Pentecost 10A 2026

THE REV. E. WAYNE ROLLINS

​The story of the feeding of 5,000 men, plus women and children, is one that’s found in each of the four canonical gospels. Each tells the story in slightly different ways, although each one is what we call a teachable moment for the disciples. 

In Matthew’s version, this event follows a series of parables that try to describe the kingdom of heaven. That’s Matthew’s phrase for the approaching reign of God inaugurated by the birth of Jesus. 

Matthew pauses from the parables to give us a look back as he tries to explain who Jesus is. Today’s story comes just after Jesus has returned to his childhood home in Nazareth. At first, it’s the hometown hero, the boy everyone’s talking about. It quickly turns into questions along the lines of "We knew you when? Just who do you think you are now?” Jesus leaves Nazareth without much to show because of the lack of faith of its residents. Luke gives us a bit of elaboration, which we heard last year. 

The identity question persists. Word of his deeds and teachings reaches Herod, who wonders if Jesus is really John the Baptist raised from the dead. Herod had John beheaded, and Matthew reminds us of that. 

When Jesus hears that news he needs a little “me time.” He tries to get away to a quiet place, but the crowds find out and follow him there. The day goes on, and it’s getting late. The disciples want to send everyone home so they can have supper, but Jesus brings everything home to them when he tells them they can feed the hungry crowd. 

With what? Have you seen the price of groceries lately? Bananas are getting close to a denari a pound, and don’t get me started about the price of eggs, let alone hamburgers. That stuff they call pork is cheaper, but Moses said “no.” 

“What do you have?” asks Jesus. Five loaves of bread and a couple of fish. And there’s no fish helper to stretch things out a bit. And the tartar sauce has been out in the sun all day, so it’s a no-go. 

That’s the beginning of the story. You heard what happened and how much was left over. So, to make a short sermon longer, what does it all mean? 

First of all, it doesn’t mean we offer a little bit and then magically make it do a lot more so we can say we did something. In case you haven’t noticed, none of us here is Jesus in the same way Matthew presents him in today’s lesson. That’s why trying to remake today’s event happen, could turn into little more than a parody where we become the parable we don’t want told. 

But there is something more substantial than our meager attempts at playing God. Matthew’s Gospel has been described as an “apocalyptic gospel,” words that cause some to shy away from it because the word apocalypse raises visions of misinformed interpretations prevalent among fundamentalists and dispensationalists and missed dates for what they call “the rapture.” 

While the feeding of 5,000+ is an event in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, it also points us to a hope that when Christ returns to establish God’s reign on earth—that eternal Kingdom of Heaven Matthew talks about—no one will be left hungry, either for real food or, as the Sermon on the Mount tells us, for righteousness. 

So today’s lesson is not just about something that happened way back when, but a vision of a time yet to come, a promised time of eternal salvation for God’s people and God’s creation. 

Maybe we’re not getting the glimpses necessary to instill hope because many of our efforts are based on offering what we can get by with instead of all that we have on hand. Maybe we’ve waited so long for the fulfillment of the kingdom that we really have stopped believing those words we still say every week: "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.” 

But, if we’ve stopped believing that, then why are we here? We might as well declare that the resurrection is just another springtime festival and that Christmas is only about Santa and not the incarnation of the cosmic Christ. 

The difficulty lies in the fact that so many of the teachings of our faith have been co-opted by those seeking only individual and personal salvation in another place and time. Our dissolution of communities, our neglect and distrust of others, our hoarding of personal wealth, and the exhaustive and exhausting need for more are all signs and wonders that compete for faith in the promises of the risen Christ. 

We live in a culture that depends on and requires our belief in scarcity. If we had half as many affordable homes as we have rented storage lockers in our region, we could solve the housing crisis. If we believed in the coming reign of God for all creation, we would start forming a living community where that vision cannot and will not be so easily dismissed. Then, we could get to work taking better care of the world Jesus has promised to return to. 

We’ve spent so much time and energy maintaining budgets and buildings that all we can see is the next utility or repair bill, and we wait in fear for it to come. Maybe we’ll begin to gain a vision of “the life of the world to come” when we, with fear and trembling, offer all we are to join the journey to that life and dare take in the sights along the way, and not bury our noses in the online travel planner. Because some day, all we have will be behind us, and all we are will be left hoping for entrance into the kingdom. 

In the meantime, keep in mind that offering a fish sandwich to a hungry stranger might just be the first tangible sign of salvation they hope for, too.