderness just to hear the good news he’s preaching.
The more you slow down and think about it the more astonishing this story is.
You’d never believe what happened to me today. Something astonishing. Amazing. Awesome.
Here I am. Just an average Galilean shepherd. A nobody really. Most people in town walk on the other side of the street when they see shepherds coming. I usually just get lost in the crowds. I do better hanging out with the sheep than the people most days. But not today.
Today I ate like Herod in his palace. Today I feasted like the Roman centurions back in town. Today I didn’t just get enough to get by. I ate my fill. I had to loosen my belt and adjust my tunic.
And the wild thing is I wasn’t alone. Take a look around. Men. women. Children. As far as the eye can see. Covering the hills more than sheep in the pasture. Thousands upon thousands. They all ate. They all were satisfied. They all had leftovers.
It’s a wonder isn’t it. Here we are out in the middle of nowhere. The day’s almost over. And yet…the bread and fish never ran out. Those followers of Jesus just kept coming. Handing out food by the handfuls. The basket-full. Picking up the extras. The basket never ran out. And my stomach has never been fuller.
And here’s the most remarkable thing. Odd really. It didn’t cost me a thing. Not a shekel. Not a mite. Every last crumb. Every morsel. Every bite. It was a feast, but it was free.
Back in the market that kind of feast would set you back more than a few denarii. But not out here. Not with this rabbi.
He said some rather remarkable things too.
The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.
I came not for the righteous but for sinners, not for the healthy but the sick.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and they shall be satisfied.
Why, it’s like I’m sitting in the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah’s words as they take place right in front of me.
Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat! Come and buy wine and milk and honey without price.
It’s like I’m sitting with my fathers in the wilderness eating manna and quail. Living bread from heaven in abundance. It’s like I’m Elijah in the cave being fed by the ravens. Or the widow whose flour and oil never ran out. Or Adam and Eve dining in paradise with the Lord.
I came a poor beggar shepherd, and I’m leaving full, satisfied, and content. I came a lost sinner and I’m going home found and forgiven. I came broken and now I’m healed and holy. I came full of my own cares and concerns, now I return back to my daily life filled with compassion. His compassion. I imagine He will never stop working this way. Whatever it is He has, be it bread, compassion, mercy, or forgiveness, He will always be sure there is someone there to distribute it to the beggar in need.”
This is how it goes in the Kingdom of God. This is how our Lord Jesus works. God loves to give us bread when we are starved for His mercy.
Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 reveals many things: his provision. Compassion. His majesty and mercy. And in the midst of it all: the miracle. The wonder. The awe. The sheer stunning, unexpectedness and abundance. There’s the grace of God in Christ. This story is completely different from anything you’ll read about in the news or your social media feeds.
You see, the world runs on transactions. Contracts. Business agreements. And so on.
Not so the Kingdom of God, or Jesus the King. His kingdom runs not on transactions but on grace.
The economies of the world run on transactions. Christ’s economy runs on compassion and the only currency is his holy, precious blood and in his innocent suffering and death. And it’s given freely for you.
The kingdoms of this world live and thrive on merit. But the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus lives and thrives in showing mercy.
The kingdoms of this world treat everything as a product to be sold, marketed, consumed. In the Kingdom of our crucified and risen Lord Jesus there is an endless supply of his mercy, an abundance of his grace and goodness. We are not consumers or customers, but beggars who are given to freely. Sinners who are forgiven the unpayable debt. Dead people who are raised out of their graves. Hungry and thirsty satisfied with the body and blood of Jesus.
What our Lord did for the crowds in the wilderness he does for you today: he breaks bread. Give thanks. And feeds you. Something better than a belly full of bread and fish. His very body and his blood. Abundantly. Freely. Graciously. You are fed. You are forgiven.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
